UT president Jay Hartzell to attend SEC Spring Meetings 'mainly to start building relationships and listen'

On May 3 during the UT System Board of Regents meeting in Austin, the board met in executive session for “discussion and appropriate action related to legal issues concerning terms of contracts associated with U. T. Austin’s membership in the Southeastern Conference.” What was said in executive session won’t be known except by those regents and a select handful in the room, including UT president Jay Hartzell.

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When the board reconvened in open session, board of regents vice chairman Rad Weaver filed a motion to authorize Hartzell to reach a “mutually agreeable exit” from the Big 12 for the Longhorns ahead of joining the SEC on July 1, 2024 within the “parameters outlined and recommended in executive session.”

The motion was seconded by vice chairman Janiece Longoria. Every regent voted in favor, none opposed, and the motion passed. The proceeding was a formality after the Big 12, Texas, and Oklahoma agreed to terms in February that would allow the Red River rivals to leave for the SEC in 2024, but it gave Hartzell the full legal authority needed to navigate Texas into its new home.

Work on that task will continue in earnest later this month, when Hartzell and his OU counterpart attend SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.

“It’s going to be weird because I’ll be there with no voting rights,” Hartzell said Thursday. “We’re actually not officially in yet, so I think it’s going to be getting acclimated. Clearly, my impression is scheduling stuff will be the largest topic of the day, and then figuring out what is the latest in terms of media discussions and how those two interact.”

The scheduling aspect is centered around whether the SEC will move to an eight- or nine-game conference schedule in football and the number of permanent rivals that will remain on each team’s slate. Like Hartzell mentioned, Texas doesn’t have a vote quite yet since it isn’t a full SEC member.

The UT president didn’t offer an official burnt orange stance on the topic when asked about it on Thursday. Instead, he mentioned he’ll be looking to create dialogue with his future peers along the sandy shores of Miramar Beach.

“I’ll be there mainly to start building relationships and listen,” Hartzell said. “I teased (SEC commissioner Greg) Sankey and told him we’re accustomed to having our own press conference at these things. So when is that day? (laughs) It should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

Hartzell’s joke does have a small layer of truth baked into it. Texas is viewed as a significant player, and at times even a bull-headed villain, by some within the college athletics landscape. That said, Hartzell made a point to say he doesn’t arrive in Destin with the intent to make wholesale changes in the revered league for UT’s benefit.

“I don’t want to come in guns blazin’,” Hartzell said. “Texas, on occasion, has a reputation as being an alpha. I’m happy to come in and start just being part of the team and the board.”

Hartzell would continue, saying, “it’s a great league. We’re excited about it. We want to fit in and be a good partner in the league with all the other presidents and chancellors. I think we’ve got a role to play but also want to be a team player. There’s no ‘fix it’ in that conference. We’re not trying to go in and move it in a new direction. We’re joining because we’re happy the direction is going.”

The February announcement by the Big 12, Texas, and Oklahoma announced the league would allow the two institutions to leave for the SEC a year prior to the originally planned date of July 1, 2025. As a result, the schools would compensate the Big 12 with “$100 million in foregone distributable revenues, which OU and UT will be able to partially offset with future revenues.”

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All this was subject to final approval from the UT and OU governing boards. The OU Board of Regents is scheduled to meet in Norman, Okla. on Friday to give Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. the authority to hammer out the details for his institution’s move.

Hartzell received his authorization on Wednesday. His next stop and the next step after the proceedings on Wednesday at UT System headquarters in Downtown Austin?

SEC Spring Meetings in the heart of SEC country in Destin.