Ollie Officially Fired

[TJT]

UConn has to be careful with this. If the cause relates to something not egregiously wrong, Ollie will fight it hard. Could get ugly. Ollie could further hurt UConn if he ever saw anything wrong while he was not head coach. Would not be surprised by threats of leaking dirty laundry. An ugly public divorce with Ollie could also negatively impact the hiring of a new coach. The UConn administration must tread lightly on this process so it does not blow up in its face.

 

[UConnDad]

I feel bad being happy about this.

I just feel bad.

 

[Skiblets]

Look at the cause they're trying to use with Stallings. Its all about money and winning.

Agree that Pitt's for cause is a joke. Without the information though on UConn's , would be tough to compare at this time

 

[Paesano]

Don't be so sure about no buyout. Like I said before this as 'cause' is shaky

How do you know that "Kathy"? Are you an insider in the Ollie crew? Shocking.

 

[Danzz]

They have to open the firing for just cause, but still expect a negotiated buyout rather than UConn trying to get out of the whole thing.

Yes, I think this is the way it will go. The violations appear to be minor but UConn will use them as leverage to reach some figure well below $10MM.

 

[BlueDogs]

The school and KO both agreed to the contract that was signed. Pay KO the stipulated buyout and move on. No sense having this breakup turn ugly.

There are more terms than "we agree to pay KO the rest of his contract if fired." It says we agree to pay KO the balance of money on his contract term if fired without good cause. Good cause is defined by a variety of circumstances, including a failure to abide by NCAA rules. The problem with contracts is they are two-way streets, and the smart money moves to the middle. The wise guy money plays it hard and ends up taking it hard.

 

[Jaybo]

"Just cause" he sucks

 

[mauconnfan]

Can we play nice now, Mau?

I'm not happy you were abandoning ship if he were to stay I will say that. But we're probably good, let it play out.

 

[Skiblets]

I wonder if, out of respect to Calhoun, that they called Jim before this hit the wire? They certainly would have let Ollie know first or least better have done so

 

[Jaker]

• Is back to back losing season "just cause"? maybe

 

[BlueDogs]

Geno?

It would be one heck of an interesting story. Frankly, I'm not sure he could Lord over male players the same way he does with young woman. Different breed. Geno is great because he demands perfection and drives them to their limits. Hard to get young men bought in that way unless you get the right players.

 

[Dove]

Now that I am seeing this...just wow. Sad. Happy. Intrigued. Nervous. Relieved.

Lots of emotions right now.

He will land on his feet.

 

[Huskybass]

I'm not happy you were abandoning ship if he were to stay I will say that. But we're probably good, let it play out.

I get where you're coming from but I just could not see next year's team being any good with the same leadership. The constant 20-point losses or falling behind by double digits in the first half of lots of games just showed that things were never going to turn around under this head coach. I feel bad that it didn't work out with Ollie but it simply didn't.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Agree with the move. I just question the timing.

Why release this on championship Saturday? There is so much media positioned to talk about college basketball today and tomorrow and it will be so easy for every single talking head/commentator to fill their air time with complaints about uconns handling of this.

We should have waited until Sunday night or Monday morning to release this. Then everyone would have been focused on the tournament and brackets and Ollie/UConn would have been an afterthought and secondary news.

Again, I agree with the move. I just think they chose the absolute worst possible time to release it to minimize public perception damage.

 

[RJScootin]

Cause, buyout, who cares.... seems irrelevant now. Time to move forward with the next coach of UConn.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Wow if I'm another coach how happy would I be if they are trying to find a way for "just cause" on a guy who player here and won a national championship? Red flag

We know nothing of the situation. Let’s wait before we bash or gloat or anything in between.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

So I guess we all see where that relationship stands

 

[Kemba15]

And it begins..

 

[gtcam]

AD David Benedict is no joke

In the end he may prove to be just that

 

[Waquoit]

If they had a winning record tnis would have been ignored. Just looking for a way to save 10 million

Is that wrong?

 

[#1 PA Husky Fan]

I wonder if, out of respect to Calhoun, that they called Jim before this hit the wire? They certainly would have let Ollie know first or least better have done so

I wouldn’t be surprised if JC had some input into the decision process.

 

[huskyinfl]

Look at the cause they're trying to use with Stallings. Its all about money and winning.

That's kind of the point of contracts... To protect both sides.

 

[Husky15]

What do you guys think of Cooley? He’s been great at Providence

 

[mauconnfan]

So I guess we all see where that relationship stands

Wow very telling, ouch.

 

[Vuce]

Agree with the move. I just question the timing.

Why release this on championship Saturday? There is so much media positioned to talk about college basketball today and tomorrow and it will be so easy for every single talking head/commentator to fill their air time with complaints about uconns handling of this.

We should have waited until Sunday night or Monday morning to release this. Then everyone would have been focused on the tournament and brackets and Ollie/UConn would have been an afterthought and secondary news.

Again, I agree with the move. I just think they chose the absolute worst possible time to release it to minimize public perception damage.

I disagree. If this were UConn 3 years ago then yes much bigger story. Now? They will mention it and move on to conference tourneys and brackets. This will not get the coverage on TV that you think

 

[Danzz]

Being happy Ollie is gone is one thing, celebrating the firing with cause of a national championship winning alum is another. Says a lot about where this athletic department is at and it sure aint good.

There is nothing to celebrate when someone loses their job. We'll see KO on an NBA staff somewhere.

 

[uchusky32]

Thanks for the NC. Bow out gracefully. Show another school you can be hired again. You know this wasn't Uconn basketball being displayed the last 3 years. 10 years from now you will want to be able to come back and celebrate your time here.

 

[Yorkeez4]

AD Dave was personally responsible for extending that contract. The proper thing to do would be to negotiate a buyout and agree to go your separate ways. This could get ugly. And you need to control the message.

Extending contracts is a common practice to ensure recruits that a coach will be there throughout their college career. In actuality it means nothing but is important to some recruits.

You seem to think that the AD did not attempt to negotiate a buyout. My view is they probably told KO "your fired and we can't afford a $9.4 million dollar buyout so we would like to negotiate a lower one". KO said "no thanks". The AD said "then we'll fire for cause". KO said "go ahead" and the AD did. In a couple of days we can hope KO comes back and says "let's talk" and a deal is brokered.

 

[TopDogs]

 

[jorge34]

So I guess we all see where that relationship stands

Wow
Still gotta love jimmy telling it like it is