If Warde Goes, Where Should we Look?

[FDNY99]

One more guy - Vaughn Williams. Does not have a P5-style resume but he is a former UConn assoc AD. AD of Kennesaw State.

I'd be hesitant to see anyone who worked under Hathaway even be considered for an interview after how bad he was here. Same goes with Perkins...after he recommended Hathaway as his successor.

 

[huskypantz]

I'd be hesitant to see anyone who worked under Hathaway even be considered for an interview after how bad he was here. Same goes with Perkins...after he recommended Hathaway as his successor.

Agreed. His resume is not anything too fancy and we really need a guy who can navigate the FBS football world.

Last possible candidate I will mention - Jack Hayes. Brown AD. UConn ties. I know someone who coached WBB at Brown, it was not exactly an elite establishment athletically. Again, we really need the football creds or even better a combo of B1G and football creds.

 

[FDNY99]

Agreed. His resume is not anything too fancy and we really need a guy who can navigate the FBS football world.

Last possible candidate I will mention - Jack Hayes. Brown AD. UConn ties. I know someone who coached WBB at Brown, it was not exactly an elite establishment athletically. Again, we really need the football creds or even better a combo of B1G and football creds.

IMHO..Susan looked outside when she hired Warde...she should do it again. Anyone with "ties" to UConn will fall under the Perkins/Hathaway tree...and are a non-starter for me.

 

[FDNY99]

Here is a name from the MAC:
Sean Frazier Northern Illinois
http://www.niuhuskies.com/genrel/sean_frazier_853395.html

 

[CTMike]

http://www.kuathletics.com/mobile/staff.aspx?staff=177

Lester came to KU from the University of Connecticut, starting in 1996 where he spent eight years as a senior administrator.

Native of Mansfield.

Far enough away from the bad years, but still familiar... 20 years at KU... Not bad.

 

[FDNY99]

http://www.kuathletics.com/mobile/staff.aspx?staff=177

Lester came to KU from the University of Connecticut, starting in 1996 where he spent eight years as a senior administrator.

Native of Mansfield.

Far enough away from the bad years, but still familiar... 20 years at KU... Not bad.

He was from the Perkins tree...Lew took him to Kansas with Kirtland and a few others. I was actually surprised he kept his job after the ticket scandal that sent Kirkland to prison and Perkins into retirement. I know Sean from growing up in the area...wouldn't be in my top tier of candidates...

 

[CTMike]

He was from the Perkins tree...Lew took him to Kansas with Kirkland and a few others. I was actually surprised he kept his job after the ticket scandal that sent Kirkland to prison and Perkins into retirement. I know Sean from growing up in the area...wouldn't be in my top tier of candidates...

Fair enough, I'm just throwing out random stuff.

 

[FDNY99]

Fair enough, I'm just throwing out random stuff.

He definitely has the resume and would be qualified....I just know him personally so my view is tainted. It will be interesting to see how quickly Herbst moves to get this filled if Warde does in deed go to Ann Arbor.

 

[SAMCRO]

Same profile used with Warde.., connection to football as an Associate AD at a P5, and experience running an AD.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

2 of the 4 retired. The first is the GA AD so he's not coming here. The last is on the west coast and has no experience in the the most important aspect, FBS football.

Lack of football experience did not stop Rutgers from hiring Pat Hobbs as its new AD. Granted, its a step up from Hermann (a dead body would be a step up); but, he has zero experience with P5, G5, DII or even DIII football as an administrator, coach, or player.

 

[husky8273]

He was from the Perkins tree...Lew took him to Kansas with Kirkland and a few others. I was actually surprised he kept his job after the ticket scandal that sent Kirkland to prison and Perkins into retirement. I know Sean from growing up in the area...wouldn't be in my top tier of candidates...

Kirtland

 

[uconNYC]

I remember when Perkins left, everyone was saying Hathaway. Boy were we all wrong.

 

[FDNY99]

Kirtland

Thanks..

 

[huskypantz]

Lack of football experience did not stop Rutgers from hiring Pat Hobbs as its new AD. Granted, its a step up from Hermann (a dead body would be a step up); but, he has zero experience with P5, G5, DII or even DIII football as an administrator, coach, or player.

For all we know, the Rutgers AD is on cruise control now that they have the B1G membership. Too early to tell.

 

[FDNY99]

Lack of football experience did not stop Rutgers from hiring Pat Hobbs as its new AD. Granted, its a step up from Hermann (a dead body would be a step up); but, he has zero experience with P5, G5, DII or even DIII football as an administrator, coach, or player.

His experience is as a fixer...see his time at Seton Hall. He also has connections with Christie.....
I would view Paul Pendergast's interim tenure as a trial run by someone similar to Hobbs experience wise. His job when he worked at UConn was as a fundraiser instead of being involved in day to day operations. Another guy Hathaway ran off....

 

[HarryAGampel]

It was interesting reading the Detroit Free Press article about Warde interviewing, how most of the previous Michigan AD's had no previous AD experience. Many came from business and fundraising. Not saying we should but I wonder if we'd ever look outside of college administrators.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

His experience is as a fixer...see his time at Seton Hall. He also has connections with Christie.....
I would view Paul Pendergast's interim tenure as a trial run by someone similar to Hobbs experience wise. His job when he worked at UConn was as a fundraiser instead of being involved in day to day operations. Another guy Hathaway ran off....

That I fully agree with. Hobbs was hired to fix Rutgers's myriad of issue and use his Jersey political connections to get some of Rutgers' facilities needs taken care of. The next AD will be given the (impossible) challenge of turning Rutgers into a successful program

 

[junglehusky]

It was interesting reading the Detroit Free Press article about Warde interviewing, how most of the previous Michigan AD's had no previous AD experience. Many came from business and fundraising. Not saying we should but I wonder if we'd ever look outside of college administrators.

Maybe, but given how the department had NCAA issues under Hathaway I would think experience dealing with NCAA compliance would be a big part of the job description (as it was when WM was hired). You also want someone with connections to other ADs for scheduling and P5 networking. Someone from the business world or pro sports world could fit in as AAD in charge of tickets / marketing / fundraising though.

 

[Dooley]

I would love Calhoun but the problem is that most inside the P5 don't. Therefore, he is a no.

 

[Dooley]

If Warde leaves, and I'm still holding out slim hope that he won't, then we need a football guy. 2016 should be a good year for UConn football and it should happen before sellout crowds. We need a guy to push football on our fanbase. Make no mistake, we are a basketball school and always will be, but we can't have a 8 or 9 win campaign in front of 27K crowds. That would send quite a blow to our P5 resume. How do we increase our season ticket base and then maintain those levels? Scheduling helps but a commitment to winning is the best cure. We need a guy who understands the importance of assistant coaching and is willing to fund them appropriately. We also need a fundraiser. We are well short of $1B in our endowment and about to run out of Big East exit fee money. We need to continue the drive to 5K athletic donors and blast through that ceiling to 10K. And we've learned our lesson about APR and how much of a crock it truly is. We need a guy that also understands that and will never put any of our programs in jeopardy again like Jeff Hathaway did. A guy that knows the system and the tricks, like re-enrolling 40 years olds to boost APR over minimum scores like Oklahoma St football recently did.

But I'm still hoping Warde stays. He's done a terrific job as AD here and really turned the ship around after replacing one of the least effective AD stints in the history of AD stints.

 

[huskypantz]

I would love Calhoun but the problem is that most inside the P5 don't. Therefore, he is a no.

I think that the most we could reasonably expect from Calhoun would be an interim AD to hold the fort down. I don't think he wants the position, he's no youngster and should be enjoying his retirement.

 

[sub legacy]

If Warde leaves, and I'm still holding out slim hope that he won't, then we need a football guy. 2016 should be a good year for UConn football and it should happen before sellout crowds. We need a guy to push football on our fanbase. Make no mistake, we are a basketball school and always will be, but we can't have a 8 or 9 win campaign in front of 27K crowds. That would send quite a blow to our P5 resume. How do we increase our season ticket base and then maintain those levels? Scheduling helps but a commitment to winning is the best cure. We need a guy who understands the importance of assistant coaching and is willing to fund them appropriately. We also need a fundraiser. We are well short of $1B in our endowment and about to run out of Big East exit fee money. We need to continue the drive to 5K athletic donors and blast through that ceiling to 10K. And we've learned our lesson about APR and how much of a crock it truly is. We need a guy that also understands that and will never put any of our programs in jeopardy again like Jeff Hathaway did. A guy that knows the system and the tricks, like re-enrolling 40 years olds to boost APR over minimum scores like Oklahoma St football recently did.

But I'm still hoping Warde stays. He's done a terrific job as AD here and really turned the ship around after replacing one of the least effective AD stints in the history of AD stints.

Ditto. Whoever it is needs to embrace the vision of not only maintaining a stable and competitive football program, but also the campaign of getting UConn athletics out of the G5 and into the P5. UConn football is clearly making steady progress, so now would be the worst possible time to settle for another Jeff Hathaway.

 

[raf46]

I know next to nothing about the quality of athletic directors across the country and which of them have UConn roots. However, I thought it might be interesting to hear what some of you guys have to say and what names come to mind when you think of UConn's next athletic director (in the event that we need one). If there are a list of prerequisites for the job, #1 on my list would be that they come from a school with a FBS football program.

Jim Calhoun.

 

[Hoophound]

I'd be surprised with the choice of JC as even a temporary AD. Geno doesn't like him and Diaco, Geno and Ollie are close. I just don't see it as worth the potential conflict and rifts it could cause between the coaches if JC and Geno ended up at odds about something. Besides, I doubt Geno would accept JC being his boss for one minute let alone months or years. Zero chance.

 

[husky8273]

move on, JC will not be the choice