National Football Foundation

Tom Burnett was the longest-tenured commissioner in the history of the Southland Conference, serving in the role from December 2002 through March 2022. He has served on the NFF's Awards Committee since 2016, which, among its many roles, annually selects the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and the Campbell Trophy® recipient.
 
Burnett led a successful community-wide effort to bring the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game to the Southland's home base of Frisco, Texas, as the league has served as the host conference for the national title contest at Toyota Stadium since 2011.  The NCAA has subsequently renewed the agreement three times to keep the championship game in Frisco minimally through the 2025 event.
 
Television exposure for the Southland Conference grew exponentially under his watch with the expansion of national and regional coverage, including the Southland's broadcast agreement with ESPN Networks that provides nearly 300 national broadcasts annually. The ESPN relationship was most recently extended through 2024-25. In 2014, the Southland became the first FCS conference to implement full NCAA football instant replay for all home games.
 
Prior to joining the Southland, Burnett spent nearly 11 years in numerous roles with the Sun Belt Conference in New Orleans, including stints as associate and assistant commissioner and director of communications. He also held roles at the American South Conference and Louisiana Tech. A native of Houston, Burnett is a 1988 graduate of Louisiana Tech.
 
"Tom Burnett has been a strong advocate for football and the NFF throughout his long tenure at the Southland Conference," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "He has contributed greatly as a member of the NFF's Awards Committee, selecting the best-of-the-best college football players as NFF National Scholar-Athletes. And his work in getting the FCS Championship Game to Frisco was monumental. We are happy that he continues to support the Southland Conference and the game in a consultant role. We salute him for his amazing run as commissioner."