College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock will retire effective, Feb. 1, 2025, he announced Wednesday.
"My time at the CFP has been a dream come true," said Hancock, 72. "I cherish what I do and the folks I get to work with. And I do love college football. Now I will run through the tape, as the track coaches say, and then I will enjoy whatever next steps are waiting for Nicki and me."
Hancock started in college athletics as a sports information director at Oklahoma in 1971 and by 1989 was the director of the Division I men's basketball tournament, a position he held through 2002. In 2009 he transitioned that experience into a role as the first executive director of the BCS, which then became the executive director of the Playoff upon the system's creation in 2012.
The Feb. 1, 2025 retirement date will come roughly two weeks after the conclusion of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
That event will begin Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 with the first on-campus playoff game and conclude Monday, Jan. 20 with the championship game in Atlanta.
"The plan was established several years ago for me to notify the CFP Board of Managers a year in advance if I decided to step aside, in order to provide ample time to plan a smooth transition to the next executive director," Hancock said.
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