So I'm driving to a job site and hear the Suze on the radio...

[freescooter]

and she's being interviewed about UConn football...on NPR of all places. Kind of confirmed my view that when it comes to athletics, she is either clueless or doesn't much care. Highlights of her comments: 1. We're not Alabama, nor are we LSU (did youknow Towson almost beat LSU last year? Not really but that what she was told to say if Town came up I imagine...NPR listeners and all). We're also not Michigan. freescooter interpretation: We're going to be in the American Athletic Conference for a good long while.
2. She was caught off guard by how important football was to conference re-alignment. Yes she actually said that. freescooter interpretation: Suze doesn't read the Boneyard. In fact it is doubtful that she has ever read the sports page of any newspaper or even some pieces in the Journal of Higher Education...
3. Don't worry about football. Warde Manuel knows football. He played football at Michigan. freescooter interpretation: A. Warde ain't going anywhere. B. The fact that a team with 5 NFL players on it finished 5-7 didn't lead Warde to see that the Coach might be lacking in some regard makes one wonder whether we might be better off with an AD who actually knows results and to hell with his knowledge of football...
But #2 is the thing that is of the greatest concern. In her defense, she said she and other college presidents. I think she muct have been talking about the presidents of Connecticut College, Trinity and Wesleyan...football isn't a factor in re-alignment of the NESCAC as far as I know.

 

[whaler11]

Multiple appearances on NPR talking sports tell you everything you need to know. We might actually be doomed, if not for Kevin Ollie.

I didn't love the way Calhoun handled the Ollie situation. I was 100% wrong. Thank God he was involved.

 

[upstater]

Holy cow, are you serious freescooter with this post?

1. She's absolutely right
2. Presidents of top research schools know little to nothing about football; that's why a lot of them buy the bill of goods ("we can compete with the best!"). Herbst is smart enough to know what she doesn't know. Many more are not that smart.
3. If someone isn't knowledgeable about college football, then of course they are going to rely on someone else.

Having a hard time here trying to figure out if you're serious or not.

 

[freescooter]

upstater,
Most of them I get. That a university president didn't understand that football was important to conference re-alignment is worrisome. What else is she unaware of? I agree that you need to rely on others, but if the person you're relying on isn't making that point over and over again, one has to question what the heck he is doing and whether he indeed "knows football," no?

 

[ZooCougar]

Multiple appearances on NPR talking sports tell you everything you need to know. We might actually be doomed, if not for Kevin Ollie.

I didn't love the way Calhoun handled the Ollie situation. I was 100% wrong. Thank God he was involved.

"Coming up on our next segment, Guy Wolff and Susie Herbst will be here to discuss Artisan Pottery, folk music and the big game against The Wooverines of Michigan"

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Holy cow, are you serious freescooter with this post?

1. She's absolutely right
2. Presidents of top research schools know little to nothing about football; that's why a lot of them buy the bill of goods ("we can compete with the best!"). Herbst is smart enough to know what she doesn't know. Many more are not that smart.
3. If someone isn't knowledgeable about college football, then of course they are going to rely on someone else.

Having a hard time here trying to figure out if you're serious or not.

I'm going to take freescooter's word for it that she actually said what he posted.

If, as president of the university, she didn't know how important football was in terms of conference realignment......that is sheer negligence.

 

[Waquoit]

If, as president of the university, she didn't know how important football was in terms of conference realignment......that is sheer negligence.

One could figure that out with her hire of Pendergrast. The guy had no clue about CR, never spoke about when he got hired. He was too busy with the Pledge of Allegence.

 

[upstater]

I'm going to take freescooter's word for it that she actually said what he posted.

If, as president of the university, she didn't know how important football was in terms of conference realignment......that is sheer negligence.

Her job is to improve UConn's academic reputation. Getting the state to put in a couple billion is a success. For all we know, she might have a grand design to destroy the athletic department. if that's her plan, would it be negligence? How would you know?

The point is, a new president coming in had little to do with the results on the football field. The last thing we need is Susan Herbst picking football coaches. It's absurd. After the fact, she realizes football drives the train. If she had this information before the fact, it would not matter at all. There is nothing a President could do, nor would you want a president to do it.

 

[ZooCougar]

I really don't care if she reads the Boneyard. I doubt she has the time.

If i were a UConn official, at the moment I would not even acknowledge the existence of football.

 

[upstater]

upstater,
Most of them I get. That a university president didn't understand that football was important to conference re-alignment is worrisome. What else is she unaware of? I agree that you need to rely on others, but if the person you're relying on isn't making that point over and over again, one has to question what the heck he is doing and whether he indeed "knows football," no?

None of these people know ANYTHING about football unless you're a hayseed school that hires idiots to head it.

How the hell do you think the Presidents of places like Buffalo, UMass, etc. are convinced to go all in? Because they don't know anything about it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Football? What's that? You mean we have a football team?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Her job is to improve UConn's academic reputation. Getting the state to put in a couple billion is a success. For all we know, she might have a grand design to destroy the athletic department. if that's her plan, would it be negligence? How would you know?

The point is, a new president coming in had little to do with the results on the football field. The last thing we need is Susan Herbst picking football coaches. It's absurd. After the fact, she realizes football drives the train. If she had this information before the fact, it would not matter at all. There is nothing a President could do, nor would you want a president to do it.

You are confusing knowing a lot about football with understanding the importance of football in the conference realignment landscape. The latter is a basic concept that every president of FBS schools should be aware of. The rest of your post is academia mumbo jumbo.

 

[ZooCougar]

You are confusing knowing a lot about football with understanding the importance of football in the conference realignment landscape. The latter is a basic concept that every president of FBS schools should be aware of. The rest of your post is academia mumbo jumbo.

I think he just wants to be interviewed on NPR and he is sucking up

 

[billybud]

She sounds like some folks in the ACc only a few years back.

"What? You mean basketball isn't driving expansion?"

 

[ZooCougar]

Anyone see this imconsistency?

-Football is not important

-Yet she knows enough to state that Towson gave LSU a contest?

They are clearly in damage control mode. Ticket sales are nonexistent.

And that's why you never miss a chance to fire a Paul Pasqualoni.

 

[buggsy]

You are confusing knowing a lot about football with understanding the importance of football in the conference realignment landscape. The latter is a basic concept that every president of FBS schools should be aware of. The rest of your post is academia mumbo jumbo.

Agreed. A president's job goes far beyond merely improving the school's academic reputation.

A president's job is to improve the school's overall standing...and to put the school in the best position going forward. That includes fundraising (endowment), alumni relations, academic and athletic facilities improvements, and much more.

To be caught unaware that conference re-alignment doesn't impact ALL of those, including academic reputation...is gross negligence.

Freescooter isn't saying that Herbst should be out on the field calling plays or hiring assistant coaches.

He is saying she should damn well know how important conference realignment is for a school to move ahead improve itself in the future, something the big bucks of the Power 5 conferences will help achieve.

Even Rutgers' idiot president, an Ivy League egghead with previous experience overseeing a school from a Bigtime athletic conference, knows this...and he has made blunder after blunder in his time at RU.

 

[Waquoit]

Multiple appearances on NPR talking sports tell you everything you need to know.

FWIW it's not really NPR, it's a local show on a local station. So it really doesn't tell us anything in the way you suggest.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Multiple appearances on NPR talking sports tell you everything you need to know. We might actually be doomed, if not for Kevin Ollie.

I didn't love the way Calhoun handled the Ollie situation. I was 100% wrong. Thank God he was involved.

I don't understand how Calhoun gets a pass on this board. His resignation came at a critical time.
A mediocre football team is one thing but throw in a basketball team with an uncertain future and it adds up to a conference realignment loser.
Last years team overachieved but any praise it got was tempered with "under suspension ".
We seem to be in the process of exceeding our worse football expectations so KO's team will be carrying an additional burden this year. It also will be in the spotlight were success and failure are magnified. I think he was as good a hire as we could expect. Its the timing that was awful.

 

[upstater]

You are confusing knowing a lot about football with understanding the importance of football in the conference realignment landscape. The latter is a basic concept that every president of FBS schools should be aware of. The rest of your post is academia mumbo jumbo.

No it's not mumbo jumbo at all. It only seems that way to people that put way too much emphasis on college sports. Presidents are chosen for a variety of reasons, but their knowledge of the NCAA landscape is way way way down the ladder of importance. It's not negligence at all, nor is it a requirement. This is why you have ADs. When she got to UConn, she learned how important it was. If she thought -- prior to UConn -- it was the most important thing in the entire world, there isn't a damn thing she could have done because she has no expertise in hiring coaches, she wasn't in position to hire a coach, etc.

 

[upstater]

I don't understand how Calhoun gets a pass on this board. His resignation came at a critical time.
A mediocre football team is one thing but throw in a basketball team with an uncertain future and it adds up to a conference realignment loser.
Last years team overachieved but any praise it got was tempered with "under suspension ".
We seem to be in the process of exceeding our worse football expectations so KO's team will be carrying an additional burden this year. It also will be in the spotlight were success and failure are magnified. I think he was as good a hire as we could expect. Its the timing that was awful.

Calhoun broke his hip and couldn't walk, was looking at retirement for awhile. Not sure why anyone would criticize him.

 

[upstater]

Agreed. A president's job goes far beyond merely improving the school's academic reputation.

A president's job is to improve the school's overall standing...and to put the school in the best position going forward. That includes fundraising (endowment), alumni relations, academic and athletic facilities improvements, and much more.

To be caught unaware that conference re-alignment doesn't impact ALL of those, including academic reputation...is gross negligence.

Freescooter isn't saying that Herbst should be out on the field calling plays or hiring assistant coaches.

He is saying she should damn well know how important conference realignment is for a school to move ahead improve itself in the future, something the big bucks of the Power 5 conferences will help achieve.

Even Rutgers' idiot president, an Ivy League egghead with previous experience overseeing a school from a Bigtime athletic conference, knows this...and he has made blunder after blunder in his time at RU.

Disagree with absolutely everything you wrote here. The correlations you are drawing are negligible at best. In fact, at Rutgers, as you guys were pouring hundreds of millions into sports while simultaneously cutting your academic programs, you dropped 20-30 points in the rankings. Why? Faculty fled Rutgers. You had a national reputation as a school hemorraghing. Andrew Zimbalist, the sports economics specialist, used Rutgers as a prime example of a school that, far from sports helping it, describes the school as taking on the sheen of a loser because of athletics, which overtakes its significant and admirable academic reputation.

10% of schools that ramp up sport experience a gain, schools like Boise or BC are examples. The rest experience nothing, and some are hurt by it.

 

[Waquoit]

I don't understand how Calhoun gets a pass on this board.

You don't? Does 2011 ring a bell? Or 2004? Or 1999?

 

[Carl Spackler]

This whole discussion is just so "UCONN".

Call me when Jim Delany has something important to say about UCONN in regards to intercollegiate athletics.

 

[upstater]

If Herbst were a man and a bigtime college football fan with a great awareness of football's importance in the scheme of things, we'd be in the AAC right now.

 

[uconndogs]

Given the direction of big time college athletics, if you are the president of an institution such as the University of Connecticut, one of the issues you have to explore is whether or not to continue to compete at the highest levels of college athletics. The mission of UCONN is NOT to win natinoal championships in athletics. One can make the arguement that athletic success assists in the University's mission, but that is an arguement worth having in my opinion.

I am a huge college sports fan, but I do see that the current direction of college athletics is leading to some very difficult conversations for many institutions. And my guess is that Susan understands that.