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Athletics:
New TCU athletic director follows Del Conte’s service-first script | The Star-Telegram
Donati has said all the right things in the early days of his tenure. I think this is going to be a home run hire.
“All of a sudden the pressure to finish that stadium is 100 percent on my shoulders, whereas the other projects I was involved with fell on his shoulders,” Donati said. “So that’s going to be the biggest thing — the buck’s going to stop with me. But I grew up in the Frog Club, so to speak, so they know how I work. Tomorrow it’s going to be business as usual.”
Del Conte often referred to himself as a servant at TCU. Donati used the same wording to describe his new job.
“It’s a service-first model. It’s a service-first mindset,” he said. “Because I’m serving student athletes, I’m serving coaches, I’m serving staff, I’m serving this community. I need to be very mindful of what those expectations are and not only manage them but meet them.”
TCU AD clear on new relationship with Patterson, Dixon, Schlossnagle | The Star-Telegram
The young up-and-comer knows where his bread will be buttered.
“All three were very supportive of me being the next athletic director,” said Donati, a 40-year-old Washingtonian who came to TCU in 2011 to work with the Frog Club and wound up as deputy athletic director by 2016.
Asked if he believed he needed to “re-recruit” his top three coaches, who have been in demand in the past and will be again, Donati replied, “Absolutely.”
“We’ve spoken on the phone, I’ve met with them, but we’re going to get a chance when the dust settles to really sit down and kind of go over their program from A to Z, and where they are, and where they’re headed, and what I can do to support that,” he said.
The young up-and-comer knows where his bread will be buttered.
Football:
Snub? I don’t think finishing second to Baker Mayfield is exactly snubbing the Cardinal and Bryce Love.
TCU's elite defense will be tested by the best running back in the nation. Doak Walker Award winner Bryce Love is one of the most dynamic backs in the country, having averaged 8.3 yards per carry this season. Needing only 27 yards to eclipse 2,000 on the year, expect Love to reach that mark against TCU in San Antonio. He's also gone for rushes of 50+ yards 12 times this season, an NCAA record. His 1,973 rushing yards rank second in the NCAA, only 54 yards behind leading rusher Rashaad Penny (San Diego State). Love has battled a nagging ankle injury all season but should be ready to go for TCU.
Flip of four-star RB keeps TCU on track for its best recruiting class ever | The Star-Telegram
The Frogs needed another big back, with plenty of quick, small guys already on campus, and a Turpin-esque commit in Taye Barber. Franklin fills a need, and has the tools to be a star in Fort Worth.
“Although it seems like the Frogs got in on him recently, they actually offered in February,” said TCU recruiting expert Jeremy Clark, publisher of HornedFrogBlitz.com on the 247Sports network. “Curtis Luper had a great relationship with Franklin, and combine the fact that Dan Mullen left Mississippi State, it was an easy choice for Franklin.”
At 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, Franklin is closest in size to Darius Anderson among the current TCU backs. The only bigger back on the roster is Sewo Olonilua at 6-3, 225.
“The Frogs are getting a power back in Franklin, a guy that can push Sewo Olonilua in those goal-line situations that TCU has used the wild frog package in,” said Billy Wessels, publisher of PurpleMenace.com on the Rivals network.