They can learn from Baylor what not to do and what to do, Baylor regents back in 1992 basically forced Grant Teaff into retirement early, thinking he was past his prime and that Baylor could do better than the consistent 9 win seasons Teaff was providing. So they politicked Teaff out earlier than he desired and promoted offensive coordinator Chuck Reedy, Teaff being the consummate gentleman obliged without any quarrel and as consolation was made a regent before becoming the Director of the American Football Coaches Association.
Reedy promptly won a four way tie for the conference title in the last ever season of the SWC and lost the Alamo Bowl, he then had an unremarkable 7-5 and bowless season in the first year of Big 12 play and Baylor regents canned him, citing unmet expectations...but boy, the day would soon come that Reedy looked like a friggin' success story.
Baylor entered the Big 12 with SWC mentality and budget and gave nothing to Lou Holtz disciple Dave Roberts in two unremarkable seasons before firing him, then they made the worst hire to date to compliment their cheap purse strings, Carolina Panthers Linebacker Coach Kevin Steele, who's claim to fame was a heated sideline fist fight with Linebacker Kevin Greene.
Steele destroyed Baylor football, extinguished any ember of potential and mediocrity that had lingered post Teaff in his 4 shameful seasons in Waco.
Next up came a decent coach with no recruiting skills that walked into the aftermath of the Steele years, Guy Morriss, in a five year tenure he teased improvement from time to time, only to see teams that appeared bowl worthy finish 5-6.
Finally Baylor got an exceptional and visionary AD who interviewed one man, and one man alone despite fan calls for Mike Singletary (Singletary had volunteered himself for the job), the man was Art Briles, who was offered the job a day after interviewing.
Moral of the story is make sure you hire the right guy when replacing a legend, just because the legend has aged doesn't mean you won't soon prove that you miss him.
UT obviously has all the money to throw around in the world, but they still need to get the right pieces in place, this will test Patteron's competence immediately. If they got the AD hire wrong it will be a bad domino effect, if they got it right they could rebound in short order.
