Big news came Tuesday by way of the University of Texas announcing Steve Patterson’s resignation as Athletic Director after a 22-month stint. In his time as Athletic Director Patterson fired long-time football coach Mack Brown, hired Charlie Strong as his replacement and replaced basketball coach Rick Barnes with Shaka Smart. All of these are significant efforts.
Now that Patterson is out and former Longhorn linebacker Mike Perrin is in as the interim AD, what does all this mean for the Texas Athletic program?
I’l tell you what it doesn’t mean.
It doesn’t mean Charlie Strong is doing a bad job.
Much of the media and college football fans outside of Austin believe the Patterson firing was a direct result of the 38-3 thrashing Notre Dame gave Texas in South Bend. It had little to nothing to do with it. Steve Patterson’s dismissal had more to do with his lack of transparency and inability to communicate effectively with the rest of the university and its loyal boosters.
It also doesn’t mean Charlie Strong’s job is safe.
Typically, a coach gets 3-4 years to implement their system when hired to take over a struggling program. However, with the wide accessibility of the internet and social media, a losing season can make a year feel like ten.
After Mack Brown’s exit from a post he held for the greater part of sixteen years, Texas fans wanted a home run hire. Saban to Texas didn’t happen and Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh.
Texas got Charlie Strong. Strong is a good football coach and a good man. He should be afforded fair time to see what he can do.
Losing to Notre Dame didn’t help his cause, but if Charlie Strong doesn’t win or keep the game close against Cal, the heat may get turned up. It’s not a fair expectation for him to win a national championship after a season and two games, plain and simple. But at Texas, people take their football seriously.
It doesn’t mean ticket prices are going down.
In certain sections they might decrease a tad, but modern day college athletics is all about the dollar. I don’t see that changing. A dynamic pricing model for certain games could be implemented but even that isn’t guaranteed.
It doesn’t mean Steve Patterson made bad hires.
We already discussed Charlie Strong, and Shaka Smart hasn’t even coached a game yet for the Longhorns. In short, the jury is out on Patterson’s hires and his short legacy may be viewed a more favorably when it’s all said and done.
It doesn’t mean Texas isn’t in total disorganization.
Administratively, Texas is in a state of disorganization right now. Sure, the fanbase wanted to shake things up, but with this much chaos? It’s content for the media, but for fans it’s excruciating.
Mike Perrin is part of the Longhorn family and will do a good job of keeping the family together as much as possible until his replacement is hired.
Regardless of the issues Bellmont is experiencing now, The University of Texas boasts one of college football’s premier athletic programs. The AD job is enticing enough for any possible candidate to consider accepting.
