Crossfire with McPhaul - 11/13/2013

[HornSports Staff]

 

Well this past week has been a quiet one news-wise BUT don't confuse what is seen by the eye as to what is really going on underneath the surface- as the saying goes "still waters run deep!" A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned that information was going to get scarcer to come by going forward and that in fact has been the case. Why? We'll discuss that in week's edition of Crossfire as well as information that had already been shared as it pertains to the hiring of Steve Patterson and validate some of the information that has been already discussed as it pertains to his hiring. We will also talk in more detail about Terry Saban and her house hunting in Austin. Is it true that Saban upset with the Hicks boys? What does this mean for Nick Saban and his chances of coaching at the 40 Acres next season? We will answer all of that and more in this weeks' "Crossfire."

 

First, I spoke to my contacts and shared information back and forth over the past few days and as I mentioned in the outset- information is tougher to come by these days. Why is that? Well first of all, things have changed a bit with the hiring of Steve Patterson as AD. One of the things that was shared with me by one of my contacts pertains to keeping things on the "DL". Saban was/is furious about these types of distractions taking place. Noise is clutter and Saban does not like clutter. He detests it! Saban's comment was, "Do these guys even KNOW HOW to go about hiring a Coach?" He was PISSED! Now before anyone panics reading this and says McPhaul is saying Saban aint coming to Austin let me be clear: I AM NOT SAYING THAT! I will get to predictions later I promise! What I AM saying is expect all negotiations to go into "double-secret probation" mode going forward with Patterson at the helm. There's a reason Steve Patterson is respected by agents the way he is. He is a professional and he truly DOESN'T do Clown Shows. Things will be done in a professional, confidential manner going forward with Sexton/Saban.

 

During my previous "Crossfire" I posted that I had been told that there were a few AD's that Saban would prefer working with as opposed to others. Patterson, Haden (USC), Castilogne, Long (Arkansas), & Tanner (South Carolina's) were all included on the list that Saban would prefer working with. Glaringly missing on that list was Oliver Luck- but why? Keep in mind, Luck was the "odds-on" favorite of the Bellmont establishment. Powers felt comfortable with him as Deloss' replacement. Dodds felt comfortable with him as his replacement. We've been told that Mack was comfortable with Luck as the new AD. So what gives? Well perhaps THAT is the reason at the end of the day Saban didn't include Luck on that list? Perhaps he wanted someone OUTSIDE of the establishment as the new AD? Perhaps he wanted someone that he could go into a relationship with carte blanche from the outset as opposed to an AD that has loyalties with the previous establishment. Keep in mind, Saban has a certain way of doing things and doesn't deviate from that plan. If Luck is AD then Saban's approach to building a program might be compromised and prevent Saban from coming to UT altogether. In contrast, Patterson has been a President at a Professional Sports Program before. Patterson has been hired and Patterson has been fired. That being said, Patterson is the ONLY candidate that has faced all of the adversity of building a franchise/program from the bottom-up with professional organizations AND a Collegiate Athletic

Program None of the other candidates can say this. Debate this if you want but this is what was shared with me.

 

Furthermore with Patterson as AD, it is expected to be less bureaucratic and more "results oriented" than where we are today. I was told by several of my contacts to a person that one of the things that differentiated Patterson from Luck was the way Patterson talked about the ENTIRE Athletic Department AS A WHOLE and Luck seemed to be more focused on the Football Program throughout the interview process. Being an Athletic Department with more than 1 program limping along right now, that is probably a HUGE selling point to the AD Selection Committee- it would be to me and it was to my contacts!

 

Another thing to consider is there are currently 500 student athletes and 400 folks in the Athletic Department to support each of those student athletes. With that kind of student athlete/Athletic Department support personnel you are talking about a bureaucratic monster that needs to be DRAMATICALLY reshaped and resized altogether! Hell, we are damned-near looking today at our Athletic Department having a ratio of damned near 1 administrator for every student athlete. As my contact said, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?" You would expect if we had an administrator for every student athlete that we would be winning National Championships in EVERY sport we participated in wouldn't you? You sure wouldn't expect that the University of Texas have a JUCO transfer football player not knowing whether or not they are academically qualified to practice/play until the 3rd week of Fall Camp! Keep in mind these 400 bureaucrats loyalties are going to lie with the powers that be that put them into power- namely Deloss Dodds. The bottom line is that that type of model for our Athletic Department cannot sustain itself and remain successful- there is just too much bureaucratic red-tape to hide behind.

 

Now on to the reason you're REALLY here- what is going on with Saban coming to Texas. Cut to the chase McPhaul! Why is it so quiet on the Saban front? The Hicks' stuff you're referencing concerns us. Well, in the past I have been more conservative than Jesus and others coming in at 60%. Today that number changes. For the worse? For the better? What gives?

 

From what I hearing, this quiet that we are witnessing means the relationship is very serious. Here is the rub on the Saban front. As I mentioned from the outset, Nick Saban is extremely disappointed in our inability to keep things quiet (Hicks brothers). However Saban is also concerned about our ability to effectively manage the Brown resignation in the time period we had led Sexton/Saban to believe we would receive Mack's resignation by. In addition, Brown still has the ability to make this an ugly situation with each victory with a Big 12 Championship and BCS Bowl all still a possibility.

 

Saban does not want to appear as the coach that was hired at the expense of forcing the removal of Mack Brown when in reality THAT IS THE CASE! As things stand today, you are hearing it hear first: AS THINGS STAND TODAY, Nick Saban will be the Head Coach at the University of Texas next season. There! I said it! It's out of the bag! Now the fallout from Mack's perspective: from an image standpoint, Mack is extremely upset that his departure from Texas will look like he has been forced out. That is why

his camp has continuously puts out the message that Mack will leave on his own terms when in reality they know it is the end for Mack Brown Texas Football. Understandably so, the members of the Selection Committee are squirming in their collective seats! You could not get anyone one of them to admit in public that they had wished Texas had already lost a game or two more but. Nevertheless, there is no denying that with each win, Mack Brown delays the deals they are trying to cement in bringing Saban to

Austin. Consequently everyone involved from both sides wants the talks about Saban squelched. The good news is Mack has indeed confided to confidants that he is retiring at the end of the year (would match perfectly with his more relaxed demeanor on the sideline and in post-game interviews).

 

Now for some additional information, I just finalized a conversation with my friend on the Board of Regents and he made an interesting comment. My friend told me that "Hicks absolutely had the blessing of Powers to approach Saban. Hicks got Hall involved for reasons he can't understand. Then he dropped the bombshell that there is money available from the people that you would expect to go and get Saban no matter what the cost." My contact however believes that the money will be so large that eventually

Powers himself will be the person to push back on the finances of the deal. Right now, we're hearing the deal is $8.4M/yr.

 

Our friend Santa Gertrudis leaked yesterday that Terry Saban had looked at a friend of his home on her last trip to Austin. To reiterate, the price on the home in question was $6.5M, 8,000 sq. ft home. On a different front, Paul Finebaum had been stating that the home in question was being looked at as a home for one of the Sabans' children (age 26 & 21). Santa somewhat debunked the assumption by Paul Finebaum that the house was a purchase for one one of the kids (again, who purchases a 8,000 sq. ft home for $6.5M for their 20 something year old kids as a starter home?). Well what I have learned is that Nick & Terry Saban have put a contract on a house in Austin that will close in late January. The contract would not be publicly available information and the purchaser was an LLC that has not been used before. I heard this prior to what was posted on IT last night, but that information is consistent with what I've been told.

 

Finally, I have been catching some heat for my 60% belief that Saban will be the Head Coach at the University of Texas next season. My goal is to ALWAYS be truthful to our members and if I post something then it is genuine and NOT pre-fabricated for effect! Having said that, after what I have heard over the past few days I am ready to bump that percentage AS OF RIGHT NOW to 100%! That's right. I said it! 100%. Things change but AT THIS MOMENT UNLESS THINGS CHANGE I am saying it is a 100% chance Nick Saban is the Head Coach at the University of Texas next season. How's that for a "Crossfire?"

 

Anyway, that's all I've got for now- and that should be enough. Until next week, "Hook em Horns and BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THE COWPOKES!"

 

--McPhaul

[bbdude]

Thanks to McPhaul for releasing it a tad early today for the eager readers. Interesting STUFF!

[Baghorn]

That's some of your best work ever...way to bring it!

[ZoomAir34]

Thanks D!

 

Christmas will be good this year.

[drgilbert]

Great news! Exciting as always. Thanks for the post. Hook'em!

[The Tower]

Thanks bro

[Randolph Duke]

I have been saying for months that those who claim to have secret sources inside the program willing to divulge information that otherwise would never be known (a la Bradley Manning) are not acting in the best interests of the program. I am absolutely not calling out McPhaul. Asking the right questions to the right people and then connecting the dots is in the best interests of the program. I am not surprised Saban would go nuts at the thought of individuals connected with the program pursuing individual agendas and discussing information that should have been held in confidence.

 

A lot needs to change in Bellmont and with the program and I hope one change we see is people willing to sign on to promote Pattereson's agenda, and by extention the agenda of the program are brought in and those seeking to offer information to the media for their individual purposes are shut out. If you don't believe in Patterson's agenda, by all means publicly call him out. Just don't privately make his job any more difficult.

 

I hope we see a culture change in Bellmont where people answer intelligent questions openly and honestly. If we want the next coach, and the program, to be successful, we have to the circus environment and get back to being a functioning program.

 

All that being said, I still expect word to go out hours after the Tech game that Mack is stepping down. Beat Baylor for the BCS bearth, focus attention on the program and fire up the team on a national stage. With that momentum, the hoopla surrounding the bowl game and the MNC is going to be great for the program. It should be an interesting few weeks.

[Mr. Cosell]

Thanks!

 

Anyone remember the backlash when I started a thread on TOS about the overbloated AD? People throw fits about the truth.

 

It's not how much money we spend, it is how we are spending it. There is a lot of overpaid individuals doing no good to The University. We need better personnel, a totally new Organizational Chart, updgraded facilities and venues, and new approach to game day operations, etc.

 

Nick Saban's 50 man personnel staff at Bama is money well spent.

 

Oregon's facilities and game day venues is money well spent.

 

DeLoss just never got it.

 

JMHO, and thanks again for the update McP.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Mr. Cosell

[riloh05]

wow. love the information!

[randoke]

Damn mcphaul. Bringing it.

[HornSolo]

Much appreciated....

[randoke]

Hopefully Patterson's arrival will allow things to quiet down.

 

McPhaul, do you expect the Mack's returning talk to ramp up? Would a loss kill that talk?

[Mr. Cosell]

Randolph Duke, good post. What other boards do you post on?

[Nakona Horn]

Man a lot of legends will be born if Saban comes here.

 

SG

McPhaul

Jesus S

cujo

Lamar Littrell

Nuuafola (where has he been lately)

 

Good stuff sir! Hope it works out.

[McQ]

"BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THE COWPOKES!"

 

--McPhaul

 

Wait, do we want that?

 

Thanks for the info, McPhaul.

[GetHooked]

Damn mcphaul. Bringing it.

 

 

One of the main reasons I am here.

[tylerrose20]

Thanks McPhaul!

[ATX89]

Wow. Great info and thanks for sharing!

[Skolodn]

Great Info, McPhaul!! Very encouraging. Great site guys. You continue to bring the goods. Welcome, Mr. Cossell, glad you are here as well. Your info and contributions were much appreciated at TOS (at least by me and a few others)!

[TheContractor]

Great report. Hopefully our side can keep thing quiet the next few weeks.

[BigPhil76]

Good info here for sure. I look forward to seeing Steve Patterson put his stamp on the brand. The fat cutting needs to begin. I don't care how many people we end up with in the AD, as long as Steve has put them in place. I am a big fan of the Patterson "no nonsense " approach. Being a 2nd generation GM certainly must give him an edge! Good to see ya over here Cosell, looking forward to your Recruiting insight.

[MansfieldHorn]

I'm so excited after hearing this news that I probably won't be able to get a dang thing done at work this afternoon. I feel like a little kid at Christmas. Thanks so much for the update ... sincerely appreciated by all the Horn fans!

[randoke]

McPhaul, are you hearing anything new about any contingency plans if Saban falls through? It seems like we are zeroed in on Saban so maybe not.

[BevoBlake]

Excellent work by McPhaul, as always! A very interesting read to say the least. It concerns me that according to said sources, Saban is turned off by the level of incompetence being displayed by some in the organization. Admittedly, it's not hard to blame him for that. It also sounds like both Mack and Nick are trying to play their part within the system that keeps them from looking immoral (Nick) or losing their pride (Mack). Coaching is like a fraternity, as we recently saw via Snyder and Brown earlier this season, so I can't imagine that Saban coming in and working a deal behind Mack's back would be looked upon very fondly by the other coaches in the NCAA. Which is largely why I think he's upset with the way this process has been handled. Mack on the other hand has done so much at Texas during his tenure that has rightfully led him to be a bit prideful. Stripping a man of his pride is one of the worst things you can do to a man, so it's not hard to understand why Mack & Co. want this to look like a Mack & Co. decision. Despite the failures of Texas as of late, I will always have a Burnt Orange spot in my heart for Mack Brown. He's a great man and he'll undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest things to ever happen to Texas football. So while I am looking forward to his impending retirement, I do hope it's done gracefully and with the respect that Mack Brown deserves.

[Massiah]

Great Crossfire McPhaul! Awesome insight on administrators ratio. We could keep it on the DL, but mainstream media keeps reporting rumors Saban to Texas!