University of Texas Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds officially announces retirement

So much has been and will be said but I think this summary in the other thread from nobis does really good job. So I am re-printing it here.

I think Mack is holding that back for the time being

The plaudits for Dodds will come, but he and Mack are so perceptually joined at the hip and everyone is still on edge over the slight, slight chance that Mack could finagle his way to a 2014 farewell tour. Once that final piece of business is done and everyone takes a deep breath, Dodds can get some wreaths and bouquets thrown his way.

This Texas Monthly piece remains the quintessential portrait of Dodds’ achievements as AD. Scipio and others have rightly noted that the rising Texas oil tide over the last 30+ years would have lifted a hell of a lot of boats regardless, but Dodds still deserves a ton of credit for creating and professionalizing the Longhorn Foundation as well as streamlining Texas’ overall number of men’s and women’s sports to allow resources to be more tightly focused.

My guess is that history judges his last couple of years with more charity than they’ve received live with respect to the men’s sports decline. I think Joe Jamail and Red McCombs go down as the prime actors in assuring a 2013 for Mack after the 2012 skull-romancing from OU, and the collection of powers that be must collectively shoulder the blame for letting Dodds stay on once it was clear he had no motivation to undergo a coaching search in basketball (the AD has never been and will never be a sole decision-maker in hiring or firing football).

The LHN has gotten a bad rap due to its horrid timing with respect to our men’s sports performance and ESPN’s hard-line carriage stance right as cable companies went into rebellion on jacked-up content pricing. I’m still optimistic that the LHN will at least approach Dodds’ vision as a brand enhancer over the next decade.

Conference realignment may end up being Dodds’ biggest black mark, but even there I think the "Texas would have gone to the Pac 12 but Dodds wanted the LHN and his own fiefdom in the Big XII" narrative is probably a major over-simplification of the huge number of players and dynamics involved in a potential move. Dodds’ leadership and influence probably helped steer Texas in a sub-optimal direction, but my hope is that the coming death of the NCAA will provide an opportunity for the landscape to shift yet again and allow Texas to find the best possible position.

Here is the official stuff from TexasSports.com.

And here's a photo galley.

Powers will lead the efforts to find a new Men's Athletics Director for The University of Texas.

Hook 'em, DeLoss.