Chuck Neinas, the former conference commissioner who helped shape the modern landscape of college football, has died, the National Football Foundation announced Tuesday. He was 93.
Neinas held leadership roles with the United States Olympic Committee and the NCAA, and was commissioner of the Big 8 from 1971 to 1980 before becoming the executive director of the College Football Association.
The CFA was an alliance of football schools from conferences such as the ACC, Big 8 and SEC, as well as major independents. The organization had been launched several years earlier over members’ frustrations with the NCAA, which controlled all college football television rights.
In his role, Neinas wound up having a profound impact on the sport’s TV arrangements and, as a result, conference realignment. In 1981, the CFA brokered its own rival deal with NBC. When the NCAA threatened sanctions against participating schools, two CFA schools, Oklahoma and Georgia, took the NCAA to court, alleging antitrust violations. The case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with the schools.
“College athletics has lost one of the true giants of our profession, and I have lost a dear friend and mentor,” NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell, who was the first commissioner of the Big 12 in 1995. “Chuck Neinas was a visionary in every sense of the word. From his time at the NCAA to his leadership of the Big 8 and the CFA, he didn’t just manage change, he drove it.”
The landmark Supreme Court decision led to the present environment in which conferences negotiate their own television contracts, which led to several decades of schools changing leagues in search of the best possible deal.
“The chaotic state of college athletics today was not in our vision,” Neinas told The Athletic in 2024. “It is beyond any control.”
When the CFA disbanded in 1997, Neinas founded Neinas Sports Services, one of the first firms to specialize in helping schools hire coaches and athletic directors. His placements included both AD Joe Castiglione and coach Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Mack Brown at Texas, Mark Richt at Georgia and Mark Dantonio at Michigan State.
Sending thoughts & prayers to the family & friends of former Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas.
May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/7t6IlbWRgF
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 16, 2025
A wave of conference realignment in the early 2010s led to Neinas heading up the Big 12 from 2011 to 2012. He was named interim commissioner, replacing Dan Beebe after Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado and Missouri left the conference.
Neinas helped stabilize the conference with the additions of TCU and West Virginia.
“Chuck has been a leader and visionary for a long time in college athletics,” said Bob Bowlsby, who succeeded Neinas as Big 12 commissioner. “On a more personal level, he never got cheated. He lived all 93 years and made the most out of all of them. He was a genuine character, scary smart and just a really fun guy to be around.”
During his time leading the Big 12, Neinas was part of the group of conference commissioners who eventually built and signed off on the first College Football Playoff. The first four-team iteration of the CFP was launched in 2014 to replace the Bowl Championship Series.
Neinas began his administrative career at the NCAA in 1961, overseeing the Final Four and the College World Series.
Deeply Saddened. True Legend. Game Changer!
“Chuck Neinas was a visionary in every sense of the word. From his time at the NCAA to his leadership of the Big Eight and the CFA, he didn’t just manage change, he drove it,” — Steve Hatchell.https://t.co/2hjWuAKT6n pic.twitter.com/0PPUdKQcLQ
— National Football Foundation (@NFFNetwork) December 16, 2025
Neinas, who served in the Navy, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1957. His first job in college athletics was in broadcasting, doing radio play-by-play for Wisconsin football and basketball games.
“I was fortunate to get to know Chuck Neinas in many roles through the year,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “He was incredibly bright and engaging, with a remarkable clarity in his communication. From the NCAA to the Big Eight Conference to the College Football Association and through his work with the Big 12, Chuck built trust with people and created a legacy that continues to shape how we experience college sports.”
— The Athletic’s Seth Emerson contributed to this story.