Former offensive Kansas City Chiefs striker and Professional Football Hall of Fame member Will Shields, who also won the Outland Trophy while in Nebraska, and Virginia Union athletic director Joe Taylor, one of the most winning coaches in the history of HBCU, lead five new selection committees from the College Football Playoff members announced Tuesday.
Kentucky sports director Mitch Barnhart, NC State sports director Boo Corrigan and Texas sports director Chris Del Conte, along with Shields and Taylor, will begin their three-year terms this spring on the 13-member committee .
They will replace Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, former coach Ken Hatfield, former USC All-American Ronnie Lott, Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury and Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, whose terms have expired.
“Mitch, Boo, Chris, Will and Joe will continue with the integrity that has been the trademark of the committee throughout our seven seasons,” said CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock in a prepared statement. “His knowledge, experience and character, along with his love for college football, will make the transition perfect.”
The CFP management committee, which comprises 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame sports director Jack Swarbrick, also extended the term of Iowa sports director Gary Barta as chairman of the selection committee for a second season. Barta, who has been in Iowa AD since 2006, joined the committee in January 2019 and was named its chairman a year later.
“We are pleased with Gary’s return as president,” said Hancock. “He was a valuable leader as the committee navigated a unique and challenging year. We expect him to work with the other 12 members in what we hope will be a more traditional season in 2021.”
Shields, a former consensual All-America playmaker in Nebraska, played for the Cornhuskers from 1989 to 1992 and is one of the only 16 players in school history to have his shirt retired. In 2011, Shields was included in the College Football Hall of Fame.
He was chosen by the Chiefs in the third round in the 1993 NFL draft and has never lost a game in 14 seasons, starting 231 consecutive games on the right guard and winning a team record 12 games in the Pro Bowl from 1995 to 2000. He was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Taylor, who has worked at Virginia Union since 2013, has had a 41-year career as a coach, including 30 as a head coach. During its administrative term in Richmond, the school won 15 divisional, conference and regional championships.
As a head coach, Taylor’s teams won five national black college championships, ten conference titles and made ten playoff appearances. Taylor posted a lifetime record of 233-96-4 wins and losses and ranks third in career victories in HBCU history. Taylor was nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2020. He also served as president of the American Football Coaches Association.
Barnhart, who has been Kentucky’s sports director since 2002, is the SEC’s oldest sports director and was named chairman of the SEC’s sports directors in 2017. He was also a member of the NCAA Division I basketball and baseball committees.
Corrigan, who spent eight years as a sports director in the Army, has held the same position at NC State since April 2019. He was named Athletic Director of the Year in 2017 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. While at West Point, the Army won 20 regular season championships or the Patriot League tournament and sent 14 teams into the NCAA postseason.
Del Conte was hired as Texas athletic director in December 2017, after making his name during his eight years as an AD at TCU, where he oversaw the school’s entry into the Big 12 Conference. He was also athletic director for Rice from 2006 to 2009.