News out of the first meeting this week for the Presidental Search Committee has 13 new applicants that have been added for review. One name that popped out to the on-the-spot Reporter, namely, Doc Robertson, was that of Chancellor NOLAND.

Members of the BFFF have been watching with interest to see if the rumors from early in the summer would prove correct about Noland's candidacy. Grapevines are a great thing in this business.

The committee is taking a break until noon to review the additional candidates. They will come back and then break up into groups. They will meet again on Wed/Thursday of this week to narrow the field to those they would like to interview.

There will be someone from the BFFF at these meetings and we will be posting and tweeting when we have information. The Tweets automatically post to the Buccaneer Facebook group, if you are on that page.

Pretty exciting times for ETSU.

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/#!/BucFootball

Twitter: @bringbackBucFB

They've already narrowed the field to eight:

chop, chop, chop

Is two days really enough time to give candidates for them to make themselves available for on-campus interviews? Doesn't seem proper to this observer, unless this timeline was included in application materials. Other than Manahan and Noland, they're all flatlanders from the Midwest - or at least currently living in the flatlands.

I'm shocked Noland made the list. Of course he received the smallest support at just 55%.

(10-17-2011 06:46 PM)Goldfinger Wrote:  I'm shocked Noland made the list. Of course he received the smallest support at just 55%.

makes no difference. he made the cut and should be in the top 2 or 3.

From what I'm hearing, if you want football, pray for Manahan. I hear he and Mullins hate each other and he would likely want to bring football back.

Also, good to see Frank getting the unanimous vote. Remember, he was the candidate that included athletics in his cover letter.

(10-17-2011 09:27 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  From what I'm hearing, if you want football, pray for Manahan. I hear he and Mullins hate each other and he would likely want to bring football back.

Well, I want football, but I don't want Manahan. We could do a lot better, assuming there are candidates in the field that are capable. I know him (and his views on sports) somewhat well, and I know he sees famous athletes in a truly hagiographical [look it up if you need to] light. So much so that he loses context, and more importantly, this characteristic makes him blinded by the "glory" aspect of sports. We want someone who wants football back - true - but we want someone who sees the bigger picture in a more cohesive way.
And I'll even go so far as to say this, blunt as it sounds: stanton is smarter than Manahan. Take that as you will. I really hope Wilsie sees this weak field of candidates and throws her hat into the ring. The article I linked above says applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but I sense she would have changed her mind by now if she was going to.

(10-17-2011 09:27 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  From what I'm hearing, if you want football, pray for Manahan. I hear he and Mullins hate each other and he would likely want to bring football back.

Also, good to see Frank getting the unanimous vote. Remember, he was the candidate that included athletics in his cover letter.

What is Frank's stance on ETSU football? Any idea on the other 6? I sent Manahan an email specifically asking his opinion several months ago. He didn't reply.

(10-17-2011 10:55 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(10-17-2011 09:27 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  From what I'm hearing, if you want football, pray for Manahan. I hear he and Mullins hate each other and he would likely want to bring football back.

Well, I want football, but I don't want Manahan. We could do a lot better, assuming there are candidates in the field that are capable. I know him (and his views on sports) somewhat well, and I know he sees famous athletes in a truly hagiographical [look it up if you need to] light. So much so that he loses context, and more importantly, this characteristic makes him blinded by the "glory" aspect of sports. We want someone who wants football back - true - but we want someone who sees the bigger picture in a more cohesive way.
And I'll even go so far as to say this, blunt as it sounds: stanton is smarter than Manahan. Take that as you will. I really hope Wilsie sees this weak field of candidates and throws her hat into the ring. The article I linked above says applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but I sense she would have changed her mind by now if she was going to.

We certainly need someone with perspective regarding football. I want football to return also, but it (nor any other sport) should come not ahead of any academic department. The least popular department (bluegrass, storytelling, etc) on campus should be fully funded before the most popular athletic team is.

Whoever it is I'm sure we'll keep academic programs the "house" looking great while improving the "curb appeal/front porch." The bluegrass program shouldn't suffer, especially if Stafford is still there. Though ETSU could boost the program a bit by going after some other big names in that genre to teach the courses.
I like Noland out of this list, the problem I have with him is he going to use ETSU as a stepping stone. If he does that's fine, but give the school more than 3-4 years before moving on.

Apparently, one of the candidates, Sandra Patterson-Randles, president of Indiana University Southeast, is a big sports fan. Found this article about her from a google search.

http://www.ius.edu/chancellor/PDF/SSTarticle.pdf

In her nine years at IU Southeast she has drawn upon her love of sports and her desire to build a better community to expand the athletic facilities at the university to where they can effectively attract out-of-town sporting events, increasing tourism on the Sunny Side of Louisville.

Baseball wasn’t her only sport. The whole family loved the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. She remembers the “old days” with players like Bobby Hall, Eric “Elbows” Nesterenko, and Reggie Fleming who was known as “The Enforcer”. “Reggie Fleming would pull the jersey over somebody’s head and punch him out while everybody was going wild. Those were the good old days.”

She also takes pride in bringing to fruition a number of long-term dreams of the university such on-campus housing as well as enhancing on-campus sports. With the help of the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention-Tourism Bureau, she received financial support to make major improvements at the school’s baseball, softball and tennis facilities that will allow for tournaments involved overnight hotel stays by teams and family members. “I love to be able to help promote the community,” the Chancellor says.

http://www.iusathletics.com/f/Gus_Grenadier.php

My perspective on Manahan comes from a conversation years ago when Janice Shelton was the AD and she was sitting on a $700,000 surplus in Athletics. She encouraged "them" to use that money specificially toward Title IX/Gender Equity upgrades because ETSU was so far behind the curve on addressing Title IX. Manahan was adamant that basketball money would not be used for women's sports and the money disappeared in to the blackhole that is The Foundation. I see that stance as one of the main precursers to the problems that arose in 1998-2000 when scholarships were cut from football to fund softball's scholarships. So my gut response on him are somewhat mixed because his track record on what REALLY needed to happen resulted in some really detrimental outcomes.

As far as his "idol worship" towards Athletics, a good Athletic Director can focus that type of attention for "good" results in terms of laying out a strategic vision on harnessing that type of enthusiasm from a President. I'd rather have a President that wants Athletics to be high profile than to deal with a Stantonese philosophy of hands-off managment of the brand.

Wilsie would be status quo for Athletics. I do not see her being anything beyond what she has "learned" under Stanton. She was like a deer in headlights when she and others on the Task Force a few years ago spent time at ASU and Furman. She's in her element with being an 'administrator' but I don't get the impression that she would be good for Athletics. I also know that she really does not come from an Athletics paradigm, so her knowledge of college athletics is, again, learned from her boss... not from her own life experiences.

I've also been told that she doomed herself for support from many people on campus when she forced the retirement buy-outs. Just from the conversations I've had, her handling of the situation was not managed well and there were major lapses in the strategy that was used to determine who/when people left. I don't know anything other than what I was told because I was not around, so it could just be "talk"... but as Bitter said about Manahan's potential to polarize, I think she brings some of the same to campus.

I think Noland will be the guy. We've been watching for his name since day one, the fact that his candidacy wasn't revealed until the last minute was expected. It's my understanding that he was in town over the weekend, not sure as to the factual on that, but that was on the grapevine. He won't be at ETSU any longer than it takes for the UT job to open up. He's got ties to Jim Powell and Haslam, so I'd think if he wants it, he'll get it. I'd say, let him in and let him run with it because reinstating football and building a stadium and a basketball facility will be the MAIN components that could define his ability to take the UT job the next time around.

One thing that I do know for sure is that Athletics will be the career-maker or the career-breaker for the next President if they EVER want to work at a higher level OR (in Manahan's case) go out with a legacy that will be remembered instead of reviled.

I also know one other certain fact, there will be retirements in many key roles across campus. This is from very reliable sources and direct conversations. I'd expect Dr. Bach and Mr. Mullins to be the first two to go, if they don't go BEFORE. Manahan will be the other if he's not the successful candidate. There are others that have been mentioned to me, but these are the key roles that I see as definites.

I would think it is a given mullins will retire quickly unless a status quo candidate is offered up to replace stanton. As far as wilsie bishop, I've been saying since January she would not be the person to reinstate football. In fact athletics may even fall further down the rabbit hole under her watch.

Noland, I believe, is the BFFF's choice.

Manahan was described to me as too old for the job. I was also informed the only reason local politicians came out in the paper and requested him to throw his name in was because he orchestrated it behind the scenes. He isn't a viable candidate.

As far as the Kent State guy goes....sure he mentioned athletics on his resume but he largely talked about his connection to it coming from one of his sons being a swimmer. Kent State isn't exactly known for it's athletics and in my opinion four sentences on a resume does not equate to strong athletic vision.

Therefor, if you want football back I believe Noland is the only real choice for the job but even if he gets in I wouldn't be quick to assume "happy days are here again" as the poster called Mister Jennings proclaimed less than a month ago.

It is interesting that DiPietro was selected as the UT president over Noland by a vote of 11-10. So Noland clearly had the support and respect.

Anyone know what the annual salary is for ETSU president and AD? Just curious.

(10-18-2011 09:26 AM)Goldfinger Wrote:  I would think it is a given mullins will retire quickly unless a status quo candidate is offered up to replace stanton. As far as wilsie bishop, I've been saying since January she would not be the person to reinstate football. In fact athletics may even fall further down the rabbit hole under her watch.

Noland, I believe, is the BFFF's choice.

Manahan was described to me as too old for the job. I was also informed the only reason local politicians came out in the paper and requested him to throw his name in was because he orchestrated it behind the scenes. He isn't a viable candidate.

As far as the Kent State guy goes....sure he mentioned athletics on his resume but he largely talked about his connection to it coming from one of his sons being a swimmer. Kent State isn't exactly known for it's athletics and in my opinion four sentences on a resume does not equate to strong athletic vision.

Therefor, if you want football back I believe Noland is the only real choice for the job but even if he gets in I wouldn't be quick to assume "happy days are here again" as the poster called Mister Jennings proclaimed less than a month ago.

IMO, it would be wise for the BFFF not to publicly support any candidate. It can only hurt them.

The Manahan candidacy is too complex for me to go into details on in this forum, not to mention someone might figure out who I am if I say too much. Also, I know a bit more than I can say about Wilsie. As to MommaBear's comments, I think the early retirement thing just sorta had to be done, although in the long run it was very stupid because the people who left were, by-and-large, some of the best and most knowledgeable folks on campus. That was more driven by the incredibly poor funding situation in the state of TN for higher education. I can't say whether or not the *way* it was orchestrated was the best or worst way to do it. I think I can say that there was *no* good way to do it, so in effect it was going to come out with mud on it regardless.

MommaBear's story about Manahan and Shelton is a small window into the way he thinks. Although there's little doubt he would push for football, I don't think he's up to the whole job, to be honest. I really just don't think he can handle it, intellectually. And I'm not trying to be mean; I actually kind of like the guy in some ways, and he's done a reasonable job doing what he's been doing. I just don't think he's capable of the "vision" thing, nor do I think he's capable of standing up to Haslam or whoever would try to push him around. All that being said, I have to agree with MommaBear about a good AD being able to 'mold' Manahan - but that really means a good and honest AD, with no hidden agenda(s). We currently don't have such.....

I think the thought of Wilsie being "status quo", is not far off, but I think she's grown to understand the role of athletics more in recent years, and is not opposed to a greater role than she ideologically would have been earlier. But again, I don't think she's getting involved, anyway, at this point.

About Noland, I admit I don't know much, but like others, have heard that he sees this as an opportunity to 'make his mark' with his eyes further down the road. I don't totally dislike that idea, but I also think that means he's going to have mixed loyalties from the get-go.

Finally, as to other "retirements", I've been holding back that info until someone else mentioned it. Yes, Manahan could do that, or he could stay another year or two. mullins seems to be two-faced about it (big surprise, huh?). The smart money says that he's going to wait and see how things fall out, and that's what I think, too. Let me say also that mullins is not dead set against football coming back. Not at all. His biggest drawback, as we know, is that he was/is merely a "yes man" for stanton, and has never had the moral courage to seek out truth and justice despite the consequences. In my viewpoint, he sold his soul many years ago, and that was even before he became AD. And no, I will not give chapter and verse on that in this forum.

*Really* finally, I'm just astonished, in a bad way, how quickly most of the candidates were dismissed out-of-hand. It really makes me think there is a hidden agenda (Noland?) there, and that this whole process is just going through the motions. Hope I'm wrong about that, and of course I haven't seen the CVs of the candidates, but this particular part of the process just seems to have jumped ahead too quickly from my perspective.

(10-18-2011 09:50 AM)slappywhite Wrote:  

(10-18-2011 09:26 AM)Goldfinger Wrote:  Noland, I believe, is the BFFF's choice.

Therefor, if you want football back I believe Noland is the only real choice for the job but even if he gets in I wouldn't be quick to assume "happy days are here again" as the poster called Mister Jennings proclaimed less than a month ago.

IMO, it would be wise for the BFFF not to publicly support any candidate. It can only hurt them.

True that.

(10-18-2011 09:26 AM)Goldfinger Wrote:  I would think it is a given mullins will retire quickly unless a status quo candidate is offered up to replace stanton. As far as wilsie bishop, I've been saying since January she would not be the person to reinstate football. In fact athletics may even fall further down the rabbit hole under her watch.

Noland, I believe, is the BFFF's choice.

Manahan was described to me as too old for the job. I was also informed the only reason local politicians came out in the paper and requested him to throw his name in was because he orchestrated it behind the scenes. He isn't a viable candidate.

As far as the Kent State guy goes....sure he mentioned athletics on his resume but he largely talked about his connection to it coming from one of his sons being a swimmer. Kent State isn't exactly known for it's athletics and in my opinion four sentences on a resume does not equate to strong athletic vision.

Therefor, if you want football back I believe Noland is the only real choice for the job but even if he gets in I wouldn't be quick to assume "happy days are here again" as the poster called Mister Jennings proclaimed less than a month ago.

Frank is a good candidate. He is from larger schools (Kent and Florida) and is the faculty choice of those still in it. Not that that is a good thing. MB is right, Noland is the TBR choice. Manahan will be there till the end, but prob wont get it. Unless they interview very well, the remaining 5 candidates will reciecve the "thanks for playing" and sent home.

I've just gotten a pretty good report about Sandra Patterson-Randles, from IU-Southeast. Seems she's a go-getter, completely in it all for the right reasons, capable, well-balanced, and is a very good consensus-builder. She understands the whole picture quite well and has no giant ego.
That report from someone who has interacted with her in her current position.

(10-18-2011 10:10 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  I've just gotten a pretty good report about Sandra Patterson-Randles, from IU-Southeast. Seems she's a go-getter, completely in it all for the right reasons, capable, well-balanced, and is a very good consensus-builder. She understands the whole picture quite well and has no giant ego.
That report from someone who has interacted with her in her current position.

I do think she will interview well. Being a female does not hurt at this point in the process, but a hyphenated name scares me (interpret that however you want). IU-S in a small school, < 7000, with no FB. She slid in late and under the radar. But, you may be on to something...

If they're trying to groom Noland for the UTK job down the road, then he'll get this one. The idea will be for him to cut his teeth by fundraising at a school that has traditionally been very dysfunctional in the way it's gone about fundraising. I know most fans/alums aren't thrilled with DiPietro but can tolerate him because he's not micro-managing the new A.D.
I think everything depends ultimately in who's behind the curtain pulling strings. If Haslam has an influence, Noland's the guy.