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(02-10-2020 10:07 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 09:38 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  So everybody agrees then - Cunningham is our best AD ever, right?

I think a legitimate conversation could be had about his/their handling of the situation. Is the best course of action to sit silently? Do all the work behind the scenes? There's more than one way to go about it and I'm not sure how I feel about not saying anything when you have a fanbase on cliffs edge. Probably the most professional way to handle things though.

Its a double-edged sword. Had Fickell taken the job we would all be in Clifton with pitchforks thinking the university did nothing to keep our coach, and that Cunningham was incompetent. Now that CLF is staying, it looks like our University and parties involved handled themselves professionally by keeping it all internal and not feeding the twittermachine.

One MSU poster may have said it best about the past week

"I guess that sums up the difference between the schools. Cincy is a G5 school that thinks of itself as P5 and acts like it . MSU is a P5 school run by a G5 leadership."

(02-10-2020 10:18 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 10:07 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 09:38 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  So everybody agrees then - Cunningham is our best AD ever, right?

I think a legitimate conversation could be had about his/their handling of the situation. Is the best course of action to sit silently? Do all the work behind the scenes? There's more than one way to go about it and I'm not sure how I feel about not saying anything when you have a fanbase on cliffs edge. Probably the most professional way to handle things though.

Its a double-edged sword. Had Fickell taken the job we would all be in Clifton with pitchforks thinking the university did nothing to keep our coach, and that Cunningham was incompetent. Now that CLF is staying, it looks like our University and parties involved handled themselves professionally by keeping it all internal and not feeding the twittermachine.

One MSU poster may have said it best about the past week

"I guess that sums up the difference between the schools. Cincy is a G5 school that thinks of itself as P5 and acts like it . MSU is a P5 school run by a G5 leadership."

Yep this is perfectly said. If he'd left, best course of action from UC AD would have been to release a statement saying you did everything possible and in the end the resources weren't enough.

(02-10-2020 10:07 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 09:38 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  So everybody agrees then - Cunningham is our best AD ever, right?

I think a legitimate conversation could be had about his/their handling of the situation. Is the best course of action to sit silently? Do all the work behind the scenes? There's more than one way to go about it and I'm not sure how I feel about not saying anything when you have a fanbase on cliffs edge. Probably the most professional way to handle things though.

The best course of action was to retain Fickell, and he did.

Whether radio silence was smart... Idk. It may be that Fickell requested silence from UC so the players could be spared from the bombardment of questions. Things were awfully quiet on our end. Meanwhile, MSU had all sorts of Yahoo's come out of the woodwork. Perhaps Fickell was turned off by the arrogance of their administration.

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(02-09-2020 04:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:26 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:17 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 03:48 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Never once made a squeak the past week during this. Rookie mistake. Weather fair or not, he’s going to own this for a while.

I’m not sure if anyone should be real comfortable with him making a pick...not sure if he’s ever been the final word on hiring anyone at any level for any role.

1st time AD hiring a 1st time HC with possible 1st time coordinators? What could go wrong?

What was the AD supposed to do? He doesn't have the budget to compete.

I don’t know that he could have done anything. With that said, his silence puts him in a position where the fanbase views him as being clueless.

The art of communication is key in his position.

Correct. A simple, “UC fans, rest assured we are doing everything we can. Regardless of Coach Fickell’s decision, UC is committed to playing at the highest level.”

Even if Cunningham has zero clue, you would think a staffer would told him to put some sort of statement out there by now.

Not trying to but why do fans feel as if the AD or the administration at large "owe" us an explanation at all?

As fans, shouldn't our assumption be that the AD et al are always doing everything they are able and have the financing to do to advance the athletic portion of the UC mission?

(02-10-2020 10:50 AM)Cal1362 Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:26 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:17 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 03:48 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Never once made a squeak the past week during this. Rookie mistake. Weather fair or not, he’s going to own this for a while.

I’m not sure if anyone should be real comfortable with him making a pick...not sure if he’s ever been the final word on hiring anyone at any level for any role.

1st time AD hiring a 1st time HC with possible 1st time coordinators? What could go wrong?

What was the AD supposed to do? He doesn't have the budget to compete.

I don’t know that he could have done anything. With that said, his silence puts him in a position where the fanbase views him as being clueless.

The art of communication is key in his position.

Correct. A simple, “UC fans, rest assured we are doing everything we can. Regardless of Coach Fickell’s decision, UC is committed to playing at the highest level.”

Even if Cunningham has zero clue, you would think a staffer would told him to put some sort of statement out there by now.

Not trying to but why do fans feel as if the AD or the administration at large "owe" us an explanation at all?

As fans, shouldn't our assumption be that the AD et al are always doing everything they are able and have the financing to do to advance the athletic portion of the UC mission?

The AD is the chief salesrep of a university’s athletic department. The answer is, “Yes, the AD does have a responsibility to communicate with the the fans/customers. It is possible to give statements that make the fans feel better and at the same time, not give away details that shouldn’t be public. This ain’t the 70’s anymore.

(02-10-2020 11:03 AM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 10:50 AM)Cal1362 Wrote:  Not trying to but why do fans feel as if the AD or the administration at large "owe" us an explanation at all?

As fans, shouldn't our assumption be that the AD et al are always doing everything they are able and have the financing to do to advance the athletic portion of the UC mission?

The AD is the chief salesrep of a university’s athletic department. The answer is, “Yes, the AD does have a responsibility to communicate with the the fans/customers. It is possible to give statements that make the fans feel better and at the same time, not give away details that shouldn’t be public. This ain’t the 70’s anymore.

I'm hopeful that we will hear something very soon or a presser will be held so we can better understand what happened on UC's end during this process. While I agree a general statement could've been released [although I don't know how much that would've helped ease the tension], we should make sure that "silence" was not requested by our administration, the Fickell's, MSU, or a combination of these before making judgments.

(02-10-2020 11:03 AM)QSECOFR Wrote:  The AD is the chief salesrep of a university’s athletic department. The answer is, “Yes, the AD does have a responsibility to communicate with the the fans/customers. It is possible to give statements that make the fans feel better and at the same time, not give away details that shouldn’t be public. This ain’t the 70’s anymore.

In general I agree with this, but I think this is more of a long view roll. Over a week or so span of a coaching search the AD's job is to do whatever it takes to leave the program in the best place possible. If he thought keeping radio silence and working behind the scenes was the best way to make sure he kept Fickell in the fold then he did his job.

(02-10-2020 11:23 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 11:03 AM)QSECOFR Wrote:  The AD is the chief salesrep of a university’s athletic department. The answer is, “Yes, the AD does have a responsibility to communicate with the the fans/customers. It is possible to give statements that make the fans feel better and at the same time, not give away details that shouldn’t be public. This ain’t the 70’s anymore.

In general I agree with this, but I think this is more of a long view roll. Over a week or so span of a coaching search the AD's job is to do whatever it takes to leave the program in the best place possible. If he thought keeping radio silence and working behind the scenes was the best way to make sure he kept Fickell in the fold then he did his job.

This x100. What would have helped Cunningham more than keeping us informed would have been a campaign by the fans showing our appreciation, affection and desire to keep CLF - not trashing him and the position we wanted to negotiate to keep him.

The AD's job is to advance the University's best interests not be a sales rep for the school. Once those interests are secured, then and only then, does the sales job (or the explanation/justification) start.

His legacy will be determined based upon what happens next.

(02-10-2020 10:50 AM)Cal1362 Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:38 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:26 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 04:17 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(02-09-2020 03:48 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Never once made a squeak the past week during this. Rookie mistake. Weather fair or not, he’s going to own this for a while.

I’m not sure if anyone should be real comfortable with him making a pick...not sure if he’s ever been the final word on hiring anyone at any level for any role.

1st time AD hiring a 1st time HC with possible 1st time coordinators? What could go wrong?

What was the AD supposed to do? He doesn't have the budget to compete.

I don’t know that he could have done anything. With that said, his silence puts him in a position where the fanbase views him as being clueless.

The art of communication is key in his position.

Correct. A simple, “UC fans, rest assured we are doing everything we can. Regardless of Coach Fickell’s decision, UC is committed to playing at the highest level.”

Even if Cunningham has zero clue, you would think a staffer would told him to put some sort of statement out there by now.

Not trying to but why do fans feel as if the AD or the administration at large "owe" us an explanation at all?

As fans, shouldn't our assumption be that the AD et al are always doing everything they are able and have the financing to do to advance the athletic portion of the UC mission?

Because we quite literally pay his salary...but I agree with your second point. I think a lot of us got out in front of our skis because of how many times we've been burned thinking the other way in the past, while coupled with the nut kick we experienced yesterday in Hartford/Storrs/wherever the **** UConn plays their games.

(02-10-2020 11:38 AM)crex043 Wrote:  His legacy will be determined based upon what happens next.

It's absolutely too early to have a strong opinion on what Cunningham is and will be at UC. Keeping Fickell despite a good fit, strong Big 10 program coming after him is a nice little feather in the cap to start though.

I'm not criticizing the guy, but... wasn't it really Fickell that kept Fickell at UC?

(02-10-2020 12:38 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I'm not criticizing the guy, but... wasn't it really Fickell that kept Fickell at UC?

If he was out on the Athletic Director it probably would have been hard to stay. Hard to know how much Cunningham had to do with it. It's really too early to evaluate him, but this has to be a positive for him for that reason if nothing else.

(02-10-2020 12:38 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I'm not criticizing the guy, but... wasn't it really Fickell that kept Fickell at UC?

Maybe, but no one knows what happened behind the scenes. More promised facilities, bigger coaching budget for assistants.

I can say this, if he had a bad relationship with the A.D. he would have been gone.

The best A.D. in the world isn't keeping a hot coach in a school where he doesn't want to be.

The Detroit Free Press story made mention that an extension was deep into negotiation but had stalled a bit due to the two parties being farther apart on buyout terms.

(02-10-2020 01:15 PM)bearcat29 Wrote:  

(02-10-2020 12:38 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I'm not criticizing the guy, but... wasn't it really Fickell that kept Fickell at UC?

Maybe, but no one knows what happened behind the scenes. More promised facilities, bigger coaching budget for assistants.

I can say this, if he had a bad relationship with the A.D. he would have been gone.

The best A.D. in the world isn't keeping a hot coach in a school where he doesn't want to be.

With the budget situation of our athletics department, these types of promises can only be credibly made by the President.