The new Syracuse University athletic director is...

[nzm136]

...you! Congrats! Once the bottles have been popped and the confetti has settled, what do you do, why do you do it, and how do you pay for it? Be realistic, detailed, and specific!

(It's a slow time of the year)

 

[RoatanCuse]

Drat! All that is too difficult. I quit!

 

[FAL]

...you! Congrats! Once the bottles have been popped and the confetti has settled, what do you do, why do you do it, and how do you pay for it? Be realistic, detailed, and specific!

(It's a slow time of the year)

BS! You start!

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Okay, I'll give this a whirl:

What Do I Do:

1) I assume my hire is in part to fix football, so that's the first thing I do.
2) I make sure that I fund raise to save my life.
3) Cut spending on certain Olympic sports.

In my first year, those are the top things on my agenda.

Why Do I Do It:

1) I call Scott Shafer into my office my first week on the job, sit him down and ask him to sign a three-year extension with the caveat that if things go south after this year, serious changes will need to be made (and will be overseen by me).

I say "Scott, you exude head coach. The message you send to our recruits, our players, and our alumni base is everything I want out of my head coach. Let's be honest though, you've had some trouble hiring outside your comfort zone. And while that's fine sometimes, some of your hires have failed to live up to expectations (to say the least). I love what you do in your role as head coach, but I'm going to help you find assistants who are going to bring a dynamic 'fun and gun' Millhouse-style offense to the dome. We're going to be the Baylor of the East. I'm personally going to do everything I can this year to find funding to provide you the best assistant coaches money can buy. That's my pledge to you."

2) See above. I'm fund raising constantly, and hitting up both the rich and the poor of our fanbase. Even if it's one dollar a week, if thousands do that, we'll be doing well. No one comes to the dome anyways, so I'm giving people major incentives for minimal donations. 50 yard line seats for a game? Done. A chance to watch practices? Done!

We need buy in from everyone, and the only way to get that is to literally get them to buy in. Shafer is the right guy for the head coach position, but we need to shore up the offensive side, and the only way to do that is to find money to bring top notch offensive assistants in. Offensive assistants who will engender such confidence in Shafer that he will decide not to punt from the 40 yard line, and will instead embrace an attacking philosophy on both defense AND offense.

I'm also bringing in a top notch special teams coach, because dammit, we had awesome special teams in the late '80s and early '90s, and there's nothing that turns the tide in a football game faster than an amazing special teams play. We will be dynamic in all three phases, and will press opponents from the opening whistle. The only way we do any of this is by getting the alumni base and townies behind us. I'm willing to give away free concessions, great seat upgrades, and access to boxes for not much in return, because when this team starts succeeding, the money will start rolling, and that initial base will be in on the ground floor with me.

3) Frankly, we need all the money we can get to save football.

 

[MSOrange]

Okay, I'll give this a whirl:

What Do I Do:

1) I assume my hire is in part to fix football, so that's the first thing I do.
2) I make sure that I fund raise to save my life.
3) Cut spending on certain Olympic sports.

In my first year, those are the top things on my agenda.

Why Do I Do It:

1) I call Scott Shafer into my office my first week on the job, sit him down and ask him to sign a three-year extension with the caveat that if things go south after this year, serious changes will need to be made (and will be overseen by me).

I say "Scott, you exude head coach. The message you send to our recruits, our players, and our alumni base is everything I want out of my head coach. Let's be honest though, you've had some trouble hiring outside your comfort zone. And while that's fine sometimes, some of your hires have failed to live up to expectations (to say the least). I love what you do in your role as head coach, but I'm going to help you find assistants who are going to bring a dynamic 'fun and gun' Millhouse-style offense to the dome. We're going to be the Baylor of the East. I'm personally going to do everything I can this year to find funding to provide you the best assistant coaches money can buy. That's my pledge to you."

2) See above. I'm fund raising constantly, and hitting up both the rich and the poor of our fanbase. Even if it's one dollar a week, if thousands do that, we'll be doing well. No one comes to the dome anyways, so I'm giving people major incentives for minimal donations. 50 yard line seats for a game? Done. A chance to watch practices? Done!

We need buy in from everyone, and the only way to get that is to literally get them to buy in. Shafer is the right guy for the head coach position, but we need to shore up the offensive side, and the only way to do that is to find money to bring top notch offensive assistants in. Offensive assistants who will engender such confidence in Shafer that he will decide not to punt from the 40 yard line, and will instead embrace an attacking philosophy on both defense AND offense.

I'm also bringing in a top notch special teams coach, because dammit, we had awesome special teams in the late '80s and early '90s, and there's nothing that turns the tide in a football game faster than an amazing special teams play. We will be dynamic in all three phases, and will press opponents from the opening whistle. The only way we do any of this is by getting the alumni base and townies behind us. I'm willing to give away free concessions, great seat upgrades, and access to boxes for not much in return, because when this team starts succeeding, the money will start rolling, and that initial base will be in on the ground floor with me.

3) Frankly, we need all the money we can get to save football.

Nice post. I agree with the majority. My one concern with #1 is when you say that to Coach, he'll probably be like "Who the hell is Millhouse?"

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Cheat our way to the top.

 

[Trueblue25]

Cheat our way to the top.

Ditto

 

[jekelish]

But I didn't even apply.

No, no, this doesn't add up at all.

 

[Franz69]

1. Orange out the dome. Literally. Every seat and every inch of concrete gets painted Orange.

2. Cushions and backs on every seat.

3. Since new, cool and Orange are not mutually exclusive, I fire Nike in one quick hurry, hire Under Armour and say, "Don't ever **cking embarrass us and don't ever put grey in our uniforms."

4. I unquestionably un-retire #44 and give it to Robert Washington in the most spectacularly ceremonious public way possible.

5. I give free tickets to every student with the one condition that they never jingle their keys. Ever.

6. I hire Hop as JB's successor and announce it in the most spectacularly ceremonious public way possible.

7. I put the court in the middle of the Dome for the next SU-Duke game. We put a man on the Moon, we can figure this out.

 

[Trueblue25]

1. Orange out the dome. Literally. Every seat and every inch of concrete gets painted Orange.

2. Cushions and backs on every seat.

3. Since new, cool and Orange are not mutually exclusive, I fire Nike in one quick hurry, hire Under Armour and say, "Don't ever **cking embarrass us and don't ever put grey in our uniforms."

4. I unquestionably un-retire #44 and give it to Robert Washington in the most spectacularly ceremonious public way possible.

5. I give free tickets to every student with the one condition that they never jingle their keys. Ever.

6. I hire Hop as JB's successor and announce it in the most spectacularly ceremonious public way possible.

7. I put the court in the middle of the Dome for the next SU-Duke game. We put a man on the Moon, we can figure this out.

bravo

 

[RoatanCuse]

In addition......You have to wear orange from the waist up to attend a game.

 

[Cusefan78]

Whoever the candidates are I hope the make them do a spelling bee to weed out the lesser candidates. I'm actually not joking around

 

[javadoc]

...you! Congrats! Once the bottles have been popped and the confetti has settled, what do you do, why do you do it, and how do you pay for it? Be realistic, detailed, and specific!

(It's a slow time of the year)

Press conference.

"Scott Shafer is our head coach going forward. If you have a problem with that, get a life."