Former NCAA men’s basketball director Bill Hancock has been named as the first executive director of the Bowl Championship Series.

BCS coordinator and Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford made the announcement Tuesday.

Hancock, who has been working as an administrator and spokesman for the BCS since 2005, will replace the BCS coordinator, starting next year. The coordinator position has rotated on a two-year basis among conference commissioners since the BCS was implemented in 1998.

Swofford’s two-year term as coordinator will end January 7 after the BSC championship game.

BCS officials say the executive director position was required because the duties are more than a commissioner can handle on a part-time basis.

“With the continued growth and interest in the BCS, it became evident to all of us that an executive director was necessary to coordinate what has become a full-time slate of daily responsibilities,” Swofford said.

Big East Conference Commissioner John Marinatto would have been next in line to take over the role of BCS coordinator.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to move into this new role,” Hancock said in a statement. “I love the special place college football occupies in our society and I am proud of the great benefits the BCS has brought to student-athletes, college football fans and others. It’s an honor to be working on behalf of this wonderful game.”

Hancock became director of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in 1989 and remained in that role for 13 years. He also worked for the Big Eight Conference.