Former SWC Commissioner Fred Jacoby Dead at 80

[MrMustang1965]

from the DMN:

Former Southwest Conference commissioner Fred Jacoby, who led the now-defunct league through the scandal-plagued 1980s, died Saturday afternoon. He was 80.

Jacoby was SWC commissioner from 1982 to '93. He later took on the dual role as commissioner of the Lone Star and American Southwest conferences before retiring in 2006.

Jacoby had been battling multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood-producing cells in bone marrow.

Until cancer prompted his retirement, not even a heart transplant could slow down Jacoby. He received his new heart on Sept. 29, 1989.

"College sports lost a giant," said AT&T Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker, a former SWC assistant commissioner. "Fred Jacoby knew everyone, and everyone knew and respected him. He was all about service, and he dedicated his life to helping student-athletes succeed in the arena, in the classroom and in life."

Jacoby led the SWC through one of its darkest periods in the 1980s, when all but three members – Arkansas, Baylor and Rice – were on NCAA probation at various times for football recruiting violations. In 1987, SMU became the only school to ever receive the NCAA's "death penalty" resulting in the suspension of the program for two years.

"I wasn't in the commissioner's chair more than two weeks when I knew we had a problem," Jacoby said in 2006. Jacoby had been commissioner of the Mid-American Conference for 11 years before joining the SWC.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said he first got to know Jacoby when Beebe was leading the investigation into SMU.

"I became a commissioner at 32, and Fred was one of the commissioners that really mentored me in a lot of ways," Beebe said Saturday while attending the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.

"He was just a good human being who would have been a good person in whatever profession he wanted to get into, and a lot of us were lucky that he was in intercollegiate athletes. He was a very principled man and very kind and supportive of anybody that would seek his assistance."

The SWC's troubles continued when Arkansas left to join the Southeastern Conference in 1992. The SWC eventually collapsed when four members elected to join members of the Big Eight to form the Big 12 in 1996.

"I guess my best accomplishment, and no one will understand this, is that we got it straightened up," Jacoby said.

The SWC was the first conference to institute compliance programs at every school. Under Jacoby, the SWC also led NCAA efforts to ban boosters from recruiting and to no longer allow athletes to sell their game tickets.

Jacoby was SWC commissioner when the league won 42 of its 62 national titles in 13 sports. He also served as chair of the National Letter of Intent Program from 1973 to '95. The program, designed to limit the recruiting pressure on high school athletes, began in 1964 with one signing period for all sports. It was revamped in 1973 to better serve the needs of different sports.

"One of the things that I'm pleased with is the national letter of intent," Jacoby said. "For the input that affected the most people, that would be it."

After retiring for a year, Jacoby took over as commissioner of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference in 1994 and the Division III American Southwest Conference two years later.

He continued to serve as a consultant to both conferences after his retirement.

"Fred Jacoby was one of the pillars of college athletics," said Bo Carter, a former SWC assistant commissioner. "His entire career was devoted to college student-athletes as a coach, administrator, commissioner and counselor to thousands of people. Fred was a national leader, a visionary and one of the fairest and most honest people one could ever meet in a lifetime."

[Caballo]

Condolences to the Jacoby family. Steve Jacoby, Fred's son, went to SMU and graduated in the mid 80's. Great guy.