Texas football coach Charlie Strong’s boss was fired, or something like it, last week. Texas football is also not doing well on the field, sporting a 7-9 record under Strong after Saturday’s one-point heartbreaker against Cal. Combine that record with athletic director Steve Patterson’s exit, and many have concluded that Patterson’s replacement will look to clean house and hire his own guy.
Don’t assume Texas’ athletic director change is bad news for Charlie Strong
Departed athletic director Steve Patterson hired Strong, sure, but the two didn’t see eye to eye after that.
Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
But it’s not like Patterson and Strong were buddies just because the former pro sports executive made the hire. An ESPN report released on Friday detailed Patterson’s many problems while with the Longhorns, including a lack of communication between him and Strong. The coach was reportedly left out of the loop when long-time media relations director John Bianco, one of Strong’s “most trusted confidants,” was let go.
After Bianco was fired, he was given five minutes to clean out his desk and retrieve personal files from his computer. Strong wasn’t told of the decision until after Bianco was fired.
Despite running the richest college athletic department in the country, Patterson was notoriously stingy in ways that directly affected Strong's ability to run the program, in addition to stuff like cutting free meals for coaches.
It came out in June that Strong lost several assistants because of Patterson’s unwillingness to pay anywhere near the level of Kansas.
Strong, who saw his and his coaching staff’s personal ticket allotment cut from eight to four last year, fought to increase the salaries of his eight quality control coaches from $24,000 to $50,000 after last season.
Texas has the lowest salaries in the Big 12 for its quality control coaches -- even behind last-place football finisher Kansas ($45,000).
Strong’s request was denied by Patterson, and six of Texas’ eight quality control coaches who had built relationships with the rest of the staff, left to find better paying jobs, the sources said.
ESPN’s report detailed another request for assistants denied.
Before last season’s game against UCLA, Strong requested a van to transport coaches’ wives and children to AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Patterson turned down his request.
Beyond the fact that Strong might actually have a competent boss now in either interim Mike Perrin or an eventual replacement, firing the coach just wouldn't make sense.
For an athletic department that is facing rising costs, declining attendance at football games and already paid buyouts to Mack Brown and Rick Barnes before having to do the same with Patterson, getting rid of Strong less than two years into his tenure doesn’t make sense from a cost standpoint.
Patterson rubbing literally everyone the wrong way was not Strong’s doing. If his new boss is willing to spend more like Texas and behave like a human being, Strong will probably have an easier team rebuilding the program. And hey, as long as the new AD hates Texas A&M, everything will be fine.
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