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Last Updated on August 1, 2014
Last October, I had the opportunity to tour the new College Football Playoff office. The Summit at Las Colinas is a fairly run-of-the-mill high-rise office tower located on the outskirts of Dallas in Irving. Nothing on the outside of the building would alert you that the most powerful entity in college football is housed inside its walls. There’s no big flashy sign. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I was at the right building (my GPS did actually lead me to a building across the highway first).
Stepping inside the lobby, you could imagine looking for the name of your doctor on the directory next to the elevator. There were the same assortment of businesses you probably have in your own office building. As a college football fan and analyst, I felt a rush of nerves being so close to the epicenter of it all, but no one else in the lobby seemed moved by the CFP’s presence in the building. Like the outside of the building, there was nothing inside the building shouting that this is the home of the CFP.
I took the elevator up and entered the office itself, and I was stunned. The CFP doesn’t even command its own floor, it only occupies a partial floor. There was a simple wooden desk for the receptionist and the CFP logo on the wall above it. That’s it. I’ve worked in law firms with grander entrances.
There was a pretty cool football design in the floor of the reception area, but as you’ll see in the slideshow below, the CFP office is a fairly normal business office. Sure, maybe they’ve got some great graphics on the walls featuring the national championship contenders and football helmets in the kitchen, but it’s just office space. After having visited numerous athletic departments and been treated to some pretty highly-orchestrated displays – think lighting effects and fight songs that are motion-detecting and begin as you enter the locker room – I was surprised the CFP office didn’t make a statement. Actually, I guess it did make a statement. It went something like this: Hello, I’m an office. People work here. Oh yeah, our work happens to involve college football.
If you’ve ever had the chance to meet Bill Hancock, you probably won’t be surprised that the CFP office is a fairly simple, functional space. If you haven’t had that opportunity, check out our latest Saturday Millionaires podcast for an interview with Hancock where he discusses everything from his policy that a real person answer all incoming calls during business hours to his 24-hour email response policy…and of course, his dog named “Dog” (pictured in the slideshow).
You can also check out some pictures from my office tour:
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