Sell me on Wildhack

[Millhouse]

Not looking for an argument, I won't take issue with any responses.

I just want to know what makes me a good AD and how his tv exec skills transfer here.

 

[Ozone!]

The true power resides way above John Wildhack…take a look to the Chancellor and his boss, The Board of Trustees!​

 

[tbonezone]

The true power resides way above John Wildhack…take a look to the Chancellor and his boss, The Board of Trustees!​

i hereby decree a NEW ORANGE STANDARD !!!! a GOLDEN AGE !!! let it be thus !!!

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Not looking for an argument, I won't take issue with any responses.

I just want to know what makes me a good AD

Had no idea you are an AD.

I suspect you would know better than me whether you are a good AD, or not, and why or why not.

 

[Ozone!]

i hereby decree a NEW ORANGE STANDARD !!!! a GOLDEN AGE !!! let it be thus !!!

View attachment 258248

Bye the way, what I posted is true at many colleges and universities!

 

[Millhouse]

Had no idea you are an AD.

I suspect you would know better than me whether you are a good AD, or not, and why or why not.

Worst typo ever egad

 

[richmondcuse03]

You can’t appreciate the work JW has done without realizing how bad of shape the AD was in before. Gross did a terrible job and the department was in terrible financial shape. Coyne was barely here before moving on.

JW had to rebuild a lot of the department. And had to focus on fixing the close to non existent fundraising situation. Not every hire he’s made has been a home run but I think he’s done a really good job considering what he inherited.

A lot of the best work he’s done is stuff behind the scenes an average fan would never notice.

Not every big hire has worked out which is what an average fan will judge him on.

It’ll be a lot easier for us to recruit a solid AD to succeed him now Vs what we could have gotten when JW came back and saved us from a mess.

 

[Bayside44]

Our football practice and recovery facilities now compare favorably to the balance of the P4, which frees up space for Olympic sports to take over the old spaces. The infrastructure upgrades alone are massive and the fundraising really impressive all things considering.

An otherwise competent guy like Mark Coyle looked around and said no thank you to all of that.

 

[ar inj]

Wildhack has done a solid job. He spent decades negotiating major TV deals, managing large departments and building relationships across the entire college sports landscape. That matters more than ever now because college sports is now basically a media business. He understands how the system works at the highest level. He's kept us stable through the realignment, portal and NIL era. Fran Brown appears to be an excellent hire. Basketball hasn’t been good enough. If the program doesn’t turn a corner he’ll have to make a difficult decision.

If the bball program does not “turn the corner” he will not have a difficult decision unless all the coaches people think might come here, but will not, actually want to coach SU

 

[baggerbob]

If the bball program does not “turn the corner” he will not have a difficult decision unless all the coaches people think might come here, but will not, actually want to coach SU

This really isn't an attractive job anymore, much like Georgetown we let JB stay too long and then hired an assistant. John Thompson retired, then his son took over for a while. Then they turned to an Alumnus in Patrick and the downturn continued.
Now they are trying to get back , but they may never make it.
If Red barely gets into the tournament, and is retained we might never get back to being a top 10 or 15 team.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Ask Bill Simmons

 

[elimunelson]

It sounds like wildhack has made SUAD a better business line for Syracuse Inc. I’m glad he did that. A plus.

The gray area part of the job having successful teams he’s def lacking. Time will tell. I’m not sold on Fran how he gave up last year. Really angered me as an alum. We were pathetic


One weird thing w JW is The amt of vitriol Simmons has for JW and has allowed jt to be broadcasted is troubling. The narrative is JW was a bad espn exec who got this sweetheart port of call from su

Sounds like mcshay joined in on the anti JW rhetoric too. I’m sure Simmons was a handful but it’s part of the concern .

 

[sufandu]

This really isn't an attractive job anymore, much like Georgetown we let JB stay too long and then hired an assistant. John Thompson retired, then his son took over for a while. Then they turned to an Alumnus in Patrick and the downturn continued.
Now they are trying to get back , but they may never make it.
If Red barely gets into the tournament, and is retained we might never get back to being a top 10 or 15 team.

John Thompson III didn't immediately takeover for his dad. Craig Esjerick did and coached for a while before they went to him. JT3 actually did pretty well initially. He took over a team with a losing record and had winning records until his last 2 years. He had them as a top 4 seed in the tourney 6 times and made a FF.

I liked that he had them relevant. Beating them was always more fun when they were relevant

 

[690West]

I’m sure Simmons was a handful but it’s part of the concern .

A handful? Simmons has a persecution complex and has torched employment relationships throughout his entire career. Very talented guy though.

I think the final verdict on JW is still out there but I tend to think he’s a solid B+ right now.

 

[Dcuse]

It sounds like wildhack has made SUAD a better business line for Syracuse Inc. I’m glad he did that. A plus.

The gray area part of the job having successful teams he’s def lacking. Time will tell. I’m not sold on Fran how he gave up last year. Really angered me as an alum. We were pathetic


One weird thing w JW is The amt of vitriol Simmons has for JW and has allowed jt to be broadcasted is troubling. The narrative is JW was a bad espn exec who got this sweetheart port of call from su

Sounds like mcshay joined in on the anti JW rhetoric too. I’m sure Simmons was a handful but it’s part of the concern .

Tend to agree with the comment on Fran. I was beside myself with the decision to run Joe Filardi out there. If you didn't realize after the North Carolina game that this young man was over his head...I don't know what to say.

 

[DoctahLexus]

It sounds like wildhack has made SUAD a better business line for Syracuse Inc. I’m glad he did that. A plus.

The gray area part of the job having successful teams he’s def lacking. Time will tell. I’m not sold on Fran how he gave up last year. Really angered me as an alum. We were pathetic


One weird thing w JW is The amt of vitriol Simmons has for JW and has allowed jt to be broadcasted is troubling. The narrative is JW was a bad espn exec who got this sweetheart port of call from su

Sounds like mcshay joined in on the anti JW rhetoric too. I’m sure Simmons was a handful but it’s part of the concern .

Step one with anything Wildhack related is to not give a sheeit what Bill Simmons says. Dude just has a personal grudge over some bs that has nothing to do with Wildhack's quality as an AD. He is an angry little man.

 

[Scooch]

One weird thing w JW is The amt of vitriol Simmons has for JW and has allowed jt to be broadcasted is troubling. The narrative is JW was a bad espn exec who got this sweetheart port of call from su

Sounds like mcshay joined in on the anti JW rhetoric too. I’m sure Simmons was a handful but it’s part of the concern .

I was going to abstain from this thread but I can address this.

I like Bill. I like John. I worked with them both.

John was a phenomenal exec and was near-universally liked and respected. Bill was (and is) a tremendous talent who was beloved by his Grantland staff.

John was in his last position pre-AD when Bill left Grantland. JW had ultimate oversight of Grantland, a couple layers removed.

There was a lot of resentment towards Grantland among many folks in Bristol. The site got a ton of resources, was highly prioritized by some execs, yet made very little money. Bill largely refused to meet with ad clients and do ad reads on his podcasts. It makes me chuckle to see how much he does that now with The Ringer.

Bill's problems with JW are highly specific and very unique to his departure from Grantland. He had the same feelings towards John Skipper, although they mended fences years later (due to Skipper's outreach). Skipper launched a content company and had self-interest in doing so.

Point is, there's absolutely nothing to read into JW/Simmons. Bill's vitriol is particular to a certain circumstance and reveals nothing about JW's broader leadership abilities.

Again, JW was almost universally liked and respected at ESPN. That is incredibly hard to achieve at that company, where politics and agendas rule the day. Believe me, I know from personal experience.

 

[Chip]

Bill's problems with JW are highly specific and very unique to his departure from Grantland. He had the same feelings towards John Skipper, although they mended fences years later (due to Skipper's outreach). Skipper launched a content company and had self-interest in doing so.

Point is, there's absolutely nothing to read into JW/Simmons. Bill's vitriol is particular to a certain circumstance and reveals nothing about JW's broader leadership abilities.

This is what bothers me about Simmons keeping it going. Because taking shots about how we picked Fran over Cheney (as if anyone around the country outside of Syracuse really cared) just shows a pretty bitter and petty guy.

I'm glad JW doesn't respond, or at least not that I've seen. Probably irks Simmons even more that he doesn't.

 

[MSOrange]

I was going to abstain from this thread but I can address this.

I like Bill. I like John. I worked with them both.

John was a phenomenal exec and was near-universally liked and respected. Bill was (and is) a tremendous talent who was beloved by his Grantland staff.

John was in his last position pre-AD when Bill left Grantland. JW had ultimate oversight of Grantland, a couple layers removed.

There was a lot of resentment towards Grantland among many folks in Bristol. The site got a ton of resources, was highly prioritized by some execs, yet made very little money. Bill largely refused to meet with ad clients and do ad reads on his podcasts. It makes me chuckle to see how much he does that now with The Ringer.

Bill's problems with JW are highly specific and very unique to his departure from Grantland. He had the same feelings towards John Skipper, although they mended fences years later (due to Skipper's outreach). Skipper launched a content company and had self-interest in doing so.

Point is, there's absolutely nothing to read into JW/Simmons. Bill's vitriol is particular to a certain circumstance and reveals nothing about JW's broader leadership abilities.

Again, JW was almost universally liked and respected at ESPN. That is incredibly hard to achieve at that company, where politics and agendas rule the day. Believe me, I know from personal experience.

Appreciate the inside background info. I'm actually surprised this was even brought up as it seemed pretty apparent that Bill's gripes were more of a personal grudge thing.

 

[Scooch]

Appreciate the inside background info. I'm actually surprised this was even brought up as it seemed pretty apparent that Bill's gripes were more of a personal grudge thing.

People are down about the past year of football and basketball. They're looking to think the worst of everyone involved. I get it. But there's nothing to this one.

 

[CuseTG2003]

I was going to abstain from this thread but I can address this.

I like Bill. I like John. I worked with them both.

John was a phenomenal exec and was near-universally liked and respected. Bill was (and is) a tremendous talent who was beloved by his Grantland staff.

John was in his last position pre-AD when Bill left Grantland. JW had ultimate oversight of Grantland, a couple layers removed.

There was a lot of resentment towards Grantland among many folks in Bristol. The site got a ton of resources, was highly prioritized by some execs, yet made very little money. Bill largely refused to meet with ad clients and do ad reads on his podcasts. It makes me chuckle to see how much he does that now with The Ringer.

Bill's problems with JW are highly specific and very unique to his departure from Grantland. He had the same feelings towards John Skipper, although they mended fences years later (due to Skipper's outreach). Skipper launched a content company and had self-interest in doing so.

Point is, there's absolutely nothing to read into JW/Simmons. Bill's vitriol is particular to a certain circumstance and reveals nothing about JW's broader leadership abilities.

Again, JW was almost universally liked and respected at ESPN. That is incredibly hard to achieve at that company, where politics and agendas rule the day. Believe me, I know from personal experience.

Thanks for sharing and giving us a peak behind the (blue) curtain

 

[Cusefan95]

Our football practice and recovery facilities now compare favorably to the balance of the P4, which frees up space for Olympic sports to take over the old spaces. The infrastructure upgrades alone are massive and the fundraising really impressive all things considering.

An otherwise competent guy like Mark Coyle looked around and said no thank you to all of that.

Coyle selling going to Minnesota as entirely because it was a great opportunity closer to family while saying nothing at all negative about Syracuse (at least that I recall) was pure professionalism - we should appreciate him for that at least.

Simmons and LeBatard saying negative stuff about Wildhack is a nothing burger. I’ve seen guys complain about executives who were phenomenal so many times, usually for petty irrelevant nonsense that I read that as par for the course BS that says more (although still very little) about Simmons and LeBatard than it does Wildhack.

 

[Millhouse]

Ask Bill Simmons

That guy not liking him is the best argument in wildhacks favor

 

[tbonezone]

John Thompson III didn't immediately takeover for his dad. Craig Esjerick did and coached for a while before they went to him. JT3 actually did pretty well initially. He took over a team with a losing record and had winning records until his last 2 years. He had them as a top 4 seed in the tourney 6 times and made a FF.

I liked that he had them relevant. Beating them was always more fun when they were relevant

so we can all agree that based on the evidence presented before you that going from an established head coach, to an asst. coach and then next to the OC's son a former guard/ player is a catastrophic monumentally bad recipe for killing a successful program?
almost like dinosaur bequeaths his entire estate to a meteor bad ?

 

[OrangePA]

That guy not liking him is the best argument in wildhacks favor

The renovation of the Dome - adding the hard roof - adding theater seats - improving the food service - getting a new naming partner - was a remarkable achievement.

The decision to hire Fran Brown was an inspired one. I still think the pick was a very strategic one that will work.

Re-setting the Men’s Lacrosse program.

Traversing the transition to NIL surprisingly well - seemingly connecting with athletic alums in that regard.

Moving the Lally Complex forward.

Presenting to the public in a professional manner.

It seems to me that he has done a pretty good job.