RVING, Texas (Oct. 31, 2024) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today four individuals who will be recognized with 2024 NFF Legacy Awards during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas Dec. 10 at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The NFF Legacy Awards, established in 2007, honor individuals and organizations who have made extraordinary contributions to the NFF and/or embody its mission. This year's honorees are:
 

• Mike Aresco, American Athletic Conference Commissioner
• Jon Butler, Pop Warner Little Scholars Executive Director
• Tom Cove, Sports & Fitness Industry Association President and CEO
• Tom McMillen, LEAD1 Association President & CEO

 
The NFF Legacy Award recognizes individuals who have never failed to answer a call of support from the NFF, and they have distinguished themselves as the most ardent proponents of football's unique ability to develop the next generation of great leaders.
 
"These four individuals, Mike Aresco, Jon Butler, Tom Cove, and Tom McMillen, have each played a significant role in promoting our game and its ability to develop future leaders," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "Their firm commitment to our sport and championing the mission of the NFF has helped ensure that football continues to grow and play an expanding role across the country. It's an honor to recognize each of their contributions by recognizing them with an NFF Legacy Award."
 
 
Mike Aresco
American Athletic Conference Commissioner
 
After becoming the commissioner of the Big East Conference in August 2012, Mike Aresco reconstituted the league into the American Athletic Conference in 2013. He successfully led the league for its first 11 years before retiring in May.
 
"A visionary, Mike Aresco has played a major role in redefining the landscape of college football and intercollegiate athletics," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "His unwavering commitment to student-athlete success and his strategic foresight has ensured members of The American consistently compete on the biggest stages. Mike's influence has been felt far beyond his conference, and we are extremely grateful for his many contributions over the years."
 
During his tenure, Aresco navigated The American through a period of near-constant change in intercollegiate athletics, developing it into a national leader in competitiveness, student-athlete wellness, fiscal management, administration and branding.
 
His highly successful tenure produced four NCAA championship teams, a College Football Playoff semifinalist, four New Year's Six bowl champions, two NCAA Men's Final Four teams and six Women's Final Four teams in its first decade. Aresco secured two monumental media rights agreements with ESPN, ensuring The American would have prominent and consistent exposure on the industry leader in sports television while providing the conference financial stability for the membership.
 
The American's success contributed to the major shifts in the national landscape with UCF, Cincinnati and Houston, all of which scored New Year's Six and NCAA men's basketball tournament wins under The American's banner, joining the Big 12 and SMU moving to the ACC for the 2024 season. Aresco negotiated fair and sensible separation agreements with the departing members, but more importantly, orchestrated a strategic expansion of his own by adding like-minded universities (UAB, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UTSA as well as Army West Point as a football-playing member) to further concentrate The American's presence in key cities and regions.
 
Aresco has been a prominent leader within the College Football Playoff and was instrumental in ensuring that all 10 FBS conferences would have an annual opportunity to challenge for a New Year's Six bowl bid - a move that paid off for The American with seven New Year's Six bowls in the first nine years of the system. He played a key role in the expansion of the Playoff to 12 teams, including automatic bids for six league champions, and he served in a leadership role on a number of College Football Playoff committees, including the strategic planning, television and site selection committees and more recently, the committee to select the organization's next executive director.  

Aresco came to the conference from CBS Sports where he was Executive Vice President, Programming. Aresco joined CBS Sports from ESPN where he was responsible for overseeing the acquisition, scheduling and development of long-term strategies for all ESPN college sports properties. Aresco is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.), The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts (M.A.) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D.). He practiced law privately in Hartford, Connecticut, for several years.