Big Ten Blunders
New commissioner Kevin Warren made critical—but correctable—communication strategy errors we can all learn from.
Kevin Warren has a remarkable life story.
As a 11-year old, he found himself in a body cast after being hit by a car. A doctor told him swimming might help his rehab, but painted a dark picture of his future: difficulty walking, no sports.
Warren used accident settlement money to put a pool in his backyard. He not only walked again, but played college basketball at Penn.
Warren’s had a remarkable career and made history as the first Black commissioner of the Big Ten Conference.
That said, his communication strategy—or lack thereof—was a total disaster for the Big Ten as it wrestled with how to handle COVID-19.
Warren works for the conference presidents, and the fall sports cancelation decision was ultimately theirs. B
ut communication of that decision is on Warren.
There was speculation Warren could be NFL Commissioner some day. He has surely dampened that enthusiasm, for now.
Warren’s errors are coachable and correctable through media training. He’s demonstrated a determination to put in the work and get better. Here’s hoping he’s open to improvement.
Let’s look at, and learn from, what went wrong.
Failure to communicate with partners
Warren painted a picture that the “Power Five” conferences were in tight communication around COVID-19 planning and strategy. Matt Hayes shares a different story:
“We have an outstanding commissioner,” one SEC athletic director told me. “He’s not going to be pushed around or moved into a corner. Emotional overreaction just isn’t part of his world like it clearly is with others.”
In case you’re wondering, that absolutely was aimed at Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren — who botched the return to play so completely, it will have a lasting impact on the once-revered Big Ten brand.
The Big Ten made its decision without alerting or consulting the other conferences:
But Warren, according to three separate sources, declared during a conference call of the P5 commissioners that the “Big Ten is a leader; we are expected to lead.” Days later, the Big Ten went rogue and announced it would not play nonconference games, throwing the remaining P5 conferences into fend for yourself mode.
A month after that, the Big Ten canceled the 2020 fall football season and declared it would try to play in the spring. Warren, according to multiple sources, believed the rest of the Power 5 conferences would follow suit – going so far as to leak information to media outlets that the college football season would be postponed within days, trying to turn public opinion toward that reality.
The ACC, SEC, and Big XII pressed on, leaving the Big Ten and Pac-12 behind.
It also appears, allegedly, Warren left broadcast partners Fox and ABC/ESPN in the dark twice. The networks were supposedly taken by surprise both when the Big Ten cancelled fall sports, and when it announced football’s return-to-play schedule.
Failure to engage athletes and athletic staffs
Big Ten athletes, parents of athletes, and even athletic staff seemed stunned by the Big Ten’s cancellation. They weren't heard before the cancellation, and they weren’t listened to afterwards.
Warren will earn millions as Big Ten commissioner. He has the responsibility to listen to some dissenting opinions from the people most affected by the conference’s decisions.
His failure to engage didn't silence dissent. It amplified it:
Nebraska and Ohio State administrative staff publicly challenged him.
Many other athletes shared their confusion and anger online.
A small group of parents protested outside the Big Ten offices.
These discussions should take place one-to-one. Not on Twitter and in the media.
Warren’s insolence encouraged and amplified the negative messages that followed the Big Ten’s decision.
Failure to use clear and transparent messaging
Following the Big Ten’s cancellation announcement, Warren went on the conference’s own network—friendly territory—to further explain the decision.
It appears Warren had has Zoom microphone muted as the interview began. He should have left it on that setting.
It was one of the most disastrous sports “press conferences” — if you can call it that, since only the network’s Dave Revsine asked Warren questions — I can ever remember.
Revsine asks basic, straightforward questions, such as:
“Explain to us the formal process of making this decision.”
“What changed six days later … that you just can’t do it?”
“I want to understand the process of the decision making a little better. Was the vote unanimous?”
“Were Nebraska or anyone else to say they were going to play elsewhere, could they do it?”
Warren had no message strategy. Instead, he wanders. He lectures. He filibusters.
Warren was obstinate, evasive, and insular. These communication choices create huge problems:
You embolden and amplify dissension online and in the media.
You create a sense you have something to hide (indeed, ridiculous speculation surfaced that the Big Ten was cancelling sports—costing each school the football portion of $60 million in TV revenue—to somehow affect the 2020 election).
You create a sense of incompetence, that you don’t know what you’re doing or where you’re going next.
Some of the key messages are remarkably simple—or should have been.
Question: “Were Nebraska or anyone else to say they were going to play elsewhere, could they do it?”
Right answer: "Dave, we believe in playing together as one conference when the time is right. And that time will come for all of our universities and athletes. We will decide together, and we will play together."
Question: “I want to understand the process of the decision making a little better. Was the vote unanimous?”
Right answer: "Dave, I can appreciate why people want to know about a vote. But please understand we create a trusted environment where people are free to share diverse opinions as part of our decision-making process. But once the discussion is over, we move forward together as one conference. And that's what we're doing here."
Not terribly difficult. But you have to:
Plan in advance
Be as open as possible
Explain why you’re not being open when you can’t be
Paint a vision for going forward
By the way: give Revsine credit
Revsine was in a tough spot, interviewing, essentially, his own CEO. And the CEO is being obstinate and evasive. Revsine presses him with follow up questions very deftly. He never comes off as confrontational, but doesn’t accept Warren’s initial answers, either. Very well done.
Warren can improve. Will he?
Warren’s mistakes are correctable. Better media training would serve him well.
One thing worries me though: Some of Warren’s errors are due to arrogance.
Arrogance that other conferences would simply follow the Big Ten’s lead without input. Disregard for media partners who had to first scramble to fill cancelled game slots, and now must scramble to make space for the Big Ten’s return. Arrogance that players and athletic administrators would accept the decision quietly without having a voice.
Poor strategy can be corrected. Arrogance requires a deeper look at ourselves, and it’s a difficult step not everyone is willing to take.
Let’s hope Warren is willing.