Washington AD Scott Woodward "will be the new AD at Texas A&M" following Eric Hyman's abrupt resignation this week, according to sources cited by Chip Brown of HORNS DIGEST. Woodward, the AD at UW since '08, worked for current Texas A&M President Michael Young while Young "was the president at Washington" from July '11 through April '15. Woodward oversaw the recent $280M renovation of Husky Stadium, which "was done without state money or student fees" (HORNSDIGEST.com, 1/6). In Seattle, Adam Jude notes Woodward, an LSU alum, returns to his SEC roots, as he "regularly vacations in Louisiana." A source said that Woodward "has been exploring opportunities in the South for more than a year." Another source said that Woodward is "passionate about football and ... enjoyed being intimately involved in football-related decisions" during former UW coach Steve Sarkisian’s run from '09-13. In his first year at UW, Woodward faced a $2.8M "shortfall in the athletic department budget, forcing UW to eliminate both men’s and women’s swimming programs and lay off 13 employees." UW’s athletic budget has "stabilized some since Woodward’s first year," with revenues of $107.2M reported for '14-15. Still, UW’s athletic department budget has been "strained by a steady decline in tickets sales for football and men’s basketball, by rising salaries for coaches and by the liberalization of NCAA rules, among other expenses." Meanwhile, a UW source said that Senior Associate ADs Jennifer Cohen and Stephanie Rempe are two "internal candidates for the job" (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/7).
CHAIN OF COMMAND: In Houston, Brent Zwerneman cites sources as saying that while Hyman was "considered hands-off" with football coach Kevin Sumlin for "most of their four seasons together, Sumlin will answer directly to Woodward concerning the state of his program." Hyman had "agreed to stay on until his successor was named -- a stay that now appears will be quite brief" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/7).
