Playoff committee adds new members

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IRVING, Texas (AP) — Former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Robert Morris University President Chris Howard have been added to the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The three new members will begin three-year terms next season. College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock also announced in a statement Tuesday that Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt will return next season as the committee chairman and his term will run through February 2018.

Beamer, Smith and Howard replace Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. Alvarez and Rice completed three-year terms this past season. Carr resigned from the committee during last season, his first on the panel, because of health issues.

Hancock also announced that the term for former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson will extend through February 2019.

Beamer retired after the 2015 season, his 29th as Virginia Tech’s head coach. He went 238-121-2 with the Hokies and led them to 23 consecutive bowl appearances.

Smith is in his 12th year as athletic director at Ohio State after serving as AD at Arizona State, Eastern Michigan and Iowa State. He also played and coached football for Notre Dame in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The 46-year-old Howard is one of the youngest university presidents in the country. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former starting running back for the Falcons football team. Howard was a Rhodes scholar, attending Oxford University from 1991-94.

“All three played college football. And they will continue the CFP tradition of committee members with high integrity and a passion for college football,” Hancock said in a statement.

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