Hunter to Arkansas-hires (Georgia OL coach) Pittman as next FB HC

Greg doesn’t respect schools that are not in a major conference. How do u give a job to someone like that. I’ll pass.

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What about Mike Pede?

Ban user.

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My SMU big-wig coworker just said that Chad Morris is probably going to Arkansas.

He told me that 3 years ago Chad Morris was SMU’s number one and Herman was their close #2…and that Chad Morris was our #1 and Herman was our #2…which is why Herman made such a big deal out of the SMU game.

He’s hoping they go after Sumlin.

Google Search Link: UH loses AD Hunter Yurachek to Arkansas - Google Search

“It caught me by surprise. It caught Hunter by surprise,” Fertitta said. “It happened very quick for him.”

Yurachek was not immediately available for comment Monday night.

“The opportunity to serve the Razorback program is both humbling and exciting,” Yurachek said in a statement released by Arkansas. “There is so much already in place, and we will quickly build on that foundation to win championships.”

Then UH’s No. 2 athletic department official, Yurachek was given what Fertitta called a “courtesy interview” as the final candidate to replace Mack Rhoades as Houston’s AD in 2015. He impressed the search committee enough to land the job and has overseen the transition into the American Athletic Conference and more than $230 million in capital projects and renovations in recent years. Those projects include the opening of the Guy V. Lewis Development Center, an indoor practice facility for the football program, and the Fertitta Center, which is scheduled to open late next year as the Cougars’ basketball home.

Yurachek also campaigned last year for the Cougars to join the Big 12 and reached out to the Pac-12 for an informal meet-and-greet to keep the school’s options open in regard to joining a Power Five conference. He also upgraded future non-conference football schedules by adding Boise State and BYU.


My thoughts on Yurachek. I thought he did a great job promoting and ensuring the athletes were taken care of. There are a number tweeting out nice things about him and he always seemed to be promoting them whenever they played. Even on Sunday, he was there at the women’s basketball game and going on the court to congratulate Coach Hughey on the win afterwards.

I also felt that he did a good job raising money, managing, and planning most of the athletic buildings that have been or will be built at UH. Under his watch, we built the IPF, had the ribbon boards installed at TDECU, had a new outdoor practice field installed, oversaw the new Ferttita Center plan, saw the construction of the new scoreboard at the baseball stadium as well as the new practice facility, redid the dugouts at the softball stadium and started the plan for a new scoreboard at the softball stadium, oversaw a new track installed at the Carl Lewis complex, opened a new tennis facility, built new locker rooms for football and swimming/diving. The guy busted his butt trying to improve the experience for the athletes and bringing our facilities into the modern era.

As far as coaching hires, he didn’t make many. He hired Coach Ryan Wochamurka for the swimming program which has been a fantastic hire that has seen the swimming program reach never-before-seen heights to include the first conference championship in school history. He hired Coach Vesely for softball which seems like a good hire as the softball team finished 2nd in the AAC last year after being mediocre ever since they joined the AAC. He hired Coach Bocanegra for soccer who immediately came in and implemented an uptempo style that allowed them to be one win away from the conference tournament; something that UH soccer hadn’t sniffed in forever. He hired Courtney Steinbock for the Tennis program after the previous coach left after some controversy. Steinbock has struggled to maintain the previous momentum of a ranked tennis program, but a lot of that has been due to injuries that have forced the team to forfeit multiple matches over the past two years. Finally, his most profile hire, he hired Major Applewhite for the football program, a hire that the jury is still out on after a mediocre and inconsistent first year. Yurachek was said to have pushed for Applewhite after high school coaches around Texas came to him and pushed for Major.

What seemed to suffer under Yurachek, and was something that continued from the Mack Rhodes era was the customer experience. The ticketing office continues to be a pox on the entire department as decisions are made with little reflection as to the reality of the program. Yuracheck opened his tenure with a Q&A column that he stated would be a regular feature during his time, only to see it become extremely irregular. Communication with fans and donors, while better, was inconsistent and often contained many inaccuracies that confused the fanbase. Calls and emails were often unreturned to department members and many complaints were ignored. Fan experiences were often scheduled last minute, cancelled with no make-ups, and often completely unorganized when they were run. Finally, marketing was often minimal with little to no effort to bring in new fans.

As far as his leaving, I know for a fact that he’s been sending his resume out the last two years and I had caught wind of this Arkansas thing a few weeks ago. I don’t blame him as he’s not a Houstonian and is only trying to do better for his family. However, he also knew to leave now when we’re looking at a steep drop in ticket sales next year and could be looking at department cuts due to less money coming into the program.

In the end, he was a serviceable to decent AD with some major flaws. I thank him for his service, but Ferttita is right, we can do better. Now we just need to make sure we do better.

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This is 100% true

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https://twitter.com/Joseph_Duarte/status/937854223580106753

I thought he and everyone involved handled Hurricane Harvey superbly.

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I agree. He always took care of the student athletes and did a great job on that front.

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https://twitter.com/SportsMT/status/937797698723266560

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“Hunter has helped us build on our nationally competitive athletics program on the field, in the classroom and by adding to our first class facilities and I wish him well. The University of Houston remains committed to our winning tradition and we will immediately begin the search for a leader who shares our desire to compete for championships at the highest level.”

- Renu Khator, UH President

Great analysis Patrick, thank you. The game day experience is at the core of what makes a fan base. It makes no sense that this has been a negative for so long. This is especially true when Mr. Fertitta is a key U of H leader. Hospitality is what has made Mr. Fertitta a billionaire. It is time that we/U of H reconsider the entire approach. This is one area where we have to be professional on all levels. This is why I believe Chris Pezman would be a timely hire.

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Matt Jackson

Herman and “#2” will always be the same in my way of thinking.

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HY kept a chair warm but little else. If he can get someone to pay him that kind of money based on his ‘accomplishments’ then good on ya and dilly dilly.

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I have no issue with Hunter. I always viewed him at the Athletics Manager more than the VP or whatever they call the AD position now. For me, he seemed to be always overshadowed by Tilman and Renu – two very strong personalities. I want to see the new AD be in the forefront and able to drive the necessary changes in the AD.

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In other news…

Source: Chad Morris has emerged as Arkansas top target. Expect a deal in 24 hours.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2017

If they expect HY to hire Morris, UA better get Morris an office “down the hall “ quickly !

I agree with this 109% and was telling my dad this exact same thing this morning. It seems Renu and Tillman make the big decisions and hunter dealt with the day to day things and minor things like hiring the swimming coach.

Yikes! With Morris out at SMU, I am worried they actually might be good again some day…

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