Former Western Athletic Conference commissioner and Denver resident Joe Kearney, one of the most influential athletic administrators on the Front Range in his day, died Wednesday in Tucson at age 83.
Kearney ran the WAC from 1980-94, rebuilding the league with the additions of Air Force and Hawaii after the Arizona schools left for the Pac-10. Under his watch, Brigham Young became a national power and the league signed its first national TV package with a basketball agreement with ESPN.
The WAC was then a full-fledged member of the College Football Association, the BCS of its day.
Another of his major accomplishments was developing the Holiday Bowl for the WAC champion as a successor to the WAC’s Fiesta Bowl berth. Kearney also merged the WAC with the women’s High Country Athletic Conference to include men’s and women’s sports under one league.
Before coming to Denver to run the WAC, Kearney was athletic director at the University of Washington, Arizona State and Michigan State — when the Magic Johnson-led Spartans won the 1979 NCAA men’s basketball title.
Kearney moved to Tucson after retiring. He leaves his wife, Dorothea, five children and 11 grandchildren.
