Texas’ athletics department did something no one saw coming. It tried to emulate Texas A&M

The University of Texas athletics department delivered a curious message to employees on Sept. 1, 2020.

Even though everything is said to be bigger in Texas, the Longhorns made the case that they needed to get smaller by emulating a school they’ve long looked down upon – Texas A&M.

The UT athletics department called it a “comparative staffing analysis” – a series of numbers showing how Texas A&M appeared to be doing more with less. The Aggies served more student athletes (638) than Texas (556) but had fewer athletics department employees — 330 employees at A&M vs. 390 at UT, according to the analysis.

Texas presented this to employees that day before laying off 35 of them and eliminating 35 other vacant positions to help get expenses down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.