Chris Del Conte named one of "college football's most powerful people" by USA TODAY

What do the president of the United States, a federal district judge, Power Conference commissioners, Deion Sanders, and Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte have in common? They were all named to USA Today’s list of the most powerful people in college football on Wednesday.

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Del Conte, who is approaching a decade as Texas’ athletic director, was No. 17 on the list. He was one of two athletic directors on the list along with Notre Dame’s Pete Bevacqua.

Here’s what USA Today had to say about Del Conte.

Oversees a department that generated the most total operating revenue nationally in fiscal year 2024 at $331.9 million with $325 million in operating expenses. Helped spearhead Texas going to the SEC where it started league play in 2024. That move set off a round of conference realignment.

Money and realignment are big deals, but so too are the successes the Texas athletics department has seen over the past few years. The Longhorns have won four of the last five Learfield Directors’ Cups, and Texas football’s successes in 2023 and 2024 have been pivotal to those victories. Del Conte’s athletic department dismissed Tom Herman in 2021 and hired Steve Sarkisian shortly thereafter. In the years since, the Texas football program has risen to become national title contender thanks to dogged efforts to support the program via Del Conte.

Texas has renovated its home stadium, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, and is in the process of building a brand new indoor practice facility for the football program.

As USA Today mentioned, the move to the SEC put a name-brand athletic department into one of two name-brand conferences in college football. Texas had thought of itself as a mover and a shaker in the Big 12. While it has taken a more muted stance and fallen into line with its conference mates in most matters that affect the sport, Texas’ voice is a loud one when it comes to the issues facing college sports and college football, and Del Conte is the one usually doing the speaking.

Other names on the list relevant to Texas, whether that’s referring to the state, university, or the Longhorn athletic department, include SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, ESPN president on content Burke Magnus, agent Jimmy Sexton, Texas Tech board of regents chairman Cody Campbell, Learfield CEO Cole Gahagan, Turnkey ZRG managing director Chad Chatlos, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

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On3 | Rivals founder and CEO Shannon Terry was also on the list, one of a handful of media members to earn recognition.

Top 25

1. Greg Sankey, SEC commissioner
2. Burke Magnus, ESPN president, content
3. Tony Petitti, Big Ten commissioner
4. Mark Silverman, Fox Sports president and COO
5. Steve Berman/Jeffrey Kessler, antitrust attorneys
6. Claudia Wilken, federal judge
7. Pete Bevacqua, Notre Dame athletics director
8. Brett Yormark, Big 12 commissioner
9. Rick Cordella, NBC Sports president
10. Jimmy Sexton, agent to coaches
11. Donald Trump, United States president
12.  Jim Phillips, ACC commissioner
13.  Mark Keenum, Mississippi State president
14. Cody Campbell, Texas Tech booster and board of regents chair
15. Cole Gahagan, Learfield CEO 
16.  Dave Brown, Gridiron founder and president
17.  Chris Del Conte, Texas athletics director
18. Nick Saban, ESPN analyst and retired coach
19.  Chad Chatlos, Turnkey ZRG search firm managing director
20.  Ted Cruz, U.S. senator, R-Texas
21. Deion Sanders, Colorado coach
22. Bryan Seeley, College Sports Commission CEO
23. Shannon Terry, founder of On3 Sports, 247 Sports and Rivals
24. Kirby Smart, Georgia coach
25. Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN personality