CFP 101: Who is on the College Football Playoff committee?
By Brian Spaen
Get to know all the 13 members of the College Football Playoff committee that will be deciding what four teams will be playing in the inaugural playoff this season. Also, get to learn the recusal policy that forces them to not vote for the team and how the rotation of members will be set.
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Here are all the members of the College Football Playoff, including their current or recent jobs below. There’s a mixture of people involved with numerous universities.
- Jeff Long – Chairman
Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville - Barry Alvarez
Director of Athletics, University of Wisconsin-Madison - Lieutenant General Mike Gould
Former Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy - Pat Haden
Director of Athletics, University of Southern California - Tom Jernstedt
Former NCAA Executive Vice President - Oliver Luck
Director of Athletics, West Virginia University - Archie Manning
Former University of Mississippi quarterback and All-Pro NFL quarterback - Tom Osborne
Former Head Coach and Director of Athletics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Dan Radakovich
Director of Athletics, Clemson University - Condoleezza Rice
Stanford University professor, former Stanford provost and former United States Secretary of State - Mike Tranghese
Former Commissioner of the Big East Conference - Steve Wieberg
Former College Football reporter, USA Today - Tyrone Willingham
Former Head Coach of 3 FBS Institutions (Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington)
There is a recusal policy set in place to avoid conflict of interest. A member cannot vote for a team that they are affiliated with, and that involves nine of the members. If there’s no official tie at the moment (i.e., the university is not paying them), then there’s no recusal policy — that means Willingham can vote for any of the three institutions he was formerly involved with.
The committee will also rotate with 4-5 people leaving and new people coming in. However, to create this staggering, some people will initially have a shorter or longer membership. Gould, Haden, Osborne, and Tranghese are gone after 2015-16 season; Alvarez, Luck, Manning, and Rice after 2016-17 season; Jernstedt, Long, Radakovich, Wieberg, and Willingham after 2017-18 season.