Thursday night, Don Williams at the Lubbock A-J broke the news of a seven-year contract extension for Texas Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt (pictured celebrating Texas Tech Baseball's 2016 Big 12 Conference championship with Tim Tadlock). The cliff notes version of the extension: seven years at $7.525 million, through August 2023.

Hocutt came to Texas Tech in March 2011, from the Miami Hurricanes, and helped guide the Red Raiders through the troubles of the Big 12 Conference and the proverbial never-ending conference realignment.

Stability is always something that is needed in an organization's upper management and Hocutt has been that stabilizing force for Texas Tech Athletics. He's become the bridge between numerous Texas Tech presidents, two Texas Tech chancellors and coaching changes in all sports.

Hocutt has also put Tech's Olympic sports in a position to succeed with Track and Field and Soccer leading the way.

He's also seen the successes of his coaching hires play out on the field, and in the stands, with Tim Tadlock's two College World Series appearances for Red Raider Baseball and continuous record-breaking crowds at Jones AT&T Stadium for Tech Football.

Behind the scenes, Hocutt has become a power-player in the NCAA by becoming the chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. He's also worked tirelessly to improve Texas Tech Football's non-conference schedule. Ranked, Power 5 opponents are now on the Red Raiders' future schedules including Arizona State, Houston, Oregon, NC State and Ole Miss.

While Hocutt's new $1+ million a year salary may seem steep, the benefits of his tenure with the Red Raiders have already been seen and will continue into the future.

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