Update: Mike Perrin to Serve as Interim Athletic Director
The University of Texas Athletics department announced last night at Texas alumn Mike Perrin will serve at the Interim Athletics director as Steve Patterson has resigned.
Here are a couple of excerpts from the release.
"Steve Patterson is a talented sports executive who brought important ideas and changes to our athletics program," said Gregory L. Fenves, president of The University of Texas at Austin. "We appreciate the good things he accomplished in his time here and wish him the best in future endeavors."
"Athletics is vitally important to the Longhorn nation," said Fenves. "For many, athletics is the front door to the university. The excellence and integrity of our program shines a bright light on all we do. Mike Perrin will solidify strong relationships with and among our student-athletes, faculty, students, alumni and coaches, building morale for student-athletes and staff.
"Mike, a devoted Longhorn and respected Texan, has worked throughout his career to make the university a better place and is highly qualified to do so again in this new role," Fenves said.
STATEMENT FROM STEVE PATTERSON
After considerable discussion, The University of Texas at Austin President, Gregory Fenves, and I have agreed that our great university will be best served by a new men's athletic director. Accordingly, I have agreed to step aside effective today. Change is never easy, but I have every confidence that UT Athletics will continue to thrive as it embraces the future. I want to thank President Fenves for the graciousness he has displayed throughout this process.
You can read the full article here.
From Tuesday morning -
According to an article by
From the article...
Fenves and Patterson are meeting Tuesday morning, the Statesman learned.
It could bring an end to a tumultuous 22-month journey for the athletic department during which fans grew outraged over higher ticket prices and Patterson battled the perception that his cool demeanor simply does not fit UT’s style. (Continue reading below...)
(...Continued from above.) When Patterson lost the confidence of his coaches, the Houston source said, that proved to be the last straw.
Bohls: Steve Patterson wore out welcome at Texas http://t.co/fOdhX3Zo5J via @bevobeat
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) September 15, 2015
Texas trying to complete negotiations with Patterson by 5 pm today. Source: Search for successor "could be slow. Most ADs already engaged." — Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) September 15, 2015
Can confirm that Steve Patterson is out as Texas athletic director, via multiple sources. First reported by @BDavisAAS and @kbohls.
— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) September 15, 2015
Former Longhorn LB Mike Perrin, a Hall of Honor inductee, will take over as AD during search for Patterson successor. — Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) September 15, 2015
As we all know, rumors are only rumors until someone makes them official. We'll keep our ear out for any developments and make updates to this article as we get more details.
