On Texas Football: UT regents chairman Kevin Eltife talks Texas fandom, MD Anderson in Austin, SEC move
On the latest On Texas Football, Bobby Burton welcomes University of Texas Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife to the show to talk about Texas’ move to the SEC, what made him become a Longhorn fan, and the recently-announced MD Anderson Cancer Center in Austin.
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“Thanks Inside Texas, we appreciate all y’all do for us. You’re covering it. I know the fans love watching, reading, and everything. We can’t thank you enough.” – Kevin Eltife
Right off the top, Burton asks Eltife how he became a Texas fan. Eltife said he and his two siblings had an uncle who would bring him to the State Fair of Texas.
“We’d go to the state fair,” Eltife said. “We’d ride a few rides. He had a transistor radio with him for the Texas-OU game. We would sit out on the grass and listen to the first half, then for some reason — I think I know the reason — we would go in at halftime. My guess is he couldn’t afford the tickets but at halftime he probably got somebody’s stubs as they came out. I don’t know how he did it.
“At halftime, we’d go in. I was a little kid, and that was a tradition for years. I’d always pull for Texas, and I ended up obviously at the University of Texas at Austin. Graduated from there, and I love the Longhorns. More than anything, I love our fans and the alumni of the school. It’s just a great institution. People care about it. They give back. I’m just proud to be a Longhorn.”
The UT System announced last week that it will build a UT Medical Center on the site of the Frank Erwin Center with two hospital towers: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a UT Austin hospital.
“We’ve been working on this for probably two or three years,” Eltife said. “The University of Texas is one of the best research universities in the country, and the one thing we lack really is a university hospital. We started talking about this for the last two or three years, or longer. The last two years, we really got engaged.
“The MD Anderson piece started coming about because there is truly a lack of cancer care in Central Texas. MD Anderson gets a ton of their patients from Central Texas. The whole idea of the Moody Center being (in existence) and maintaining the Erwin Center (without tenants) was let’s create the University of Texas at Austin Medical Center where the Drum is. We already had the incredible Dell Medical School. They have a partnership with Ascension, and that’s going great, but we need to go to the next level.
“For two years, we’ve worked with Peter Pisters at MD Anderson, President (Jay) Hartzell, and the idea was how do we do two hospitals on that site, MD Anderson and the university hospital, and create a medical center? It took us a while to get there, but that’s what we announced this week. It’ll be about a $2.5 billion project. It’s huge. It’s two hospitals. It’ll be great for Texas, Central Texas, and the nation.”
Burton then asks Eltife about his president at UT, Hartzell, and the athletics director, Del Conte. Burton asks Eltife about his thoughts on his alignment with the other two members of the UT triumvirate.
“I think what’s important about it is we’re all equals,” Eltife said. “CDC, Hartzell, and myself, we bounce ideas off each other. We talk about what’s best for the future of Longhorn nation (and) for the university. When Greg Fenves left in the middle of COVID, if y’all remember, there was no doubt in my mind who we wanted for president and it was Jay Hartzell. He stepped up.
“If you think about all the things Jay Hartzell has had to deal with since he’s been president, COVID and everything, he’s done an incredible job. Same with Del Conte. He has brought excitement. He has taken us to the next level, Bevo Blvd., the end zone. It goes on and on and on.”
Burton waits to ask about the move to the Southeastern Conference, but it’s a key question for Eltife considering his involvement. Eltife said Del Conte had the move on his radar in years prior to the 2021 announcement and told Eltife about the expiring Big 12 media contract in 2025 and the need to look out for UT’s interests. Del Conte told Eltife there would be more realignment, and there was a need to do what’s best for Texas.
“Let’s make sure we look at everything, we survey the field, and we see where we want to be,” Eltife said. “That’s what started the conversation, and from that point on Hartzell, Del Conte, and myself would talk about it. We’d look at what’s out there. The one thing we made clear when it looked like we were going to go to the SEC is we’re going to honor our contract with the Big 12. Without question, we will play through 2025. We’re not bringing lawyers to the table. We’re going to honor our contract, and we did that.
“The Big 12 came to us wanting out early. They wanted to negotiate a deal to leave in ’24 and we did that. I think more than anything what I’m most proud of is how we handled the move. We gave notice — we gave actually four years notice if you think about it. We tried to do the honorable thing. There are people who still don’t like it. Well, sorry.
“We did what’s in the best interest of the University of Texas. I think the excitement to be going to the SEC is over the top. I think it’s where we belong. The prospect of having cocktails in The Grove at Ole Miss and going to play a game is exciting.”
Eltife responded to the common chirp that Texas won’t be able to succeed in the SEC.
“I think we can. I think (Steve Sarkisian) is doing an incredible job building a team. But beside that, think about the fan experience. How electric was it when Alabama came to DKR? When LSU came to DKR? Now we’re going to have those experiences in their stadiums. I just think it’s what college football is all about. I’m obviously pretty excited about it.”
Put simply by Eltife, “We have to deliver. We have to be challenged. We will be challenged in the SEC. I think we’ll deliver. I think Sark has done an incredible job recruiting and building his team.”
