In just a couple of days, I’ll be on a plane headed to Las Vegas for a vacation.
I love going to Vegas in the summer because that is when the World Series of Poker is running. I don’t normally play in the tournaments, but the cash games in Las Vegas during the WSOP are really fun (and profitable).
But while most guys like to go to Las Vegas as a trip with their boys, I love going out there with my wife.
About six years ago, my wife decided to learn how to play poker as a way for us to have a shared hobby. She looked it up and found a local pro who was teaching a beginning poker class. She went and had a lot of fun.
Soon, we were going to the casinos together to play and it turns out … she’s pretty damn good.
Mindy is an introvert by nature who is not the least bit aggressive in real life. But sit her down at a poker table and she becomes fearless – pushing chips around and making the other players make really tough decisions. It’s actually fun to watch her play because most of the guys at the table have no idea what to make of her or how to play against her. She really is playing by a very simple motto – go big or go home.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte seems to have a similar approach when it comes to hiring coaches.
Last Friday, as CDC was still shaking out the sand in his shoes following a trip to Destin, Florida for the SEC Spring Meetings, UT was also announcing that Texas women’s golf coach Ryan Murphy was resigning.
“I am happy with what we achieved in my 10 years as the Head Women’s Golf Coach,” Murphy said in a statement put out by the university. “I believe the program is in a great place.”
Four days later, Del Conte and the Texas athletic department were announcing Murphy’s replacement.
“We are thrilled to have Laura Ianello taking over our women’s golf program,” Del Conte said. “She is one of the nation’s elite golf coaches.”
Elite is an understatement.
Ianello comes to UT having already won a national championship as a coach at Arizona in 2018 – and as a player at Arizona in 2000.
In her time in Tucson, the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament nine times (out of 13 seasons), developed six All-American golfers, 24 All-Pac-12 golfers and also had 24 players earn Pac-12 All-Academic team honors.
“My goals are simple,” Ianello said. “Build positive relationships with the current team, work hard, recruit the best and win championships.”
The swift move to replace the women’s golf coach is a pretty typical case study in how Del Conte operates when he needs to hire a new coach. He identifies who he wants (and it’s usually someone who has better credentials than the coach they are replacing), move quickly to secure their services and announce the hire.
THE COACHING HIRES:
Just take a look at the coaches Del Conte has hired during his time in Austin.
Men's Basketball: Chris Beard & Rodney Terry
Women's Basketball: Vic Schaeffer
Beach Volleyball: Stein Metzger
Men's Swimming: Bob Bowman
Men's Tennis: Bruce Berque
Track and Field & Cross Country: Edrick Floréal
Softball: Mike White
Football: Steve Sarkisian
Chris Beard had the Longhorns humming in basketball before a domestic altercation led to his being fired.
Vic Schaeffer led the Horns to a one seed in the NCAA tournament but fell a little short in the Elite 8 round. That was still a remarkable accomplishment considering his best player, Rori Harmon, went down with a knee injury in December.
Stein Metzger left UCLA where he won two national titles to build up a brand new beach volleyball program at UT.
Del Conte hired swim coach Bob Bowman away from Arizona State University just days after he won a national championship for the Sun Devils. Oh, and Bowman used to coach some dude named Michael Phelps before that.
Bruce Berque led the Longhorn’s men’s tennis team to the national championship this year before falling to TCU.
Edrick Floréal has already won two national championships at UT (and they’re competing in the NCAA’s this week with a chance for another title).
Mike White has the Texas softball team in the women’s College World Series as a number one seed and playing for a national championship.
You all know what Steve Sarkisian has done with the football program.
In other words, Del Conte knows a thing
WHAT ABOUT
While Del Conte was busy hiring the women’s golf coach, you can rest assured that he was, at the very least, thinking about what he wants to do with baseball.
Texas baseball coach David Pierce is still the head coach of the program … for now.
Since the Longhorns season came to an early end, losing out in the regionals of the NCAA tournament, we have yet to hear from athletic director Chris Del Conte about whether he plans to retain Pierce or move on.
In truth, Del Conte’s silence is speaking volumes. Had he been planning to retain Pierce, I believe we would have already heard about that by now. Not announcing your support for the embattled coach, if you truly plan to keep him, only provides more instability to a team that is on shaky ground as it is.
The longer this goes without public support from Del Conte, the harder it will be for Pierce to keep players already on the roster from entering the transfer portal or recruit new replacements from the portal to come to UT.
Which only reinforces my perception that Del Conte knows what he wants to do, he is just getting things in order to be able to move quickly when he does announce his intentions.
Of course, it is also possible that Del Conte has Pierce’s replacement already lined up, he is just waiting for that coach to finish his season before making a move (which would give that coach's current school more time to try to keep their coach in house).
POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS:
JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE:
The conversation begins (and probably ends) with Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle.
Schloss has a long history of winning with a career record heading into this season of 893-440 (.669). In his 23 years as a head coach, he has failed to make the postseason only three times – while making it to Omaha six times. The Aggies aren’t just favored to make it back to Omaha this year, they are one of the favorites to win it all.
Schlossnagle has been incredible at recruiting both in the high school ranks and in the transfer portal. His ability to land Braden Montgomery from Stanford is a big reason why the Aggies are competing for a spot in Omaha.
Schlossnagle and Del Conte also have a long history having worked together at TCU which should make it easier to pull him out of College Station.
JAY JOHNSON:
LSU head coach Jay Johnson may be a surprise name for many of you, but he is exactly the kind of coach that Chris Del Conte loves to go out and poach. He is a proven winner, having won it all last season and a proven recruiter.
Will Johnson be willing to leave Baton Rouge for Austin? That remains to be seen. But if Schlossnagle doesn’t want to leave A&M then Johnson could be the next name on CDC’s speed dial.
SKIP JOHNSON:
Skip Johnson is out of the postseason already so if it’s going to be him, then we won’t have to wait long for this to happen.
Johnson obviously knows all about UT having spent nine years at UT as an assistant. That means he also knows that it is much easier to win in Austin than it is in Norman.
TONY VITELLO:
Tony Vitello has done nothing but win, and win big, since taking over at Tennessee. The Volunteers head coach is another one with a national championship ring and a reputation as an elite recruiter.
He also happens to know CDC pretty well having been an assistant coach under Schlossnagle at TCU while Del Conte was the Horned Frogs AD.
Vitello is a bit of a lightning rod driving some players and administrators nuts (which means maybe CDC’s knowledge of him could play against him).
Look, I know a lot of you will be seeing these names and think that I’m smoking crack or something. After all, most of us remember the last time the UT job came open and big name after big name used the Longhorn interest to get better paydays where they already were. But if the look back at Del Conte’s hiring practices has taught us anything, it’s that he’s not afraid to go big or go home.
TWEETS OF INTEREST:
The schedule for the 12-team playoffs is out. I still think it’s weird that ESPN outsourced some of the playoff games to TNT but there you have it … two of the opening-round games will be on the Turner Network.
Depending on how the season goes, Texas will either be playing a couple of days before Christmas (likely in Austin) or on the road to the bowl games on New Year’s.
This is going to be a full on month of college football playoffs and I AM IN!
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Georgia, Oregon, Texas and Ohio State all seem to be the consensus top four teams going into the season.
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This is an EXCELLENT breakdown of the season Quinn Ewers had last year from the Director of Football Operations from the Shrine Bowl.
It is worth clicking on the link to see the plays that Galko breaks down.
I also appreciated this line: “And he’s still has so much to build on. He’ll be an even better deep ball thrower, improvising passer, and strong-armed finisher across the field.” If that ends up being true – Quinn really does become a good deep ball thrower – then Texas will definitely be in the playoffs.
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Betters are loving them some Quinn Ewers for the Heisman.
But they also love them some Colorado so…
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New Texas edge rusher Trey Moore is already drawing interest from NFL scouts.
Matt Miller, ESPN NFL Draft Analyst, spoke with NFL scouts and one of them compared Moore to former Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner who just went 17th overall in last year’s draft.
"Moore is exactly what [the Longhorns] were missing," the scout said. "He's light, but we saw that work last year with Turner. Moore is a really similar guy who could rocket up boards."
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Sark has said he believes the toughness the team built last year working out in the heat of the summer helped the Horns when they went to Alabama.
Wolverines better watch out!
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It is only a matter of time before Texas reverses course and passes a bill allowing high school athletes to do NIL deals.
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On3’s survey of NIL deals being offered to high school players was pretty interesting. The money isn’t quite as big as people like to think it is.
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Did y’all celebrate the anniversary of ten cent beer night? Perhaps the greatest baseball promotion ever!
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80 years ago … a world is still grateful.
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