Univ. of Texas DeLoss Dodds is expected to announce his retirement at a 2:00pm CT press conference today after spending the past 32 years building UT "into one of the nation's wealthiest and most prestigious college athletic programs," according to a front-page piece by Bohls & Haurwitz of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Sources said that Dodds "will stay on through Aug. 31, 2014, and will remain as a paid consultant" through '15. Dodds also will receive a $1M annuity in August. Since Dodds arrived as AD in '81, UT has "soared into national prominence through its three flagship sports of football, basketball and baseball." The school during Dodds' tenure has made more than $400M "worth of facility upgrades." Dodds in '11 along with UT women’s AD Chris Plonsky also engineered a 20-year, $300M agreement with ESPN to establish the Longhorn Network, and "helped stabilize the Big 12 Conference after receiving realignment and expansion flirtations from the Pac-10." Dodds helped build UT's athletic program "into the largest in the nation" with an annual budget of $163M. UT in '12 was "one of only 23 NCAA Division I athletic departments" that brought in "enough money to cover expenses." A source said that UT President Bill Powers will "lead the search for Dodds' successor," and that West Virginia AD Oliver Luck, a graduate of the UT Law School, "would be an important candidate 'to keep an eye on.'" Another rumored candidate, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, "has repeatedly denied that he would be interested" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 10/1). In Dallas, Chuck Carlton cites a source as saying that the time between today's announcement and Dodds' retirement date is "designed to allow Dodds to fix the problems" within the athletic department and give Powers "adequate time to find a successor." The source said that a hire "could come before August." A list of candidates to replace Dodds "could include" Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/1).
EVERYTHING'S BIGGER...: ESPN.com's Max Olson wrote Dodds made UT the "financial behemoth it has become today and oversaw one of the greatest periods of athletic success in school history." Whoever is "deemed fit to take his place has Texas-sized shoes to fill" (ESPN.com, 9/30). UT men's programs "have won 14 national championships and 108 conference titles under Dodds' watch" (ESPN.com, 9/30). ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel: "It's a measure of the resources and the expectations that Dodds has raised that fans wonder why the Longhorns don’t dominate every sport in which they compete" (ESPN.com, 10/1).
