TCU ‘no longer a steppingstone:’ Q&A with athletic director Chris Del Conte

It has been an eventful December for TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte.

In the past three weeks, the renovation of the on-campus basketball arena has been finished, the building – complete with a school athetic hall of fame – opened to a doubleheader sweep by the men’s and women’s team. Football assistant coaches Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie were kept in-house, signed on to new contracts. The school accepted an Alamo Bowl invitation. All the while, renovations to the baseball stadium continue, with the plan being to be complete by the season opener.

And as one of the Big 12’s athletic directors, Del Conte saw his and his colleague’s decision to hold off on a championship game pay off when Oklahoma landed a berth in the College Football Playoff after being idle on the last weekend of the season.

This week, Del Conte talked with the Star-Telegram about those topics. Here is a condensed version of the Q&A:

S-T: Your impressions of the new Schollmaier Arena? CDC: “It met all of our expectations and then some. You walk in, it doesn’t look like the old facility at all. Everything looks fantastic. I like everything about it and all the anemities the student-athletes have. There might be bigger, but there won’t be any nicer. Just like Amon G. Carter Stadium. There might be bigger, but they won’t be any nicer.”

S-T: Basketball won its first games there. Can you see it helping already? CDC: “We played in Wilkerson-Greines for almost a season and a half. Getting in a new venue, getting all the things necessary for recruits to see that it is not a dream but a reality now, the kids that have committed to us are great kids. You’re going to see that being in the Metroplex and being where we’re located is fantastic.”

S-T: Speaking of renovations, how are things going at Lupton Stadium? CDC: “We’ll have those done in the middle of February. We’ll be ready for the season. Brand new scoreboard. Moving it to left field. We’ll do nice seating berms all the way down the right field line that will wrap around the outfield. The outfield wall, we’re making it match where the bullpen is. It just gives us another dimension when we’re hosting regionals or super regionals for the fan that wants to come out and be a part of Lupton Stadium. Because we’re already sold out – the grandstands are sold out.”

S-T: Is it a response to baseball’s success? CDC: “It’s not about keeping up with the Joneses. It’s making sure we provide our student athletes the very best facilities we can within the constraints of our mission to compete for championships. That stadium was built in 2000, maybe 2001 if I’m not mistaken, and now we’re just adding to make sure we continue to do the things we need to do stay competitive on the national landscape. We have one of the top baseball coaches in the country, and one of the top baseball programs, and we want to make sure we provide the tools necessary to compete for national championships.”

S-T: Your reaction to the Alamo Bowl invitation in football? “Loved it. It’s a great experience. San Antone is a great city, it’s in our state, we have a great opponent on the other side — it’s one of those you want to be a part of. It’s a marquee bowl in the Big 12, and it’s a marquee bowl in the Pac 12. For us to go to the Alamo Bowl and play Oregon is fantastic. I don’t know if I wanted to go to the Sugar Bowl and play a repeat opponent. For us, everything fell in place in terms of a bowl matchup. Oklahoma State playing Ole Miss is fantastic for them, and us playing Oregon is fantastic for us.”

S-T: What was your impression of Gary Patterson’s job performance this year? CDC: “With all the injuries, this is Gary Patterson’s finest coaching job, in my opinion. You have all those expectations leading into the year, and then you get decimated by injuries, and still to win 10 games and to finish where we finished in the conference, we’re a two-point conversion away from beating Oklahoma with a third-string quarterback. It’s just a remarkable coaching job.”

S-T: You may not be involved in recruiting, but have you noticed an uptick lately? CDC: “I’m involved in recruiting with all of our sports. I do think that being in the Big 12, the success of any program is going to get you a look by great recruits. Our success in getting into a league that is the dominant league in our region, arguably one of the better leagues in the country in terms of top-to-bottom depth in basketball, football and baseball, it just opens up a different conversation. The exposure on television, the exposure of the Big 12, the national opponents you’re playing in non-conference opens you to have different conversations with recruits you may not have been able to previously.”

S-T: How hard did you work to keep Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie? CDC: “I think everyone worked hard. I think they looked at TCU as a great place, a great place for them to raise a family, a great place for them to learn the business, learn the league, not only be valued but be competitive. They have a good team coming back. We’re all involved in those decisions. It’s a team effort. It speaks volumes for Gary Patterson and his football team.”

S-T: Still, it surprised a lot of people to see a TCU assistant turn down Texas. CDC: “I think times have changed. I think the investment we’ve made in our university, in our athletic program is paying off by allowing people to say that this is no longer a steppingstone but a destination. I firmly believe that.”

S-T: Did they both receive new contracts? CDC: “Yes, they did.”

S-T: Let’s talk College Football Playoff. Oklahoma got to sit back and not risk a loss in a championship game. Vindication for the league? CDC: “Remember what we always said last year — you had to have more than one data point to make a decision. We kept on saying you had to have more than one year. There was no need to panic. A lot of that stuff comes from media and social media. We knew there were years that were going to be in the favor of the Big 12 and there were years that were not going to be in the favor of the Big 12. That’s exactly what the playoff system did. It created an opportunity this year for us to have Oklahoma in. We’ll see what happens in years to come.”

S-T: Do you think there will still be voices in the conference calling for a championship game? CDC: “Everything is going to happen with an ebb and flow. But we committed to what we felt was right for us. Year in, year out, you’re going to have different outcomes. We know that the non-conference schedule is going to be critical, and how you do in your conference. The metrics that are being used by the committee are what they’re using. It’s no time to panic. It’s amazing how a year changes and things come out differently.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2015 at 11:23 AM with the headline "TCU ‘no longer a steppingstone:’ Q&A with athletic director Chris Del Conte."