Colorado athletics director Rick George will step down from his role at the end of the academic year and become a special advisor to the chancellor, the school announced Thursday.

George has been the AD in Boulder since 2013, returning to the school where he once served on legendary football coach Bill McCartney’s staff as the recruiting coordinator and assistant athletic director for football operations. This coincided with Colorado’s only national title in 1990.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Athletic Director for the University of Colorado for the last 13 years, but after considerable thought and discussions with my family dating back to last spring, I have decided it is time for new leadership to guide the department,” said George. “I wanted to make this announcement now in order to give Chancellor Schwartz plenty of time to find the right person for Colorado, and I look forward to doing everything I can to ensure a smooth transition.

“I also wanted to time my announcement so that I could support Coach Prime and our football team this season, which I’m looking forward to continuing in my new role.”

During his tenure as athletics director, George oversaw the development of a new athletics building attached to Folsom Field and was named the Athletic Director of the year in 2023-24 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

His time as AD will perhaps be most remembered by his hiring of Deion Sanders as football coach, which generated significant national interest in Colorado football. He also returned Colorado to the Big 12, which represented a significant domino in the collapse of the Pac-12 following UCLA and USC’s departures for the Big Ten.

George also spent time as a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and served on the Division I Council.

“Rick’s contributions to our university in his 13 years as head of our athletic department have been incalculable,” Chancellor Justin Schwartz said. “He is a nationally respected leader who has always kept CU at the forefront of the dynamic and highly competitive landscape of college athletics. I am grateful for his leadership and am elated he has decided to stay on as a Special Advisor and AD Emeritus.”

Prior to becoming AD, George was the Chief Operating Officer for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

The school did not announce a timeline for hiring a replacement.

Fourteen people were charged for their roles in a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting ring that involved college athletes and had links to organized crime, New Jersey authorities announced Thursday.

According to the authorities, Joseph “Little Joe” Perna, a member of the Lucchese crime family, and his associates ran a nationwide network of bookmakers who used offshore websites to facilitate approximately $2 million in bets between 2022 and 2024.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said several college athletes operated sportsbooks at the direction of Perna’s organization. Platkin did not answer questions regarding which colleges or sports were involved in the alleged betting ring.

The NCAA is aware of the charges and is looking into the case, according to a spokesperson.

Perna, 55, of Fairfield, New Jersey, is charged along with his sons, stepson, nephews and others, with racketeering, conspiracy, gambling offenses and money laundering, the New Jersey attorney general’s office said. Perna allegedly acted as the “financier,” while his son Joseph R. Perna conducted the daily operations and facilitated dozens of subordinate agents.

Those subagents included Perna’s brother, Anthony Perna, his stepbrother, Frank Zito, his cousins, Dominic Perna and Michael Cetta, according to authorities. Six other men were accused of being high-level agents who managed their own sportsbooks as part of the alleged scheme. Spencer Speziale, one of the co-defendants, is a newly certified agent for the NBPA, who is listed on the players association’s agent directory but has no clients, a source with direct knowledge confirmed to ESPN. Attempts to reach Speziale were unsuccessful.

The 14 people charged all have first appearances Thursday, and any detention hearing will be scheduled later, according to Theresa Hilton, director of New Jersey’s division of criminal justice.

Information from ABC News was used in this report.