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Source: UT president Bill Power's situation creates 'element of uncertainty' in ongoing Mack Brown coaching saga
Texas coach Mack Brown was still in New York with new athletic director Steve Patterson on Monday after they talked for about three hours on the flight there Sunday.
Alabama coach Nick Saban was visiting recruits in Kentucky and Arkansas while message boards went on red alert tracking any private planes headed to Austin.
And in news that impacts and potentially trumps the football coach situation, Texas president Bill Powers found his name and employment as an agenda item for the UT Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
While Powers’ infighting with Gov. Rick Perry over education policy and vision has led to a tenuous job status, this is the first time that the president’s employment has made its way onto the official agenda.
The regents will be discussing his status behind closed doors in executive session. The agenda item surprised many. Recent reports had Powers weathering the storm and in a secure position despite opposition from four of the nine regents.
Now?
“It creates an element of uncertainty,†said a source familiar with the situation.
A second source indicated that Patterson’s meeting with Brown about the program’s future was positive and productive Sunday in their first extended talk since Patterson became AD last month, replacing DeLoss Dodds. But Thursday’s regents meeting and Powers’ situation have left the coaching situation in a holding pattern with no decision yet made on Brown’s future.
One of the sources suggested that Brown’s status and the rumors swirling about Saban gave the regents an opening to look at Powers.
Any complications with Powers would spill over to football. Powers has been a strong supporter of Brown since arriving as president in 2006, a month after Texas won a national championship.
Appointments for a position like president at Texas can take months. With all the academic intrigue, Brown’s position remains unresolved after an 8-4 finish. A win over Baylor in the regular-season finale would have given Texas a Big 12 title and sent to the Longhorns to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Now Texas heads to the Valero Alamo Bowl and a difficult matchup against Oregon and the Ducks’ speedy offense.
Brown has shown no signs of voluntarily stepping away, although he declined to answer a question about his future after the Baylor loss.
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel, who wrote about Texas’ struggles earlier this year, tweeted that he had run into Brown in New York. The response was very Mack-like, according to Thamel’s tweet:
“You had me fired after the KState game,†he said. Then he added, “I have no comment.â€
An Alabama-focused website even started a Saban-to-Texas rumor tracker on its website.
Saban himself was recruiting even as rumors swirled.
His agent, Jimmy Sexton, did talk to Texas regent Wallace Hall and former regent Tom Hicks in January.
But would Saban, 62, leave behind the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and the adulation that goes with three BCS national titles to come to Texas?
And could Texas deliver a landmark contract for Saban without leading to an academic backlash on campus?
Oh, and the biggest question: Is the savvy Sexton just using Texas to drive up Saban’s price at Alabama, where an extension has been rumored for weeks?
If Saban goes off the board, is there a no-brainer replacement for Brown who would be realistic, attainable and an upgrade?
For now, the questions far outnumber the answers.
Source: UT president Bill Power's situation creates 'element of uncertainty' in ongoing Mack Brown coaching saga | Dallas Morning News
Texas coach Mack Brown was still in New York with new athletic director Steve Patterson on Monday after they talked for about three hours on the flight there Sunday.
Alabama coach Nick Saban was visiting recruits in Kentucky and Arkansas while message boards went on red alert tracking any private planes headed to Austin.
And in news that impacts and potentially trumps the football coach situation, Texas president Bill Powers found his name and employment as an agenda item for the UT Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
While Powers’ infighting with Gov. Rick Perry over education policy and vision has led to a tenuous job status, this is the first time that the president’s employment has made its way onto the official agenda.
The regents will be discussing his status behind closed doors in executive session. The agenda item surprised many. Recent reports had Powers weathering the storm and in a secure position despite opposition from four of the nine regents.
Now?
“It creates an element of uncertainty,†said a source familiar with the situation.
A second source indicated that Patterson’s meeting with Brown about the program’s future was positive and productive Sunday in their first extended talk since Patterson became AD last month, replacing DeLoss Dodds. But Thursday’s regents meeting and Powers’ situation have left the coaching situation in a holding pattern with no decision yet made on Brown’s future.
One of the sources suggested that Brown’s status and the rumors swirling about Saban gave the regents an opening to look at Powers.
Any complications with Powers would spill over to football. Powers has been a strong supporter of Brown since arriving as president in 2006, a month after Texas won a national championship.
Appointments for a position like president at Texas can take months. With all the academic intrigue, Brown’s position remains unresolved after an 8-4 finish. A win over Baylor in the regular-season finale would have given Texas a Big 12 title and sent to the Longhorns to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Now Texas heads to the Valero Alamo Bowl and a difficult matchup against Oregon and the Ducks’ speedy offense.
Brown has shown no signs of voluntarily stepping away, although he declined to answer a question about his future after the Baylor loss.
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel, who wrote about Texas’ struggles earlier this year, tweeted that he had run into Brown in New York. The response was very Mack-like, according to Thamel’s tweet:
“You had me fired after the KState game,†he said. Then he added, “I have no comment.â€
An Alabama-focused website even started a Saban-to-Texas rumor tracker on its website.
Saban himself was recruiting even as rumors swirled.
His agent, Jimmy Sexton, did talk to Texas regent Wallace Hall and former regent Tom Hicks in January.
But would Saban, 62, leave behind the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class and the adulation that goes with three BCS national titles to come to Texas?
And could Texas deliver a landmark contract for Saban without leading to an academic backlash on campus?
Oh, and the biggest question: Is the savvy Sexton just using Texas to drive up Saban’s price at Alabama, where an extension has been rumored for weeks?
If Saban goes off the board, is there a no-brainer replacement for Brown who would be realistic, attainable and an upgrade?
For now, the questions far outnumber the answers.
Source: UT president Bill Power's situation creates 'element of uncertainty' in ongoing Mack Brown coaching saga | Dallas Morning News
