Patterson originally got the job to completely retool the program. He definitely did that but was a total dick along the way. A lot of the changes he implemented might actually be the right call down the road but it doesn't matter if you aren't there to benefit from it. Alienating boosters is a quick way to get canned at Texas. Right or wrong, booster money talks and for a bottom line type of guy, I'm surprised Patterson didn't get that.
Not going to happen. Hopefully we don't fire a guy to eventually become his replacements boss. This would be a recipe for disaster for the football program. Mack would be unbelievable in some type of longhorn foundation/fundraising though. Couple interesting names will float around but don't think we'll see a hire until after football season. The new AD will want their own football coach and hopefully Fenves will wait to see how Strong finishes and how the candidate wants to handle it.
He called Hakeem a liar and jaking it on TV. Rudy smoothed things out with Hakeem and Charlie Thomas, and he was the one who drafted Horry, not Steve. Patterson is the Tmac of sports executives.
The story on Hookem that tinman alluded to. I bolded some controversial things where Patterson seemingly pissed people off. Having not kept up with this drama, it seems like Patterson was brought in to right a sinking ship, particularly a declining football program that was losing money. The moves he made will increase revenue but none of them were popular that had full support behind them, like raising ticket prices or introducing alcohol sales. Good ideas to increase profits, but he couldn't justify or spin those ideas properly. You can't raise ticket prices for a losing program. He couldn't get political support behind alcohol sales. He just pissed everyone off in his path to change things the way he wanted them to be.
I have always wanted Oliver Luck as our athletic director. I think he would do a great job at balancing relationships with getting the job done. I don't think the AD will necessarily come in and fire Strong or Smart. I feel like Strong needs at least a year to let the freshmen show improvement and see if he can recruit another cycle.
Luck was the ideal choice but rumor was that if they wanted Mack gone, they would have to do it before he came on board. Patterson has always been known as a guy who will do the dirty work, just think he managed to rub too many people the wrong way while doing so.
What I don't understand is that I thought that UT and its fans took great pride in how much money the athletic dept took in. Blowing up the SWC, having its own sports network etc etc. All in the name of making more money. Are boosters now wanting the university to take into consideration what is best for the fans and not just the bottom line?
Steve got the texans to houston. Back when i was working in houston, Nfl houston was in the same building. I saw steve there and told him what up.
Steve Patterson was always willing to do the dirty work and be the bad guy. It did and does rub people the wrong way, but he gets the job done. He and his dad made the Rockets relevant and was instrumental in bringing the only championships the city of Houston has. We have the Texans because of him and when he went to Portland, he built a great playoff team.
They wanted johnny Gil. Someone who rubs them the right way. But got bobby brown, who's prerogative made him do what he wants to do.
Seriously though, how exactly did they accumulate that kind of debt? Didn't Disney give them $300,000,000 or something in exchange for their soul and the Big 12's balls?
Mack and DeLoss blocked Saban, that was the year before Strong came on board. The following year it was too late. Seriously though you shouldn't choose a coach based on who's a "booster favorite" - then you just empower Red McCombs saying "ya'll gotta hire that John Gruden from the Tee-vee" and that type of bull****.
There is a line. To a lot of people, UT made that money without being too obvious about how they did it (except for the longhorn network.) Patterson's policies were very public and lazy. It's not hard to increase the value and revenue of the program by raising ticket prices. I could have done that. It was also the way he went about things. He told the city of Austin that they better pitch in to built a new basketball arena because without the Erwin center there won't be a place for concerts. That is true but that is not the way to make your point. I wanted Luck as well. There was a sentiment of completely flipping the program on its head so they brought in the guy who would do that. I don't know what they were expecting. I love Mack but bringing him in will just mean an endless amount of complaining and criticism from day 1. People shouldn't give him credit for Strong. Charlie was an easy get from day 1 and anyone could have hired him. Patterson tried to lure a bigger name coach away but couldn't. The agency UT hired also recommended Strong so it's not like Patterson did any digging or had to sell Strong on anything.
Agreed. I posted earlier that a lot of his moves were probably the right call, but just the way he went about implementing them rubbed people the completely wrong way. Grant it, you're going to have upset fans when you raise ticket prices, start charging for parking, and restrict resale of season tickets, but you can't do all three while being a complete ass. Patterson is much better suited for the pros where you only answer to the owner. Right or wrong, the college level requires appeasement of donors, or at the very least the perception that you are willing to do so. Patterson made it clear from the very beginning he was not going to play that game and that was pretty much the beginning of the end, any and all moves made from that point did not matter.
