Baylor AD Mack Rhoades takes leave of absence, steps down as CFP chair

ESPN is going to have to find somebody new to talk to on its College Football Playoff rankings reveal show on Tuesday nights.

According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, in addition to taking a leave of absence as Baylor’s athletic director, Mack Rhoades is also stepping down from his role as the College Football Playoff’s chairman. Per Dinich, the CFP committee is working on naming a new chair, whose responsibilities include leading the committee’s deliberations, setting up the agenda and serving as a public spokesperson alongside executive director Rich Clark.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Dinich reported that it is expected that Rhoades will be replaced with an active Big 12 athletic director who has previously served on the College Football Playoff selection committee.

While Rhoades didn’t specify the reason for his leave of absence and departure from the CFP committee, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reports that Baylor has confirmed it received allegations against the 60-year-old AD earlier this week. The allegations reportedly don’t involve Title IX, student welfare or NCAA rules, indicating that they are separate from the school’s previous investigation into Rhoades regarding a sideline incident involving a Baylor football player and coach that Outkick.com first broke the news of last week.

According to the school, the investigation into the incident — in which Rhoades allegedly confronted Bears tight end Michael Trigg regarding the color of his undershirt during a game — is considered closed.

Rhoades’ departure as CFP chairman makes him the second committee member to leave in as many months after Randall McDaniel stepped down for personal reasons in October. That leaves the 13-person selection committee with 11 active members and in need of a new chairman with less than a month to go until the College Football Playoff’s 12-team field is officially announced on Sunday, Dec. 7.