Vikings COO named the Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference

Current Minnesota Vikings Chief Operating Officer Kevin Warren was named the new Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday.

During the current offseason, the biggest departure for the Minnesota Vikings has probably been defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. But after Tuesday, the Vikings are losing an even bigger part of their organization.

On Tuesday, it was announced that current Minnesota Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Warren, has been named the new Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. Warren will take over the role previously held by Jim Delany, who announced he would be stepping down from the position in March.

Delany was the Commissioner of the Big Ten for more than 30 years and under his leadership, the conference grew into one of the most powerful in all of college sports.

Warren has a tough task ahead of him to maintain the growth of the Big Ten. But what he was able to do for the Vikings during his time with the franchise exhibits that he should have no problem helping the conference progress even further.

Warren began his association with Minnesota in 2005 when he served as the legal representation for the Wilf family during their purchase of the franchise. The Wilf’s were impressed enough with his work that they ended up hiring him as the Vikings’ Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs.

In 2015, Minnesota promoted Warren to be their Chief Operating Officer, making him the first African-American COO in NFL history. During his time with the Vikings, he played a vital role in the development and construction of both U.S. Bank Stadium and the TCO Performance Center among other things.

Warren’s work as Minnesota’s COO has helped turn the team into one of the most valuable franchise’s in the league and now his focus will be on making the Big Ten the best conference in high-level college sports.