Scooch
Living Legend
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I've seen several people post that Coyle's decision about our next head coach is 'the biggest decision of his life' and 'will define him', etc. I think some people are being a bit dramatic. It's a very important hire, as every football head coaching hire is at a P5 school, but as I figure it the football HC decision may be the 6th most important thing Coyle is tasked with as AD. "6th?!?!" you may be saying? Yes, 6th. Possibly.
I have no insider knowledge, so I'd welcome those that do to aggressively correct me, but it would not surprise me at all if this is the order in which SU places importance on Coyle's responsibilities as AD...
1. Compliance
I believe Syverud and the BOT were thoroughly embarrassed by our latest NCAA sanctions. Not that they agree with the severity of punishment, of course, which is ludicrous. I get the sense that they place much more of the blame on the athletic department than on Boeheim, I suspect that was a major factor that led to Gross's removal as AD, and that the #1 job of any AD hire was to ensure something like that never happens again.
2. Budget
By all accounts Gross spent far too freely. Syverud has been demanding more accountability from all departments, and no doubt Coyle has been tasked to audit the AD spending and make sure it is done more efficiently in the future.
3. Fundraising
It seemed that Gross employed a high risk/high reward strategy in fundraising. There had been much less attention paid to grass roots efforts than to schmoozing and landing whales. Coyle has substantial experience here and it seems that SU has prioritized expanding and diversifying our donor base.
4. Facilities
While much improvement has been made here: (a) there is still work to be done and (b) I get the sense that not all of what has been done has been paid for (see #2 and #3). I also imagine that if the massive Dome renovations occur as rumored that a large responsibility of Coyle's will be to shepherd the athletic department through a multi-year process of significant logistical complexity.
5. Basketball transition
SU is a hoops school. Period. The Orange has been the 5th most popular college basketball team in the country for several years running, we attract nearly 450K a year in home attendance, and hoops is the primary alumni connection mechanism. It is critical that the program continue to operate at a high level when Boeheim retires, and Coyle must make sure that Hopkins has every resource at his disposal in order to do so.
6. Football
And here we are. While this is a very important hire, I find the talk that if we don't hit a home run here means that 'it'll take another decade to possibly be good again' or that 'Coyle won't be around to make another hire' overwrought. If he executes on the aforementioned 5 things the SU athletic department will be in tremendous shape. If this hire doesn't produce the desired results he'll try again. That's life.
Needless to say I could be wrong in all of this. I've just found some of the talk here rather overheated. This hire is important but it's not life or death, nor may it even be career defining. We've had a flourishing athletics department despite football being largely moribund for 15 years - poor results from this hire won't sink the ship. If anything, good football is a bonus at this point.
I have no insider knowledge, so I'd welcome those that do to aggressively correct me, but it would not surprise me at all if this is the order in which SU places importance on Coyle's responsibilities as AD...
1. Compliance
I believe Syverud and the BOT were thoroughly embarrassed by our latest NCAA sanctions. Not that they agree with the severity of punishment, of course, which is ludicrous. I get the sense that they place much more of the blame on the athletic department than on Boeheim, I suspect that was a major factor that led to Gross's removal as AD, and that the #1 job of any AD hire was to ensure something like that never happens again.
2. Budget
By all accounts Gross spent far too freely. Syverud has been demanding more accountability from all departments, and no doubt Coyle has been tasked to audit the AD spending and make sure it is done more efficiently in the future.
3. Fundraising
It seemed that Gross employed a high risk/high reward strategy in fundraising. There had been much less attention paid to grass roots efforts than to schmoozing and landing whales. Coyle has substantial experience here and it seems that SU has prioritized expanding and diversifying our donor base.
4. Facilities
While much improvement has been made here: (a) there is still work to be done and (b) I get the sense that not all of what has been done has been paid for (see #2 and #3). I also imagine that if the massive Dome renovations occur as rumored that a large responsibility of Coyle's will be to shepherd the athletic department through a multi-year process of significant logistical complexity.
5. Basketball transition
SU is a hoops school. Period. The Orange has been the 5th most popular college basketball team in the country for several years running, we attract nearly 450K a year in home attendance, and hoops is the primary alumni connection mechanism. It is critical that the program continue to operate at a high level when Boeheim retires, and Coyle must make sure that Hopkins has every resource at his disposal in order to do so.
6. Football
And here we are. While this is a very important hire, I find the talk that if we don't hit a home run here means that 'it'll take another decade to possibly be good again' or that 'Coyle won't be around to make another hire' overwrought. If he executes on the aforementioned 5 things the SU athletic department will be in tremendous shape. If this hire doesn't produce the desired results he'll try again. That's life.
Needless to say I could be wrong in all of this. I've just found some of the talk here rather overheated. This hire is important but it's not life or death, nor may it even be career defining. We've had a flourishing athletics department despite football being largely moribund for 15 years - poor results from this hire won't sink the ship. If anything, good football is a bonus at this point.
