Rutgers narrows athletic-director search to three top finalists

[akronad]

One of things I am getting out of this discussion is that we all want to see someone stay a while as AD, and I agree with you. Although, we all know that Can't s---s, They have had the same AD for many years. Good or bad?

[ZachTheZip]

On another note .. in a hazy cloud of blind optimism regarding one day jumping to the FBS side of a divided Big East .. wouldn't it help the Zips to have 2 of the 8 league members being run by former Zips ADs?Go Zips!

That's something I've been wondering about. Rutgers is leading the charge for splitting the Big East. Perhaps it's all some type of master plan.

[Quickzips]

My thoughts:Mack isn't irreplacable. Far from it. Is he a bad AD? No. Is he the second coming? No. Is he somewhere in the middle? Yeah. I take it as at least something of a compliment that our athletic department seems to be a breeding stock for good talent right at the moment. It tells me that the guys in charge of hiring are doing a good job. As many others have said, as long as Proenza sticks around we're going to be in pretty good shape. As for our next AD. I don't know if I would entirely rule out Dambrot. It would be a loss for the basketball team, but if he could convince Jeff Boals to take over his old position it would definitley curb that loss. I don't know what kind of an AD Dambrot would be, but he's an Akron guy through and through and he has that pitbull mentality that I think you need for the job. I just don't want to lose him all together by hiring an AD that wants to push him out the door as basketball coach and bring in his own guy.

[ZachTheZip]

I would imagine that one of the requirements of any new AD hire would be not to mess with coach Dambrot or coach Porter. If I were Proenza, I would never hire an AD who wanted to get rid of our most successful coaches to replace them with "his guys".

[zip37]

If KD became AD, there is an Ohio/Akron guy moving up the ladder a U Fla. and Boals, eiher one would carry on the swinning/recruiting.But all this speculation is just that, but keeps me sane NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT VALPO GAME

[Captain Kangaroo]

The *negativity* surrounding our AD comes from the fact that fans on this board are passionate about Zips athletics. The care, and they sometimes get pissed when they're asked to attend, donate, support...while the AD himself apparently is not practicing what he preaches.We have the largest undertaking in the history of UA athletics underway. And it is being constructed under the most difficult economic times this country has experienced in decades. We need the #1 guy in UA Athletics to be a "rock" at this time, not looking for an opportunity to bail and leave someone else to deal with it.Leaving your girlfriend is one thing. Dumping your wife, when she's 6 months pregnant, with twins, is another. In quarterback terms, and from a fan's perspective, Mack has "managed the game" since he's been at UA.He has kept the football stadium on-target. But when he came into the picture, $18 million of the $22 million-or-so in funding we presently have was already raised (by Mike Thomas). That is not a knock on Mack, it is simply a fact.The PD gave Mack credit for the indoor practice facility, but it was built 2 years before he arrived.Caleb Porter was brought in at the end of the previous administration, not under Mack. To Mack's credit, he has kept Caleb happy and let him flourish.He seems to have kept Dambrot happy. That's a good thing. He's also given the basketball program resources to charter flights and buy some home games. All that is a big plus.He didn't fire JD after last season. If you are a believer in the adage "Sometimes the best moves are the ones you didn't make," then this may have been a better move than hiring a coach. Most young AD's would have fired the guy if for no other reason than to get that "big hire" on his resume'. 2009 will tell if it was the right move.During his tenure, a 26-win Zips basketball team didn't make the post season, and a championship-caliber soccer team got a home tourney game stolen from them. Would this have happened under Mike Thomas? A fair question, but an unanswerable one.As an AD, Mack grades out as "incomplete" at this time. He needs another 2+ years to reveal how he will fill 30,000 seats and generate athletics revenue. Like Mike Thomas in football, Mack needs to get the basketball arena talk off the table and on the schedule. THEN the guy will have a legacy @ UA, and I'll give him a big kiss when he leaves for the BIG EAST.If local fans decided not to renew their basketball season tickets, football season tickets and cease donations, and spend their money elsewhere, people within UA Athletics would rightfully be disappointed. It goes both ways. I'm disappointed in Mack right now. His timing could not be worse, and it sends a bad message to the loyal fans - simple as that.

[72 Roo]

Capt'n, can't say it much better than that. It troubles me that Mac would want to leave now for a job that is better, but not the high profile job he could get if he were to bring everything together that is nearing completion in a year or two, i.e. Infocision, football respectability, attendance, soccer dominance, basketball dominance, emergence of women's programs, start of the soccer stadium, etc.Passing up all that for Rutgers. Makes you go Hmmmmm.

[tbozeglav]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly planend renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

[ZachTheZip]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly planend renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

The PD article on Mack (the same one that gives him credit for the fieldhouse, so I can't be sure of the accuracy) says we're renovating the JAR. Maybe we're removing the corners to give the upper section a rounded look. Maybe we're removing the track (it causes the biggest amounts of complaints) and having the seating go all the way up. I have no idea what it could be, but I know that it's supposedly going to start very shortly after this basketball season is finished, which is good timing. Renovated JAR + Zeke = very good year for basketball.

[g-mann17]

Here is my opinion...1. If Rhoades didn't have his resume up to date for which a lot of you criticize him, I would (and everyone should be) be extremely disappointed. Being a profesional at any level, you had better have your resume up to date. You had better be doing things to improve that resume. He is a person that has chosen a career as an AD. It's his passion and when something is your passion you had better be putting everything into and marking down your accomplishments. 2. He probably won't get the Rutgers job, for which he was solicited. He was pursued, by a group hired to find quality young talent. He was one of a dozen selected, and one of 3 chosen out of that dozen to be interviewed. Why? Because he can raise funds. A lot of you seem to think that Thomas procured the donations for the stadium, he only recieved a tentative promise. Rhoades has increased the Z-fund donations, has improved the academic standards and has supported coaches in implementing new study table mandates. You accuse him of shopping himself around. Well the only reason his name came up, was because it's all over the place because of the accomplishments of our academic programs. (and people will say what accomplishments "we haven't won anything") Except we have to unprecedented growth in donations, increased public interest, MAC championships in Track, academic awards for our non revenue producing sports, and stable coaching in our core sports (soccer, basketball, and football). 3. If he leaves. This year, next year, or three years from now, he has accomplished a lot. He will accomplish a lot more, and he has had a chance to sit down with a Big East school. He has been able to see what they look for in an AD, what they want out of their programs, and how they find funding and support. That is valuable information to the program. It's things that he can bring back to our school, he has made ties at Rutgers no matter what else happens, and he has learned something in the long run.

[Blue & Gold]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly planend renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

The PD article on Mack (the same one that gives him credit for the fieldhouse, so I can't be sure of the accuracy) says we're renovating the JAR. Maybe we're removing the corners to give the upper section a rounded look. Maybe we're removing the track (it causes the biggest amounts of complaints) and having the seating go all the way up. I have no idea what it could be, but I know that it's supposedly going to start very shortly after this basketball season is finished, which is good timing. Renovated JAR + Zeke = very good year for basketball.

I sure hope a renovated JAR is merely considered a band-aid and not the final solution to the arena problem.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Here is my opinion...1. If Rhoades didn't have his resume up to date for which a lot of you criticize him, I would (and everyone should be) be extremely disappointed. Being a profesional at any level, you had better have your resume up to date. You had better be doing things to improve that resume. He is a person that has chosen a career as an AD. It's his passion and when something is your passion you had better be putting everything into and marking down your accomplishments. 2. He probably won't get the Rutgers job, for which he was solicited. He was pursued, by a group hired to find quality young talent. He was one of a dozen selected, and one of 3 chosen out of that dozen to be interviewed. Why? Because he can raise funds. A lot of you seem to think that Thomas procured the donations for the stadium, he only recieved a tentative promise. Rhoades has increased the Z-fund donations, has improved the academic standards and has supported coaches in implementing new study table mandates. You accuse him of shopping himself around. Well the only reason his name came up, was because it's all over the place because of the accomplishments of our academic programs. (and people will say what accomplishments "we haven't won anything") Except we have to unprecedented growth in donations, increased public interest, MAC championships in Track, academic awards for our non revenue producing sports, and stable coaching in our core sports (soccer, basketball, and football). 3. If he leaves. This year, next year, or three years from now, he has accomplished a lot. He will accomplish a lot more, and he has had a chance to sit down with a Big East school. He has been able to see what they look for in an AD, what they want out of their programs, and how they find funding and support. That is valuable information to the program. It's things that he can bring back to our school, he has made ties at Rutgers no matter what else happens, and he has learned something in the long run.

It's not all that common to say "nice post" to one I'm not in total agreement with, but that's a nice alternative opinion to mine. I enjoyed the perspective.

[Zip Watcher]

Here is my opinion...1. If Rhoades didn't have his resume up to date for which a lot of you criticize him, I would (and everyone should be) be extremely disappointed. Being a profesional at any level, you had better have your resume up to date. You had better be doing things to improve that resume. He is a person that has chosen a career as an AD. It's his passion and when something is your passion you had better be putting everything into and marking down your accomplishments. 2. He probably won't get the Rutgers job, for which he was solicited. He was pursued, by a group hired to find quality young talent. He was one of a dozen selected, and one of 3 chosen out of that dozen to be interviewed. Why? Because he can raise funds. A lot of you seem to think that Thomas procured the donations for the stadium, he only recieved a tentative promise. Rhoades has increased the Z-fund donations, has improved the academic standards and has supported coaches in implementing new study table mandates. You accuse him of shopping himself around. Well the only reason his name came up, was because it's all over the place because of the accomplishments of our academic programs. (and people will say what accomplishments "we haven't won anything") Except we have to unprecedented growth in donations, increased public interest, MAC championships in Track, academic awards for our non revenue producing sports, and stable coaching in our core sports (soccer, basketball, and football). 3. If he leaves. This year, next year, or three years from now, he has accomplished a lot. He will accomplish a lot more, and he has had a chance to sit down with a Big East school. He has been able to see what they look for in an AD, what they want out of their programs, and how they find funding and support. That is valuable information to the program. It's things that he can bring back to our school, he has made ties at Rutgers no matter what else happens, and he has learned something in the long run.

I think this is a phenomenal post. Agreed on all accounts. I think the end of #3 is especially pertinent. It's probably career suicide to be turning down interviews like this if you're as early into a career as Mack is. I have no problems with him answering his phone.

[GoZips]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly plan end renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

The PD article on Mack (the same one that gives him credit for the fieldhouse, so I can't be sure of the accuracy) says we're renovating the JAR. Maybe we're removing the corners to give the upper section a rounded look. Maybe we're removing the track (it causes the biggest amounts of complaints) and having the seating go all the way up. I have no idea what it could be, but I know that it's supposedly going to start very shortly after this basketball season is finished, which is good timing. Renovated JAR + Zeke = very good year for basketball.

Time to weigh in.A) The four pillars in the corners support the weight of the roof. They CANNOT be moved. Thus, the corners are nearly worthless for seating.B ) The seating can be increased by eliminating the indoor track. Also, the end zones offer good possibilities, especially if the AK-Rowdies would grow in the number of regularly participating students.C) There is an ongoing study to build a NEW arena. Current proposal is to build an eleven thousand seat facility directly across the street from Canal Park. There is some squabbling about whether to make a basketball only arena or one that would include a hockey rink. From the four color drawings I have seen it would be a winner as a basketball only facility. Note: Over the past several months the quality and quantity of these drawings have gone from pen and ink to the quality four color drawings like those used to promote the football stadium.D) If I were a betting man (and I am) I would bet that a new arena with in five years is a much more likely prospect than a renovated JAR. You can put lipstick on pig and it will still be a pig.

[zippyrifle32]

just throwing this out there (a random thought I had today)... what if he was doing this more for a salary increase than wanting to change schools. I mean, if he has been searched out and at least appears to be interested Akron would have to give him better incentive not to be lured away ($$$). Supply and demand, just like any other coach. It's a good way to gauge how valued you are by the school. I could be completely wrong, but just thought I'd throw that idea out there.

[Dr Z]

I'd be excited to see a list of candidates if Mack did decide to move on. I would research it if I thought there was a chance of him doing so this year. If Dr P didn't get MW back here to sit down and talk with him about the vacancy, I would be surprised. I want that guys passion and focus in my next AD! Nobody in my time around Zips athletics has understood ZipsNation better.

[tbozeglav]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly plan end renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

The PD article on Mack (the same one that gives him credit for the fieldhouse, so I can't be sure of the accuracy) says we're renovating the JAR. Maybe we're removing the corners to give the upper section a rounded look. Maybe we're removing the track (it causes the biggest amounts of complaints) and having the seating go all the way up. I have no idea what it could be, but I know that it's supposedly going to start very shortly after this basketball season is finished, which is good timing. Renovated JAR + Zeke = very good year for basketball.

Time to weigh in.A) The four pillars in the corners support the weight of the roof. They CANNOT be moved. Thus, the corners are nearly worthless for seating.B ) The seating can be increased by eliminating the indoor track. Also, the end zones offer good possibilities, especially if the AK-Rowdies would grow in the number of regularly participating students.C) There is an ongoing study to build a NEW arena. Current proposal is to build an eleven thousand seat facility directly across the street from Canal Park. There is some squabbling about whether to make a basketball only arena or one that would include a hockey rink. From the four color drawings I have seen it would be a winner as a basketball only facility. Note: Over the past several months the quality and quantity of these drawings have gone from pen and ink to the quality four color drawings like those used to promote the football stadium.D) If I were a betting man (and I am) I would bet that a new arena with in five years is a much more likely prospect than a renovated JAR. You can put lipstick on pig and it will still be a pig.

Id really like to see said drawing as an hour-long google search got me nothing.

[Zipmeister]

Id like to make it known that I did some digging around on Google to find some more info on this supposed "arena", and I was only able to find that there is supposedly plan end renovations to the JAR, not a planned new arena. If anyone has information that refutes that, please post it.

The PD article on Mack (the same one that gives him credit for the fieldhouse, so I can't be sure of the accuracy) says we're renovating the JAR. Maybe we're removing the corners to give the upper section a rounded look. Maybe we're removing the track (it causes the biggest amounts of complaints) and having the seating go all the way up. I have no idea what it could be, but I know that it's supposedly going to start very shortly after this basketball season is finished, which is good timing. Renovated JAR + Zeke = very good year for basketball.

Time to weigh in.A) The four pillars in the corners support the weight of the roof. They CANNOT be moved. Thus, the corners are nearly worthless for seating.B ) The seating can be increased by eliminating the indoor track. Also, the end zones offer good possibilities, especially if the AK-Rowdies would grow in the number of regularly participating students.C) There is an ongoing study to build a NEW arena. Current proposal is to build an eleven thousand seat facility directly across the street from Canal Park. There is some squabbling about whether to make a basketball only arena or one that would include a hockey rink. From the four color drawings I have seen it would be a winner as a basketball only facility. Note: Over the past several months the quality and quantity of these drawings have gone from pen and ink to the quality four color drawings like those used to promote the football stadium.D) If I were a betting man (and I am) I would bet that a new arena with in five years is a much more likely prospect than a renovated JAR. You can put lipstick on pig and it will still be a pig.

Id really like to see said drawing as an hour-long google search got me nothing.

Given current economic conditions, in your search did you try the key words, "pipe dream."?

[#1 rowdy]

I believe the renovations they are talking about in the JAR are going to be better locker rooms and study areas for the players.

[ZachTheZip]

Anybody know how much Mack makes here? Big East ADs make a $350k salary on average.

[g-mann17]

Anybody know how much Mack makes here? Big East ADs make a $350k salary on average.

Well considering that is just under what Proenza makes, I would say maybe half that?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Anybody know how much Mack makes here? Big East ADs make a $350k salary on average.

Base salary is only a part of the picture. Tack on the perks and he's closer to double that. Plus, the next step up is upper-BCS (Texas, USC, OSU). You can't make that leap from UA to OSU. There is no option to raise Mack's salary and keep him. Unless you want to throw the whole MAC salary structure out the window.After short-timers like we've had for the past 15 years, maybe it is time to look at someone with some potential staying power. Do you give a guy like Mike Rodriguez a shot? Or do you take the next hot up-and-comer, and just resign yourself that you'll be replacing your entire Athletic Department staff every 3-4 years for eternity.

[zipper]

Anybody know how much Mack makes here? Big East ADs make a $350k salary on average.

Base salary is only a part of the picture. Tack on the perks and he's closer to double that. Plus, the next step up is upper-BCS (Texas, USC, OSU). You can't make that leap from UA to OSU. There is no option to raise Mack's salary and keep him. Unless you want to throw the whole MAC salary structure out the window.After short-timers like we've had for the past 15 years, maybe it is time to look at someone with some potential staying power. Do you give a guy like Mike Rodriguez a shot? Or do you take the next hot up-and-comer, and just resign yourself that you'll be replacing your entire Athletic Department staff every 3-4 years for eternity.

Isn't it time we brought this guy home?http://www.nsudemons.com/ViewArticle.dbml?...;ATCLID=1368422

[Captain Kangaroo]

Looking at Burke's resume' makes me wonder...is EVERY AD candidate "The World's Greatest Fundraiser?" Every one of their bio's reads the same.

[ZachTheZip]

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ss...i_as_athle.htmlLooks like Mack is staying... for now.