Welcome to Tuesday Takes, where I give you four takes from the Big 12. It was a jam-packed week full of exciting news, but here were several things that caught my attention over the last few days.
Jacob Rodriguez Should Have Been in New York
The fact that Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was sitting in Lubbock during the Heisman ceremony was crazy to me. Rodriguez was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player.
Congrats to Fernando Mendoza, who certainly deserved to win the Heisman, but I do have an issue with a player like Jeremiyah Love, who rushed for 1,300 yards this season, which to me is nothing worthy of getting a Heisman invite. Rodriguez had a season like few defensive players have ever had, which included 117 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, an FBS-leading seven forced fumbles, six pass breakups, four interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. At the very least, he should have gotten an invitation to New York.
Welcome Private Equity
Last week, the University of Utah made history and finalized a private equity partnership with New York-based firm Otro Capital. It has been reported that this move will help generate an estimated $500 million for the athletic department in Salt Lake City. In addition, Utah is giving big donors a chance to purchase a stake in the partnership, which will help boost even more revenue.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 is looking to lock up its own private equity deal as well. The conference is on the cusp of a deal with RedBird and Weatherford Capital for what would be a $500 million infusion of cash for the league and its members. Each Big 12 school will get access to up to $30 million in cash if it decides to opt in.
Of course, the details are still being worked out, and I am certainly not the person to try to explain how all this will work. But it just goes to show you where we are in college athletics today, and the Big 12 is trying to play catch-up to the Big Ten and SEC by doing this. It’s certainly an interesting move by Yormark, and I am curious to see if it will pay off in the long run.
Goodbye Kyle Whittingham
Private Equity wasn’t the only big news coming out of the state of Utah last week, because news broke that Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham will be stepping down after this season. Whittingham has been the head coach of the Utes since 2005 and has been on the staff there since 1994, which is just about as long as I have been alive.
While his time in Salt Lake City is coming to an end, his time there will not be forgotten. He won 3 conference titles between the Mountain West and Pac-12 and has won multiple coach of the year awards. Whittingham leaves Utah with a record of 177-88, along with 11 bowl victories. That resume alone should be good enough to get into the college football hall of fame, but the question is, what will he do next? Will he retire or will he go somewhere else? That is the million-dollar question.
The F Bomb Heard Round the World
Last week, during the Cy-Hawk basketball game, head football coach Jimmy Rogers was introduced to the home crowd at halftime and said, “Let’s cheer on Coach Otz and beat the f***ing Hawks!”
Our owner, Pete Mundo, didn’t like it at all, which is fine; it’s his opinion. However, I didn’t agree with his opinion at all. First off, Jimmy was just firing up the crowd, which just about any coach would do. Did he need to drop an F bomb to do it? Probably not, but it shouldn’t matter.
I can assure you that inside any basketball arena, you will hear no less than 20 F bombs during a game, whether it’s from the players, coaches, or the fans around you. It’s sports, people are passionate about them, and when it comes to rivalry games, that passion and intensity are magnified.
