Bay Area Host Committee Adds Bay Area Football Legends to Executive Board
Thursday, July 26, 2018
The Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) announced on Thursday the addition of four Bay Area football legends to its executive board in support of the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship at Levi’s® Stadium. As members of the executive board, John Lynch, Steve Mariucci, and Steve Young will serve as ambassadors for the BAHC and its mission to successfully stage the national championship game on Monday, January 7th, 2019.
The BAHC and its Executive Board works with the College Football Playoff (CFP) to promote, organize, and execute the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship and its related events throughout the Bay Area. The BAHC is committed to forming a seamless partnership with the CFP and all of its stakeholders to deliver an outstanding championship experience for the student-athletes, participating institutions, media and fans.
“In hosting the 2019 CFP, the Bay Area Host Committee is working to highlight the best of what this region has to offer for the college football world and that includes adding John, Steve, and Steve to our group of contributors,” said Patricia Ernstrom, Executive Director of the Bay Area Host Committee. “With the strong connection they each have to this region and college football, we appreciate their willingness to provide their time and energy to advocate on behalf of the Bay Area and this grand event that we’re planning.”
Lynch – who will be a featured speaker at the Bay Area College Football Touchdown Tailgate presented by United on Monday, July 30th – is entering his second season as the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. After concluding his collegiate career at Stanford, Lynch played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1993-2003) and Denver Broncos (2004-07). Lynch was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection at safety and a key component in the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl XXXVII victory. He has been inducted into the Ring of Honor in both Tampa Bay and Denver. After retiring from the NFL, Lynch served as a color analyst for Fox Sports from 2009-16. In 2000, he and wife, Linda, formed the John Lynch Foundation which is committed to inspiring young people to become leaders through scholarship, sport participation and community involvement.
Mariucci, now an NFL Network analyst featured on year-round NFL coverage, coached in college or professional football for parts of four decades – including stints in the Bay Area as head coach with the San Francisco 49ers and Cal Bears. Mariucci began his coaching career at Northern Michigan, his alma matter, in 1978. After coaching 15 years in the collegiate and USFL ranks, Mariucci moved to the NFL in 1992 as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers. He began his NFL head coaching career in 1997 with the 49ers, whom he led to the playoffs in four of six seasons. Mariucci formed the Mariucci Family Foundation in 2011 to raise funds and make grants to support charitable purposes by hosting multiple annual celebrity sporting events including the “Battle of the Bay” celebrity bocce ball tournament.
Young, a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, was a three-time 49ers Super Bowl Champion and one of the most accurate quarterbacks in NFL history. Traded to the 49ers in 1987 after being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Brigham Young University, Young compiled over 30,000 passing yards and 232 touchdowns during his 12 seasons in San Francisco. The two-time NFL MVP was also named Super Bowl XXIX MVP and selected to the Pro Bowl seven times. Young earned his Juris Doctor in 1994 and serves as a managing director of Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a private equity firm that he co-founded in 2007. Young also serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance and in 1993, founded the Forever Young Foundation which serves underprivileged children by providing them with academic, athletic and therapeutic opportunities.
The Bay Area Host Committee announced 49ers CEO Jed York, 49ers President Al Guido, Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former college head coach Ty Willingham as members of its executive board in August 2017. Earlier this week, the BAHC added Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, Cal Athletic Director Jim Knowlton, Stanford Athletic Director Bernard Muir, San Jose State Athletic Director Marie Tuite.
Members of the BAHC Executive Board will provide strategic planning and communications support to the Bay Area Host Committee, helping to convey the themes of educational opportunity, regional excitement, and economic growth to the general public and key stakeholders throughout the build-up to the 2019 CFP National Championship. In addition to being involved in CFP advertising campaigns and making appearances at various BAHC and CFP Foundation events, executive board members will assist in corporate and philanthropic fundraising efforts associated with the staging of the CFP events in San Jose and Santa Clara.
