Oregonian: Canzano: Shaka Smart has No Idea what he's getting into at Texas

[scrybe]

I read that article earlier today on hornsdigest.com. With the way the professors, staff and alumni feel about this guy, his days at UT are probably numbered…and rightfully so.

 

[tycat947]

Couldn't happen to a nicer school! He really fits in well with his unbounded arrogance! Sounds like he's had pretty much same experiences with his previous jobs! And you'd think the whorns didn't have a dime!

 

[MsProudSooner]

As I read that article, he sounded like a 21st century CEO hired by other CEOs.

 

[WaymanFan]

As I read that article, he sounded like a 21st century CEO hired by other CEOs.

Yes, that's how I see it, too. This moron apparently couldn't grasp that those people he wanted to charge $25 to step onto the football field during their 50 year reunion have probably donated ten$ of thousand$ through the years. I wouldn't be surprised if they never sent another dime until this loser is fired.

And speaking of unqualified athletic directors, I remember when Nebraska was in the Big XII, and I wanted Steve Peterson to be their AD until the day I died...didn't get my wish. Now, I hope this clown stays AD at Texas for the rest of my natural life.

 

[campbest]

He actually has some good ideas, insights and direction to where the collegiate sports business is going, however, his soft skills and decision making with some donors is amazingly poor.

Said this before on here, but like it or not, the AD role is going to change dramatically from what it used to be. Guys like Peterson and Brandon (Michigan) who fail, are just paving the way for other guys to succeed.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

“Once you start alienating the very coaches you’re praised for hiring, it’s unacceptable,” Herring said. “Obviously, when 10,000 season ticket holders do not renew, when most of them are probably excited about the football coach and recruiting, there is a problem.”

...

Patterson last month sent an envoy from Texas to Dubai, including Patterson’s wife, Yasmine Michael, who speaks Arabic, as well as Mack and Sally Brown, former Texas tight end David Thomas and former UT fullback Ricky Brown, now with the Longhorn Foundation. According to UT officials, the trip, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, was meant as a fact-finding mission about how Texas could promote its brand in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Those inside the department who have had their budgets cut as Patterson continues to spend for his obsession with international marketing/branding say morale is plummeting.

Alienate your customers and your employees, while focusing on potential cronies with huge wallets. Yes, Patterson would excel in the executive wing of big corporations.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Alienate your customers and your employees, while focusing on potential cronies with huge wallets. Yes, Patterson would excel in the executive wing of big corporations.

Does he really think big bucks people in Dubai are going to be lining up to donate to UT athletics - unless they already have a connection to the university?

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Does he really think big bucks people in Dubai are going to be lining up to donate to UT athletics - unless they already have a connection to the university?

Good question. What does "obsession with international marketing/branding" really mean to an arrogant egghead? I don't know. It may actually mean something entirely different than you or I could imagine. Patterson's thinking appears to be in a different dimension. Otherwise, why piss-off rich UT grads?

 

[WaymanFan]

I'm not normally one to revive a dead thread, but I'll make an exception since Steve Patterson was fired today as the Texas A.D. I was hoping he would not only live to be 100, but he would be the Longhorns A.D. until the day he died. I liked that OU's A.D. is a Mercedes Benz and Texas had a '72 Ford Pinto as an A.D.

Oddly enough, the one good decision he probably made (I can't think of two) was hiring Shaka Smart. Sadly, the University of Texas probably got a lot stronger today.