AD David Benedict candidate at ASU for Athletic Director Job

[UCTitleTown]

Calhoun "fired" 2 AD's, Turner and Hathaway. Hurley and Mora will have alot to say should DB leave, especially Hurley.

Agreed on Hurley. Mora hasn't earned that equity.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Hard to ignore UConn’s overall more successful athletic department, but can acknowledge Benedict’s an Arizona native (or, at least graduated from a directional
Arizona school), he previously worked in ASU’s athletic dept, ASU’s budget is reportedly larger, P4 conference membership, likely higher AD compensation, etc.

Setting aside the above, Benedict’s purportedly unsuccessfully pursued other P4 jobs, and few people in most organizations are irreplaceable. If he goes, he goes, UConn would attract quality applicants, and an injection of new blood, motivation, P4 and fundraising experience, and energy may not be the worst scenario.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Hurley. Big East. Social Media Presence. He listens directly to his customers and acts on their feedback. I would be really disappointed to see him go.

 

[Gburyhusky]

Without AD Dave our athletics would look a lot like Temple. Thankfully he had the courage and wisdom to guide the ship back in the right direction.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I dislike this quite a lot. More proof that we have to get into a legit P conference somehow. Hope we can retain AD Dave, he's been a strong AD and ambassador for the school. Any successor will probably be a downgrade.

 

[Stew Crew]

Maybe, I don't really think BC has ever had that much sway. I think AD DB would have done more to really get Tobacco Road on board to convince everyone else because their opinions mean a lot more than lowly BC.

The ACC requires 75% of schools to approve new members. BC had at least 3 other schools in their pocket. That is enough. Whether it was a quid pro quo or some other behind the scenes deal, it was public knowledge that UConn never would never get the votes due to BC's resistance and their sway over the 3 other schools. I do not recall which schools. I believe Duke and UNC were actually in favor of UConn joining.

 

[AdamaNation]

You'll never get consensus on this board, but I like him as our AD and think he has done many very good things for us.

He’s done his job.

 

[John]

Agreed on Hurley. Mora hasn't earned that equity.

The fact that he could get Mora to even come here is a feather in his cap, despite the down year this past season.

 

[uconnfan68]

The ACC requires 75% of schools to approve new members. BC had at least 3 other schools in their pocket. That is enough. Whether it was a quid pro quo or some other behind the scenes deal, it was public knowledge that UConn never would never get the votes due to BC's resistance and their sway over the 3 other schools. I do not recall which schools. I believe Duke and UNC were actually in favor of UConn joining.

I seem to remember FSU and some other big football schools being against it. Probably to piss off the basketball centric conference.

 

[Devland]

AD'S at state schools do not have as much power S most people think. Any coaching hires, conference realignment, coaches contracts etc have to be approved by the board of trustees. So one of the necessary traits is being a good salesman aka bs artist to sell these things to the BOT.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The much, much, much bigger issue than either of these is the optics of a nothing school like Arizona State being perceived as a step up from UConn

Who is the audience for which these optics are a big issue? Everyone in that industry already knows a P5 AD job is bigger than the UConn AD job. This would change literally nothing optically.

 

[husky8273]

Yes

He started his career at ASU - 1996-2006

 

[gtcam]

Here's an easy way to determine if you like or hate Benedict:

Are you happy with our current men's head basketball coach? How you answer that question should be applied to how you feel about Benedict.

For the record, DB put his neck on the line and basically defied the board of trustees to hire Dan Hurley when he did because a) he knew if he didn't act, Hurley would land at Pitt and would be forever out of reach as a coach here and b) he believed Hurley was too good to miss out on and if we wanted to restore the program we needed him.

The noise and embarrassment that followed with Ollie was entirely due to the board's refusal to dismiss Ollie under the terms of his contract and to boot, the board decided to punish the entire athletic department for a few years because they weren't happy that DB would not wait the year for KO's buyout to drop.

Can one be anymore simplistic?
If that's your barometer............................................
He has screwed up more than he has done good
He didn't hire DH - Calhoun did

The rumors about DH going to Pitt were/are utter nonsense and BS

 

[gtcam]

He started his career at ASU - 1996-2006

I'll buy him the one way airline ticket and have a place for him to stay there

 

[FfldCntyFan]

He didn't hire DH - Calhoun did

The rumors about DH going to Pitt were/are utter nonsense and BS

You are dead wrong in the latter.

On the former, JC blessed the move after it was completed but he did not do the hiring.

 

[caw]

I guess he wants to experience being the boss of both Hurley brothers in his life?

 

[Umami Zen]

Apparently Dave likes a Hurley as a BB coach

 

[Fairfield_1st]

He’s done his job.

He's done his job very well, especially compared to previous ADs who also did the job, just not as well.

 

[Padutch5]

Sort of a trojan horse scenario to get us into the big 12?

I didnt work with his predecessor who hasn’t gotten us to the Big 10.

 

[John]

I didnt work with his predecessor who hasn’t gotten us to the Big 10.

His predecessor wasn't a Trojan horse, he was a Trojan horse's backside.

 

[Hoophound]

I don’t think he’s going anywhere. Leverage.

 

[JMick]

AD'S at state schools do not have as much power S most people think. Any coaching hires, conference realignment, coaches contracts etc have to be approved by the board of trustees. So one of the necessary traits is being a good salesman aka bs artist to sell these things to the BOT.

This is why it's important to not get a good salesman that has bad ideas. I don't know how good of a salesman Benedict is but I think he has good ideas and genuinely has the best interests of the university in mind.

 

[kobe]

when you're in a poverty church league (mid-major) the real conferences like the Big 12 (power) will be trying to take your stuff.

hope it works out for the huskies bros! hate that the little guys have to deal with this!

 

[Hoophound]

when you're in a poverty church league (mid-major) the real conferences like the Big 12 (power) will be trying to take your stuff.

hope it works out for the huskies bros! hate that the little guys have to deal with this!

I’m increasingly comfortable in the church league. It’s fun and the fans like it. The B12 isn’t in our region and it doesn’t thrive in football. It’s a subpar football league going forward. It has good basketball, but it isn’t basketball that our fans are passionate about.

You can sling all the insults you want, but I’m no longer very interested in the B12. It isn’t the answer for anyone, it’s a bandaid.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

He could hire one Hurley and fire the other