Athletic Department

[CuseMan4]

I don’t know where to post this but I think it’s worth noting somewhere. The athletic department is a mess right now and Wildhack has got to clean this mess up.

Between what’s going on with the lax program, women’s basketball, the covid protocol problems for football preseason, not to mention some of the lackluster results of some of the programs.

It also need to be said that under Wildhack the messaging/transparency has been horrendous, there is no sugar coating that. Not just for fans but players finding out serious stuff through the media and not coaches/the athletic department is a bad look. This athletic department has been bad with its messaging, definitive statements, etc...needs to be cleaned up fast.

 

[upperdeck]

I can name almost every ath dept with these same issues. they are often the worst run parts of a campus because they have a profile that exposes people to just how poor they are run.. most pieces of every campus are in chaos the public just doesnt know.. of course that can be said for many businesses as well

 

[EuclidBred]

I can name almost every ath dept with these same issues. they are often the worst run parts of a campus because they have a profile that exposes people to just how poor they are run.. most pieces of every campus are in chaos the public just doesnt know.. of course that can be said for many businesses as well

This is a great point. Athletics Departments are always front and center with regards to scrutiny, especially in this newly created NIL time period.

With that said, it does bother me - as an alum - that we pride ourselves on having THE best communications/PR academic program in the country yet we have been so poor in controlling the message so many times over the years.

 

[Orangezoo]

There are so many organizations right now educational being just one of many categories that are surviving not thriving.

I moved from non profit to private back in September returning to an organization I had been with before. Non profit was a mess having to survive and react to changes that impacted me every day as a leader in that organization. Now being back at a familiar place and fortune 500 organization, things are bigger and better in spots but honestly there is a sense of chaos and not knowing what comes next still. I hear this from friends and colleagues all over. There are so many things be it political, health or racial ongoing today that it's hard to not be struggling whether it's obvious or not. Also it's not just organizations. Around 1/3 or more of this country has been directly impacted by CoVid alone via getting sick or losing a family member/friend.

This fall and 2022 we start to look back and assess and try and move forward. I think while frustrating we have to account for all of this.

 

[Scooch]

I don’t know where to post this but I think it’s worth noting somewhere. The athletic department is a mess right now and Wildhack has got to clean this mess up.

Between what’s going on with the lax program, women’s basketball, the covid protocol problems for football preseason, not to mention some of the lackluster results of some of the programs.

It also need to be said that under Wildhack the messaging/transparency has been horrendous, there is no sugar coating that. Not just for fans but players finding out serious stuff through the media and not coaches/the athletic department is a bad look. This athletic department has been bad with its messaging, definitive statements, etc...needs to be cleaned up fast.

Can you share some specifics? Particularly about "players finding out serious stuff through the media and not coaches/the athletic department".

If we're going to have a thread to indict the AD, it'd be useful to talk about concrete issues in detail.

 

[illestcuse]

Can you share some specifics? Particularly about "players finding out serious stuff through the media and not coaches/the athletic department".

If we're going to have a thread to indict the AD, it'd be useful to talk about concrete issues in detail.

Head on over to the men's lax forum and read the Chase Scanlan suspended indefinitely thread.

 

[CuseMan4]

Can you share some specifics? Particularly about "players finding out serious stuff through the media and not coaches/the athletic department".

If we're going to have a thread to indict the AD, it'd be useful to talk about concrete issues in detail.

Yeah sure, the lacrosse situation currently going on. The players didn’t know Scanlon was reinstated. They found it out over social media

 

[Scooch]

Yeah sure, the lacrosse situation currently going on. The players didn’t know Scanlon was reinstated. They found it out over social media

Thanks. I’m not sure I’d go off on the entire athletic department because of one situation.

 

[SUFan44]

It is a very difficult time for a lot of people right now.

The last 13 months have completely changed the way people live their lives.

Even the most well-off families have had to figure things out on the fly, at some level. There have been no breaks, things have been constantly evolving, and the way work is being done has changed from in-person communication to everything over Zoom/text/phone/email.

There are going to be gaps, and there are going to be small fires that pop up. The Scanlan situation obviously is a big fire, if that's what happened. But I would argue that the problems run much deeper than just the parties that are running the department.

Student-athletes have changed. Their expectations have changed. They want immediacy, they want it all. And unfortunately, right now, it's nearly impossible to give them everything immediately.

I don't know if this makes much sense at all, but this struck a chord with me.

 

[Newhouser]

I am in the minority but the blind faith that most posters seem to have in ADJW seems more hope than earned at this point. His big moves are on the horizon and he had better be as ready as everyone here continually assures us he is.

 

[Cusefan69]

I am in the minority but the blind faith that most posters seem to have in ADJW seems more hope than earned at this point. His big moves are on the horizon and he had better be as ready as everyone here continually assures us he is.

What hasn't he done that makes you think he either isn't doing his job or indicates he can't?

 

[Newhouser]

What hasn't he done that makes you think he either isn't doing his job or indicates he can't?

I guess that could be my question back as to why people are so confident that he has things under thumb? What has he done other than give money that makes you confident he can do the job? The Dome rebuild was set up before his tenure I think so that isn't a huge mark on his side for me.

Coaching hires are in my opinion his big job and the jury is out, parking lottery was not smooth, we shall see how the e-tickets go. We do know entry into the building for the big games was and is a disaster.

Again he makes his bones for me with coaching hires and since that has not happened that is a big unknown..

And if anyone thinks the Department has looked good in this Scanlan situation - that is just orange tint.

 

[Cusester]

I miss Jake. He should be honored by the university before it's too late.

 

[Scooch]

I guess that could be my question back as to why people are so confident that he has things under thumb? What has he done other than give money that makes you confident he can do the job? The Dome rebuild was set up before his tenure I think so that isn't a huge mark on his side for me.

Coaching hires are in my opinion his big job and the jury is out, parking lottery was not smooth, we shall see how the e-tickets go. We do know entry into the building for the big games was and is a disaster.

Again he makes his bones for me with coaching hires and since that has not happened that is a big unknown..

And if anyone thinks the Department has looked good in this Scanlan situation - that is just orange tint.

He's been on the job for 5 years. If this lacrosse situation is the most-damning incident in those 5 years, I'd say he's doing a very good job.

 

[Orijinal]

Just think how the communication could have been if we had Mr. Truth and Transparency Mark Coyle.

 

[bnoro]

Coaching hires are in my opinion his big job and the jury is out, parking lottery was not smooth, we shall see how the e-tickets go. We do know entry into the building for the big games was and is a disaster.

Are you really giving him grief over e-tickets? Every major stadium/arena in the country is now using e-tickets. If anything he should be praised for moving us into the future.

E-tickets also help track single game buyers and secondary market buyers and give the sales staff a better opportunity to remarket and find new potential flex and season ticket holders.

 

[EuclidBred]

Are you really giving him grief over e-tickets? Every major stadium/arena in the country is now using e-tickets. If anything he should be praised for moving us into the future.

E-tickets also help track single game buyers and secondary market buyers and give the sales staff a better opportunity to remarket and find new potential flex and season ticket holders.

Yeah and not to mention the fact entry was such a show for big games was because you couldn't have more than one door open in the building at the same time, haha.

Seriously, the fact that our roof isn't supported by air anymore is going to make ingress and egress much smoother.

 

[sutomcat]

I am in the minority but the blind faith that most posters seem to have in ADJW seems more hope than earned at this point. His big moves are on the horizon and he had better be as ready as everyone here continually assures us he is.

John Wildhack is doing an excellent job under extremely trying circumstances.

Your attempts to minimize his role in getting the renovation completed are misguided. You appear to be uninformed regarding how Syracuse University works and the issues John deals with on a daily basis.

I appreciate your willingness to take an unpopular stand. But sometimes, the reason you are the only one who thinks a certain way is because you are mistaken.

Things are not perfect. Every athletic department in the country is a mess right now. I can assure you that my faith in John is not blind and is based on a long track record of accomplishments and his considerable talents.

 

[Newhouser]

John Wildhack is doing an excellent job under extremely trying circumstances.

Your attempts to minimize his role in getting the renovation completed are misguided. You appear to be uninformed regarding how Syracuse University works and the issues John deals with on a daily basis.

I appreciate your willingness to take an unpopular stand. But sometimes, the reason you are the only one who thinks a certain way is because you are mistaken.

Things are not perfect. Every athletic department in the country is a mess right now. I can assure you that my faith in John is not blind and is based on a long track record of accomplishments and his considerable talents.

You are more connected than me. I still say the building was going to get built, and today's presser is further evidence that this Department needs to get their s--t together.

 

[elimunelson]

I miss Jake. He should be honored by the university before it's too late.

Jake was a great AD for a different time at Syracuse. He wouldn’t work in 2021.

I know very little of the lax situation but didn’t Desko, the coach, reinstate a player? He’s the coach isn’t that his job?

 

[JRHEETER]

Strange hill to die on here but okay.

I approve of ADJW.

 

[Cusefan78]

John Wildhack is doing an excellent job under extremely trying circumstances.

Your attempts to minimize his role in getting the renovation completed are misguided. You appear to be uninformed regarding how Syracuse University works and the issues John deals with on a daily basis.

I appreciate your willingness to take an unpopular stand. But sometimes, the reason you are the only one who thinks a certain way is because you are mistaken.

Things are not perfect. Every athletic department in the country is a mess right now. I can assure you that my faith in John is not blind and is based on a long track record of accomplishments and his considerable talents.

I’m not saying he’s isn’t doing a good job but to say he’s killing it because the renovation was completed is ridiculous. They needed to do something by a certain point or lose the old roof. He didn’t move a mountain he cobbled together roller coaster parts and made a roof. If a new Teflon roof was a bandaid this is one or two steps above it. This wasn’t earth moving, during an arms race they did just enough to keep fair weather fans interested.

 

[bnoro]

I’m not saying he’s isn’t doing a good job but to say he’s killing it because the renovation was completed is ridiculous. They needed to do something by a certain point or lose the old roof. He didn’t move a mountain he cobbled together roller coaster parts and made a roof. If a new Teflon roof was a bandaid this is one or two steps above it. This wasn’t earth moving, during an arms race they did just enough to keep fair weather fans interested.

Congratulations, you're the CuseRunner when it comes to the Carrier Dome.

 

[DoubleDee]

I’m not saying he’s isn’t doing a good job but to say he’s killing it because the renovation was completed is ridiculous. They needed to do something by a certain point or lose the old roof. He didn’t move a mountain he cobbled together roller coaster parts and made a roof. If a new Teflon roof was a bandaid this is one or two steps above it. This wasn’t earth moving, during an arms race they did just enough to keep fair weather fans interested.

I'm guessing you havent been in there yet? I think it's pretty impressive, and our options were certainly limited.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Besides the Dome project, hasn't ADJW also gotten the AD financial mess he inherited in order and also rebuilt relations with the Sports Alumni? I don't have any inside sources to the AD but he seems to be doing a solid job. Of course, there are big decisions still to be made and the Lax situation is very concerning.