Commissioner

Fred Jacoby -- In May 1996, Fred Jacoby was named the first commissioner of the American Southwest Conference. Under his guidance, the ASC has actively pursued conference membership expansion. Jacoby is the first full time commissioner of the Lone Star Conference (NCAA Division II) and has been in that position since May 1994.

He served as the Commissioner of the Southwest Conference from 1982 to his retirement in 1993, during which, Jacoby witnessed 42 of the conference’s 62 national championships in 13 different sports.

Jacoby has 47 years of experience in full-time coaching and athletics administration. His career includes 10 years on the high school coaching level, eight years as an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin and 29 years as a college commissioner -- beginning as the first commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference (1971-82), and the Southwest Conference (1982-1993).

The native of Logan, Ohio, earned degrees from Ohio State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as Chair of the National Letter of Intent Program for the longest span in history -- 20 years from 1973-1993.

Jacoby is the past president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association as well as the previous chair of such NCAA committees as Membership Structure, Postgraduate Scholarship, Research, Championship Standards and the Committee on Committees. He also has served on the NCAA Executive Committee, the Length of Season Committee and the Junior College Relations Committee in past years. (Top of Page)

Michael Ziegler -- In December 1996, Michael Ziegler came to the American Southwest Conference from Long Island, New York as an intern and was named Director of Media Relations June 1, 1997. Prior to joining the Conference, Ziegler served as a marketing intern and public relations assistant for the New York Jets Football Club from 1994-1996, assisting in press box operations and helping develop and create promotional efforts for the NFL team.

In addition to his part time duties at the Jets, the Saline, Michigan, native served as sports editor for five weekly newspapers at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, New Jersey, where he covered high school and local college athletics.

While attending Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Ziegler served as Editor in Chief and Sports Editor of the Brown and White, the student newspaper, prior to earning a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 1994. As editor, he headed the semi-weekly publication with a staff of 120 students, coordinated all sports coverage while managing a staff of 15 reporters and two assistant editors as sports editor. In the summer of 1993, he served as the assistant press officer for Gold Cup '93 in Dallas, Texas, and the following summer helped the British Broadcasting Corporation with its Dallas-based operations during World Cup '94.

Ziegler attended The American School in London from 1985-1990, and earned his high school diploma from the London, England, based school in June 1990. (Top of Page)