West Virginia’s Oliver Luck has already expressed publicly that he’s not interested in the athletic director’s job at Texas. Now, another prominent AD is reportedly expressing the same sentiment privately as well.
Citing multiple sources, Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde reported late Thursday night that Tom Jurich is committed to Louisville and has no interest in taking over for DeLoss Dodds at UT. Jurich and Luck, along with current Big 12 commissioner and former Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby, have been among the more prominent names mentioned for one of the most prestigious positions in collegiate sports.
At least one source mentioned to Forde the fact that Jurich has signed head football coach Charlie Strong and head men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino to long-term deals is “a major factor” in Jurich not letting his eyes wander to Texas or any other job for that matter.
“If he left, how could he look them in the eye after convincing them to stay?” the source told Forde.
Of course, neither Strong, mentioned as a possibility to fill the vacancy at USC and who will certainly be a target if/when the Longhorns can Mack Brown, nor Pitino are bound by law to stay at the UofL regardless of the length of their respective contracts, but Forde’s point is taken. In that same vein, UT will likely make a strong push for Jurich at some point, if it hasn’t already, and things could certainly change. It wouldn’t be the first time an administrator or coach at this level said one thing and did another when push came to shove-- especially when the scope of UT’s financial resources are in play.
That said, Jurich doesn’t appear to have a wandering eye and seemingly remains committed to building upon one of the most successful athletic departments in the country.