John Swofford, who watched over the ACC while it expanded from nine to 15 schools, said Thursday he plans to retire after the 2020-21 athletic year.

Swofford, 71, is the longest-tenured of the ACC’s four commissioners, serving 24 of the conference’s 67 years. He will continue as commissioner until a successor is named and will assist with the transition as needed, the conference announced in a release.

During Swofford’s tenure, the ACC added Miami and Virginia Tech in 2004, followed by Boston College and later Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville. Those moves destroyed Big East football, but the ACC ended up with the largest geographic footprint and population among the Power 5 conferences.

Expansion opened doors for increased media rights, the ACC football championship game, a partnership with the Orange Bowl and creation of the ACC Network, with ESPN, in August 2019.

“It has been a privilege to be a part of the ACC for over five decades,” said Swofford, a former North Carolina quarterback and athletic director, in a statement. “And my respect and appreciation for those associated with the league throughout its history is immeasurable.

“Having been an ACC student-athlete, athletics director and commissioner has been an absolute honor. There are immediate challenges that face not only college athletics, but our entire country, and I will continue to do my very best to help guide the conference in these unprecedented times through the remainder of my tenure.”

Said Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in a statement: “For the University of Pittsburgh, John’s leadership has been very special. By shepherding Pitt into the ACC during the conference realignment, John gave the University an outstanding home to compete and collaborate within the storied Atlantic Coast Conference.

“As a new Chancellor coming in during this incredible period of collegiate athletics, I am grateful for John’s steady, welcoming support for Pitt. Thank you, John.”

Swofford said he and his wife, Nora, have been planning for this to be his last year as commissioner.

“I look forward to enjoying the remarkable friendships and memories I’ve been blessed with long after I leave this chair,” he said.

During Swofford’s tenure, the ACC has won 92 national team titles in 19 of the league’s 27 sponsored sports.

“John Swofford, in his historic tenure, has come to embody the very best of the ACC,” said Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud, chair of the ACC Board of Directors. “The conference has been dramatically enhanced in every way during the last quarter century, especially in its balance of academics and athletics.

“All 15 presidents of the conference, like their universities, are deeply grateful to John for his transformative leadership.”

A native of North Wilkesboro, N.C., where he was a three-sport MVP and all-state quarterback in high school, Swofford attended North Carolina on a Morehead Scholarship as part of coach Bill Dooley’s first football recruiting class. He played defensive back on the Tar Heels’ ACC championship team in 1971.

He was named athletic director at North Carolina in 1980 at age 31, holding that position for 17 years. During that time, Swofford and his teams won more ACC and NCAA championships than any other athletic director in conference history, a record that still stands.

North Carolina won at least one national championship each year of Swofford’s tenure after not winning any since 1957.

North Carolina’s women’s sports won 65 ACC and 17 NCAA championships under Swofford, who hired six head coaches that went on to win national championships. He also hired the first Black head coach in the ACC in 1981.

Swofford has three older brothers, all with an inclination toward music.

Carl plays the trumpet and Jim plays the trumpet and still sings in church, John told the Tribune-Review in 2016.

“I hum in church,” John said. “I’m the black sheep in terms of that particular talent.”

The youngest of John Swofford’s older brothers, William Oliver Swofford, was known professionally as Oliver and was a recording star in the 1960s and ’70s. His hit songs included “Good Morning Starshine” and “Jean.”

William Swofford died in 2000 of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, despite a bone marrow transplant a year earlier from his younger brother, John.

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