AD Manuel is not the right guy for the job

[freescooter]

I'm at Buffalo. I deal with athletics all the time. What you're writing is 100% unadulterated bunk.

First off, I know exactly what they did to bump up the scores, since it was done prior to Manuel getting there. Secondly, the scores went from 890 before he got there to 920 when he left.

Here's the kicker. He wasn't there long enough to make a big impact. APR scores are 4 years behind. The 20 point jump took scores from 4 years prior to Manuel getting there, and the bump happened immediately. It coincided with his presence, but the scores were 4 years old. Did APR scores rise after that initial jump to 920? NO. After Manuel left, did the scores from his tenure contribute to rises? NO. The scores have been at 925 for many years now. Hmmmm, 925, the cutoff. Those are football scores.

I don't know why people were saying bad things about UB basketball. Those scores have always been in the mid 900s. Reggie Witherspoon always did a pretty good job with that. It was the football team that had been hovering in the 890s.

I'm not making this up. Rightly or wrongly, he got the credit. I quoted from the Buffalo's own athletic web site. He was there for about 7 years, so he was there for at least 1 full APR cycle plus. Here's the link.
http://www.buffalobulls.com/information/directory/bios/manuel_warde
And I can also tell you that a member of the BoT who I know casually (we work in the same building)told me when he was hired that UConn would be getting an APR waiver because they had hired the best APR guy in the country as AD. Turns out he was wrong, but that was absolutely the perception among many associated with UConn.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I'm not making this up. Rightly or wrongly, he got the credit. I quoted from the Buffalo's own athletic web site. He was there for about 7 years, so he was there for at least 1 full APR cycle plus. Here's the link.
http://www.buffalobulls.com/information/directory/bios/manuel_warde
And I can also tell you that a member of the BoT who I know casually (we work in the same building)told me when he was hired that UConn would be getting an APR waiver because they had hired the best APR guy in the country as AD. Turns out he was wrong, but that was absolutely the perception among many associated with UConn.

Kinda ruins the whole credibility thing with your BoT source, no?

 

[upstater]

I'm not making this up. Rightly or wrongly, he got the credit. I quoted from the Buffalo's own athletic web site. He was there for about 7 years, so he was there for at least 1 full APR cycle plus. Here's the link.
http://www.buffalobulls.com/information/directory/bios/manuel_warde
And I can also tell you that a member of the BoT who I know casually (we work in the same building)told me when he was hired that UConn would be getting an APR waiver because they had hired the best APR guy in the country as AD. Turns out he was wrong, but that was absolutely the perception among many associated with UConn.

That BOT member read a press report.

The UB numbers are all available on the NCAA website right now. They are as I reported them. Manuel's numbers did NOT go up. Anyone who says they did is a phony. Manuel started there in late 2005. At the earliest, 2006 is the year he would have installed new programs. I was there earlier and dealt with the new programs in place since he got there. Since APR scores are reported 4 years after the fact, the earliest you'd see a bump for new programs installed in 2006, is 2008 or 2009. When you look at the NCAA numbers, you see that Buffalo's numbers haven't gone up in that period. They are up from 2005-2006 for football.

This statement is totally false:

After inheriting four programs – football, men’s basketball, wrestling, and baseball – that fell far below the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) cut score of 925 when he arrived, diligent work and a focused academic plan led to all four sports – and indeed all 20 of UB’s intercollegiate sports – posting a four-year APR rate above the cut score. At the end of 2009-10, 10 of UB’s 20 sports had scores of 975 or above.

Go look up UB basketball's APR at the NCAA site. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/newmedia/public/rates/index5.html

2005: 941
2006: 946
2007: 975
2008: 971
2009: 943
2010: 943

It looks to me like Manuel's time there coincided with a DECREASE in UB's basketball scores.

Here's another Q for you: guess who is responsible for writing one's bio on a website? Hah, the same as the name at the top. And really, the facts don't support the claims.

I'm going to give UConn some credit in actually vetting the guy's CV and knowing which claims are puffy and which are real. If they didn't, then UConn is not very savvy. If they did, then everyone understands this is a dog-and-pony show, which is what I've been saying about APR all along.

But if it's a dog-and-pony show, then why is Susan Herbst denigrating the NCAA and APR scores as a measure of anything real?

 

[CodyJ.]

you guys are all awesome. This is some good info. Some of what I already knew, a lot of what I didnt. Insight and view points that I was looking for.

I personally just want to see some action and some life in this team and school.

 

[J187Money]

Well, the money was there. The money WAS NOT the issue.

This is important. If Burton (or someone else) offered to pony up the money and Warde said no, that is different than Warde going into the coffers. I have no way of knowing if something like that happened, however.

 

[ZooCougar]

This is important. If Burton (or someone else) offered to pony up the money and Warde said no, that is different than Warde going into the coffers. I have no way of knowing if something like that happened, however.

That is the question.

 

[freescooter]

But how do you know they were dithering? There are a handful of people that actually know what went on behind closed doors. None of those folks are posting on the BY. People are looking for a scapegoat and ignoring all the reasons why Ville was selected and we weren't.

Jimmy you keep saying that but by virtually every measure UConn was superior. market:Hartford New haven is #28, L

ouisville 50. Academics, UConn is comparable to most ACC schools, Louisville is comparable to Manchester Community College. Basketball: both are good, but UConn is superior by any measure. Football: Over any reasonable time period it is a push. Throw out our transitional year and we're 4-4 all time. Charlie Strong went 7-6, 7-6 before last year, so UL hasn't exactly been Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson during his tenure either. And we beat their best team in a decade on the road. Geographic continuity: UConn makes more sense. Warde monitored like a sumbitch while his counterpart form UL worked the phones, emailed, lined up political support, submitted largely bogus academic improvement plans and otherwise sold his school. Warde monitored the hell out of the situation, though. As I'm sure he's doing with the football program right now.

 

[sdhusky]

Jimmy you keep saying that but by virtually every measure UConn was superior.

except one. What was it? Oh yeah. Football.

 

[freescooter]

sd, that is interesting but not really accurate. Louisville had 1 good season, and lost to UConn! People talk as if Louisville is this great power program. With the exception of the Petrino years they have been fine, but nothing special. yeah, they had a good season last year, but come on. Even if you just look at Strong, he was 6-6, 7-5 his first two years. he had a very nice team with an all american quarterback last year and the same guy htis year. let's see if he goes 11-2 again next year when he's got to replace Teddy Bridgewater.

 

[zls44]

Where is jags?

Georgia State OC. A stunning fall.

 

[J187Money]

sd, that is interesting but not really accurate. Louisville had 1 good season, and lost to UConn! People talk as if Louisville is this great power program. With the exception of the Petrino years they have been fine, but nothing special. yeah, they had a good season last year, but come on. Even if you just look at Strong, he was 6-6, 7-5 his first two years. he had a very nice team with an all american quarterback last year and the same guy htis year. let's see if he goes 11-2 again next year when he's got to replace Teddy Bridgewater.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_Cardinals_football#Modern_Era_.281985-Present.29

5 top 25 finishes including 2x at #6. Trust me if the facts were reversed we'd be trumpeting them in our favor. By any objective measure they are better.

 

[upstater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_Cardinals_football#Modern_Era_.281985-Present.29

5 top 25 finishes including 2x at #6. Trust me if the facts were reversed we'd be trumpeting them in our favor. By any objective measure they are better.

# of players in NFL?

 

[J187Money]

# of players in NFL?

 

[freescooter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_Cardinals_football#Modern_Era_.281985-Present.29

5 top 25 finishes including 2x at #6. Trust me if the facts were reversed we'd be trumpeting them in our favor. By any objective measure they are better.

They're fine but over the same period they also had 8 seasons where they won 3 games or less, too. They had a great and impressive run under Petrino. Before and since they have been pretty average, where they will return once Bridgewater graduates. But that's part of the issue. Their AD managed to paint a picture of Louisville as Oklahoma 1954-58 when they went 51-2. Our AD monitored the bejeesus out of the situation. Louisville is a nice program, somewhat ahead of where UConn is, but not so far ahead that they outclassed us. I think that is the major point. They aren't friggin' Notre Dame or Alabama. Though to read this place or some of the nonsense written about them during the ACC process, or to hear the stuff being spouted by Jurich at the time, I sometimes thought we were hearing about Michigan or Alabama or maybe USC. They have a longer, though not overly impressive history than UConn. But they are not so far ahead of us that we go into the game thinking we have no chance (well maybe we do this year, but we had no chance against Towson, so I'm not sure this year means much).

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Jimmy you keep saying that but by virtually every measure UConn was superior. market:Hartford New haven is #28, L

ouisville 50. Academics, UConn is comparable to most ACC schools, Louisville is comparable to Manchester Community College. Basketball: both are good, but UConn is superior by any measure. Football: Over any reasonable time period it is a push. Throw out our transitional year and we're 4-4 all time. Charlie Strong went 7-6, 7-6 before last year, so UL hasn't exactly been Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson during his tenure either. And we beat their best team in a decade on the road. Geographic continuity: UConn makes more sense. Warde monitored like a sumbitch while his counterpart form UL worked the phones, emailed, lined up political support, submitted largely bogus academic improvement plans and otherwise sold his school. Warde monitored the hell out of the situation, though. As I'm sure he's doing with the football program right now.

This post is riddled with so many inaccuracies and false assumptions I literally have no idea where to begin.

 

[ZooCougar]

College football is a fashion show, and last year Louisville looked damn good when it mattered. Nobody was paying attention when they lost to us.

If anything Warde needs to learn how to spin and make us look better than we really are.

I really hope that he uses this season to build up a nice war chest to hire a quality head coach who can recruit and pay his coordinators and assistants handsomely.

 

[J187Money]

They're fine but over the same period they also had 8 seasons where they won 3 games or less, too. They had a great and impressive run under Petrino. Before and since they have been pretty average, where they will return once Bridgewater graduates. But that's part of the issue. Their AD managed to paint a picture of Louisville as Oklahoma 1954-58 when they went 51-2. Our AD monitored the bejeesus out of the situation. Louisville is a nice program, somewhat ahead of where UConn is, but not so far ahead that they outclassed us. I think that is the major point. They aren't friggin' Notre Dame or Alabama. Though to read this place or some of the nonsense written about them during the ACC process, or to hear the stuff being spouted by Jurich at the time, I sometimes thought we were hearing about Michigan or Alabama or maybe USC. They have a longer, though not overly impressive history than UConn. But they are not so far ahead of us that we go into the game thinking we have no chance (well maybe we do this year, but we had no chance against Towson, so I'm not sure this year means much).

Yes. The Kragthorpe years were bad (they still won 6/5/4 games over the 3 years), but they recovered nicely.

They have also spent like $225M on athletic facilities in the last 15 years. UCONN has lots of stuff in the pipeline that hasn't been built or even funded yet.

Wins. LV
Prestigious bowl wins. LV
Rankings. LV
Facilities (committed $ to athletics). LV
Public Perception. LV
Academics. UCONN (but clearly they don't matter).
Non-Football Sports. UCONN (but that clearly doesn't matter - and LV is a top hoops program)

The fact that you think that these facts weren't known and that lobbying made all of the difference still boggles my mind. If in fact we WERE ahead because of Tobacco Road, we shouldn't have been, and if we were it is only because Tobacco Road doesn't care about football. This was a football decision, and the facts weren't in our favor. I think we lose out even if we had hired Urban Meyer instead of PP.

 

[whaler11]

Two things Louisville has:

A clear commitment to football.
Energy in their fan base.

 

[freescooter]

Yes. The Kragthorpe years were bad (they still won 6/5/4 games over the 3 years), but they recovered nicely.

They have also spent like $225M on athletic facilities in the last 15 years. UCONN has lots of stuff in the pipeline that hasn't been built or even funded yet.

Wins. LV
Prestigious bowl wins. LV
Rankings. LV
Facilities (committed $ to athletics). LV
Public Perception. LV
Academics. UCONN (but clearly they don't matter).
Non-Football Sports. UCONN (but that clearly doesn't matter - and LV is a top hoops program)

The fact that you think that these facts weren't known and that lobbying made all of the difference still boggles my mind. If in fact we WERE ahead because of Tobacco Road, we shouldn't have been, and if we were it is only because Tobacco Road doesn't care about football. This was a football decision, and the facts weren't in our favor. I think we lose out even if we had hired Urban Meyer instead of PP.

then you're totally nuts. We allowed the narrative to be Louisville Louisville Louisville. If two or more people got together Jurich was there pleading his case. And if he couldn't make it, he sent his basketball coach. Louisville had a solid record but you're opinion was exactly the problem. Instead of being out there saying "Whoa! UConn's been at this only a decade and we've already won multiple Conference Championships, multiple bowl games, sent multiple players to the NFL, and are .500 head to head with Louisville." Warde sat under an umbrella monitoring. How many times did he appear on Sportscenter extolling UConn's virtues? Zero. How many USA today profiles? Zilch. You can make all the excuses for him that you want. And maybe he would have been unsuccessful anyway, but the fact that he did not a thing to counter the narrative that Louisville is some football giant just shows how badly outclassed he was. As far as facilities are concerned, ours are comparable or superior to a bunch of current ACC members, including both BC and Syracuse. With the Calhoun Center under construction, it isn't even close. You make it sound like UConn is still workingout of trailers. People with your outlook are actually part of the problem. We have a football training center that is probably one of the top 10-15 in the country. Basketball will be in a year or two. Gampel is no worse than good. Not he YUM but we're not sending Mansfield into bankruptcy in order to keep a sweetheart deal either. Rentschler is a terrific facility which could be expanded in a heartbeat if necessary. he has not been responsible for a single advance on the part of any UConn program since his arrival, and for the most part he has seen them take steps back. Even the thing that I gave him credit for, men's hockey, turns out that the feasibility study began under Hathaway...When you look up unmitigated disaster in the dictionary, there are several definitions. 1. Paul Pasqualoni's tenure as UConn football coach; 2. Warde Manuel's tenure as Athletic Director.

 

[whaler11]

In my opinion the ACC would have been better off with both Louisville and UConn and skipping the ND deal. Cincinnati would make a fine 16th. That would have been a fun league. Oh well.

 

[upstater]

Yes. The Kragthorpe years were bad (they still won 6/5/4 games over the 3 years), but they recovered nicely.

They have also spent like $225M on athletic facilities in the last 15 years. UCONN has lots of stuff in the pipeline that hasn't been built or even funded yet.

Wins. LV
Prestigious bowl wins. LV
Rankings. LV
Facilities (committed $ to athletics). LV
Public Perception. LV
Academics. UCONN (but clearly they don't matter).
Non-Football Sports. UCONN (but that clearly doesn't matter - and LV is a top hoops program)

The fact that you think that these facts weren't known and that lobbying made all of the difference still boggles my mind. If in fact we WERE ahead because of Tobacco Road, we shouldn't have been, and if we were it is only because Tobacco Road doesn't care about football. This was a football decision, and the facts weren't in our favor. I think we lose out even if we had hired Urban Meyer instead of PP.

How much has UConn spent on facilities the last 15 years? You'd be surprised.

 

[FDNY99]

How much has UConn spent on facilities the last 15 years? You'd be surprised.

Upstater that was one of Hathaway's biggest failures...not upgrading the athletic facilities. Blows my mind that in the same town obly a few miles away a D-3 school has a baseball stadium and softball facility that BLOWS away what is on campus at UCONN!

 

[jrazz12]

I'm all for ripping on Louisville, and the ACC selling out academics and whatnot, but the fact is they've got a football program right now that we would kill for, and here's what we've got going for us...

.

 

[J187Money]

then you're totally nuts. We allowed the narrative to be Louisville Louisville Louisville. If two or more people got together Jurich was there pleading his case. And if he couldn't make it, he sent his basketball coach. Louisville had a solid record but you're opinion was exactly the problem. Instead of being out there saying "Whoa! UConn's been at this only a decade and we've already won multiple Conference Championships, multiple bowl games, sent multiple players to the NFL, and are .500 head to head with Louisville." Warde sat under an umbrella monitoring. How many times did he appear on Sportscenter extolling UConn's virtues? Zero. How many USA today profiles? Zilch. You can make all the excuses for him that you want. And maybe he would have been unsuccessful anyway, but the fact that he did not a thing to counter the narrative that Louisville is some football giant just shows how badly outclassed he was. As far as facilities are concerned, ours are comparable or superior to a bunch of current ACC members, including both BC and Syracuse. With the Calhoun Center under construction, it isn't even close. You make it sound like UConn is still workingout of trailers. People with your outlook are actually part of the problem. We have a football training center that is probably one of the top 10-15 in the country. Basketball will be in a year or two. Gampel is no worse than good. Not he YUM but we're not sending Mansfield into bankruptcy in order to keep a sweetheart deal either. Rentschler is a terrific facility which could be expanded in a heartbeat if necessary. he has not been responsible for a single advance on the part of any UConn program since his arrival, and for the most part he has seen them take steps back. Even the thing that I gave him credit for, men's hockey, turns out that the feasibility study began under Hathaway...When you look up unmitigated disaster in the dictionary, there are several definitions. 1. Paul Pasqualoni's tenure as UConn football coach; 2. Warde Manuel's tenure as Athletic Director.

When a member of the Foundation sits me down and tells me that LV has kicked our ass with regards to funding athletic facilities over the past 15 years, I tend to regard those things as facts.

I'm not a Warde defender. I just don't believe the narrative that magic words would have changed the outcome. The story that UCONN was ahead is a nice one, except that NOBODY EVER SEEMED TO ASK Clemson or FSU what they thought, and they run the show for football. And regardless of what I've heard about what other people thought, I've never heard that FSU, Miami or Clemson were the least bit interested in UCONN to the ACC.

And when you look up unmitigated disaster, there are about 10 million things in front of an 8-4 team that turned into a 5-7 team. Not that I'm happy. I just have perspective.

 

[J187Money]

How much has UConn spent on facilities the last 15 years? You'd be surprised.

No, I wouldn't. But about a year ago when I had the discussion with the Foundation guy we had about $150 million of projects that they were trying to raise money for. Things that LV already built.