Media reaction to the Kalashnikov hire

The Pac-12's four-month search for a commissioner ended late last week with the hiring of George Kliavkoff, an MGM Resorts sports and entertainment executive.

The move was an utter surprise and, for that reason, entirely predictable:

The Pac-12 presidents never miss an opportunity to show the college sports world that they're almost as innovative as they think they are.

Kliavkoff was introduced to the public through a Zoom news conference with the media and handled himself quite well.

Here's a sampling of the reaction from across the country:

• Yahoo's Pete Thamel believes that while "it’s far too early to criticize Kliavkoff, as we’re barely done googling him, it’s fair to say the Pac-12 CEOs took a significant risk in hiring him."

Thamel added:

"The Pac-12 CEOs are the same group that hung on to Larry Scott about a half decade too long and hid in their ivory towers as Scott hoodwinked them into thinking he’d be an effective television executive. As Scott’s salary soared over $5 million and the Pac-12 Network’s distribution undercut its finances, the league became a punchline because of the ambivalence of the Pac-12 CEOs. That’s why it’s so stunning that they didn’t make a more conventional and safe hire. As a group, the Pac-12 leaders — athletic directors were completely boxed out of this process — essentially went from the penny slots to the $10,000 minimum tables. It’s fair to ask whether they’re equipped to suddenly find a jackpot."

• Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde opined that "the Pac-12 Conference didn’t just go outside the box in hiring its new commissioner. It essentially left the solar system."

Forde added:

"Ultimately, he may be just what the Pac-12 needs. But this has a boom-or-bust quality about it, and there are familiar gaping holes in the résumé. The concept of 'natural fit' was thrown in doubt almost immediately, when Oregon president Michael Schill introduced Kliavkoff as someone the league’s search committee was drawn to due to 'his ability to see where the hockey puck was going to go.' Maybe try another analogy, since the 'Conference of Champions' doesn’t do hockey pucks ... In the college sports space, the abiding rule is to hire someone who doesn’t have the same limitations as the person you just got rid of. That does not apply to the Pac-12 here, at least in terms of experience and expertise at the campus level. If the league’s ADs didn’t think the conference office cared about them before, this hire doesn’t immediately alleviate that concern."

• USA Today's Dan Wolken wrote that Kliavkoff "had done his homework" on the league's issues prior to the introductory news conference.

Wolken added:

"Though it would have been too awkward for Kliavkoff to say it this explicitly, the subtext of the entire presentation was clear: Remember the last guy you complained about until you finally ran him out of town? I’m here to do the opposite. At the very least, it was a promising beginning for Kliavkoff, whose name sent people throughout college sports straight to a Google search when it first surfaced — which naturally led to some raised eyebrows over a résumé that includes lots of experience in sports and digital media but none on a college campus ... Kliavkoff actually has an ideal background for what a college commissioner should be in 2021. He’s been the chief executive of a massive events business, has been deeply involved in the digital media environment and has done huge television distribution deals."

• CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd noted that "the Pac-12 hired a high-profile Vegas big shot to run its high-minded, academic conference. Once again, the union between commissioner and conference is at least untraditional."

Dodd added:

"The new commissioner intends to go on a listening tour of the conference campuses. That is in stark contrast to Scott, who was often accused of being tone deaf, certainly not personable enough to engage the athletic directors for whom he worked ... You know how the SEC is sometimes mocked for its slogan, 'It just means more'? In the Pac-12 -- particularly in the presidential board rooms -- it doesn't. That has to change or Kliavkoff could be the next Scott ... One high-ranking college administrator texted a yawning emoji upon announcement of the hire. One media wag said Kliavkoff should be 'familiar with long odds.' But a flurry of Pac-12 athletic directors texted their approval when contacted by CBS Sports. That's saying something because that group was largely treated as second-class citizens by Scott."

• The Athletic's Stewart Mandel offered that "when official word came down that (the new commissioner) currently works for an entertainment conglomerate, and when I noticed his most recent tweets promoted Las Vegas comedy shows, the jokes began to write themselves. This was shaping up to be Larry Scott all over again."

Mandel added:

"But then I watched George Kliavkoff’s introductory news conference. Based on my own personal survey, indeed almost no one in college athletics had heard of him prior to Thursday. But despite having never worked a day in their industry, the man appears to understand exactly what the Pac-12 needs most right now ... But of course, Kliavkoff can’t speak these things into existence. And for the time being, he’s going to face justifiable skepticism how someone with such a non-traditional background is any more qualified to elevate the conference than the last guy (Scott) with a non-traditional background ... One need only look at the Big Ten’s soap opera under new commissioner Kevin Warren last year for a lesson in outside-the-box hire gone wrong."