Five most powerful people in the SEC

The Southeastern Conference will hold its annual spring meetings this week in Florida. The SEC likes to think of itself as the most powerful conference in college sports, and the income injection from the SEC Network probably makes that the case. But who are the most powerful people in the league? Here’s our top five:

Greg Sankey

commissioner

The still-new SEC commissioner, Sankey was ranked the sixth-most powerful person in collegiate sports by Forbes.com in a 2015 ranking. Sankey, 51, has a “smartest guy in the room” vibe, and often is. He is the SEC’s eighth commissioner. Sankey unveiled a bold vision for the already powerful league when he took over last year. Now he has to make good on it.

Harris Pastides

USC president

In his eighth year as South Carolina’s president, Pastides has quickly and quietly risen to one of the positions of power in the NCAA. He is in his second year as chairman of the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors, which gives him plenty of sway in the presidents’ room. Considering the final decisions are made in that room, that puts Pastides right in the thick of things.

Jeremy Foley

Florida athletics director

Foley is as much a fixture in the league as anyone, which gives him a slight edge over Arkansas’ Jeff Long (the chairman of the first College Football Playoff selection committee) as the go-to AD. He has been the Gators athletics director since 1992. Foley didn’t hire Steve Spurrier, but he did hire Billy Donovan, who made the Gators a basketball powerhouse.

Nick Saban

Alabama football coach

Based strictly on the Golden Rule (“He who has the gold, makes the rules.”), Saban is the most powerful man in the league. His $7.1 million salary makes him the highest-paid person in the SEC and the highest-paid college football coach in the country. Saban’s presence influences the rule book (the bump rule), and his voice carries as much weight as any coach in the league.

John Calipari

Kentucky basketball coach

The second-highest paid coach in the league doesn’t work on grass. Calipari makes $6.6 million a year and is the only person now in the league who gives the SEC some basketball legitimacy. While the rest of the coaches are talking about how to get more teams in the NCAA Tournament, Calipari likely will be texting with his next top-ranked recruiting class.

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 2:53 PM.