KU Jayhawks athletic director Travis Goff keeping options open after Big 12 shakeup

Kansas athletic director Travis Goff said Friday was “clearly a good day for the Big 12” in announcing four new members, but he remained noncommittal when it came to KU’s potentially pursuing other leagues in the future.

Goff, who spoke to reporters at Brooks Stadium about a half-hour before KU’s road football game against Coastal Carolina, was asked whether Friday’s Big 12 news potentially stops other conversations while pursuing what’s best for KU.

“No. The beauty of it is, is when you think about being focused on what’s best for Kansas, that applies to anything we do,” Goff said. “It applies to conference affiliation. It applies to what we’re trying to achieve in our programs. It applies to the financial strength. It applies to fans and alumni engagement.

“And so regardless of all those dynamics, we stay centered and I believe more focused on what’s best for KU. What’s best for KU should be what drives us forward in whatever environment it is.”

Goff went on to speak about the importance of KU improving its stock in football before circling back to talk about the athletic department’s future.

“What’s best for Kansas doesn’t change regardless of conference discussion or speculation,” Goff said. “It’s still what’s best for KU, and it still puts us in the most positive, strengthened position we can be in the league we’re in most importantly, and for all the unknowns that are out there.”

Goff also was later asked if the Big 12 adding four teams “doesn’t close the door” on KU looking at something different in the future for conference play.

“Two months ago, nobody knew what was happening. So for us, it’s all about what we know. And what we know is we’ve got to get better in a variety of fashions,” Goff said. “And we have the most potential I think — I’m biased — but I think as much or more potential as any other A5 (Automatic 5), Power Five athletics program in the country. So that’s where we’re focused.”

Goff wasn’t shy about discussing the potential negative budget ramifications that will come from the league losing Texas and Oklahoma.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said last month that — prior to adding new teams — KU and the other seven remaining schools could expect to earn about $14 million less per year in television revenue without the Sooners and Longhorns.

“We’re less secure now than we were eight weeks ago, and maybe significantly financially less secure,” Goff said. “The facts are there’s most likely a scenario where when we do a new deal with a makeup where we likely can’t stay at the level we’re at. And I think that’s pretty well documented. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, the value that Texas and OU brought.”

Goff said KU needed to strengthen itself financially in two ways. The first was better football, which he said “frankly should be the primary driver of any athletic program.”

The second part, he said, would be a focus on fundraising.

“The reality is, this is another reminder that we need to be stronger in a variety of ways,” Goff said. “We need to be stronger in football. We need to be stronger in our philanthropic support of our programs via gifts from alumni supporters out there. We need to do more to enhance the fan experience at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, there’s no question about that.

“So as I think back over the last couple months, I think it’s been a really healthy, productive exercise and a chance for us to take an even harder look in the mirror. What does Kansas need to do to be positioned for whatever?”

Earlier, Goff lauded the additions of BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to the conference, saying “I really think there was no question about who the right four were” based on those programs’ football teams, markets and fan bases.

“It’s clearly a good day for the Big 12, in terms of having alignment and taking a position of strength,” Goff said. “In other words, just to oversimplify, it wasn’t an option for the Big 12 to sit idle, and to not act and to not solidify itself as much as you can in this uncertain environment. That’s what today does, is it signals strength. It signals clarity about a future path.”

Goff also gave credit to Bowlsby.

“It was a really, relatively obvious four (teams), and it was a really, relatively obvious strategy. But the thing is, it still had to be executed,” Goff said. “And the commissioner deserves a ton of credit for having that strength, having that clarity, being able to bring together presidents and chancellors so there wasn’t going to be any misalignment or any question about the path forward.”