As opposed to head coaches, athletic directors of universities typically only lose their job if one of three things happens:
1. They choose to take another job.
2. They choose to resign.
3. They breach some sort of rule or law, or embarrass the university in some way.
University of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson didn’t do any of these three things, but he has been fired by the school. Patterson, who came from Arizona State after only spending 18 months at the school, has only been at Texas for 22 months which makes this firing rather curious.