AAC Retains TurnkeyZRG to Launch Search for Next Commissioner
IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has retained the services of TurnkeyZRG, a subsidiary of global search firm ZRG and the leading search firm for talent recruitment and executive placements in sports, entertainment and media, including intercollegiate athletics, to administer the search for the conference’s next commissioner.
The selection was made by The American’s Board of Directors.
In the last 36 months, TurnkeyZRG has successfully placed the president of the NCAA, the commissioners of the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC as well as dozens of athletic directors and head coaches across the landscape of college sports.
“TurnkeyZRG has distinguished itself through a number of successful searches, particularly on behalf of top Division I conferences,” said East Carolina University Chancellor Philip Rogers, Chair of The American’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to working with TurnkeyZRG to identify and hire an innovative and strategic leader for The American in this pivotal time in college athletics.”
“The American Athletic Conference has never been stronger thanks to a visionary commissioner and board,” said Len Perna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TurnkeyZRG. “We’re humbled and honored to assist and know we have big shoes to fill. College sports is undergoing unprecedented change and we see that as an incredible opportunity for the future of The American.”
American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco, who has led the conference since its formation in 2013 and has the second-longest tenure among active FBS conference commissioners, announced his retirement in December and will remain in his role through May 31.
ABOUT TURNKEYZRG
Founded in 1996, TurnkeyZRG is a highly specialized talent recruitment/executive search firm filling C-level, senior-level and mid-management level positions throughout sports, entertainment and media. Over the past 25 years, TurnkeyZRG has filled more than 1,400 positions throughout sports, entertainment, music and media. TurnkeyZRG helps teams, leagues, stadiums, arenas, theaters, college athletic departments, events, sponsors, agencies, media companies, private equity companies and other clients identify, recruit and hire the very best management talent. Turnkey now benefits from ZRG’s global footprint, full array of industry practice groups, data-driven, analytical search tools, and technology investment in changing the way executive search/talent recruiting is done. TurnkeyZRG becomes a tech-enabled disrupter of the prior executive search model.