A former commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, passes away at 77…….

Mike Slive, the former commissioner of the Southeastern Conference who led the league to unheard-of levels of prosperity and

success, passed away on Wednesday. He was seventy-seven.

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Slive passed away in Birmingham, Alabama, where he shared a home with his wife of 49 years, Liz, according to the Southeastern

Conference. The reason of death was not disclosed at the meeting.

After serving as commissioner for 13 years, Slive retired in 2015. He had just resigned because he was fighting prostate cancer.

In 2002, Slive took over as SEC commissioner from Roy Kramer. He joined from Conference USA with the goal of improving the SEC,

which was plagued by problems with NCAA compliance. Shortly after, the SEC emerged as the dominant league in college football,

capturing seven consecutive national titles and securing billion-dollar broadcast deals.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who succeeded Slive, told the SEC Network, “He was a friend before he was the boss, he was a friend

while he was the boss, he was a friend after.”

Under Slive, the SEC’s prosperity extended beyond football. During his tenure, the league won 81 national championships in all in 17

sports.

Slive was instrumental in the development of the College Football Playoff. When he first suggested a four-team playoff for college

football in 2008, the majority of the other conference commissioners turned him down. Eventually, during the 2011 season, when two

SEC teams, LSU and Alabama, competed in the BCS national championship game, the remaining college football power brokers

emerged and built

Under Slive’s leadership, the SEC grew from 12 to 14 universities in 2012 when Texas A&M and Missouri were added, and in 2014 he

spearheaded the establishment of the SEC Network. Additionally, he was a key player in the implementation of the NCAA’s new

governance model, which gave the SEC and the other four most influential and rich conferences the authority to draft and enact laws.

Son of a butcher, Slive was born in Utica, New York. Before beginning a lengthy career in college athletics, he graduated from law

school and established a firm that helped institutions with NCAA concerns. He served as the first commissioner of C-USA and the

Great Midwest Conference.

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Charles Bloom, an administrator at South Carolina and a former assistant commissioner of the SEC, said of Mike Slive, “He is one of

the best people I have ever met.” “His influence on me was immense. He acted as a kind of father figure to me, with whom I could

discuss problems in my life before we collaborated on SEC office tasks. He was an excellent friend, mentor, and leader.”

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