Air Force superintendent Richard M. Clark is the leading candidate to be the next College Football Playoff executive director, ESPN reported Friday.
The 59-year-old lieutenant general played linebacker for the Falcons in the 1980s before building a distinguished career in the military.
In September 2020, Clark became the first Black superintendent of the Air Force Academy.
Sources told ESPN that Clark is considered a “leader of leaders” and that he emerged from a pool of three finalists interviewed in person this week to replace the outgoing Bill Hancock.
Hancock is retiring after the 2023 bowl cycle.
The next CFP executive director will oversee the expansion to 12 teams starting in 2024 and will also have to negotiate a new television contract, which expires after the 2025 season.
