COVID-19 saved Shaka Smart but not the rest of the mess at Texas | Opinion
Once the coach most likely to be fired, Shaka Smart took his COVID extension and made the most of his opportunity.
And the moment Texas fired Tom Herman, Shaka was all but guaranteed another year.
Not only is the Texas basketball coach not going to be fired, he’s the best thing going in that beleaguered athletic department.
Shaka’s team, ranked 13th in the nation, is on a three-game winning streak, and will play No. 20 Texas Tech on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament.
Texas will make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and the team continues to function as a nice distraction from what has otherwise been a disaster of an academic calendar year for the big school in Austin.
You can bet our Aggie brothers and sisters are enjoying all of this.
Whether it is the emails uncovered by whiny, enabled boosters over “The Eyes of Texas” drama, laying off employees to save millions and then paying Herman’s $15 million buyout in order to hire the damaged goods that are Steve Sarkisian, Bevo has never looked worse.
On Tuesday, UT is expected to release a “report” on its findings about “The Eyes of Texas,” which will solve nothing and only continue one of the worst years on record for Bevo ‘n’ friends. Texas Monthly is reporting that UT plans to keep the song
Follow the Texas timeline:
▪ This time one year ago, Shaka was clinging to his job. UT was likely not going to make the NCAA Tournament for the third time since he was hired to replace Rick Barnes in 2015.
UT has reached the NCAAs twice under Shaka, and is 0-2 in those games. At the time, his contract had two years and $10.5 million guaranteed remaining.
Once COVID closed it all down, and the NCAA Tournament was junked, every coach in America who was sitting on a warm seat got an extra year.
▪ Beginning Sept. 1, 2020, 35 UT athletic department staff members were laid off; 35 positions would remain permanently cut.
An additional 273 staff members had temporary salary cuts, and 11 staffers were furloughed with benefits.
UT athletic director Chris Del Conte announced those cuts would save the athletic department $13.1 million.
▪ On Dec. 12, 2020, Del Conte told the Austin American-Statesman that football coach Tom Herman would return for the 2021 season. “I want to reiterate that Herman is our coach,” he said.
▪ On Jan. 2, 2021, Texas fired Tom Herman. His buyout cost $15.4 million. The cost of buying out the remainder of his staff was an additional $9 million, bringing the total to change out the staff to just over $24 million.
▪ On Jan. 11, 2021, Texas hired Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and gave him a six-year, $34.2 million guaranteed contract. The University of Texas regents also approved the contracts for his coaching staff that will total $21 million.
That’s nearly $80 million in guaranteed money for coaches and their contracts. But the good news is UT did save $13.1 million laying off a bunch of employees.
Here is the best part: According to the UT athletic department financials, it made $22.1 million in the 2019-20 year.
Only in Power 5 college athletics does this nauseating, reckless and heartless spending not only add up, but it’s routine.
▪ March 1, 2021 The Texas Tribune published a detailed report that included emails from angry fans, and influential boosters, about how the school handled “The Eyes of Texas” controversy between some student athletes and fans.
Some football players didn’t want to sing the song, which has some feel has racist origins, while wealthy boosters and alums were adamant the tradition remains upheld.
Many of the emails included in the report were from boosters who said they would stop contributing to the school if the song is no longer played.
Texas President Jay Hartzell issued a statement downplaying the report and said, “Out of the many emails I received this fall, a very small number included comments that were truly abhorrent and hateful. I categorically reject them, and they bear no influence on any aspect of our decision-making.”
If enough people give you money, it has influence on your decision making. Even at Texas.
Meanwhile, many of the student athletes at UT want no part of a song that they think has racist undertones.
Know this, appeasing a college kid who is full of fancy words, dates and rhetoric is almost as difficult as placating an enabled fat cat whose money has made their voice relevant even when what they say is ignorant.
There is no playbook that offers the right play call to handle all of this, and score an easy touchdown. Someone’s feelings are going to get hurt, some of those burnt orange faces are going to turn red, and someone is going to feel like they just lost.
But, you’re the University of Texas.
Be better than this.
All of this has created one of the few times in the history of the University of Texas where its fans, and its millions of exes, are asking, “So, when is tip off?”
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
