If Warde Manuel Leaves

[ZooCougar]

Or maybe FSU and Clemson wielded a lot of stroke and made the final call. Ville just expanded their stadium. They were in the middle of a strong year with a stud coach and Heisman candidate QB. They had made it clear it was athletics first, academics last.

That's not narrative. What should Warde have done? Specifically.

We took a hit image wise, far, far worse than we ever deserved. This is an accomplished Athletic Department and we were characterized as a renegade program, hamstrung by sanctions that we would never recover from. There was so much bogus information out there and nobody sought to counter it.

Cincy on the other hand came out looking better than when they started.

Louisville getting in may have been a foregone conclusion and privately we got our butts kicked, but we got it worse in the public sphere. As if coming up short wasn't enough, they basically slandered the school to add insult to injury.

 

[huskymedic]

If he leaves...he leaves. I'd wish him luck...then hope SH is making her FIRST and ONLY call to Tim Pernetti!

Don't know about "only call" but he should clearly get a call.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Honestly, IMO 1. WM has done a great job with what he has here at UConn (Hockey HC hire, Football HC hire/Fire of PP/GDL, Facilities, Basketball Practice Complex funding, Marketing Athetics/New Branding, & Ticket Sales) and 2. VA Tech is really not a step up to me? What does their AD get paid? If Warde stuck it out here at UConn and got them into the ACC or B1G wouldn't this be a premiere job in the nation?

 

[Bezzz]

Hopefully it's late in the season when it's cold out. Just to keep it short.

Shrinkage!

 

[junglehusky]

If Manuel leaves his legacy will be the Diaco hire. UConn's failure to get in the ACC is Hathaway's legacy. All of the factors that led to the situation where UL got picked first (slumping ticket sales, academic issues, not getting along with Calhoun / Edsall, failure to placate Burton and other big donors) were came under Hathaway's watch. As long as those are the starting conditions, any public PR campaign that WM could have mounted would be window dressing and the end result would have been the same. On the other hand if Hathaway had kept good relations with donors, Calhoun and Edsall, managed to keep the APR mess from happening, or if Hogan had put someone more competent in place of Hathaway a few years before all those problems, UConn would have had a better chance at the ACC. Importantly, it still would not have been a guarantee and UL still might have gotten in because of geography and perception, even if Edsall or a non-Pasqualoni replacement had managed to keep the football program in the 8-9 win range.

 

[sportsart]

Whether he gets the job or not, isn't Manuel admitting that we're effed?

Not really. If you are working at MySpace and Facebook calls do you say "take a message?"

 

[UConn07]

Honestly, IMO 1. WM has done a great job with what he has here at UConn (Hockey HC hire, Football HC hire/Fire of PP/GDL, Facilities, Basketball Practice Complex funding, Marketing Athetics/New Branding, & Ticket Sales) and 2. VA Tech is really not a step up to me? What does their AD get paid? If Warde stuck it out here at UConn and got them into the ACC or B1G wouldn't this be a premiere job in the nation?

Ticket sales are on your great job list? Football had the worst ticket sales in the program's history. Basketball isn't too far behind compared to where they were in the 90s/00s.

 

[freescooter]

Or maybe FSU and Clemson wielded a lot of stroke and made the final call. Ville just expanded their stadium. They were in the middle of a strong year with a stud coach and Heisman candidate QB. They had made it clear it was athletics first, academics last.

That's not narrative. What should Warde have done? Specifically.

He should have appeared on every ESPN show on tv. he should have used Jim Calhoun like UL used Pitino. Put him on WFAN, give interviews to the national press...it isn't about what so much as how and why. We're in a better media market. We have more national championships in more sports. We had been to a BCS game. Hell, we had just beaten UL's stud coach and Heisman candidate at Louisville. And we were far more academically compatible with the ACC than a commuter college that you can get into by filling out the form on-line. But it isn't that so much as that he did nothing. I saw Jurich, Pitino and Strong on tv, and I don't even watch those sports talk shows often. I heard Francesa say UConn is getting the ACC slot, then after an interview with Pitino, change his tune. Where was Calhoun? Where was Manuel? A decade or so ago, there was a race for 1st selectman of in a rural town. The last time a Democrat had been elected to the post was before the Civil War. So the GOP candidate, figuring it was going to be a cakewalk, went on a tour of Europe 2 weeks before election day. There was nobody around to make the case and the Democrat, who was a pretty good candidate established the narrative. The Democrat was inaugurated First Selectman a few weeks later. After the fact, people said "well, the Dem was a good campaigner. She had a better program. The voters wanted a change." But the GOP candidate told me, "If I had been here, no way I lose. I just couldn't fight back from Paris." Warde followed that script.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I saw you post that on the basketball board as well. I think you misread the tweet. The person who questioned the source was a UConn fan tweeting at Jeff Jacobs, not Jeff Jacobs himself.

https://twitter.com/ADimeBack/status/425985450419818496

A Dime Back‏@ADimeBack
@jacobscourant Is this you talking based on your sources, or mentioning because of John's article? I don't trust the source in John's piece.

Unless I completely misread Altavilla's article, the blog he referenced (Hokie something) claimed a source (Roberts?) to the five names and followed that by claiming the source would not have inside info on this and doubts the credibility.

Dime Back is just relaying thir party info to Jacobs.

 

[Dove]

Whether he gets the job or not, isn't Manuel admitting that we're effed?

Doubt it...he wouldn't have hired a Diaco-like coach.

Also, I do find it interesting that the two schools considered the next to jump (UConn and Cincy) each have their ADs in this mix.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/january/21/according-greg-roberts-ad-finalists-are#comments

The above is what started all of this.

 

[huskymedic]

http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/january/21/according-greg-roberts-ad-finalists-are#comments

The above is what started all of this.

This is what really started it:

jaltavilla9:55am via web
Here is the link from the Roberts report on WFIR in Virginia on Warde Manuel and Virginia TechPost original url/1hLycrg Forward to 38min mark

Shortcut to speculative name toss:

 

[The Viking]

A view here, and repeating a few things of what others have said.

1) If WM is a willing participant in this mix, then yes it does not bode well for how he perceives out future. Not sure if he's using this just to get a bump in salary or if he really wants to get the hell out of dodge.

2) From what I remember reading in SH's emails she wanted everyone clamped down when it came to CR time with the ACC slot and she would try to handle it on a presidential level (if true, that didn't quite work out well.).

3) If SH loves Manuel she should offer him a nice raise. If she thinks he can be replaced and if he does get the job, she should go all out to get the best and open the wallets to do it. These next 3-5 UConn needs to spend AS IF they are in a Power 5, even if they are not. Their football program's future depends on it.

4) I like WM but will not be down in the dumps if he leaves...as long as we get a good replacement. And it would be nice to have a friend in one of the two conferences we would need to join in the near future.

 

[tcf15]

Jim Fuller ‏@NHRJimFuller 30s
Statement coming shortly from #UConn stating that Warde Manuel is not candidate for AD job at Va. Tech http://Post original url/1jnCsQT

 

[The Viking]

Is not a candidate is not the same as "is not interested"...but at least it looks like he's staying for now

 

[Dove]

Jim Fuller ‏@NHRJimFuller 30s
Statement coming shortly from #UConn stating that Warde Manuel is not candidate for AD job at Va. Tech http://Post original url/1jnCsQT

What a shock!!

bloggers...lol

 

[businesslawyer]

I guess you are entitled to your view. He did a horrible job and made no effort to counter the narrative that UL was putting out, to the extent that it was truly embarrassing. As I said when I heard a talking head favorably compare UL's womens basketball program to ours it was clear how bad things had gotten. Heck, Jurich had everybody on tv, the radio, interviewed in the press. He announced he was cancelling his trip to work on this. Manuel did nothing. He allowed the narrative to develop such that by the time the vote was held, Louisville seemed like the logical choice and UConn would have been a head scratcher. Two weeks earlier, everyone conceded UConn was the logical choice. I've watched and participated in political campaigns before and when you allow the other guy to set the narrative, even if he's the underdog, you almost always lose. I saw that playing out very early on in the ACC thing and it was clear that Warde had absolutely no clue what he was doing. He didn't fight back even once. You have to give your friends a reason to support you and we didn't. The whole "there was nothing he could do" argument came about after he had failed. It was an excuse. Nothing more. I would have fired him the day after the decision was made if I had the power to do so. The rest of the stuff he's done has been polishing the silverware on the Titanic. And this comes from a long time hockey fan who loves that we're heading to Hockey East.

This would be a great post. If the LV over UConn decision was made over the internet by those who log onto ESPN.com. Given, however, that the choice was made by 12 University Presidents, each of whom had their own motives to help themselves and their institutions, the post is frankly absurd. Did we get blindsided -- you bet. But we got blindsided because those who run the conference told us we were in. There has not been one post on here, ever, by you or anyone else, to explain how a better PR campaign would have changed the mind of those at FSU and Clemson who wanted a higher ranked football program with more history, those in the Northeast who wanted less competition, and those in the ACC who were looking to break the control of the conference away from the Swofford -- Duke -- UNC axis. Rationally, it would not have.

And, for the millionth time, anyone who does business in the 21st century knows that geographic location when a crisis is occuring is almost totally irrelevant (and if it became relevant someone would have chartered a plane and headed back).

 

[Carl Spackler]

Today's SAT practice question.......

Choose the best answer to finish the sentence......

If Warde Manuel leaves,

a. D&D donut makers on campus will get some rest.
b. UCONN will save money on cafeteria worker's overtime
c. UCONN will hire a new AD.
d. UCONN sports fans will run naked in the fields in both joy and anger.
e. none of the above
f. all of the above

 

[Carl Spackler]

Gee - it was the Hartford Courant that did this again huh?

I'm shocked. Shocked I say.

 

[Skiblets]

I'd be shocked if Warde left. Hasn't been here long enough to show a demonstrable track record of results (other than the BB facility which is huge). Has done some good things process wise - coaching hires, social media etc. one potential black eye (Conf Realignment but not sure how much control he had over that).

If I were VT I wouldn't hire him on potential or gravitas - would need to see more a of a track record as the top dog

 

[ZooCougar]

This would be a great post. If the LV over UConn decision was made over the internet by those who log onto ESPN.com. Given, however, that the choice was made by 12 University Presidents, each of whom had their own motives to help themselves and their institutions, the post if frankly absurd. Did we get blindsided -- you bet. But we got blindsided because those who run the conference told us we were in. There has not been one post on here, ever, by you or anyone else, to explain how a better PR campaign would have changed the mind of those at FSU and Clemson who wanted a higher ranked football program with more history, those in the Northeast who wanted less competition, and those in the ACC who were looking to break the control of the conference away from the Swofford -- Duke -- UNC axis. Rationally, it would not have.

And, for the millionth time, anyone who does business in the 21st century knows that geographic location when a crisis is occuring is almost totally irrelevant (and if it became relevant someone would have chartered a plane and headed back).

I still say that chilling on the beach was poor optics.

 

[huskymedic]

This is what really started it:

jaltavilla9:55am via web
Here is the link from the Roberts report on WFIR in Virginia on Warde Manuel and Virginia TechPost original url/1hLycrg Forward to 38min mark

Shortcut to speculative name toss:

jaltavilla12:27pm via Web
Warde Manuel says in email he was not aware his named linked to VaTech job. Waiting for statement from school refuting his interest #UConn

jaltavilla12:31pm via Web
Only thing certain: Manuel's reputation is established, rising and he will continue to be discussed when jobs arise #UConnwomen#uconnmen

 

[ZooCougar]

I'd be shocked if Warde left. Hasn't been here long enough to show a demonstrable track record of results (other than the BB facility which is huge). Has done some good things process wise - coaching hires, social media etc. one potential black eye (Conf Realignment but not sure how much control he had over that).

If I were VT I wouldn't hire him on potential or gravitas - would need to see more a of a track record as the top dog

Agree, in this type of job it takes 5-10 years at least to measure performance.

 

[businesslawyer]

I still say that chilling on the beach was poor optics.

It might have been poor optics. But that is entirely different than concluding it changed anything except the perception of a decision that would have come out the same way.

 

[tcf15]

"I am not a candidate, have not been interviewed nor have I been contacted by Virginia Tech about its Director of Athletics position despite some recent media reports. I am very happy as the Director of Athletics at UConn and look forward to continuing to work with President Herbst, my coaches, staff, student-athletes, donors and fans to enjoy a high level of continued success in athletics at UConn. I wish Virginia Tech all the best in their search to replace, one of the legends in our business, Jim Weaver.”

http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/2014/01/report-manuel-in-running-for-ad-job-at.html