Steve Patterson Texas A.D. Fired

[husker70]

ESPN scrolling reports he was fired.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

Perhaps a landing spot for NT? ;-)

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Perhaps a landing spot for NT? ;-)

Everything is bigger in Texas, especially mega tongues.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Smart and Strong should be concerned.

 

[Gopher07]

How I imagine everyone in Texas right now:

 

[MRJ]

Smart and Strong should be concerned.

Agree on Strong. I think whoever emerges as the AD will probably let Smart do his thing for a couple of years at least before making any judgments. Right now, Smart has that honeymoon grace period due to this being his first year at UT and also because he's considered the best young coach in the game.

Strong is in a much tougher spot, which sucks. I really like Strong's approach and attitude towards keeping his players in-line. But in Texas, all that matters is winning unfortunately. And Strong hasn't done enough in some people's eyes.

 

[TexasAggie11]

Smart and Strong should be concerned.

If they are let go, you better believe that the narrative in the press is going to be that a white coach would have gotten more than two seasons to turn a program around. It would put them in a very bad light to make any major coaching changes at this time.

 

[Deckergopher]

Should help em win now, right??????

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

Smart hasn't even coached a game yet, he was a great hire and will have great success at Texas. I am not so sure about Strong, I certainly like his drive to change the culture with the football program, but he hasn't killed it on the recruiting trail and quite honestly the excitement for Texas football has really diminished among the Texas high school athletes now that TCU and Baylor have become nationally prominent.

 

[Mick Turition]

Oliver Luck should have gotten this job two years ago instead of this schlub; now if they beg him maybe he'll consider coming to Austin.

 

[Gopher028]

"Now athletic director Steve Patterson, whose aggressive approach to raising money rankled fans and some major donors, is gone, too, after less than two years -- an abrupt end to his rocky tenure atop the nation's wealthiest athletic program that remains in turmoil."

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...ghorns-fire-athletic-director-steve-patterson

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

Oliver Luck should have gotten this job two years ago instead of this schlub; now if they beg him maybe he'll consider coming to Austin.

You are absolutely correct. I had some good inside source on the hiring of Patterson and it certainly surprised a lot of people. Luck was the guy, they were ready to offer him the job but had to do a couple more courtesy interviews. Patterson blew their socks off and quite frankly I think he has carried out mostly what he sold the committee on, funny how that worked out. Luck was surprised he didn't get the offer. They have named an interim and are paying him a $750,000 contract through August of 2016. I believe the guy is Mike Perrino who was a former football player and lawyer in Texas. I think Luck stays with the NCAA in Indianapolis where he can watch Andrew on Sundays. Texas alum are really at an all time low right now.

 

[60's Guy]

ESPN Comments

Oliver Luck should have gotten this job two years ago instead of this schlub; now if they beg him maybe he'll consider coming to Austin.

Texas will likely start 1 and 5 or 2 and 4. The fans, who fired the AD will be pretty restless at that point. Specualtion is Strong may find another job rather than get fired. Just paraphrasing what was said.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I am not so sure about Strong, I certainly like his drive to change the culture with the football program, but he hasn't killed it on the recruiting trail and quite honestly the excitement for Texas football has really diminished among the Texas high school athletes now that TCU and Baylor have become nationally prominent.

Because Texas's consecutive top 3 national recruiting classes between 2010-2012 have translated to so much on field success.

 

[Iceland12]

Lots of reasons for discontent in Texas. Among them:

Patterson raised ticket prices after a 6-7 football season, pushed coaches to raise money for endowed scholarships, and created a fan "loyalty" program to prioritize ticket purchases that rewarded some longtime donors. It also pushed some longtime season-ticket holders out of their seats.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...athletic-director-steve-patterson-resignation

A week later, athletic director Steve Patterson was gone, forced to resign, and Perrin is now charged with healing a fractured fan base that was leaving empty seats at football and basketball games and loudly complaining about Patterson's cash-first approach to Texas sports.
"
The seriousness of the job I've been asked to do is very important to me," Perrin said Wednesday at his introductory news conference. "I want to reach out to the entire Longhorn nation."

Perrin noted thousands of empty seats at last week's home-opening win over Rice, a game that came on the heels of a blowout loss at Notre Dame. As a former player,
Perrin urged fans to the "electric" atmosphere he enjoyed on the field.

"I read stories about people not renewing their tickets after years, that concerns me because if you get that kind of erosion, that sort of feeds on itself," Perrin said.

http://startribune.stats.com/cfb/story.asp?i=20150916134919720209108&ref=hea&tm=&src=

 

[hungan1]

I spoke with an alumnus booster who pretty much said the same stuff.

Patterson became very toxic they had to spit him out ASAP before greater damage was done.

The program is at an all time low.