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Though news was originally broken by Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com over two weeks ago, today it became official: Texas Mens Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds, one of the most influential and divisive figures in major college athletics, announced his retirement today. Dodds will transition out of his role no later than August 31, 2014 and remain with Texas in an advisory capacity until the end of his contract in 2015. During his tenure, the Longhorns have laid claim to 14 National Championships and 108 Conference (Big 12 and Southwest) Championships in nine different sports.
Dodds has won numerous awards during his time at Texas, including:
- Inducted into Kansas State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995
- Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2006
- 2011 Athletic Director of the Year (Sports Business Awards)
- National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s John L. Toner Award in December 2006
- Inducted in the United State Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006
- Inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame in 1989
Granted it goes without saying many find this a celebratory occasion, we must not forget Dodds built Texas into a financial and sometimes athletic power in the late 1990s and first decade of this century. Â Let’s take a look at the life and times of the outgoing Athletic Director.
Dodds was born on August 8, 1939 in Riley, Kansas, where he grew up, later attending Kansas State University. Dodds was the 1959 Big Eight Conference Champion in the quarter mile, and graduated that year with a major in physical education and a minor in psychology. He later married Mary Ann Chamberlain, with whom he had three children (Doug, Deidre, and Debra), and eight grandchildren.
After a stint in graduate school and six months in the United States Army, Dodds was hired as an Assistant Track Coach at Kansas State in 1961, being promoted to head coach in 1963, a position he held for 14 seasons. Under Dodds guidance, the Wildcats won six Big Eight Conference Championships. In 1977, Dodds became Athletic Director for Kansas State, and oversaw it’s turn around from a struggling, over budget department into a profitable venture within a three year time period. Additionally, Dodds spend two years as a Big Eight Conference Assistant Commissioner. After a very successful run at KSU, Dodds was hired as the ninth Athletic Director in the storied history of Texas in the fall of 1981.
When Dodds took over, the football program had gone 36-11 under Fred Akers, but was coming off a 7-5 season. The team went 30-5-1 in Dodds first three years at the helm, while the Baseball team won the National Championship in 1983. From there, the football team slipped under Akers, culminating in Dodds firing him in 1986 after a 5-6 season capped by a home loss to Texas A&M. The parting with Akers was a tumultuous period, one which closely mirrors the current situation under Mack Brown.
Dodds hired long time Longhorns Assistant David McWilliams, who had been at Texas under Akers and Royal, away from Texas Tech after one year to lead the program. The hiring can honestly only be summarized as a disaster. In McWilliams defense, he did lead the “Shock the Nation†Longhorns to a 10-2 record and Southwest Conference Championship in 1990, but even that season was capped by an absolute 46-3 destruction at the hands of Miami in the Cotton Bowl. McWilliams “resigned†in 1991 after a 5-6 season. He had barely broke .500 as a coach and his only other winning season was with a 7-5 record.
Things were not as bleak in other areas during the period, as Swimming and Diving began a run of 32 consecutive Conference Championships in the 1982 season. Baseball continued winning at an elite rate, Basketball won a Conference Championship, and Track won two titles as well. Still, the “elite†football status achieved under Darrell Royal continued to elude Dodds, who turned to John Mackovic in 1992 to flip the fortunes of Texas Football.
Mackovic floundered his first two seasons, barely breaking .500 himself, and losing twice to Texas A&M. Things began to turn as the Longhorns won the Southwest Conference Championship in 1994 and the Sun Bowl that year against North Carolina and it’s Head Coach Mack Brown. Mackovic’s squad won the final Southwest Conference Championship in 1995 with a 10-2-1 record and a loss to Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.
The Southwest Conference had been in trouble for several seasons, and finally broke up in the wake of Arkansas headed to the Southeastern Conference beginning in the 1992 football season. Dodds oversaw the move to the newly formed Big 12 Conference beginning in 1996. Mackovic also was able to secure the services of running back Ricky Williams, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy under Mack Brown.
The 1996 season would prove to be the height of Mackovic’s tenure at Texas, as he led the Longhorns to the first Big 12 Championship, in a major upset of #3 Nebraska 37-27. The game was sealed by the now famous 4th down “Roll Left†call. This capped a stretch of three consecutive conference championships in football, a feat not accomplished by Texas since Royal’s teams of the late 60s and early 70s won six in a row. The good times didn’t last, and under the weight of what can be nicely termed as personal conflicts across the board, Mackovic was fired after a 4-7 season in 1997.
Dodds then hired Mack Brown away from North Carolina, and together the pair established Texas as a perennial title contender and the UT Athletic Department as the top money making program in the country. Brown won at least 9 games for 12 consecutive seasons, the Big 12 and National Championship in 2005, and the Big 12 Championship in 2009 along with an appearance in the National Championship game the same year. In spite of the success on the field and recruiting trail, the Longhorns under Brown struggled to beat Oklahoma and missed out on possible title game appearances in the decade.
Good fortune was not everywhere however, as Dodds fired basketball coach Tom Penders after the program melted down in 1998, with the release of Luke Axtell’s academic progress report, and in the wake of four players going to Dodds home on March 9, 1998 to voice their displeasure in playing for Penders. Dodds hired Rick Barnes from Princeton to replace Penders as coach, and Penders would go on to be a vocal enemy of the University in the following years.
Dodds also oversaw the termination, or resignation depending on how one views it, of legendary Longhorn Baseball Coach Cliff Gustafsen after the 1996 season. Dodds replaced him with Augie Garrido, a legend in his own right who led Texas to the 2002 and 2005 National Championships.
Dodds also oversaw the negotiation and launch of the ESPN Longhorn Network which debuted on Aug. 26, 2011, and brought in $300 million to the school. Dodds also oversaw expansion of DKR to more than 100,000 seats, including the Red McCombs Red Zone and an expanded south end zone seating area. The Red McCombs Red Zone includes 20,000 square foot of academic space, 47 suites, 1,988 club seats and 2,200 chair back seats, plus a food court and executive meeting area.
Dodds completed a $27.3 million enhancement of Disch-Falk Field that features 19 suites, a player development area, new FieldTurf, an expanded concourse, more concession areas and rest rooms. Much was made possible by Dodds creation of The Longhorn Foundation which brings in millions, as well as the Longhorns athletics budget of over $163 million.
The state of the Athletic Programs at Texas began to fall apart after the Longhorns lost QB Colt McCoy early in the 2009 BCS Championship game, going to lose to Alabama. During the following years, all three men’s sports have fallen into mediocrity, with Texas Football going 5-7 in 2010 and not yet recovering along with multiple blowout losses to Oklahoma and other scattered embarrassments.
Basketball has fallen under Barnes to a program which can not keep players from transferring to get away from the head coach. The program also suffered a historic loss to Division II Chaminade early in the 2012 season, and the once powerful Baseball program failed to make the Big 12 tournament last year.
Dodds, once viewed as a powerful figure among the Texas fan base, did little in his final years to improve the on the field/on the court product of the Longhorns, apparently resigned to worry about financial matters. Many also view him as the reason Nebraska went to the Big 10, and Texas A&M fled to the SEC. He is credited with holding the Big 12 Conference together during the realignment period this decade, but also at least partially blamed for failing to bring in the University of Louisville, a growing power with championship teams across the gamut of major sports.
The final review of Dodds’ tenure at Texas will probably not be written for many years, and the likelihood of his successor having to replace all three of the current main head coaches is strong. Â Considering that fact, one still can not deny Dodds did leave a legacy of financial security and decent facilities for the next Athletic Director to work with. No matter where you are on Dodds as a person and leader, I think everyone can agree, for the sake of the University, lets hope this transition goes smoothly.