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Tom Wistrcill Resigns. Larry Williams hired.


zippy_ua_00

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Williams was a 10th round draft pick by Browns in 1985 - played 5 NFL seasons on the OL for the Browns, Saints and Patriots. Big guy, maybe he can stand up to the overreaching President and Trustees who have dropped the ball on so much this summer.

At this point I am starting to question how much of the last few years were really Wistricil messes and how much may have been the result of overly aggressive trustees. Wistricil hired the iCoach, which was toxic, but everyone should get at least one mulligan in the hiring category. One could also ask why Brookhart was allowed to stay as long as he did. AD Mack dropped the ball on that one in my book, as JD should have been canned after the 3rd straight losing season in 2008. Mack never hired a major coach, so to me he failed in not recognizing the failure in front of him. Mack makes the change after 2008 and heading into the new stadium and maybe we never take the dive like we did with the iCoach.

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Larry Williams seems like a well-respected ex-Notre Dame and NFL football player (drafted by the Browns) who did well in his brief (less than 2-year) term as AD at Marquette. His only other college AD experience was as director of athletics and recreation at the University of Portland. Marquette and the University of Portland are private Catholic schools that both disbanded their football programs more than 50 years ago. So as far as I can see he has no experience running an athletic department with a football program. But I really like his philosophy on college athletics as described in this article.

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Wistricil hired the iCoach, which was toxic, but everyone should get at least one mulligan in the hiring category.

1.) At least one? Your right. Maybe two or three "Ianello's" should be allowed before anyone starts to get concerned.

2.) If he was going to f-up so toxically, it would have been nice if it were hiring a women's soccer coach instead of a coach responsible for filling a 30k seat, $65 million stadium.

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Or they wanted to leak it to see what the reaction looks like.

Yeah. Cuz the U has been sooooooo concerned about reactions to its decisions. Just look how quickly the whole polytechnic thing was abandoned once it was leaked and panned.
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This situation we are in is exactly why too much transparency and leaks are not good. I have said this before and I will say it again….in situations like we are in right now leadership has to keep things under wraps until they are ready to explain the who, what, when, why and how a change is being made.

I have been in leadership positions with companies primed for acquisition and/or restructuring. When rumors fly and information gets out…..it can become a mess. You know what, in most cases the rumors and information that get out are generally always negative…..it is human nature. People get distracted, start updating resumes, morale goes down and all the work that has been done to make you a prime candidate for acquisition goes down the tubes.

I am not saying challenging authority is bad and leadership should not be held accountable but going to the media and spreading rumors without actual FACTS is devastating. Our hiring and GREAT athletic director has never been so important to UA-OPU and the top candidates are withdrawing. NOT GOOD!!

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If any of the candidates are withdrawing because all the recent stories about UA have convinced them that the AD job is too tough for them to handle, then I won't miss them. I want the next AD to understand he's taking on a tough job but has the self-confidence to believe he can turn things around under difficult conditions. Give me someone looking for a big challenge, not someone looking for a comfortable position.

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If any of the candidates are withdrawing because all the recent stories about UA have convinced them that the AD job is too tough for them to handle, then I won't miss them. I want the next AD to understand he's taking on a tough job but has the self-confidence to believe he can turn things around under difficult conditions. Give me someone looking for a big challenge, not someone looking for a comfortable position.

The most recent "withdrawal" could be because of knowledge that they aren't getting the job. I believe similar to Tressel during the President search.

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