Report: ASU athletic director Steve Patterson turned down offer with Texas
Oct 30, 2013, 11:04 PM | Updated: 11:04 pm
As first reported by Tyler Lockman of FoxSportsArizona.com and since confirmed by Arizona Sports 620, Arizona State athletic director Steve Patterson was offered the same position at the University of Texas, but he turned it down earlier this week.
Patterson received his undergraduate and law degrees at Texas, which will need a new AD after DeLoss Dodds steps down in August 2014. Dodds’ annual salary is $1.1 million.
According to Lockman:
In September, Patterson received a 15-month contract extension through June 2018 and an $85,000 raise. In turning down Texas’s overture, Patterson presumably passed on the chance to make significantly more than his current salary of $450,000.
A source told Fox Sports that Texas never extended a formal agreement to Patterson, but that he did meet with university representatives and could have taken the job if he so desired.
Having previously worked for the Houston Texans and Houston Rockets, Patterson joined Arizona State in July 2011 as the chief operating officer for the athletic department. He had a big role in the ASU’s hiring of football coach Todd Graham that year. He then replaced Lisa Love as athletic director in March 28, 2012.
About Patterson’s time at ASU, Lockman said:
Patterson has spearheaded a number of major projects at ASU, including Sun Devil Stadium renovation efforts, creation of the 425-acre sports facilities district to be built adjacent to ASU’s campus and negotiations to move ASU baseball’s home games to Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Patterson was also lauded this year for standing up to Notre Dame when it tried to back out of a 2014 football game in Tempe.
