Big East Commissioner Marinatto Resigns Post

College sports Big East Conference has lost it commissioner John Marinatto, price who has stepped down from his role.

The Big East lost the linchpin members Syracuse, view Pittsburgh and West Virginia in the past year, abortion and Marinatto has scrambled to keep the conference together. Marinatto, who has been commissioner for less than three years after replacing Mike Tranghese, has been in discussions with the president of the universities in the Big East for the past few weeks about departing.

He called the last seven months a marathon, and said he was looking forward to taking some time to recharge.

“All endings are sad,” Marinatto said. “But there’s a beginning. I’m sure that it’ll be positive in the end. I feel good about where we’re leaving it after going through what we went through and proud of what we’re able to accomplish in part over the last seven months.”

Marinatto will be replaced on an interim basis by Joe Bailey, a former chief executive of the Miami Dolphins and chief operating officer of the World League, an international football league supported by the N.F.L. The Big East is expected to act quickly to find Marinatto’s replacement. The league finds itself in a tenuous position, with the change in leadership occurring at a time when changes to the Bowl Championship Series seem imminent and with a television contract negotiation looming this fall.

Marinatto also expressed his disappointment in the actions of the conference members who decided to depart in the last year.

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted the things that happened in the last 36 months with realignment and how disappointing it is to find people who you trust and had relationships with suddenly become untrustworthy,” he said. “It’s discouraging and disappointing and it’s not part of what you think intercollegiate athletics or higher education is about.”

Less than a year ago, at Big East media days, the league was brimming with optimism about a television deal that could surpass the one held by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now it has lost three key members and expanded to 13 teams in football — including Boise, San Diego State and Navy for football only. It also added Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and Southern Methodist in all sports.