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Assuming we did have an Athletic Director vacancy....

AtlasShrugged

AtlasShrugged

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Aug 23, 2004
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As an intro, I loved Ray Tanner as a baseball coach and met him a couple of times years back. You will never find a more genuine guy. That said, given our struggles on the gridiron and hiring history, I would be less than excited to have Coach Tanner be in charge of finding the next football coach. Back in 2012, we did a very 'South Carolina thing'. Nearly everyone here, raged against Eric Hyman for one reason or another. There were issues such as the Odom/Horn hires as well as the much needed increase and realignment in ticket prices and seniority. What people hated most about him was that he was not a 'South Carolina guy'. He came from TCU with very little connection to the school. After he was run off, SC did something that was typically done in the 70s/80s by major college programs. We hired a popular former coach while at the same time Clemson hired Dan Radakovich, a professional administrator, former Associate AD at USC and someone that was highly interested in our AD role. Well, we got our in house guy and now we are struggling across the board in nearly all sports.

With that in mind, the next hire, whenever that happens, should be a man or woman with at least some administrative experience and probably someone with absolutely zero connection to the school. Sorry Brad Edwards.

Would welcome any thoughts.
 
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Well, I haven’t finished my morning coffee yet, but I think you make some good points.
 
AtlasShrugged said:
As an intro, I loved Ray Tanner as a baseball coach and met him a couple of times years back. You will never find a more genuine guy. That said, given our struggles on the gridiron and hiring history, I would be less than excited to have Coach Tanner be in charge of finding the next football coach. Back in 2012, we did a very 'South Carolina thing'. Nearly everyone here, raged against Eric Hyman for one reason or another. There were issues such as the Odom/Horn hires as well as the much needed increase and realignment in ticket prices and seniority. What people hated most about him was that he was not a 'South Carolina guy'. He came from TCU with very little connection to the school. After he was run off, SC did something that was typically done in the 70s/80s by major college programs. We hired a popular former coach while at the same time Clemson hired Dan Radakovich, a professional administrator, former Associate AD at USC and someone that was highly interested in our AD role. Well, we got our in house guy and now we are struggling across the board in nearly all sports.

With that in mind, the next hire, whenever that happens, should be a man or woman with at least some administrative experience and probably someone with absolutely zero connection to the school. Sorry Brad Edwards.

Would welcome any thoughts.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree. But would take it a step further. We need an athletic executive with more than "some" experience. And I could care less if they have any connection to the state or the university at all.

Mike McGee and Eric Hyman are the best ADs Carolina has ever had. Period.

I am very concerned about the overall leadership at Carolina. Tanner is way in over his head. The BOT is a total mess. And we just lost one of the best university President's in the nation to be replaced by a swampy political process with someone that has lots of question marks.
 
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There are a ton of young, experienced AD's that would know how to boost USC's athletics programs instantly. Boosting the programs is about one thing - raising and making money. You get better facilities and coaches that way. Younger guys also aren't sentimental with coaches - it's business and they treat it as such. You can't win an arms race without the funds.

It would never fly here, but a guy that would, and will kill it when he gets a chance, is Graham Neff at clem. He's the new wave of AD that would allow USC to not only compete now, but position the department to get ahead while others are mired under old leadership. College sports has passed up most older AD's - and at huge programs they're living on the generational money that has always come into their programs. USC has never had that problem (more historical donor money than we know what to do with and that can erase all our mistakes with a checkbook). We need someone who is poised for the future since we have no T. Boone Pickens safety net.
 
Heck, I'll take the job. And I'll do it for only $150k a year. You'll be getting a bargain. And the best part is that I'll still come on here and listen to what everyone says. You all can be like advisors.
 
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Essentially, what we need to do is head down to Florida and get their second in command.
 
Dan Morrison would have also been intriguing, however it is really unknown how much he hid the Jerry Richardson stuff.
 
A serious name I would want would be Craig Littlepage. Former AD at Virginia. He has retired and would be pushing 70, but he did hire Tony Bennett for basketball, O Connor for baseball and got Mendenhall from the other side of the country to head the football team. Of course he is retired and spent his last 20 years working at Virginia, but the guy did a pretty good job at a school that was not crushing it athletically prior to his arrival.
 
AtlasShrugged said:
... We hired a popular former coach while at the same time Clemson hired Dan Radakovich, a professional administrator, former Associate AD at USC and someone that was highly interested in our AD role. ...
Click to expand...

How successful is Clemson athletics across the board, outside of football? MBB, mediocre, pop up to an NCAA dance every now and then; WBB, abysmal; Baseball, generally excellent, but unable to win the big one; Just starting WSB. IDK about others. Men's soccer seems to generate some positive news from time to time.

The Clemson football program right now counts for a lot, for sure, but it also tends to put a glossy finish on a not so great overall.
 
How about Danny Morrison? He was teaching at SC at one point. I know that he had to deal with the creepy Jerry Richardson stuff, though.
 
This about sums it up:

South Carolina’s exhaustive AD search ended down the hall with their baseball coach, a 1980s way of thinking that’s gotten them the predictable underwhelming results. The tell if South Carolina is motivated to fire Will Muschamp in 2020 will be if they oust Ray Tanner, the overmatched athletic director, in the next few weeks. If he’s abruptly ousted soon, South Carolina could in theory find a replacement to work with the new coach. But time is running out. They’ll also have to find more than $13 million to buy out Muschamp, who was Tanner’s pick as head coach. South Carolina has long lagged behind its SEC brethren in athletic department sophistication. Can president Bob Caslen, hired in 2019, pull all this off amid a pandemic? If 2-4 turns to 2-8 for the Gamecocks, they’ll be increasing noise to make moves. Hopelessness is expensive, too. 1980s Way of Thinking
 
AtlasShrugged said:
As an intro, I loved Ray Tanner as a baseball coach and met him a couple of times years back. You will never find a more genuine guy. That said, given our struggles on the gridiron and hiring history, I would be less than excited to have Coach Tanner be in charge of finding the next football coach. Back in 2012, we did a very 'South Carolina thing'. Nearly everyone here, raged against Eric Hyman for one reason or another. There were issues such as the Odom/Horn hires as well as the much needed increase and realignment in ticket prices and seniority. What people hated most about him was that he was not a 'South Carolina guy'. He came from TCU with very little connection to the school. After he was run off, SC did something that was typically done in the 70s/80s by major college programs. We hired a popular former coach while at the same time Clemson hired Dan Radakovich, a professional administrator, former Associate AD at USC and someone that was highly interested in our AD role. Well, we got our in house guy and now we are struggling across the board in nearly all sports.

With that in mind, the next hire, whenever that happens, should be a man or woman with at least some administrative experience and probably someone with absolutely zero connection to the school. Sorry Brad Edwards.

Would welcome any thoughts.
Click to expand...

FWIW, Hyman was an unc grad who spent over 10 yrs at furman as coach & in ad dept......he knew this state/people/ connections here very well.........my biggest grip with him was not sending the pep band to MSG.

someone with a good background as an administrator might be a good fit........Carlen & Frank ran their respective areas well with no prior experience.......dietzel had none & was one of the best ad’s we ever had......he could raise money like few other.
If I recall correctly the artificial turf, what was the rage back then, was paid for from individual donations.
 
CockofEarle said:
FWIW, Hyman was an unc grad who spent over 10 yrs at furman as coach & in ad dept......he knew this state/people/ connections here very well.........my biggest grip with him was not sending the pep band to MSG.

someone with a good background as an administrator might be a good fit........Carlen & Frank ran their respective areas well with no prior experience.......dietzel had none & was one of the best ad’s we ever had......he could raise money like few other.
If I recall correctly the artificial turf, what was the rage back then, was paid for from individual donations.
Click to expand...

Different era. Only SC would hire on a former coach for AD these days.
 
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USC2USC said:
I absolutely agree. But would take it a step further. We need an athletic executive with more than "some" experience. And I could care less if they have any connection to the state or the university at all.

Mike McGee and Eric Hyman are the best ADs Carolina has ever had. Period.

I am very concerned about the overall leadership at Carolina. Tanner is way in over his head. The BOT is a total mess. And we just lost one of the best university President's in the nation to be replaced by a swampy political process with someone that has lots of question marks.
Click to expand...

Hyman 'best' ?? That's laughable. He was a suit who knew nothing about running a big time athletics department. That's why Texas A&M canned him in short order. His hire of Darrin Horn was the worst in school history. He extended Odom when he shouldn't. He extended Horn when he shouldn't. He then brought us another basketball coach that no one gets along with and has led us to one tourney in a decade.

McGee is interesting because he got us Spurrier and Tanner. He also brought us Brad Scott. Dave Odom. And ran off Eddie Fogler. Much more good there than Hyman. People have short memories on how bad Hyman was. He enjoyed the fruits of the two best hires in school history.....two hires he did NOT make.
 
@CockofEarle "dietzel had none & was one of the best ad’s we ever had....."

I think he was mostly responsible for USC leaving the ACC. According to him without the ACC's academic requirements he would make USC into a FB powerhouse.

His destruction of USC athletics lasted over 20 yrs until the SEC needed a member when Fla St and Miami turned them down. He destroyed FB and BB.
 
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jerryusc said:
@CockofEarle "dietzel had none & was one of the best ad’s we ever had....."

I think he was mostly responsible for USC leaving the ACC. According to him without the ACC's academic requirements he would make USC into a FB powerhouse.

His destruction of USC athletics lasted over 20 yrs until the SEC needed a member when Fla St and Miami turned them down. He destroyed FB and BB.
Click to expand...
Oh, they like to blame him for that, best thing we’ve ever did.......can’t put any blame on frank.......folks are scared to go after the sacred.
 
jerryusc said:
@CockofEarle "dietzel had none & was one of the best ad’s we ever had....."

I think he was mostly responsible for USC leaving the ACC. According to him without the ACC's academic requirements he would make USC into a FB powerhouse.

His destruction of USC athletics lasted over 20 yrs until the SEC needed a member when Fla St and Miami turned them down. He destroyed FB and BB.
Click to expand...


I'll give Dietzel props for getting the facilities built. As for being a great coach, look at his record. Marginal at best. He was the Gene Chizik of that era.
 
Ray's problem is that he is a coach first, he takes care of his coaches, because he can relate to the pressures of coaching. But in this case, he needs to see the fan's perspective. We work hard for our money, we shop where we get the best value for what we have to spend. The product that we are paying for at USC is overpriced and not of high quality. Not saying that we will become fans of another team, for me that would be impossible, But I will fill my time and spend my limited money on something more enjoyable. The young men on the team and the fans deserve better!!!
 
AtlasShrugged said:
Must it be someone with SC ties?
Click to expand...
It's better if the AD isn't tied to anyone!! The AD should be a manager first, not a fan. Friendly to the staff but not their friend!! The AD needs to be able to make decisions based on performance and results. If that were the case now we would be performing a Head coach search for our football team!!!
 
I would want around 30 candidates interviewed, and Vince Tyra at Louisville interviewed and Matt Hogue of Coastal as well.

Im not that educated on AD's, I dont have tons of names, but would like to see a serious process again by the president and board.
 
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