The NCAA has extended embattled president Mark Emmert's contract by three years, it announced Monday. The deal bumps Emmert's tenure from 2017 to at least October 2020.
"Mark has done an incredible job leading the Association through an unprecedented period of change and transformation," said Kansas State university president Kirk Schulz, chair of the NCAA's Board of Governors, in the statement. "I and the board feel strongly that Mark is integral in leading the Association forward as we navigate the complex and challenging way ahead, while better supporting student-athletes."
Emmert's deal includes an option that could extend it into 2021, but the NCAA hasn't announced whether that option is Emmert's, the organization's or mutual. We've reached out to the NCAA for more information.
Emmert has presided over a challenging era for the NCAA, including dealing with Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit over collegiate athletic amateurism, a heightened focus on Title IX enforcement on campuses and the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. He's taken significant heat for his views on amateurism and done some real whoppers of press conferences. In 2013, our Rodger Sherman gave a helpful recollection of some things we'd already written on him:
- The time we called Emmert a dictator
- The time we called Emmert a parasite
- The time we said Emmert needed to resign
- The time Emmert gave the worst press conference ever
- The time we, um, called Mark Emmert a horse (tougher to explain)
- The time we acknowledged that although Emmert is pretty much the worst, firing him couldn't even fix the NCAA
- The time we already listed most of these insults because it turns out he was also really bad at being president at UConn and LSU
The NCAA didn't disclose the financial terms of the contract. In 2012, Emmert reportedly made $1.7 million, with more than $200,000 coming in deferred compensation he cannot collect until 2017.
The NCAA said its Board of Governors approved the extension at a Jan. 16 meeting. Emmert started his term as the organization's president in October 2010.