Report: Kevin Warren had low approval within Big Ten

Dec 4, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren during the Michigan Wolverines game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Warren left the Big Ten this week to take a job with the Chicago Bears, and it does not sound like many within the conference were sad to see the former commissioner go.

Warren has been named the president and CEO of the Bears. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Big Ten “made no tangible push to keep him” after word surfaced that he was interested in the NFL front office job. That is because Warren’s approval rating with conference athletic directors was low at the time of his exit.

After Warren took the Bears job, the Big Ten issued a statement thanking him for his service and the “pivotal” role he played in expanding the conference from 14 to 16 teams. One of the issues school and conference officials had with Warren is that he did not want to stop there. Thamel says Warren’s attempts to continue expanding the conference “went against the wishes of the league’s most powerful universities and stakeholders.”

The Big Ten was in favor of adding USC and UCLA, but further expansion would mean more mouths to feed. Adding more teams would only dilute the money schools had to share.

All of that was likely a factor in why Warren wanted to return to the NFL. The 59-year-old was an NFL executive before he became commissioner of the Big Ten in 2020. His most recent job in the league was as CEO of the Minnesota Vikings from 2015-2019.