Texas hires TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Del Conte has led TCU’s athletic department since 2009. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)
Del Conte has led TCU’s athletic department since 2009. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)

Texas has found its new athletic director. The Longhorns are hiring TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte.

Texas has been looking for a permanent athletic director since parting ways with Steve Patterson in the fall of 2015 after a rocky tenure with the school. Mike Perrin has been the school’s athletic director for over two years on an interim basis.

Del Conte has been TCU’s athletic director since 2009. He was the AD when TCU entered the Big 12 in 2012 to replace the departed Texas A&M and Missouri. While he’s been at TCU, the Horned Frogs have done multi-million dollar renovations to Amon G. Carter Stadium and opened a new basketball arena.

“Chris has the experience, vision and character that’s needed for Texas to build on the Longhorns’ rich legacy and to continue winning with integrity for years to come,” Texas president Greg Fenves said in a statement. “He knows the state of Texas, supports student-athletes and understands the media landscape of college sports, and he is one of the best athletics directors in the country.”

Del Conte tweeted a goodbye message shortly before his hire was made official Saturday afternoon.

Texas thought it was set for a while at athletic director when it hired Patterson in 2013. He made it less than two months on the job after it became public that he didn’t have much support among donors and those in the athletic department. Many of the changes Patterson tried didn’t go over well with others.

Patterson’s tenure was 22 months. Perrin’s interim tenure made it nearly 25 months.

Patterson hired coach Charlie Strong to replace Mack Brown before the 2014 season. Perrin fired Strong after the 2016 season and replaced him with Tom Herman. The Longhorns went 6-6 in 2017 and will play Mizzou in the Texas Bowl. It’s the first time the schools have met since the Tigers left the Longhorns and the rest of the conference for the SEC.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!