Report: Texas adds Ohio State's Gene Smith, Arizona State's Steve Patterson to its interview list for athletic director opening
Besides West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, Texas will interview Ohio State's Gene Smith and Arizona State's Steve Patterson for its athletic director opening, according to an Austin American-Statesman report.
North Carolina's Bubba Cunningham was also reviewed as a possible candidate by the search firm Korn/Ferry but won't be pursued for the opening.
Smith has denied the report on Twitter (@OSU_AD): "I'm staying at Ohio State. I have the greatest respect for the University of Texas and one of my mentors, DeLoss Dodds. More... I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be the athletics director at The Ohio State University. More ... Reports of me interviewing at the University of Texas are inaccurate. Thank you and Go Bucks!"...
October 31st, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^
October 31st, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^
Wait, they added Gene Smith, like, on purpose?
October 31st, 2013 at 6:15 PM ^
Urban Meyer was a crucial hire for Gene Smith and he got it done. Jim Harbaugh was a crucial hire for Dave Brandon and he whiffed.
So who's the joke?
October 31st, 2013 at 6:41 PM ^
And of course the situations were totally analogous, what with NFL teams in Meyer's own backyard beating down his door.
I'm pretty happy with the guy Brandon did end up hiring, anyway.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^
You actually think he will compete with Meyer in a way satisfactory to how Harbaugh would do?
Michigan needed Harbaugh. Period. Anyone who thinks the Hoke hire was not a symptom of the old guard disease at UM is fooling themselves.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:19 PM ^
Amen Colby Jax.
There is a reason Harbaugh was the first choice and Hoke was at best 2nd...but probably 3rd or 4th. And those reasons are showing on the field.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^
You mean on the field where we're 25-8? On the heels of a regime that went 15-22? It's not often you see a coach nearly double the winning percentage of his predecessor.
I think some of you guys had completely unrealistic expectations about what Hoke could do right off the bat. The fact that 61 of our 85 scholarship guys are underclassmen speaks volumes. He's kept us a B1G contender while coaching a roster only partly composed of his recruits - many of whom have been pressed into service very early - which is no small feat. Three years from now you probably won't see a true frosh OL in the lineup, or a true frosh CB covering the opponent's best WR in a last-minute situation. If Hoke were as bad a coach as some here make him out to be, his record would be a hell of a lot worse than 25-8, because he's hardly had vintage Michigan talent, from top to bottom, across his first three rosters.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
November 1st, 2013 at 3:07 PM ^
October 31st, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^
A flimsy analogy and illogical conclusion. Nice.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:11 PM ^
What is illogical about the conclusion? Smith got a big fish. Brandon needed to get one and couldn't (who knows if Harbaugh flat turned UM down or if internal politics were at play as they often are). What's illogical is making fun of Smith when Brandon's coaching "search" was a clown show.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
Brandon fired RichRod and hired Hoke a week later. That's a pretty normal turnaround - maybe even quicker than the average. It was much shorter than what we went through in 2007 after Carr announced his retirement. THAT was a clownshow.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
It's pretty widely known in OSU circles that Gene Smith had very little to do with getting Meyer. It was several very rich businessmen on OSU's board who did the leg work (i.e. Schottenstein and Wexner). Smith is not well liked at OSU. At all.
November 1st, 2013 at 8:13 AM ^
Urban Meyer was a crucial hire that Smith "got it done"? You mean the Meyer that was actively campaigning for the job while he was working B1G games for ESPN? The Meyer that desperately wanted back into college football after a year off, and had only one major program with an opening? The Meyer that made it clear even before he was at Florida that he wanted to end up at Michigan or Ohio? Gee, Smith really had to work hard to close that deal.
November 1st, 2013 at 7:47 AM ^
A few friends of mine in Ohio are worried that Gene Smith will take the job then use the massive revenue stream from the Longhorn Network to buy Urban Meyer away from Ohio State. Doesn't seem too far fetched, I suppose.
November 5th, 2013 at 3:52 PM ^
Urban is from Ohio, coached at OSU as an assistant and alway wanted to be the head coach at Ohio State. Ohio State is one of the few universities that can compete from a revenue standpoint with Texas. Ohio State will match any offer Texas or any other university makes to keep Urb as long as Urb is in good standing with the university. Period. He's not going anywhere unless it's the NFL, retirement, or is removed due to lack of performance or ethics.
October 31st, 2013 at 5:54 PM ^
Patterson has already said no.
November 5th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Obviously he did not say NO!
October 31st, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^
October 31st, 2013 at 6:57 PM ^
Time to fire up the rumor mills and start getting Texas alumni and fans tracking airplane flights and fretting over both who they get as an AD and as a coach! If Gene Smith left to Texas, would Urban Meyer follow??? How about Nick Saban, seems Austin would be more pleasing to his wife than Tuscaloosa and he thrives on building programs to championship levels like he did at LSU and not necessarily staying there and running them......
October 31st, 2013 at 7:55 PM ^
Other than having gone to the same university, they don't have any direct connection. Their careers there haven't crossed at all.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^
Hollis to Texas.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^
Whoever is the next Texas AD, they need to hire Art Briles on day 1.
If they dont, they are stoopid.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
Video game numbers are great, but that doesn't mean he's god's gift to football.
November 5th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
Actually Briles has won many big games anywhere he goes! Started watching him in high school for Stephenville, he built a powerhouse there with a national record setting running game, then few years later to match the talent he had he ran a passing game and set records. He did same at Houston, and now at Baylor. He beat the #1 team in the nation last year, beat Oklahoma 2 years ago, won 2 straight bowl games. This guy can flat out coach, but that being said, I hope Baylor does not lose him but they couldnt hire a better coach or person in Art Briles
Yeager
October 31st, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
They want to hire Smith to make the Texas transition to the B1G easier. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.
November 1st, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
I remember when we were having our...issues and we were hearing a lot from NCAA Compliance Guy, a link was posted to an article on Texas that was supposed to show how compliance worked at an institution where compliance was functioning.
Maybe they've realized that their compliance is functioning a bit too well and they're looking for someone with a track record of dismantling it, running interference with the NCAA, and providing plausible deniablility to the rest of the department.
That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.