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ACC Commissioner John Swofford to Retire Next Year

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 12: ACC Commissioner John Swofford announces the cancelation of the remainder of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 12, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The cancelation is due to concerns over the possible spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 12: ACC Commissioner John Swofford announces the cancelation of the remainder of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 12, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The cancelation is due to concerns over the possible spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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ACC Commissioner John Swofford conformed reports on Thursday morning that he’ll be retiring next June.

Come next June there will be a new face leading the Atlantic Coast Conference as commissioner John Swofford will step down next June after a quarter of a century as the leader of the conference at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 college athletics schedule.

Swofford came to power as the commissioner in 1997, proceeding Gene Corrigan who led the conference from 1987 to 1995. Under his watch, the ACC has grew adding Boston College, Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech in all sports while also coming to an agreement with Notre Dame to join for basketball and a football agreement that has the Irish facing multiple ACC programs per season including the Yellow Jackets this upcoming season.

Following the announcement of his pending retirement, many came forward congratulating and thanking Swofford for all he did including Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury.

On top of growing the conference, another notable from Swofford’s long tenure was the creation of the ACC Network. It was no secret the ACC was lagging behind in revenue of other Power 5 conferences and with the success of other conference television networks, Swofford led the charge of creating the ACC Network that launched last August. Swofford of course has much more to his legacy as the commissioner than just those two aspects but long term those will be the ones he will mostly be remembered for.

Going forward, Swofford won’t have an easy final Year ahead of him as he must guide the conference through the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the ACC will begin looking for his replacement. Will it be someone already working in the ACC? Will it be an outside mind?

Those questions will be answered in time but until then, Swofford and the rest of the ACC will now look towards the fall and determine the best course of action to ensure the safety of student athletes with the ongoing pandemic.