Steve Patterson is Texas' new athletics director

[Harry]

Word broke from multiple outlets late Tuesday morning that Arizona State athletics director Steve Patterson has been hired to the same post at Texas.

As recently as last Monday, West Virginia athletics director Oliver Luck appeared to be the heavy front-runner for the job, but that changed swiftly Tuesday morning when word leaked that Patterson had overtaken Luck as the favorite to land the job. Shortly thereafter, those same outlets reported the deal had been done and

Patterson was the new athletics director at Texas.

Patterson had reportedly turned down the job last week, and had those inside the Arizona State athletics department believing he would stay.

Read more: http://footballscoop.com/news/11475-steve-patterson-is-texas-new-athletics-director

[emmitt01]

I look forward to years of him doing less with far more.

[Harry]

What's REALLY interesting about this is the fact that Patterson helped ASU land Todd Graham (formerly of Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, W. Virginia) as their head coach.

It would not surprise me in the least if Patterson didn't try to bring Graham with him to Texas... not sure if the Texas people would buy into him though. Graham has hopped around but no one questions his abilities as a coach and recruiter of talent.

[LongJim]

It looks like a good hire. Lots of housecleaning to do in Austin, for sure.

[Harry]

---It turns out Patterson will not be allowed to hire anybody currently employed by Arizona State though, according to Arizona State’s president Michael Crow.

Crow, who confirmed the news and released a statement Tuesday, said he allowed Patterson to explore the opportunity to leave ASU for Texas but had at least one requirement.

“For him to be hired by Texas (specifically), I had to give permission for that,” Crow said in a report by The Arizona Republic. “As a function of our agreement, he’s not allowed to hire someone from ASU.”

Read more: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/05/report-todd-graham-ineligible-for-any-potential-job-openings-at-texas/

[laxtonto]

I would be worried about Patteson.. The guy is not afraid to clean house. Additionally, Graham is not really an option. Too much of an ass to fit the expected glad-handing portion of the UT job. They will accept it if he was someone like Saban that has a ton of skins on the wall, but not so much for Graham.

Scarier part is that Patterson will more than likely clean house with all the coaches, adn therefore the liklihood that they have a legit Mens Basketball and Baseball coach is a scary thoguht

[EagleGreen]

I see a contract extension, for Brown, coming...

[Quoner]

I see a contract extension, for Brown, coming...

I don't - they wanted to hire Luck, but he said deal with Mack first and they balked. My blindly misguided pals who write for Inside Texas were crowing about how Patterson is being brought in to break necks and cash checks.

[LongJim]

I don't - they wanted to hire Luck, but he said deal with Mack first and they balked. My blindly misguided pals who write for Inside Texas were crowing about how Patterson is being brought in to break necks and cash checks.

It's going to be a wild ride down there in the next 60 days.

[Quoner]

It's going to be a wild ride down there in the next 60 days.

You mean because they finally play decent teams again after this week?

[laxtonto]

I don't - they wanted to hire Luck, but he said deal with Mack first and they balked. My blindly misguided pals who write for Inside Texas were crowing about how Patterson is being brought in to break necks and cash checks.

Which is something he excels at.. Lets not forget that the real reason he is there is that they are about the completely remake the athletics facilities for MBB, maybe Baseball and expand the stadium. That is happening due to campus expansion of their med school I think. Regardless in the next 10 years they are looking at a number approaching a Billion in campus improvements and a large chunk of that is going to intertwined with the AD. Sometimes people forget about hoow much $$ is really involved at the big name schools and why these guys wield the stick they do.

[LongJim]

You mean because they finally play decent teams again after this week?

Will be interesting to see if it's less "wild ride" and more "unmitigated ass-whipping".

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

I see a contract extension, for Brown, coming...

Isn't he already signed through 2020?

[oldguystudent]

Todd Graham (formerly of Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, W. Virginia)

Only going back about nine months on his resume then?

[untjim1995]

This guy is being brought here because he will clean house in the other sports, too. There other revenue sports have really dropped down badly. Football is obviously the king, but I suspect Mack stays if he doesn't lose more than one more game this year. He wants to be the alltime leader in wins at UT and it would take one more year to get there. I think the Big Money Cigars down there will let him have that, unless they fall apart down the stretch. They have WVU this week (W), Okie Lite at home (50/50), Tech at home (W) and at Baylor, which usually is apro-Texas crowd. IF they can beat OSU or Baylor, I think Mack survives. But, as far as basketball goes, Barnes is a dead-man walking (has looked that way for years, literally) and Aston needs to win quick down there or will be led out the door. Augie Garrido is old and will have to be replaced sooner, rather than later, so this AD coming in will have a lot of work ahead of him.

To me, the question about UT's future lies more in conference affiliation than it does with coaches and the AD. If A&M keeps going strong in the SEC and the recruiting keeps going the Aggies' way, then it becomes a question of who gets the leftovers, which are still very good. Right now, Texas and A&M are schooling OU in recruiting and on the field, so that will hurt the Sooners big time. To me, this state can keep two of those big three schools floating near the top ten every year. The cycle of those three schools being the top place for Texas HS kids has been in place since the 50s, with one of the three being the clear loser against the other two. Usually, its been the Aggies, but when they are good, usually the Longhorns or Sooners are bad. Now, the Aggies are at the top and don't appear to be falling back anytime soon with the SEC being the recruiting diamond for them and having Sumlin as the coach du jour right now. Texas cannot trump the SEC card--they are pretty much blocked from ever getting into that league. The Pac-12 sounds appealling to the high-brow UT educators, but it will not help football recruiting, especially when A&M plays top-notch competition that is driveable and plays in the same time zone for the most part. UT playing at Washington State at 10pm local time on a Saturday night won't help them in recruiting against the Aggies and the SEC. To me, the perfect option for Texas is to join the Big Ten--they would still play opponents far away, but they are well-known names and would generate great interest to compete with the SEC. But, then you run into the so-called Tech problem and the Baylor lawsuits if you go that route. Patterson is gonna have his hands full trying to push this cart forward, especially in trying to find the right place to move it to.

[Mean_Green09]

Todd Graham going to UT is about as likely as Todd Dodge coming back to coach here. Its not going to happen and its quite an outlandish statement. Patterson was brought in because he can make the tough choices and he is a money managing guy. Luck thought he had the job, he never told them to deal with Mack first that is bum information. He was a good choice for them. I hope we face Mack next year and not someone like Saban or Tomlin or Shaw.

[Quoner]

Todd Graham going to UT is about as likely as Todd Dodge coming back to coach here. Its not going to happen and its quite an outlandish statement. Patterson was brought in because he can make the tough choices and he is a money managing guy. Luck thought he had the job, he never told them to deal with Mack first that is bum information. He was a good choice for them. I hope we face Mack next year and not someone like Saban or Tomlin or Shaw.

Oh, ok. Might want to tell WVU: http://www.bluegoldsports.com/go-wrong-oliver-luck/

I also agree with everything else you said.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Texas cannot trump the SEC card--they are pretty much blocked from ever getting into that league.

I am assuming that you don't mean blocked by the SEC--they would jump at the chance to bring in the Horns. That would be enough to leapfrog the SEC over the Pac 12 and probably over the Big 10, financially speaking.

[Mean_Green09]

Oh, ok. Might want to tell WVU: http://www.bluegoldsports.com/go-wrong-oliver-luck/

I also agree with everything else you said.

The UT BR wanted the new AD to deal with Mack. Deloss was in no way going to make that call. So for me to believe that Luck expected it to be handled before taking over is kinda crazy. Also Patterson isn't a friend of Deloss like Luck is. They prob didn't want Deloss to influence him.

[H-towngreen]

hahahahahaha.......Graham to UT.....hahahahahahaha

[filmerj]

What's in it for us?

[Eagle1855]

Now, the Aggies are at the top and don't appear to be falling back anytime soon

The Aggies are an ineligible Johnny Manziel away from being an at-best .500 football team and an afterthought in the college football landscape. And it also doesn't bode well for the future of said program if Sumlin ends up in Los Angeles next season.

Related to the topic at hand, Mack's gone. It's already in the works. The hiring of Patterson over Luck had nothing to do with Mack Brown. Patterson blew them away in the interview process. He's an alum. Former GM. He's the ultimate CEO type of AD, which is what a program like UT needs.

[forevereagle]

Dodds is officially out in August, correct? When does Patterson take over, then or right away?

[laxtonto]

Dodds is officially out in August, correct? When does Patterson take over, then or right away?

ASAP... Dodds is back into a super money raising mode for the Billion dollars worth of expansions that is supposed to happen in the next decade there. Supposedly he is going to be "hands off" but in reality he is there to keep the Big Money Donors in line while the new guy learns the ropes of how the machine works.

[H-towngreen]

The Aggies are an ineligible Johnny Manziel away from being an at-best .500 football team and an afterthought in the college football landscape. And it also doesn't bode well for the future of said program if Sumlin ends up in Los Angeles next season.

This. Sumlin is too hot a commodity to stay in CS for another few seasons. USC, NFL, maybe even Bama if Saban goes to UT. And Manziel and Mike Evans are all A&M has right now. They are stringing together some good recruiting classes but that doesn't mean much till you see if on the field.