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Texas poaches AD Chris Del Conte from TCU

Tom Pennington / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Athletic director Chris Del Conte confirmed Saturday he's leaving TCU to run one of the nation's largest athletic departments at Big 12 rival Texas.

The move - first reported by Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman - gives the Longhorns their long-awaited replacement for Mike Perrin, who's been holding down the post in an interim capacity for more than two years.

Del Conte had been a staple at TCU, serving as its athletic director since October 2009. He was instrumental in the university's move into the Big 12 five years ago and engineered several facility upgrades while boasting competitive programs.

It was just two weeks ago that Del Conte was busy signing football coach Gary Patterson to a new long-term deal, making his departure somewhat of a shock.

Del Conte also helped spark the men's basketball program at TCU, hiring coach Jamie Dixon to take over a floundering program that won the NIT in his first season on the job and is 10-0 to begin his second.

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