Byron Hatch was named Chief Operating Officer of the College Football Playoff in December 2021. Prior to joining the CFP team, Hatch spent six years at the Southeastern Conference (SEC), where he served as assistant commissioner of championships, overseeing the SEC football championship game, men's basketball tournament and softball tournament. Before his time with the SEC, he was the Associate Athletics Director for Business Operations at the University of Arkansas for three years. Following a four-year stint in the accounting and consulting industry, Hatch began his career in sports with a seven-year stint at the NCAA, where he worked in the membership services group before becoming Associate Director of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship where he was a liaison to the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, worked with host cities and oversaw a variety of operational matters. Hatch, a native of Humphrey, Arkansas, is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He followed that with his Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bowen School of Law. Hatch and his wife, Marla, have three daughters, McKinley, Brooklyn and Baylee.
