UPDATED 12:27 p.m. ET: Of course, a nanosecond after we hit “publish” on the post below, two reports surfaced that Steve Patterson is indeed Texas’ choice for its top athletic department post.
Both Pete Thamel of SI.com and Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com are reporting that the Arizona State athletic director has decided to take the same job at Texas. “It’s done,” a UT official told Thamel while Brown quotes a high-level university source as stating that the hiring has “been agreed to by both sides.”
An official announcement from the school is expected later this week.
Well this is certainly an unexpected development.
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For the better part of two weeks, all of the reports coming from in and around Austin had West Virginia’s Oliver Luck pegged as far and away the front-runner to replace DeLoss Dodds as Texas’ athletic director.
However, SI.com‘s Pete Thamel, citing a high-ranking Texas official with direct knowledge of the situation, is reporting Tuesday morning that Arizona State’s Steve Patterson has now emerged as the favorite for the AD job at UT. Patterson, who earned his law degree from the university, “may have an edge because of his ‘marketing experience’ and ‘business experience’,” Thamel wrote.
After initially rebuffing overtures from his alma mater, Patterson interviewed in front of the eight-person search committee, leaving the group impressed with his business acumen and vision for the future.
Patterson and Luck, along with Arkansas’ Jeff Long, were identified over the weekend as the three finalists for the job. Long subsequently released a statement denying interest in the post.
If Patterson is indeed the choice, he could be publicly named as early as this week. If Luck once again emerges as the candidate of choice, his hiring wouldn’t be announced until after Saturday’s UT-WVU football game.
(Photo credit: Arizona State University)