You're right, Davis and Triplett were horrible hires, Holtz and Spurrier didn't do our program any favors either. I stand corrected with your overwhelming evidence. I'm convinced Brad never did anything substantive in 17 years as an AD. You've also convinced me the earth is flat and alligators are in the sewers.
Just a "Thought" here, and I am merely posting this simply in regards to the article's focus...
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You're right, Davis and Triplett were horrible hires, Holtz and Spurrier didn't do our program any favors either. I stand corrected with your overwhelming evidence. I'm convinced Brad never did anything substantive in 17 years as an AD. You've also convinced me the earth is flat and alligators are in the sewers.
Certainly by no means are we Jesus's team per se!! We ain't Jewish!! =;-p
Besides, Jesus is a fan of All Teams (and especially The SEC!!)!!
You're ignorance is forgiven. BTW, another tidbit you probably don't know. Triplett was a legacy hire at Newberry. Brad didn't have to work to hire him. In fact he would have been run out of town had he not hired him. His dad Dusty Triplett played football and baseball at Newberry. The entire Newberry alumni and community were behind that hire. So, what else ya got?
Tell ya what, after all that negative BS, with your questioning and whining about Brad's "lack of experience" (and FTR, Brad's PRIMARY EXPERIENCE is that of an Athletic Director, and NOT just a Baseball Coach), if and when Brad 'tis indeed hired to either to replace or to work directly with Ray until his retirement, would you do yourself and all the rest of us a favor, and just go away?? Hell, you sound more like a clemons fan who's ignorantly more afraid of Brad actually becoming our AD than you are of any of the actual "concerns" you've referenced/mentioned!!
And you sound like just another ignorant homer. How well have these inside hires done for us so far? Remember Bobby Cremins? George Felton? Richard Bell? Spurrier Jr's promotion to Recruiting Coordinator? and last but not lease, Ray Tanner? I have nothing against Edwards, but hiring him because he's a gamecock and loves the school just does't cut it. How about we hire a proven top quality AD from a Major D1 program who has some clout nationally and who top coaches might listen to and take seriously? What's wrong with that?
The athletic department at George Mason in not in the same universe as the USC Athletic Department. The difference in complexity is enormous. The fact that members of the BOT are trying to recruit Edwards with his low-level experience exposes the well documented disconnect between the Board of Trustees and the University. Further, the BOT’s behavior clearly demonstrates their lack of understanding for university operational systems.
I believe Edwards would be fine. We do not need superman..we just need a competent person to lead and Edwards certainly is that.
Holtz, Spurrier, Dave Davis, Dave Paulsen, Dave Odom. (Maybe he likes Dave's for basketball coaches).
Has he hired anyone that's sucked? Did he hire Muschamp?
Just because Triplett's dad was a Newberry coach doesn't make Brad a failure.
Also hired Darrell Green at GMU (royalty in DC area) as head of fundraising, raised a bunch of dough to start a trajectory to transform their athletic facilities.
Pre-AD days:
Was basically a coach on the field for Redskins when they won the Super Bowl.
And most importantly - two pick sixes against Clemson - go cocks!
It's funny watching you spin your wheels on this. You took a dig at baseline Jesus, and you're going after a USC legend. Justice must be served.
and NOT because of its writer, though I do personally respect the man (i.e. the writer). In regards to Brad Edwards replacing Ray Tanner?? Absolutely as-far-as I'm concerned! And with ALL DUE RESPECT, LOVE and APPRECIATION to Ray, I guarantee you that NO ONE so desperately wishes our football team to catch up with a few others than does Brad! I had several Bus. Admin. classes w/ Brad back in the day, mostly Marketing classes. In fact, he and I were in several groups together along w/ several others (I also had several classes w/ Harold Green back in the day!) and he was steadfastly always one of the leaders of our groups.
While I could certainly go on as far as my personal opinion of Brad, by no means do I wish to come across as a "pusher", and at any rate, here ya go from Fitsnews...
Powerful South Carolina Trustee Courts Brad Edwards To Be Next Gamecock AD
One of the most powerful members of a badly divided University of South Carolina board of trustees is courting former Gamecock football great Brad Edwards as a possible replacement for embattled South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner, multiple sources familiar with the situation have confirmed to this news outlet.
However, it is not immediately clear whether the influential trustee – Eddie Floyd of Florence, S.C. – will be able to win sufficient support for the move from his fellow board members, who are still at each other’s throats following a divisive, highly politicized presidential selection process.
In a recent post urging the termination of Tanner, we noted the University was “a glorified goat rodeo at the moment, with its governing board bitterly divided and its new president entering under a cloud of controversy.”
And whether you like retired U.S. Army general Robert Caslen or not, there is no denying the University has self-administered a major black eye as a result of his hiring – not to mention invited serious accreditation issues.
This lingering dysfunction could benefit both Tanner and struggling fourth-year head coach Will Mushchamp, the latter of whom probably would have been fired by now were it not for his massive $22 million buyout (which drops modestly to $18.6 million at the end of the year).
That is a hefty chunk of change for a coach whose program is currently in free fall...
As for Tanner, we believe he should have been fired last year … but South Carolina’s board gave him a contract extension instead.
Muschamp’s huge buyout is one of the reasons Tanner is under fire after hiring the former Florida coach to replace Steve Spurrier in December 2015. After nearly four seasons in Columbia, S.C., Muschamp has posted a 26-23 overall record and a 15-16 mark against SEC opponents. He is 1-3 against Georgia, 1-3 against Florida, 1-2 in bowl games and 0-3 against Clemson.
More disappointing than those numbers? The downward trajectory of the program over the last two seasons …
Compounding these issues? The once-proud Gamecock baseball program – which Tanner coached to back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011 – has fallen off the map since he took the athletics director job in 2012.
Could Edwards turn things around in Columbia, S.C.?
Floyd certainly thinks so, and so does former South Carolina trustee Mark Buyck – an influential Florence, S.C. attorney who is reportedly the point person on pushing Edwards as a replacement for Tanner.
“They are trying to sell him to the board,” a source close to the program told us.
Edwards – who played at South Carolina from 1984-1987 – reportedly joined Floyd and Buyck at a recent Gamecock home football game. According to our sources, the former National Football League (NFL) star was asked at the game whether he would consider returning to the Palmetto State to lead the flagging Gamecock program.
What did he say? Good question …
Edwards, 53, is currently athletics director at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia – a post he has held for the past five-and-a-half years. Prior to that, he was athletics director at Jacksonville University (2012-2014) and Newberry College (2009-2012).
From 1999-2006 he was an assistant athletics director at South Carolina under the late Mike McGee.
Edwards is remembered fondly by Gamecock fans as one of the program’s best defensive backs. During his senior season at South Carolina in 1987, he led the Gamecocks in tackles (130) and interceptions (8) – including a memorable, game-clinching pick-six that sealed an upset win over then-No. 8 Clemson.
The Lumberton, N.C. native was chosen in the second round of the 1988 NFL draft (No. 54 overall) by the Minnesota Vikings. He played in 122 games for three teams over nine seasons in the NFL – recording 589 tackles, eighteen interceptions and two defensive touchdowns.
In Super Bowl XXVI as a member of the Washington Redskins, Edwards intercepted Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly twice to help secure the franchise’s third world championship – returning one of his picks for 21 yards and the other for 35 yards. He was the runner-up MVP of the game.
While Edwards would probably make a fine athletics director, several sources close to the Gamecock program are unhappy with Floyd and Buyck’s candidate – believing the South Carolina program needs a “bigger name” to restore its top tier programs to their former glory.
“We need a Mike McGee or a Dan Radakovich,” one prominent South Carolina donor told us.
Dan Radakovich, the hugely successful athletics director at Clemson, was an associate athletics director at South Carolina from 1994-2000 under McGee. He was rumored to be in the mix for the South Carolina athletics director position in 2012, but the job went to Tanner instead.
Under Radakovich, Clemson has completed nearly $200 million in upgrades to its athletics facilities and captured two of the last three college football national championships.
Of interest? Floyd and Buyck – who was replaced on the board in 2018 by Dan Adams – were among the South Carolina trustees who pushed for Tanner to get the job seven years ago.
-FITSNews
So, there ya go ladies and gentlemen, y'all have at it and tell me why I'm wrong; What say ye???
I am friends with Brad - we were at USC at the same time - at least partly.
I love the dude and he is a great Gamecock!!! And he very well may be the man for the job, but.....
you guys realize we have a Top 20 athletic budget?
Brad has been at George Mason for the last 5+ years - a school with no Football and a budget roughly 1/5 of that of South Carolina. That would be IMO like getting a football coach from a DII school to jump straight to SEC football. Again, he MAY be the guy, but it would be a risky hire, even though he has also has advanced degrees from MIT and Harvard.
IMO, if you replace Tanner, it has to be someone with experience at a much bigger program than GMU - and NO, an asst. AD at any school is NOT an option. I’m talking schools like:
Kansas State
UCF
NC State
Georgia Tech
Mississippi
Texas Tech
Houston
schools with DI football and budgets in excess of at least 60-75 million.
Hiring a football coach is just one of many factors that goes into this selection.
How"s the current AD working out for you? Sure I think most of us would love to find another Mike McGee but they aren't out there and if they are they sure as hell aren't coming here given the current situation/conditions.....
Brad Edwards would be a solid pick based on our current situation.......We aren't going out there and throw stupid money at people so that dream is over.....
I'll take a chance on Brad Edwards over what we currently have in a heartbeat
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100% Dead-on post/point(s) there!!
I just think that IF given the opportunity, Brad would. NEVER cause or create any regret on our part! Should we go ahead and hire him without even considering anyone else with more Div. 1A experience?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
JMHOFWIW!!
This is a great post. He doesn't have the credentials or track record to be rushed in without a process. If he was crushing at a top tier school, then maybe we could forego the process, however we should definitely see what's out there. I do think he has the credentials and potential to be a very good AD here, but not without really vetting him and any other candidates. The stakes are too high for our program. I'd rather stick with Ray than make the wrong hire.
For once this please. Stop with the political stuff. Hire the best available candidate
Not too good. My point exactly. He was hired because he was loved as a gamecock coach and won 2 National Championships. He was an inside hire. So you want to fix an inside hire with another inside hire? Talk about insanity!!!
First of all Russell's dad was not a coach at Newberry. He was an athlete. He later coached at a number of high schools in SC and was successful and well thought of especially by the alumni and Indian Club members. You tried to use his hire as a qualification for Edwards, when Edwards had little to do with it. Edwards didn't have to find the hire, the hire found him. He didn't have to work for it.
If you think having 2 pick sixes against clemsux qualifies him to be AD, then you aren't just spinning your wheels, you are stuck in the mire up to your axles.
I dont want anyone who's been a part of this culture. I want someone from a school that wins. I dont care if its the AD at North Dakota St but he or she must be a winner with no connections here. I dont want anyone influencing them with the "here's how we do things around here" nonsense.
If you read my post I said "based on our current situation".........The School nor the BOTs show any interest in throwing around the kind of money it will take to get what we actually need.....
I never said BE was my first choice and if there is someone better that you can get by all means HIRE THEM NOW
Do you think you've looked objectively at Brad's resume? I'm not saying that as a dig, I just really want to know if you think you have.
I'm reading it with a bias, I think he would be good, and I determined that before I went and did some research. But even with that bias, I'm only claiming he should be considered as a candidate, and I think he would do a good job. I believe we should still go through an extensive process to interview others, his qualifications do not put him above a search process, and his USC ties certainly don't. Even with my bias, I can accept that through that process, maybe Brad's not the guy. I also accept that the baseball hire at Newberry does not deserve a gold medal, and that as the head guy he hasn't put someone in place that put a sports program as a championship contender. I never claimed the pick sixes would qualify him as an AD, and yes you are right, we should not hire him just because he was a good football player. I also don't think Mike Tyson would be a good AD because he was a good boxer, or Beyonce because she's a good entertainer.
You haven't convinced me Brad shouldn't be considered for the AD job (if it opens up), and you haven't convinced me he wouldn't be a good AD, mostly because I don't trust your judgment because you skip over anything that is a positive for Brad (like holtz, spurrier, constantly being promoted, fundraising, etc). The only thing you're claiming disqualifies him is his ties to USC, which is bogus. If you were willing to look at all the facts, you would be more convincing. Right now you sound like a russian bot meddling in the 2016 election.
You can't say ties disqualify someone from being considered. If Jeff Bezos had ties to USC, should he be disqualified from being hired by the university? Ties also do not qualify someone for a job. They're just ties. You're throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
You haven't pointed to anything legitimate that disqualifies him from being considered. I'm keeping an open mind but you're not offering any solid evidence.
I'm in the mire because I'm trying to get you out.
The AD (Cobb) at Ga. State would be a good choice. He was brought there to build that new program. He was AD at App. State during their years of dominating small college through their transition to Division 1.
