Would any Big10 program have hired WM as their AD?

[Waquoit]

They all say he is a great person, leader, and has a great vision for UConn athletics.

You are at least the 2nd poster to mention Manuel's vision? Can you clue us in to what that vision entails? Are far as we can tell his vision could be deemphasizing sports a la Miami.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I am so glad I don't work for the posters on this message board. Y'all would fire people for the most trivial things and would make terrible managers. You have no reasonable expectations of human beings or their positions. No context.

Didn't get into B1G? Warde's fault. Didn't win BCS title? Pasqualoni's fault. Can't pack the stadium? Marketing's fault.

Blame, blame, blame.

Terrible. This is getting harder and harder to read.

Agreed. What a load of garbage. Nothing bad that has happened is Warde's fault. Nothing. He mad the best of a bad basketball coaching situation that was Jim Calhoun's fault. I think he's handling it very well. If you want to blame someone, blame Calhoun for retiring at the last minute in a childish power play. Giving KO this trial run was exactly the right thing to do under difficult circumstances.

As for football, based on the reports last week, he is handling it professionally and made it clear to PP that changes are needed. That is appropriate professional management. Jumping up and down and firing people without thinking is childish. His recruiting seems to up from Edsall's and the defense was excellent. You can't give Brown all the credit for the D and hold PP responsible for the offense. It doesn't work that way. I think we will see changes in GDL's role, but he seems to be a successful recruiter. The lack of offensive talent left over from RE was the biggest problem, but GDL magnified the problem with his schemes and play calling. Hiring a new head coach this year when so many bigger jobs were open would have been idiotic.

 

[The Funster]

I'm inclined to support Manuel. He came in at a tumultuous time. However, his handling of KO vs his handling of PP seem to be at odds with each other.

 

[SubbaBub]

To be fair, he hasn't been on the job very long and the mess(es) he was handed were pretty big. That said, he has missed more than a few opportunities to really shine and make his mark on the AD. Maybe these things are in the works, but announcing a marketable scheduling agreement would be a good start. Settling the KO situation, a new marketing plan, or B1Gharder, would be great. Time for action.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[UConnDan97]

Agreed. What a load of garbage. Nothing bad that has happened is Warde's fault. Nothing. He mad the best of a bad basketball coaching situation that was Jim Calhoun's fault. I think he's handling it very well. If you want to blame someone, blame Calhoun for retiring at the last minute in a childish power play. Giving KO this trial run was exactly the right thing to do under difficult circumstances.

As for football, based on the reports last week, he is handling it professionally and made it clear to PP that changes are needed. That is appropriate professional management. Jumping up and down and firing people without thinking is childish. His recruiting seems to up from Edsall's and the defense was excellent. You can't give Brown all the credit for the D and hold PP responsible for the offense. It doesn't work that way. I think we will see changes in GDL's role, but he seems to be a successful recruiter. The lack of offensive talent left over from RE was the biggest problem, but GDL magnified the problem with his schemes and play calling. Hiring a new head coach this year when so many bigger jobs were open would have been idiotic.

This is one of the few times where I see a post that has me agreeing with the second paragraph 100% while agreeing with the first almost 0%...

 

[Marty Jackson]

To be fair, he hasn't been on the job very long and the mess(es) he was handed were pretty big. That said, he has missed more than a few opportunities to really shine and make his mark on the AD. Maybe these things are in the works, but announcing a marketable scheduling agreement would be a good start. Settling the KO situation, a new marketing plan, or B1Gharder, would be great. Time for action.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

That's all I'm saying... Does WM have the experience to take Uconn to the next level from where we are today?

 

[methodology]

The basketball situation is obviously bad for WM. However, I think he just wants to give off the impression that he is the one making decisions and he is not being forced into making decisions. My own personal feeling is that even though there is a 8 month contract that there is a behind the door agreement KO will receive a long term contract. I think WM is just waiting till winter break or 2nd semester to begin to make the announcement so it can be perceived that he was the one who ultimately made the choice and it was not Calhoun.

I blame the football situation on Randy. His timing for departure was extremely poor along with the way he went about leaving. UConn would have had a chance at Addazio if Edsall had any real respect for UConn football and the university. Instead he handcuffed them and PP ended up the coach. Still disgusts me to this day he forced Toddman to stand in front of the team in the locker room after the BCS game to tell his teammates he was leaving early yet Randy didnt have the balls to own up what he was hiding all along. Couldn't even let his team or coaches know he wouldnt be traveling back with them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is one of the few times where I see a post that has me agreeing with the second paragraph 100% while agreeing with the first almost 0%...

The Ollie contract is unpopular. But we've now seen him for several games, so it's easier to say it was the wrong move with the benefit of hindsight. We've also seen one recruit claim it was an issue. But at the time, I think it was the right compromise. Given a major program to guy with zero head coaching experience, and little assistant coaching experience is just crazy. Had Calhoun let KO coach during his absences last year instead of Blaney, it could have been avoided. Had he retired in the spring, it could have been avoided.

I think you'll see an extension once we get through a few BE games.

 

[UConnDan97]

The basketball situation is obviously bad for WM. However, I think he just wants to give off the impression that he is the one making decisions and he is not being forced into making decisions. My own personal feeling is that even though there is a 8 month contract that there is a behind the door agreement KO will receive a long term contract. I think WM is just waiting till winter break or 2nd semester to begin to make the announcement so it can be perceived that he was the one who ultimately made the choice and it was not Calhoun.

I absolutely agree with your assessment, and it is the primary reason why I think WM is doing a horrible job on it. Rather than do what he believes is right for the university (and he has almost said as much in every interview since the season started), he is choosing to do what's right in a timeframe that is only right for Warde Manual...

 

[Husky25]

This is one of the few times where I see a post that has me agreeing with the second paragraph 100% while agreeing with the first almost 0%...

I feel virtually the complete opposite as you.

I don't blame Cahoun, but I do think Manuel did the right thing regarding Kevin Ollie in that situation. No coach on the rise or worth his salt would leave his current team less than 3 weeks before Midnight Madness, especially for a team who presumably lacks the talent of historical UConn teams and is ineligble for the post season. I've written as such many times. Should he extend Ollie at this point? Absolutely and, as I've said many times before, I think it will happen by the end of January/Beinning of February (Now the indication is that they are just waiting for 1st semester grades).

Regarding football, if Coach Pasqualoni was not being released (which we knew was the likely outcome), Manuel should have definitively stated that Coach Deleone contract was either not getting renewed or his duties were getting reassigned. Be that as it may, Manuel had a full football season, including spring practice, in order to evaluate Pasqualoni. In no way would a firing be deemed premature, childish, or unprofessional. The team was outscored to the tune of 96 (est.)-10 in the second half of games!!

 

[UConnDan97]

The Ollie contract is unpopular. But we've now seen him for several games, so it's easier to say it was the wrong move with the benefit of hindsight. We've also seen one recruit claim it was an issue. But at the time, I think it was the right compromise. Given a major program to guy with zero head coaching experience, and little assistant coaching experience is just crazy. Had Calhoun let KO coach during his absences last year instead of Blaney, it could have been avoided. Had he retired in the spring, it could have been avoided.

I think you'll see an extension once we get through a few BE games.

All he needed to do was set up a three year contract with a buyout clause after 1 year, which would have been cheap (since he was an unknown quantity) but would have allowed Kevin some semblance of stability and no ill effects on the recruiting trail. Stuff like this seems to be pretty standard fair for newer coaches.

Instead, he sort of gave his shot back at Calhoun for Calhoun's planned departure by saying, "Oh yeah? Okay, here's a contract for ya....enjoy!" That was clearly NOT done with the best interests of the university in mind, but rather, more of a power play of his own. Unnecessary, and also proving to be detrimental...

 

[uc1974]

You can usually judge a person properly in terms of historical context. Americans tend to judge people in terms of immediate gratification of their own personal needs or opinion at the moment. Might I suggest that not everything about a person is all good or all bad and sometimes good in the moment works out badly, and vv. Rather than wallow in angst or glory, why not give WM a grade somewhat further down the line? I am also amazed that some take the opinions of sportswriters as useful on WM's performance. Of all the jobs in the world, I would opine that the talent required to get a job pontificating on sports ranks right up there with barista on the intellect scale and their knowledge of particular pressures or instructions re: WM is probably nil.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I'm sure you are calling others out and not me with this post, since I agree that none of the questions that you have posed should be answered with the answers you have presented. However, I'd like to ask you if you agree with me as to whether or not the basketball coaches' contract situations should be handled much better than they are now, or do you think that WM is handling them both properly? If yes, why?

I don't know the right answer because it's a very complex situation. I see tons of pros and cons. I can see why you would want to give KO an extension for better recruiting. I can see why you would want to wait until you saw some grades before you handed over the keys to our great program to someone who has less than 3 years sideline experience. I can see why you'd want to trust Calhoun, who built this program. I can see why you'd want to do a nationwide search, cause Calhoun left quite a mess.

I don't see how people can look at a situation like this, see some obvious answer, and then label everyone who disagrees an idiot. It's absurd.

 

[UConnDan97]

Of all the jobs in the world, I would opine that the talent required to get a job pontificating on sports ranks right up there with barista on the intellect scale and their knowledge of particular pressures or instructions re: WM is probably nil.

...except for when a few of them are former coaches, not just communications majors....

 

[Marty Jackson]

I think WM made the right call on Ollie. But at this point, what does waiting provide?
If it's for the 1st semester grades fine.

At this point, it seems we're dragging this out for sake of dragging it out.

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't know the right answer because it's a very complex situation. I see tons of pros and cons. I can see why you would want to give KO an extension for better recruiting. I can see why you would want to wait until you saw some grades before you handed over the keys to our great program to someone who has less than 3 years sideline experience. I can see why you'd want to trust Calhoun, who built this program. I can see why you'd want to do a nationwide search, cause Calhoun left quite a mess.

I don't see how people can look at a situation like this, see some obvious answer, and then label everyone who disagrees an idiot. It's absurd.

Certainly these decisions are often complex. However, in my opinion, we have moved away from the complex in terms of the Ollie situation and straight into the "very easy decision" arena. The reason I say this is because Warde has practically said it ever since the Michigan State game during his many comments on the situation. I don't think that there is anyone in the state of Connecticut that doubts that Kevin Ollie WILL get the extension based on what Warde has already said.

But that's my point; we know, and he knows, but the recruits DON'T know! There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to wait to make the decision. Waiting for their semester grades is not a reason at all. With the exception of Omar Calhoun and Phil Nolan, these are not new players. They are very used to what is expected of them in the classroom, and they have many tools at their disposal in order to get the job done (tutors, etc.). Warde's delay of the contract extension smells of personal angst over the way that Jim Calhoun left him without options. This is my biggest problem with this situation; do what's right for UConn and not what's right for your pride or personal feelings, because you're getting paid for it...

 

[ctchamps]

I am so glad I don't work for the posters on this message board. Y'all would fire people for the most trivial things and would make terrible managers. You have no reasonable expectations of human beings or their positions. No context.

Didn't get into B1G? Warde's fault. Didn't win BCS title? Pasqualoni's fault. Can't pack the stadium? Marketing's fault.

Blame, blame, blame.

Terrible. This is getting harder and harder to read.

Part of being a good manager is the ability to read this .

And a good manager wouldn't be surprised by what people express. Nor would they be taken back by anything thrown out there. I wouldn't make a good manager!

 

[ctchamps]

You can usually judge a person properly in terms of historical context. Americans tend to judge people in terms of immediate gratification of their own personal needs or opinion at the moment. Might I suggest that not everything about a person is all good or all bad and sometimes good in the moment works out badly, and vv. Rather than wallow in angst or glory, why not give WM a grade somewhat further down the line? I am also amazed that some take the opinions of sportswriters as useful on WM's performance. Of all the jobs in the world, I would opine that the talent required to get a job pontificating on sports ranks right up there with barista on the intellect scale and their knowledge of particular pressures or instructions re: WM is probably nil.

I agree with everything you stated except I wouldn't find this situation is American but a human trait. I'll extrapolate without proof that it would be most sentient beings in the universe minus those that have eliminated mortality from their equation.

 

[Husky25]

I am so glad I don't work for the posters on this message board. Y'all would fire people for the most trivial things and would make terrible managers. You have no reasonable expectations of human beings or their positions. No context.

Didn't get into B1G? Warde's fault. Didn't win BCS title? Pasqualoni's fault. Can't pack the stadium? Marketing's fault.

Blame, blame, blame.

Terrible. This is getting harder and harder to read.

I don't think it is Pasqualoni's fault for not winning a BCS title or even going to a BCS bowl. I DO think it is his fault that neither he, nor those on his coaching staff, put his players in the best possible position to succeed as a team. I DO believe it is his fault that his system is not flexible enough to take advantage of his players' abilities. I DO think it is his fault that he cannot make an effective in-game adjustment (it's fine if a few adjustments are negated by the other teams' adjustments. But seemingly every adjustment? Come on, Man!!!).

 

[FDNY99]

He also got us into HockeyEast, which was a huge move hockey-wise, and he got us the Bball development center. We'd been working on those for quite some time and they got finished on his watch. I have no idea how much credit he deserves for them, but I also don't know how much blame he deserves for our situation in football. Say what you will about WM's failures, but he's had some successes as well and they should be taken into account. I really hope he signs KO during the finals break, I think he's earned it.

Hathaway didn't even raise enough money for hoops facility to demo Memorial Stadium. In 18 months (Herbst, Paul Pendergast and Zach Goines for 10 months, followed by the addition of Manuel 8 months later) $28+ million was raised and project is under way. That should tell you how little Hathaway did as AD in a nut shell...and how much this tea. has done in a short period of time!

 

[ZooCougar]

I am not going to judge Warde Manuel yet. But I am not going to sing his praises until he does something worth singing the praises.

The thing about the AD job, is that there isn't much an AD can do that will jump out as an indicator that he is doing a great or terrible job. He could be the best or worst AD in the country right now and we would have no idea. In order to affect real organizational change in a department like that, you have to judge results over a lengthy period of time.

For perspective, it took Tom Jurich 15 or so years to get Louisville where it is now. In the '90s they were giving away football tickets at gas stations.

I can only fault the guy for one thing. I think going to the Paradise Jam was the wrong move. It conveyed an overconfidence. I have no idea if being there hurt his abilty to coordinate efforts, but I will always wonder.

 

[mattp]

Hathaway didn't even raise enough money for hoops facility to demo Memorial Stadium. In 18 months (Herbst, Paul Pendergast and Zach Goines for 10 months, followed by the addition of Manuel 8 months later) $28+ million was raised and project is under way. That should tell you how little Hathaway did as AD in a nut shell...and how much this tea. has done in a short period of time!

Nobody wants to give credit to WM for the bball facility, but JH was working on it for quite some time, and couldn't get it done. After the Burton fiasco he was desperate to say he was ready to start the project but was never able to. I think that shows there was more to be done than just crossing t's and dotting i's, and WM got it started.