Bobby Burton
On Texas Football continues to maintain that basketball coach Rodney Terry has coached his last game at Texas despite reports that there is a remote possibility that Terry could still keep his job.
There are many things to consider as we wait for resolution.
But first and foremost is the modus operandi of Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and the timing of how how he fires and hires coaches.
For example, consider the timing of CDC's hirings of the two highest profile coaches at Texas - Steve Sarkisian and Jim Schlossnagle.
Tom Herman was officially fired on Jan. 2, 2021. Steve Sarkisian was hired later that same day, on Jan. 2, 2021.
As for Schlossnagle, previous Texas baseball coach David Pierce was informed he would not be retained on June 24, 2024. Just one day later, Schlossnagle was hired, on June 25.
In other words, during high-profile hirings, Del Conte's m.o. is crystal clear. He likes to do things cleanly, moving from one head coach to another with immediacy. As one source put it, CDC and Texas do not want to do anything considered merely "patchwork". They want a replacement ready to go prior to releasing the other head coach.
A different source told us much the same thing, that "Rodney Terry is the head coach until he's not the head coach."
So where does that leave us with potential replacements?
One source said Atlanta Hawks coach Quinn Snyder recently told Texas that he had no interest in returning to the college game. OTF has also been told that a lack of prolonged head coaching experience will be hard to overcome for Texas-Ex Royal Ivey, who is currently an assistant with the Houston Rockets.
Names thought to be under consideration and potentially attainable include Sean Miller of Xavier and Tommy Lloyd of Arizona. There is a long list of even higher profile coaches Texas will likely inquire through agents, too.