BRET GILLILAND
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
Serving as the Mountain West Conference Deputy Commissioner is Bret Gilliland, who has 24 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, 21 of which have been at the conference level. He was one of the original staff members, as Associate Commissioner, when the Conference began operations in 1999, and was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 2005.
Gilliland coordinates the MWC staff, oversees all aspects of the Conference's football operations and is the primary liaison for football television. He also works closely with the MWC Board of Directors, Directors of Athletics and Joint Council. With the assistance of key staff members, Gilliland has guided the adoption of Internet video exchange by the MWC member institution football programs for the 2007 season, as well as orchestrated the implementation of an enhanced instant replay equipment system.
Gilliland came to Colorado from Indianapolis where he served in various capacities with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League), concluding his tenure there as the senior associate commissioner. In that role he was responsible for television, corporate sponsorship and day-to-day staff guidance. During his 12 1/2 years on the MCC staff, Gilliland held positions in all facets of league activities, including communications, compliance, championships and marketing.
Concluding a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee in September 2007, Gilliland has been active professionally. He is a past president of the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame and remains a member of the organization's Board of Directors. Gilliland is also a past chair of the NCAA Honors Committee and trained as a peer reviewer in the NCAA Athletics Certification program. He recently served as a member of the Collegiate Commissioners Association Subcommittee on the Standardization of the Administration of Instant Replay.
Gilliland played major roles in the administration of several NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship events in Indianapolis, including six first-/second-round tournaments and three Final Fours. He participated in the staffing of the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball first and second round tournament in Denver, and has responsibilities for the first and second round tournament that will return to the Pepsi Center in March, 2008. In addition, Gilliland has been involved in NCAA baseball, men's soccer and women's volleyball championships, numerous bowl games and the 1987 Pan American Games.
A 1984 graduate of Iowa State University, Gilliland earned his B.S. in Journalism and Mass Communication, where he graduated with distinction and started his career as a student assistant in the Iowa State sports information office. Prior to joining the MCC office as the director of communications in 1986, Gilliland served as an assistant sports information director at Kansas State University. He continued his studies with The Sports Management Institute Executive Program and graduated from that program in 1992.
A native of Adel, Iowa, Gilliland now resides in the Briargate section of Colorado Springs with his wife Leah, also an Iowa State graduate, and the couple's three children - daughters Morgan (13) and Macy (10), and son Brock (6).
