In today's college sports landscape, power no longer resides solely on the sidelines or in the commissioner's office. It sits in television boardrooms, law firms, courtrooms, congressional hearing rooms and donor suites. A judge can reshape athlete compensation and eligibility with a ruling. A television executive can redefine a conference's future with a media-rights deal. An agent can trigger a bidding war. A senator can influence the rules governing the entire industry.
The people steering college sports have never been more diverse, or more influential.
A panel of regional and national members of the USA TODAY Sports Network consulted industry sources, debated candidates and cast votes to identify the individuals exerting the greatest influence over the direction of college athletics.
Here are the 25 Most Powerful People in College Football entering the 2026 season:
25. Pat McAfee, ESPN personalityWhy he is on the list: McAfee reportedly is ESPN’s highest-paid on-air talent by far, landing increased paydays while the company lays off veterans in other areas. McAfee has become a major player in getting live commitments from some of college football’s top recruits and has emerged as the must-see character on "College GameDay", heir apparent to the retired Lee Corso.
24. Charlotte Sweeney, judgeWhy she is on the list: A judge for the United States District Court of Colorado, Sweeney lands on this list because it was her ruling on July 31 that granted a class-wide preliminary injunction against the NCAA and that allowed graduates of the high school class of 2022 to seek a fifth year of collegiate eligibility — which is the NCAA's new model moving forward for all current and future student-athletes. Sweeney's ruling triggered aspiring NFL players to leave their respective teams' camps in order to seek a return — and payday — back at the collegiate game, not to mention athletes from other sports. Sweeney's decision was stayed by a three-judge panel in late August, but the battle rages on in state courtrooms as well as its still-to-be-litigated fate in Sweeney's Colorado court.
23. Nick Saban, ex-coach, ESPN analystWhy he is on the list: Saban’s TV work at ESPN as an expert analyst has been only part of why Saban remains amongst college athletics’ most striking figures. He’s also been involved in Capitol Hill discussions about the future of college athletics and even been floated as a potential “commissioner of college football.”
22. Chris Del Conte, Texas athletic directorWhy he is on the list: Del Conte helped steer the Longhorns into the SEC, almost permanently crippling the Big 12 in the process. Texas remains among college athletics’ — especially college football’s — biggest brands. Texas draws eyeballs, amasses mega-millions in revenue and has a football team expected to compete for a national title this season. That’s a feat the Longhorns haven’t accomplished in more than two decades.
21. Cole Gahagan, Learfield CEOWhy he is on the list: As first reported last month by USA TODAY Sports, Learfield has doled out more than $300 million in NIL payments in a massive jump from the previous reporting of $140 million in deals. Moreover, the company remains a critical partner as the multimedia rightsholder to numerous high-profile college programs. If the Protect College Sports Act passes, Learfield could command an even great place of prominence; among concessions in that bill’s latest version in late July was less scrutiny on multimedia rights deals for student-athletes.
20. Kirby Smart, Georgia coachWhy he is on the list: The dean of SEC football coaches, Smart also is a two-time College Football Playoff champion. His Bulldogs remain fixtures in the CFP, but they haven’t won a playoff game since the end of the 2022 season.
19. Athletes First (A1), agencyWhy it is on the list: Athletes First is prominent in coaching representation, with Ohio State's Ryan Day, Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and BYU’s Kalani Sitake among notable clients, but the agency lands on this list because it is widely regarded as the top firm for representing student-athletes with several hundred clients in that space.
18. Curt Cignetti, Indiana coachWhy he is on the list: In addition to turning college football’s losingest program into 2025’s national champion, Cignetti has emerged as a fearless voice in college football. He touts the Big Ten’s superiority, picks fights with Notre Dame and just might be the sport’s most brash, free-speaking coach since Steve Spurrier.
17. Jere Morehead, Georgia presidentWhy he is on the list: Morehead is among the most vocal dissidents standing in the trench against the Big Ten’s quest for a 24-team College Football Playoff. He’s been outspoken against that move and also voiced support for an SEC breakaway from NCAA if there isn’t meaningful federal reform.
16. Mark Keenum, Mississippi State presidentWhy he is on the list: Keenum has served as the CFP’s Chair of the Board of Managers since 2018. He’s also publicly floated the potential for the SEC to forge its own unilateral path without meaningful progress on college athletics’ governance at the federal level.
15. Bryan Seeley, CEO College Sports CommissionWhy he is on the list: Seeley’s atop the lone oversight apparatus for Name, Image and Likeness deals across college athletics. The CSC hasn’t been perfect in its first year-plus, and it needs NCAA member schools to adhere to the conditions to which they already agreed. But, the CSC did score a major legal win earlier this year in court over the interpretation of multimedia rightsholders as associated entities.
14. Pete Bevacqua, Notre Dame athletic directorWhy he is on the list: The former head of NBC Sports and also a former agent at CAA, Bevacqua blends keen business acumen from his corporate-world experience with an insatiable love of Notre Dame, his alma mater where Bevacqua once was a walk-on punter.
13. Chad Chatlos, Turnkey ZRG managing partnerWhy he is on the list: There are a few search firms in the college marketplace that have carved roles, but Chatlos’ Turnkey ZRG has proved the leader in that realm and consistently handled some of college football’s most notable coaching searches.
12. Rick Cordella, NBC Sports presidentWhy he is on the list: Cordella’s got NBC Sports with three primetime Notre Dame games this upcoming season, including November dates pitting the Fighting Irish against ACC contenders Miami and SMU in games that figure to be heavy with CFP implications. The network also is continuing its partnership to broadcast Big Ten games — getting defending champ Indiana on a game this fall and slotting Minnesota-Wisconsin into primetime the day after Thanksgiving.
11. Cody Campbell, Texas Tech mega-booster, President’s Council on Sports appointeeWhy he is on the list: Unafraid to fund, well, just about anything his alma mater, Texas Tech, needs to fill out its football roster (as well as other Red Raiders’ sports), Campbell also is active in trying to help bring some semblance of guardrails to college sports in the NCAA’s current Wild West era.
10. Donald Trump, U.S. PresidentWhy he is on the list: An avid sports fan, Trump has urged the passing of the Protect College Sports Act and likewise has formed the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition — with that group being tasked with helping find solutions for college athletics’ ongoing upheaval.
9. Jeff Kessler, attorneyWhy he is on the list: In a time where headlines surrounding college athletics seemingly change by the hour, two names were constants across the past six months: ex-Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, and his high-profile attorney, Jeffrey Kessler. It was Kessler's legal wrangling that nearly had the admitted NCAA gambler Sorsby eligible to play this season in college football. Kessler also vowed a fight against the NFL on Sorsby's behalf. He's at the epicenter of all things House Settlement and beyond in collegiate athletics' intersection with the legal system.
8. Brett Yormark, Big 12 commissionerWhy he is on the list: An innovator, Yormark has navigated college athletics’ uncertainty to keep afloat the Big 12 as a Power conference league — even if it’s well behind the Big Ten and SEC. He’s weathered the Brendan Sorsby-Texas Tech gambling storm and also worked doggedly on Capitol Hill in an effort to try to help push forward the Protect College Sports Act.
7. Jim Phillips, ACC commissionerWhy he is on the list: Like the Big 12, Phillips’ ACC is well behind the Big Ten and SEC — but still a force. Especially after having Miami play for the CFP title last season. The lawsuits from disgruntled members have, for now, died down and the ACC could get some federal protection against future membership raids if the Protect College Sports Act can get wedged into law.
6. Jimmy Sexton, CAA’s head of college coaches representationWhy he is on the list: A year after having the most coaches of teams selected for the CFP, Sexton reps the coaches of three of the nation’s top four teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll: Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Texas’s Steve Sarkisian; he’s the tip of the CAA spear for representation for six head coaches in the poll’s top 11 teams. Sexton of late has flexed his muscles as an undeniable force in college baseball, which has seen record growth in coaching salaries, but he’s unequaled in college football.
5. Ted Cruz/Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senators, co-sponsors of Protect College Sports ActWhy they’re on the list: While the Protect College Sports Act has added some additional co-sponsors and faces challenges to get to the desk of President Donald Trump, Cruz and Cantwell have brokered bipartisan support for a bill expected to receive a floor vote next month in the Senate. While not perfect for anyone involved, the Protect College Sports Act remains the only current option for meaningful oversight, reform — and, most importantly, the preservation of college athletics in some semblance of its current existence.
4. Eric Shanks, Fox Sports CEO/executive producerWhy he is on the list: Quite simply, Shanks is empowering his network to take on ESPN head-to-head in the college football space. Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff has been a strong add for the network, and Shanks stared down detractors who didn’t want to see Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy included in coverage — and included Portnoy anyway.
3. Greg Sankey, SEC commissionerWhy he is on the list: Sankey’s in a bit of denial about his conference somehow still being competitively superior on the football field to the Big Ten, which owns three-straight national titles, but his teams drive the marketplace. For what it’s worth, the SEC owns the most preseason ranked teams as well with nine apiece in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25.
2. Burke Magnus, ESPN President of ContentWhy he is on the list: Magnus has been key in empowering another member on this list — ESPN talent Pat McAfee — as a central component of the network’s long-running, college football trendsetter GameDay. That program remains the barometer for all college pre- and post-game shows.
1. Tony Petitti, Big Ten commissionerWhy he is on the list: By any rational metric across the past three seasons, Petitti’s conference reigns supreme: Three College Football Playoff titles from three teams and a record $1.37 billion being distributed to the conference’s 18 members. Plus, he's been the fly in the ointment regarding CFP expansion, digging his heels in on a 24-team tournament.
Our panel of experts from the USA TODAY Network who decided on this ranking included national college football writers Matt Hayes, Blake Toppmeyer and John Brice, USA TODAY sports writers Paul Myerberg, Brent Schrotenboer and Eddie Timanus, Adam Cole (Auburn, Montgomery Advertiser) and USA TODAY Sports deputy college sports editor Erick Smith.
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football's 25 most powerful people: From Congress to ESPN to the SEC
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