Texas athletic director explains SEC move with a slight callout

The Texas Longhorns and their fellow Red River rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, will be making a gigantic move in the upcoming years by leaving the Big 12 and leaving the SEC. Exactly when everything will take place is not yet known, with 2025 being the final deal of the television contract. Anything before then would require a hefty buyout from the two schools.

On Tuesday, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte joined Bobby Burton of Inside Texas, discussing the Longhorns joining the SEC. He started by talking about a key thing the Big 12 took away from the program before explaining the vision president Jay Hartzell has for Texas as a university.

“Part of our move is, where do brands go?,” Del Conte said. “The Big 12 was great for us but we had to look and wait a minute. They took away the right to write off your priority seating in DKR (Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium). Now, that dollar is an entertainment dollar. So, Bobby, you say ‘I give you $5,000 a year, you’re supposed to write 80% of it off.’ I can’t now. That’s a $5,000 ticket. Who we play matters. We are trying to be great in every single sport we produce.

“Our goal is to win championships in every sport and I know we got to get better in a lot of our sports but we’re working towards it and there’s a plan. But rising tide floats all boats. Our move — Jay’s (Hartzell) vision, that Texas becomes a premier public institution in the country and athletics is the front porch. So we must act like it, we must unite, and we must be together in doing so.”

Del Conte transitioned into talking about the previous 10 years Texas endured as an athletic department. Between the original Big 12 splitting up and seeing its biggest rival, Texas A&M, leave for the SEC, Del Conte expressed his displeasure with the Longhorns being blamed for the move.

Texas Longhorns AD doing what’s best for Texas

Shortly after, he said doing what’s best for Texas, not everybody else in the Big 12, is the priority moving forward. Using a few different analogies to explain the thought process, Del Conte made it clear moving to the SEC is because they think it’s what the athletic programs need to continue growing.

“Yet, there’s going to be steps along the way where people are going to go, ‘hm,’ but as long as the family stays together, we have a chance to be really, really special because we have had 10 years of absolute horses–t,” said Del Conte. “In terms of our own splintering effects. Whether it be conference shifts. Four schools leave and they blame us. Wasn’t our fault but four left. We had different things in the Big 12 where Texas gets blamed for.

“Some point in time, we got to say ‘you know what, we are Texas. We’re going to stand up for ourselves. We’re going to be responsible for ourselves. We love everybody but you know, you got to fish too. We’re wont going to fish for you as well. We need to do it ourselves and take care of ourselves.’ This move and what we’re doing is taking care of ourselves to put us in the very best position to get healthy again.”

To check out Inside Texas and Bobby Burton’s full interview with Del Conte, you see it here.

Texas has been struggling in the premier sport of the program, football, for just over a decade. Even men’s basketball has not lived up to expectations over the years under Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart. However, plenty of Olympic sports have enjoyed success ever since Del Conte took over in 2017. Five different sports have won national championships with a plethora of conference championships coming as well.

Del Conte will be hoping the success continues and even grows when Texas joins the SEC. Switching over to one of the most competitive conferences in the country can do nothing but help.