Benedict today

[Chief00]

Wasn't Austin return just on an interim temporary basis? It wasn't like there was an establish regime in place.

 

[FDNY99]

Wasn't Austin return just on an interim temporary basis? It wasn't like there was an establish regime in place.

He was named acting President when Hogan moved on to Illinois. While he was Acting President Edsall left and they were doing a search....Herbst was hired on 12/20/2010 and assumed her role of President on 6/1/2011...she was still working in her job as Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Georgia System when Pasqualoni was hired on 1/13/2011. I remember clearly in his introductory presser that Hathaway saying that she was consulted but that he and Austin made the decision to hire P. But don't let the facts or truth get in your way because I know you have serious dislike for the woman.

 

[Caronimo]

Hey Benedict. !

 

[Alum86]

Bebedict is in the wind. Maybe he is meeting with Diaco this a.m.
Would like to hear something from him today, though. It is, like, his job?

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Kinda unrelated, but want to bet Diaco used his "calls from other jobs" and the fact that he had a brand new AD coming in as barganing chips to get this high buyout and extension deal done before Benedict started basically... Who would want to walk into a new job and have one of your marquee program's HC's leave? Especially with all the CR talk heating up this spring/summer. What a mess...

 

[FDNY99]

Kinda unrelated, but want to bet Diaco used his "calls from other jobs" and the fact that he had a brand new AD coming in as barganing chips to get this high buyout and extension deal done before Benedict started basically... Who would want to walk into a new job and have one of your marquee program's HC's leave? Especially with all the CR talk heating up this spring/summer. What a mess...

I would hedge my bet on the fact he leveraged Herbst more than Manuel...especially with the fact Warde left. I'm sure she bought into the on field "improvement" and the fact he most likely is "good front porch furniture" as a face UConn athletics could market. If I were an up and coming OC/DC who had my eyes on a HC gig in FBS level football I would want to know who his agent is and hire them immediately that's for sure!

 

[rich1122]

Please find TJ Weist and hire him. After RE we played our absolute best football in the games where he was head coach.

 

[Caronimo]

Please find TJ Weist and hire him. After RE we played our absolute best football in the games where he was head coach.

He knows offense

 

[HuskyHawk]

I like Benedict. Does anyone disapprove of the game day related changes he's made (even if rendered useless by the poor product on the field)? For football or basketball? I think he knows what he's doing. They got a guy from Auburn for a reason...he knows football.

I think his options are very much limited by our budget right now. I'm sure the President can veto any recommendation he makes. I seriously doubt that Benedict wants to keep Diaco. But it may not be up to him. It's obvious that the earliest we can terminate Bob's contract is January, to save the $1.6 million.

Bob makes $1.8M in 2017. The buyout in January is $3.4M
The buyout in January 2018 is $1.7M and he makes $1.9.

If we could land a coach for say $1M even (or less), it might be feasible to unload Bob in January, as it would make the buyout more like $2.5. But is that the coach you guys really want? Would Charlie Strong come here for that, since UT is paying him anyway?

 

[Jimdish255]

I heard it pretty much first hand from a person involved with someone who was a target of that coaching search.

And we didn't let them do it? How would that not have been a stroke of genius?

 

[ZooCougar]

I get the angst, but Benedict inherited this situation. If the school has the capacity to fire Diaco then it's not even a given that they would use it.

Being silent seems like the way to go in the wake of this. If he says one thing, then it sounds like the kiss of death and you undermine Diaco's future efforts. If he says something else then the hard cores might get turned off even more than they already are. I can't really blame him for being so silent. But eventually we will have to hear from him.

 

[ZooCougar]

Kinda unrelated, but want to bet Diaco used his "calls from other jobs" and the fact that he had a brand new AD coming in as barganing chips to get this high buyout and extension deal done before Benedict started basically... Who would want to walk into a new job and have one of your marquee program's HC's leave? Especially with all the CR talk heating up this spring/summer. What a mess...

Yeah, this probably was part of how is Agent leveraged it. A school that has to replace an AD and a football coach is in a terrible spot.

 

[The Viking]

HuskyHawk is 100% correct.
Benedict would fire him today if he could and he is least culpable in the extension

 

[RioDog]

Question: Anybody know the particulars of any buyout? Is it a lump sum or paid periodically over some stretch of time?
2nd question: How autonomous is DB with managing the Athletic Department monies specifically?

Thanks in advance for any response.

 

[Dooley]

Question: Anybody know the particulars of any buyout? Is it a lump sum or paid periodically over some stretch of time?
2nd question: How autonomous is DB with managing the Athletic Department monies specifically?

Thanks in advance for any response.

1. @huskymedic found that it has to be paid within 60 days.

2. Not sure - we have a 3-headed AD staff and Goetz oversees football personnel. I don't know who would be responsible for managing the buyout and given final authority. My guess is Benedict.

 

[RioDog]

1. @huskymedic found that it has to be paid within 60 days.
Fahq

2. Not sure - we have a 3-headed AD staff and Goetz oversees football personnel. I don't know who would be responsible for managing the buyout and given final authority. My guess is Benedict.
My assumption as well. OK

Thanks Dooley. First item is a disadvantage. But 3.7 mil/72 mil = just over 5%. 5% of the total budget- not enough room there to finagle the cash? Postpone/cancel some expenditures? Leverage some credit? There's gotta be a way. Hopefully the silence is the sound of smart accountants madly crunching numbers. I would hope they're at least trying. I guess I could live with that.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Perhaps we could offer Diaco some kind of Bobby Bonilla Lite buyout....

 

[Dooley]

Perhaps we could offer Diaco some kind of Bobby Bonilla Lite buyout....

LOL. The Mets are still paying him $1M/yr, aren't they? Probably the 2nd worst contract ever handed out by a MLB team, behind Albert Belle. Belle really stuck it to the O's too when he left the team mid-contract but didn't retire so he could collect every penny.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

LOL. The Mets are still paying him $1M/yr, aren't they? Probably the 2nd worst contract ever handed out by a MLB team, behind Albert Belle. Belle really stuck it to the O's too when he left the team mid-contract but didn't retire so he could collect every penny.

Extra emphasis on Lite. But really, perhaps a structured buyout over a longer period of time that ends up paying him a larger sum of money in total could be agreeable. Since there's silence from UConn at this point it's reasonable to believe there's some level of negotiation that may be going on.

 

[RioDog]

Extra emphasis on Lite. But really, perhaps a structured buyout over a longer period of time that ends up paying him a larger sum of money in total could be agreeable. Since there's silence from UConn at this point it's reasonable to believe there's some level of negotiation that may be going on.

See that's the kind of thinking we need around here! 1000 likes to you sir!

 

[Jimdish255]

See that's the kind of thinking we need around here! 1000 likes to you sir!

You sound just like Carrol O'Connor in Kelly's Heroes - lol

 

[FDNY99]

Extra emphasis on Lite. But really, perhaps a structured buyout over a longer period of time that ends up paying him a larger sum of money in total could be agreeable. Since there's silence from UConn at this point it's reasonable to believe there's some level of negotiation that may be going on.

They could also be using a possible return of him to ND as DC for Kelly as leverage in the buyout...trying to subtract his salary he would receive at ND from what they owe him for a buyout. 100% far fetched and most likely a pipe dream but the longer nothing but silence comes out of Storrs the longer anything could be likely.

 

[freescooter]

My guess is he is back. If they were going to can him it would have been done by now. Only hope now is that they put so many conditions on his coaching staff selections that he feels it is unpalatable and decides to negotiate a walk. Unless he goes 7-8 wins next season he is gone at that point but our long national nightmare will continue for another year.

 

[superjohn]

My guess is he is back. If they were going to can him it would have been done by now. Only hope now is that they put so many conditions on his coaching staff selections that he feels it is unpalatable and decides to negotiate a walk. Unless he goes 7-8 wins next season he is gone at that point but our long national nightmare will continue for another year.

And we won't have any fans left to even b**ch about the fact we will no longer have a program.

 

[FDNY99]

And we won't have any fans left to even b**ch about the fact we will no longer have a program.

As long as there are those of us still buying season tickets..we will be able to bitch! I know I will still be in for my 2 seats.