Jerrad Hofstetter, head rodeo coach at Texas Tech University, was fired on Sept. 5 for financial mismanagement, policy noncompliance and concerns for animal welfare. However, these facts were not initially made public when Hofstetter was terminated.
The lack of information surrounding Hofstetter’s termination led to immediate backlash from students and the community who rallied around the former coach.
“The university couldn’t specify the protocol that was broken so we are clueless, we have no idea what the driving factor behind this was,” said Colby Mackey, a Texas Tech rodeo team member.
That all changed when Clint Krehbiel, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, finally released a statement on Sept. 10 outlining the specifics of the investigations by Texas Tech University System audit and Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee. The findings of these investigations revealed documented violations of policies, poor management of financial resources and poor treatment of animals.
“A Texas Tech University System audit found hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted for in Rodeo Program accounts under Mr. Hofstetter’s management. Mr. Hofstetter also failed to produce receipts for more than 300 transactions.” Said the statement from Dean Krehbiel.
The statement went on to explain, “documented neglect and unacceptable management of cattle used by the Rodeo Program. Mr. Hofstetter also did not maintain the required health and death records.”
Under Hofstetter, Texas Tech’s Rodeo Program grew from a handful of students to over 100 team members. It was founded in 1947 and has since won numerous awards including second place women’s team CNFR, sixth place men’s team CNFR and first place women’s team Southwest region.
Texas Tech uniquely combines challenging education, with a large-scale Rodeo Program, something many students cite as their reason for attending the university on the Rodeo Team’s website. Time will tell how that dynamic changes as the program begins the search for its new head coach.
Coach Hofstetter released a statement denying allegations by the university, and said, "The internal politics between the Rodeo team and other departments/clubs seem to have contributed to my employment termination. The university anticipated that the issue would quickly dissipate, but the response has been more significant than anticipated. Consequently, the university now seems to be intensifying its efforts to portray me unfavorably in order to protect its reputation."
