For Texas athletic director and 2024 Austinite of the Year Chris Del Conte, it all comes back to the lessons he learned and the people he met on a 147-acre ranch in Taos, New Mexico.
Del Conte grew up helping his parents run a children’s home, feeding the pigs and horses and scooping up whatever the animals left behind. A picture of the ranch in his office at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium shows at least a hundred kids and a pony standing in front of a large red barn.
Del Conte remembers his father, Robert Del Conte, constantly telling him to be humble, honest and to serve others. So when he decided that he wanted to get into sports, Del Conte had to write an essay, explaining to his parents how he would be able to fulfill those values.
“I had to say ‘Hey, I want to do this,’ and convince them that sport was this great opportunity,” Del Conte said. “As much as wins and losses are critical, it’s everything around it that I totally dig.”
Once his parents said yes, Del Conte began to look into graduate programs. He reached out to a former houseparent at the ranch, Dr. Richard Donati, who worked as a team doctor at Washington State.
“I hadn’t seen him for 15 years, and he got me a job in the maintenance department (at Washington State),” Del Conte said.
After many years of working his way up in the industry, Del Conte was able to pay Dr. Donati back for giving him his start in the industry.
“(Dr. Donati’s) son was with me, and when he was dying, he said, ‘Make sure you take care of my boy’,” Del Conte said. “So I got him, and he’s now the AD at TCU.”
Del Conte was the one who first brought Jeremiah Donati to Fort Worth in 2011, when he was the program’s athletic director, and his mentorship helped Donati land the job after CDC left TCU for Texas.
From their first interaction, the two athletic directors have been close. “He was this ball of energy coming at me,” Donati said to TCU 360. “I didn’t know this guy, but he knew my dad from his time on the ranch. He puts me in a headlock – first interaction – and immediately develops a nickname for me, ‘J-Man,’ which he still calls me.”
Del Conte certainly remains a ball of energy, his innovative and creative mind trying to think of new ways to make Texas Athletics better. From Bevo Boulevard to the new football training facility, Del Conte has spearheaded a lot of huge projects at the University.
“When I first got hired here, I felt like we needed to reverse the model,” Del Conte said. “We’re asking people, whether it be a student, fan, a donor, (or) season ticket holder, to spend this disposable income with us, so we better flip the model and become more customer service.”
Del Conte had a dream, knowing he could make an impact on the community through sports.
“The impact that Chris and UT Athletics have had on Central Texas has been immeasurable,” Jeremy Martin, Austin Chamber’s President and CEO, said in a press release. “Chris’ vision has helped guide UT Athletics through one of its most transformative periods in history.”
