Smack in the course of the varsity yr and amid the Texas Longhorns’ Faculty Soccer Playoff run, college president Jay Hartzell is leaving the varsity to take the identical place at Southern Methodist College.
It is a stunning transfer, not essentially due to the timing however due to the job. UT is the flagship public college in Texas, boasting practically 54,000 college students. By comparability, SMU is a non-public faculty with solely 12,000 college students. It carries far much less affect within the state and, when it comes to athletics, doesn’t measure up in any significant approach to what the Longhorns have carried out.
Whereas that is an educational transfer, not an athletic one, Hartzell’s legacy in Austin consists of him being a “key determine” within the faculty’s transfer to the SEC, as Yahoo school soccer reporter Ross Dellenger famous. Texas is in its first yr within the SEC, whereas SMU, positioned in Dallas, is in its first yr as an ACC establishment.
“I’m honored to function the subsequent president of an distinctive establishment like SMU in probably the most dynamic and fastest-growing cities within the nation, and excited to see how I could make the best affect as a frontrunner,” Hartzell mentioned in an announcement.
Texas strikes to Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinals
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Hartzell will retain his submit at Texas by the tip of the spring semester earlier than taking on at SMU on June 1. Within the meantime, he’ll be capable of see the Longhorns proceed their run by the faculty soccer playoff. Texas will play within the Cotton Bowl on Friday night time towards Ohio State for a spot within the nationwide title sport.
That leaves the Longhorns two wins away from what can be the twelfth total nationwide championship that the college has received throughout Hartzell’s tenure. Hartzell grew to become UT president in late 2020 and considered one of his first strikes in athletics was to rent Steve Sarkisian as head soccer coach.
Since then, Sarkisian has methodically rebuilt the Longhorns soccer program, successful 5 video games in yr one and eight in yr two, earlier than Texas received the Large 12 final yr and notched 13 wins (and counting) this yr.
A supply informed Horns247 on Tuesday that regardless of Hartzell’s departure, the Longhorn athletic division will proceed to maneuver ahead.
“Hartzell has been a rock strong president at Texas and definitely obtained the significance of athletics, however you’ve got obtained a visionary board of regents chairman in Kevin Eltife, who was on the forefront on Texas’ transfer to the SEC and even on the hiring of Steve Sarkisian,” the supply mentioned. “So long as you’ve got Eltife and [athletic director] Chris Del Conte working collectively, you’ve got obtained the alignment you could hold Texas athletics transferring ahead.”