Arkansas State University's Terry Mohajir will join the College Football Playoff selection committee this spring, becoming the first athletic director from a Group of 5 school be added to the 13-member panel governing college football's playoff system.
Mohajir, along with new members College Football Hall of Fame Coach R.C. Slocum and former United States Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno will serve three-year terms.
"I'm proud and thrilled to serve our great game of football," Mohajir said. "College football has done so much for me personally and given me lots of opportunities in my life, I'm proud to give back."
Outgoing committee members Jeff Bower, Herb Deromedi and Bobby Johnson, all former collegiate head coaches, will see their terms expire in February.
University of Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens will remain the committee's chairman for a second consecutive season. His term will expire in February 2020.
Mohajir will become the sixth athletic director on the committee -- one from each of the Power 5 conferences and himself.
"He's not a representative of the Group of 5. He's not a representative of the Sun Belt. He's an individual that when he goes into the room, he's Terry Mohajir, football expert," Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said.
According to the CFP's website, the selection committee's responsibilities are to rank the top 25 college football teams, assign the top four to CFP semifinal spots, assign teams to New Year's bowls, create competitive matchups, attempt to avoid rematches of regular-season games and repeat appearances in specific bowls and consider geography.
"We are pleased to welcome Terry to the group," said CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock. "He has always been a true champion for the sport of college football. He will be a terrific committee member."
At a glance
College Football Playoff selection committee members
NOTE Members with Arkansas ties listed in BOLD
Rob Mullens, University of Oregon athletic director, chairman
Frank Beamer, former Virginia Tech head coach
Paolo Boivin, Arizona State University professor
Joe Castiglione, University of Oklahoma athletic director
Ken Hatfield, former head coach at 4 schools, including Arkansas
Chris Howard, Robert Morris University president
Ronnie Lott, former University of Southern California All-American
Terry Mohajir, Arkansas State University athletic director
Ray Odierno, former United States Army chief of staff
R.C. Slocum, former head coach
Gene Smith, Ohio State University athletic director
Todd Stansbury, Georgia Tech athletic director
Scott Stricklin, University of Florida athletic director
Mohajir, ASU's athletic director since September 2012, is the current chairman of the Sun Belt Conference Athletic Directors Committee and was appointed as the conference's representative on the inaugural CFP Athletics Directors Advisory Group.
Mohajir also has held roles on the NCAA Division I Championships Cabinet, the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee and the NCAA Division I Football Ad-Hoc Recruiting Working Group.
A former defensive back at ASU from 1988-91, Mohajir served as graduate assistant coach and assistant offensive line/game-day special teams coach for Kansas from 1993-96.
Mohajir's career shifted to administrative roles once he left Kansas in 1997 and became an assistant athletics director at Missouri-Kansas City from 1997-2004. Mohajir served as a senior associate athletics director at Florida Atlantic University and Kansas prior to becoming ASU's athletic director in 2012.
"I have said many times that Terry is among the finest athletics directors in the country, and this appointment is continued recognition of that fact," ASU Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said. "The decision to place him on the CFP selection committee speaks volumes about his reputation in his industry and across the country. I could not be prouder of this latest accomplishment for Terry."
Sports on 01/17/2019