(11-05-2018 05:00 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote: Karlgaard needs to be fired... No matter how you cut it, he's mismanaged our athletic program into oblivion.
1) Football is horrible. Either because he didn't fire Bailiff soon enough, doesn't know how to properly resource a football program in 2018, or because he made a bad hire with Bloomgren. Or a little bit of all of them. I personally think its more the first two than the latter. Bloomgren, while he has his flaws (what coach doesn't), seems like a competent guy.
2) Basketball is worse than ever. No explanation needed as the reasons have been discussed ad nauseam. It's Karlgaard's job to create an atmosphere that student-athletes and coaches want to be a part of... If they don't like that nobody is in the stands, it's JK's job to market to potential fans and get them in the stands. If Rhoades wanted more money, it's JK's job to raise money and make him an offer impossible to refuse. Etc, etc...
3) The baseball debacle. Karlgaard accomplished the rare feat of both pissing off the fans that wanted the OG fired and pissing off the fans that wanted him retained. All while we fall behind in facilities. Thank God Leebron threw the program a bone with the Rice Investment. We appear to be recruiting well ever since.
I'm not a fan of Karlgaard's performance, but I have some thoughts here:
1) Aren't the 25(0) as much/more to blame than Karlgaard? Plus, I seem to recall many, many, many Parliament posters defending Bailiff through the years, up to the end, with terms like "plateaued?", "great recruiter", "gets Rice", "will do better next year", "most bowls", "players love him", et cetera...et cetera... Those few posters who pointed to his inferior performance, watered down competition, in-game mismanagement, optics, et cetera... were regularly and vehemently shouted down. Yes, Karlgaard should have fired Bailiff long ago, but no it's not all his fault. Jury's still out on Bloomgren, first year and all. His major accomplishment of beating the FCS team in his Game 1 still puts him ahead of Bailiff for the moment. And no I'm not happy with what has transpired this year, or the national image we're getting because of it.
2) Rhoades was always going to go from here...anyone who saw Thompson before him knew that. It's not his fault that VCU job happened to open twice and the second time he took it. It was a no-brainer. Now, I am pissed that he took two players there with him, which was bad form. The rest didn't seem to want to be here for whatever reason, and I'm not for that. I don't fault Egor since he transferred in here in the first place, got his degree, and rightly sought to gain better exposure afterwards at a great showcase for him at Florida. Can't hold that against him. Bad for m on the players who cheered Pera in that hiring video and then bolted. Still not sure what we have in Pera, but seems more like kind of guy who might stay if he's good, at least a while, and we can remove if he continues to be bad. I like Parish and some of his newer players. Let's see...basketball still has at least some hope for future.
3) By far the biggest and most embarrassing botch job for Karlgaard. regardless of Coach's wishes, it could have been better handled if at start of season it was announced, and some ceremonies planned. Unnecessarily gave Rice Athletics a black eye. While I agree the rice Investment helps shore up a big deficit, the way this was done with Coach G was terrible, and unbecoming of our school's supposed "values." Hope we can recover and get back to NCAA's where we belong.
Remember, Karlgaard was essentially a D-III AD. Still not sure if that's been the plan with his hire all along, at least by some who consented to the hire, while perhaps not with others more interested in restoring Rice Athletics. He has been less than stellar, but he has a bit of cover for at least some things that happened.