Casey Fox has spent nearly three decades learning the landscape of college athletics, and now that experience takes him into the room where the FCS playoff picture begins to take shape. As a member of the national selection committee, the Tennessee Tech athletic director will bring a perspective shaped by stops across multiple conferences and regions.
Tennessee Tech Athletic Director Casey Fox is joining the FCS Champion Selection Committee to help determine the field for the national football playoffs.
Tennessee Tech Athletic Director Casey Fox said each Football Championship Subdivision conference receives one representative on the selection committee. Fox said he reached out to the conference commissioner to be considered for the role after the previous representative from the Southern Conference, Mark Wharton, finished his term.
“It’s one of those things that as you get into the industry and you start seeing how it works, then you’re not sure if you’ve ever will have the opportunity and it came about this year and so it was presented to me and I was like, ‘Absolutely, I’d love to be a part of that,” Fox said.
Fox said the committee is responsible for selecting the best 24 teams in the subdivision for the playoff bracket. Fox said the workload involves watching two to five “cutup” games each week provided by the NCAA, which are condensed into 30 to 40 minutes each.
“I’ve worked really at the FCS level for the past 10 years. My time at Montana State prior to coming here at Tennessee Tech and seeing the process, it’s a great playoff,” Fox said. “It really is a great playoff format.”
Fox said he is specifically assigned to monitor the Northeast Conference. Fox said he conducts a check-in with that conference every Tuesday as part of his committee responsibilities.
“I think just kind of my perspective and background, being at different FCS schools, different conferences. I’ve worked in college athletics since the late 90s, so almost 30 years,” Fox said. “Just kind of perspective from around the country, I haven’t just been at one place so I kind of have a, you know, a national perspective so to speak.”
Fox said his experience includes time in the OVC and the Big Sky Conference in addition to his current work in the Southern Conference. Fox said that while he must remain impartial and leave the room when Tennessee Tech is discussed, he brings a regional point of view to the selection process.
“My role as athletic director at Tennessee Tech’s first and foremost,” Fox said. “And then this fits in when I can, so to speak. I’m doing meetings over lunch, trying to do it before work, watch stuff at home. At the end of the day, when I get a chance and take notes and then steal 30 minutes here or there and watch a quick game, I’ll do that.”
Fox said he balances the extra work by watching games and taking notes during his time or between his primary duties.
“It’s more work and that’s okay,” Fox said. “It’s exciting, it’s fun to be part of something like this and that’s why I wanted to do that and have a chance to be part of it.”
