ACC Commissioner John Swofford

Now in his eleventh year as commissioner, John Swofford has made a dramatic impact on the Atlantic Coast Conference and college athletics and is regarded as one of the top administrators in the NCAA.

Swofford assumed his role as the fourth full-time commissioner in the 54-year history of the Atlantic Coast Conference in July of 1997. He follows James H. (Jim) Weaver, the league's first Commissioner from 1954-1970, Robert (Bob) James, who served from 1971-1987 and Eugene F. (Gene) Corrigan, who held the position from 1987 to 1997.

In addition to overseeing one of the nation's largest athletic conferences, Swofford has been pivotal in positioning the Atlantic Coast Conference for the future. In 2003, on behalf of the nine league institutions and the ACC Council of Presidents, he introduced Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College as the newest members of the ACC.

With the expansion, Swofford's leadership and negotiating skills helped bring the conference extended and enhanced television contracts in both football and basketball. In May of 2004, the league extended its relationships with ABC, ESPN and Jefferson-Pilot by renegotiating its football television agreements. Highlights include the rights to the Inaugural ACC Football Championship Game and significant increases in the number of televised games through 2010.

In May of 2000, Swofford negotiated one of the nation's most lucrative basketball television contracts with Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Sports through the 2010-11 season. After the addition of the three new conference members, under Swofford's guidance, Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot increased its financial commitment to the ACC basketball package in May of 2004. During his tenure, the ACC has become the only conference to have television packages with two national cable networks - ESPN and Fox Sports Net. The results of these packages increased the television audience of ACC basketball by over 25 percent.

In order to reach the expanding audience of ACC fans, Swofford also negotiated an agreement with XM Satellite Radio, to broadcast the league's football, men's and women's basketball games nationally.

The North Wilkesboro, N.C., native was a prime mover in the creation of the ACC/Big Ten Basketball Challenge, a three-day series matching two of the nation's premiere college basketball conferences.

Highly respected by his peers, Swofford was a force in the development and growth of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to determine an annual national champion in Division I football. In addition to being involved with the BCS since its inception, he served as Coordinator of the BCS for the 2000 and 2001 college football seasons and is currently the chair of the Division I-A Collegiate Commissioners Association. In January 2008, Swofford will again assume the role of BCS Coordinator for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Since becoming Commissioner in 1997, Swofford has been responsible for securing increased bowl opportunities for the ACC. The past two seasons, a league-record eight teams earned bowl bids and in 2002, the conference set an NCAA record when seven of its nine teams (78%) participated in bowl play.

In January of 2001, the Triangle Chapter of the College Football Hall of Fame named Swofford the recipient of its "Outstanding American Award." In the fall of 2002, he was named to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's Hall of Fame and in December of 2003 he was inducted into the Chick-fil-A Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2003, The Sporting News named Swofford the fifth most influential person in sports in the United States. The Atlanta Sports Council presented Swofford with the 2004 Horizon Award, recognizing him as the national Sports Business Executive of the Year. Most recently, Swofford was named the recipient of the 2005 Homer Rice Award presented by the Division 1A Athletic Directors' Association.

During Swofford's first ten years as Commissioner, ACC teams have won 36 national titles while participating in 50 national championship games. In addition, 935 ACC teams have participated in various NCAA championships during his ten years - an average of over 93 NCAA teams per year.

A long-time advocate of the importance of academics and student-athlete welfare, Swofford stimulated the formation of the league's first-ever ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. This group of current ACC student-athletes gives the conference direct feedback on their experiences participating at the highest level of college athletics.

In 2006, the prestigious ACC Men's Basketball Tournament was awarded out to 2015. Throughout Swofford's tenure, the iconic event will have traveled to many dynamic cities within the footprint of the league including Atlanta, Ga., Washington D.C. and Tampa, Fla., in addition to the traditional stops in Greensboro and Charlotte. The 2001 ACC Tournament in Atlanta set NCAA attendance records for single session (40,083), per session average (36,505) and total attendance (182,525).

Swofford placed an added emphasis on the development of women's basketball in the ACC with the hiring of an Associate Commissioner for Women's Basketball to oversee all aspects of the sport on both a conference and national level.

In addition to his influence and presence in the ACC, Swofford has been a prominent leader in intercollegiate athletics, serving as President of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 1993-94. In 2002, Swofford was appointed as a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. In addition, he has served as a member of the prestigious NCAA Executive Committee. He was named chairman of the NCAA Football Television Committee in 1984 and was also chairman of the NCAA Communications and NCAA Special Events/Post-season Bowl Committees. Swofford is a past chairman of the NCAA Division I Championship Committee and was appointed to the NCAA Special Committee to Study a Division I-A Football Championship.

During his 21 years as an athletics director and assistant athletics director in the league, Swofford chaired numerous ACC committees, including five terms as chair of the ACC Television Committee.

The Director of Athletics at the University of North Carolina from 1980 to 1997, Swofford was instrumental in building North Carolina's athletics department into one of the country's most respected programs. During his tenure, Tar Heel athletic teams claimed 123 ACC championships and 24 national collegiate titles, including two in men's basketball and one in women's basketball. During the 1993-94 year, the Tar Heels captured the inaugural Sears Directors' Cup, emblematic of the collegiate all-sports champion. North Carolina finished in the Top Six of the Sears Cup standings in each year of Swofford's tenure that the award was given. Four of Swofford's coaching hires at UNC went on to win national championships at the school.

Under his leadership, North Carolina enjoyed tremendous growth in its athletic facilities, including the construction of the Smith Center, a complex which includes a 21,572-seat basketball arena, the Koury Natatorium and the Frank H. Kenan Football Center. He initiated the idea and provided the impetus for the founding of North Carolina's trademark licensing program.

The University chose to recognize his many accomplishments by establishing the John D. Swofford women's athletics scholarship and naming an auditorium in the school's football complex in his honor.

Swofford was a two-time all-state football player and three-sport MVP in football, basketball and track at Wilkes Central High School. He is a 1971 graduate of North Carolina and a recipient of the prestigious Morehead Scholarship. In 1973, Swofford received a MEd. degree with a major in Athletics Administration from Ohio University, which is often referred to as the Harvard of sports management programs. He received the Charles R. Higgins Distinguished Alumnus Award from Ohio University in 1984.

Athletically, Swofford followed in the footsteps of his older brother Jim, and played his collegiate football in the ACC. Whereas Jim played tackle for Duke from 1957 to 1959, John played quarterback and defensive back for North Carolina from 1969 to 1971. The 1970 team went to the Peach Bowl while the 1971 squad captured the school's first-ever outright ACC title and played in the Gator Bowl. Swofford was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and Who's Who in College Athletics.

Swofford began his administrative career when past ACC Commissioner and then University of Virginia Athletics Director Gene Corrigan hired him as the school's athletic ticket manager and assistant to the director of athletic facilities and finance in the fall of 1973.

He returned to Chapel Hill in May 1976 as assistant athletics director and business manager, handling all of the athletic department's business affairs. Swofford dropped the business manager title in January 1979, and was named assistant executive vice-president of the Educational Foundation.

Swofford became the school's athletic director on May 1, 1980. At the age of 31, he was the youngest major college Athletics Director in the nation at the time.

John and his wife Nora reside in Greensboro, N.C. Together they have three children, Autumn, who in July married Sherman Wooden, Chad Swofford and Nora's daughter, Amie, who is married to Keith Furr.