Kansas AD Travis Goff holds court at Big 12 football media days on conference realignment, more

ARLINGTON, Texas — As Travis Goff spoke Wednesday, on the field at AT&T Stadium during the Big 12 Conference’s media days for football, he looked back on what he felt like a year ago as Kansas’ athletic director.

At that time, Goff was merely a rookie who was only a matter of months into his tenure with the Jayhawks. It’s as if he was still unpacking his bags and figuring things out. When the news broke last year that Texas and Oklahoma were leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, the effect of that hit closer to home than the recent news that USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big Ten Conference.

This go-round, now that Goff has been Kansas’ athletic director for more than a year, he has more confidence in where the Big 12 is at and what it stands for. He’s seen what it had to live through. Although there is the loss of Texas and Oklahoma, he's seen the progress that comes with adding four schools next year in Central Florida, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston.

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So, his reaction to the whirlwind of the past couple weeks hasn’t been what it could have been a year ago.

“The reaction was one of a little bit more steadiness, felt certainly more stable, more confidence in where the conference was at and where the conference was going,” Goff said. “And then, ultimately, then there’s … forever that part of you that lives in this state of kind of paranoia, concern, about what other dominoes, what other chips could fall that could impact the league or impact other leagues that could then have a ripple effect.

"So, it’s kind of living in both those spaces simultaneously.”

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And as Goff continued to live in that space, there were three main topics he addressed in varying levels of detail. One, of course, was where things are going moving forward with conference realignment. The other two, had to do with the potential football stadium renovations for Kansas and the NCAA infractions case concerning the Jayhawks’ men’s basketball program.

What’s Kansas’ place in the conference realignment picture?

When Goff hears the Big 12’s incoming commissioner, Brett Yormark, say the conference is open for business when it comes to realignment, he thinks that goes to the confidence and energy the league has with the four schools it’s able to add after learning it would lose two.

Goff sees a new commissioner with a new vision, with some knowledge gained because of what’s occurred over the past year. Goff added he feels there’s no reason the Big 12 shouldn’t feel confident with where it’s at.

“(Yormark) says it well, ‘Open for business,’ which just means a variety of things get to be in consideration,” Goff said. “And I love the way he’s gone about establishing relationships with other commissioners, partners, exploring really all options. Because ultimately you can have a particular strategy in mind, but a twist and a turn can change that real quickly.

"So, you need to know what other options are out there.”

More: The Big 12 Media Days event will be held on Wednesday and Thursday. Here's how you can watch.

At the moment, it appears as if whatever the Big 12 ends up doing it would be trying to end up third behind the SEC and Big Ten if there was a ranking of conferences. Goff doesn’t think it’s up for debate, that there’s separation between everyone else and the SEC and Big Ten.

So, whether it’s financially or through something like brand reputation, the future for the Big 12 in Goff’s mind is about doing what’s possible to be in that spot.

Goff pointed to Yormark’s background, experience and passion as characteristics that make Yormark the person to lead the Big 12 there. Goff cited the newcomer’s ability to work on partnerships and think from an innovative perspective. There’s no doubt, Goff explained, that Yormark is delivering early on.

“While we don’t sit there talking about, ‘What does it look like to be the clear-cut three?’ I think we all feel like that’s maybe where the opportunity lies as you forecast out,” Goff said.

Maybe that future doesn’t see the Big 12 at the 12 members it’ll be at, once the four incoming programs arrive and Texas and Oklahoma finally leave. Maybe it doesn’t see the Big Ten or SEC sitting at 16 teams. Goff doesn’t think anyone should be naïve to be certain things are going to settle down, but he also thinks it’s possible this current moment won’t necessarily be as Earth-shattering as people might think.

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Whatever happens, Goff expressed confidence that Kansas will be in a positive position. That’s if things look like how they do today, with conference realignment, or if they look profoundly different five years from now.

Goff said if Kansas takes care of what it needs to, it’ll have a football program to be reckoned with to go along with its men’s basketball program. That holds up anywhere, he said, and he did respond to a direct question about whether or not the Jayhawks would consider moving to another conference.

“The beauty of it is, you get to live where your feet are, and for us that is right here comfortably and confidently in the Big 12,” Goff said. “And we’ve got a lot of work to do at our own place. We’ve got our own kind of backyard, front porch to take care of before we worry about other neighbors or neighborhoods. And that’s where we’re focused, and we’re glad to be doing it at a conference that has stability and has strength.”

What’s been reinforced to Goff, through the realignment waves, is there are positives Kansas can point to and negatives the Jayhawks have to own and address. The positives, have to do with the institution’s academic standing, brand value and storied men’s basketball program.

The negatives, have to do with a football program that needs to improve, a football program that spent about a decade floundering and a football program with a stadium that’s in need of an upgrade.

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Is a stadium renovation plan coming soon, for Kansas football?

Goff saw the announcement of the major facilities project concerning the Texas Tech football program that was announced recently. He said it’s a good thing for everyone in the Big 12 and nationally, because it’s an example of how everyone should continue to invest in their programs and not sit idly by.

And for Kansas, Goff said, it’s a really good thing because he’s hoping it gives them more momentum and energy around the investments the Jayhawks are looking to make.

“It’s another reminder that you’re going to — if we sit idle, we know what that will look like,” Goff said. “If you don’t do what you have to do at your place, that can move the needle in day-to-day for the student-athletes, for the football program, you’re going to step backward. If you don’t do something that makes a statement within your own league and nationally, that something’s different at your particular place, then that matters as well.”

Goff was adamant that it is something that he can speak to in conversations with donors and others. For one, there’s the reality that the conference realignment landscape is being driven pretty major by football. While it may take time for Jayhawks football coach Lance Leipold to build up the program, as Leipold’s only in year two, Goff said Kansas can demonstrate the strength of the program with facilities and that they must do that without hesitation in “reasonably short order.”

More: 3 questions worth considering as Kansas basketball prepares for 2022-23 season

Now, Goff hasn’t held his role for much more than a year, so it could be more difficult to speed the process of assembling the plan up. But Goff expressed confidence as well in the way they’re progressing through their process, being thoughtful, exploring multiple options and evaluating them with key partners. He wants something that isn’t a short-sighted rush, but something that looks 25-plus years into the future.

“That’s the immediate path we’re on, with the right leadership, with the right buy-in, the chancellor fully grasping the importance of that aspect, our other stakeholders, donors and others really embracing that this is a critical juncture in that particular realm,” Goff said. "A year ago when I was just getting settled in at KU, I was very optimistic. I knew the facility and in particular the stadium had to be something that we made a profound statement and profound investment in.

"We are significantly ahead of where I thought we’d be a year ago, in terms of where we are today.”

Should a resolution to Kansas men’s basketball’s NCAA infractions case be expected anytime soon?

As the Wednesday portions of the Big 12’s football media days concluded, there had been no further update to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process case timeline for the case concerning the men’s basketball program than the entries through March 30. Goff said earlier that he, unfortunately, had nothing new to reveal himself.

So, the thought of the potential that this could still be around when the men’s basketball season begins starts to emerge. Goff acknowledged the potential of that, although he said he didn’t have any information that told them either way.

More: IARP case timeline concerning Kansas Jayhawks updated with entries through March 30

It’s a case that dates back to 2019, when the NCAA leveled accusations of five Level I violations against Kansas’ men’s basketball team. Lack of institutional control and alleged head coach responsibility, were both mentioned. Jayhawks head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend were highlighted in those accusations, in addition to others, and have disputed them. Kansas’ case was referred to the IARP on July 1, 2020, when the Infractions Referral Committee granted that move.

“I’ve been hopeful, that in 2022 we were going to be able to move past that," Goff said. "And we’re halfway home on 2022, so it remains to be seen.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas AD talks conference realignment at Big 12 football media days