How Texas AD Chris Del Conte plans to give Tom Herman whatever he needs to win

Chris Del Conte wants Tom Herman to hear the word “Yes,” a lot more in the future.

The Texas athletic director explained to Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples that he wants to break down the barriers that kept the Longhorn football program from getting what it needed in the past. He said he plans meet with every employee in the athletic department to make sure everyone is working toward the same goal of getting the Longhorns back to the level they want to be.

“My job is to train every one of our employees so that when Tom Herman or any other coach comes in and says, ‘I need this,’ they say, ‘Yes sir,’” Del Conte said. “As long as we’re in the rules and regulations, they have the freedom to do it.”

Del Conte alluded to the same thing at another point in the interview when talking about bringing back former coach Mack Brown to help the program. He wants the administration and everyone around the program to have a “shared vision” where everyone is working together for the program to be successful.

The new Texas AD pointed to the school’s football facilities as an example. Former Texas coach Charlie Strong ran into roadblocks when he asked for facility upgrades to keep up with other programs around the country. Del Conte said it’s now a priority to “fix our facilities.”

Del Conte has plenty of experience with major building projects. He helped to privately raise all the money necessary to renovate TCU’s football, basketball and baseball stadiums when he was the Horned Frogs’ AD. He wants to do the same thing for Herman, and the rest of Texas’ athletic programs.

“I had a head coaches meeting this morning to talk about what they would like us to be moving forward,” Del Conte said, speaking of all the head coaches at Texas, not just Herman. “Then we will build our culture around their wants and wishes.”