wifeisafurd said:
calumnus said:
Grigsby said:
calumnus said:
Grigsby said:
College basketball is much much easier to turn around than CFB.
The main problem is that Cal has Mr. Magoo as AD, and they need someone who has vision, stones, and will be given autonomy.
There a lot of strong coaching candidates that would want to be at Cal, but only if they have the right AD.
The job is a lame duck position until the AD and Crhist are given the boot. The AD is stealing at this point.
I agree with everything except one point: Who wouldn't want to work for a goob like Knowlton? Have a boss who raises your salary by $1 million a year despite your screw ups and finishing at the bottom? Giving everybody automatic raises and extensions? People under your care, and their parents, complain that you have been abusive and violated rules and laws and he tells them to get lost and gives you a big raise and new 5 year contract? A boss that pays you $millions while holding you to no discernible standard? I think that would be attractive to a lot of coaches relative to the ADs around the country that have fired far better coaches than the ones we have.
The ONLY problem is Knowlton is incompetent at picking a good coach.
No top coach wants to work for an idiot. Look at the massive failures all around Cal Athletics in terms of a complete lack of attention to detail. How many snafus have occurred with tickets. Look at the piss poor concessions for football, which includes terrible catering for high end clients.
A boss that can't be honest and be critical when appropriate when necessary is useless.
Remember that this is competitive sports not a desk job. Tens of millions to hundreds of millions are at stake.
Cal has fundamental issues with all aspects and it isn't run the way that top organizations are run.
If you want top results you need leaders who are willing to dig in and fix all the problems and damn everyone's egos. Cal needs a disruptor AD who isn't going tolerate substandard customer service and who will show the ingenuity to address issues like low attendance and develop a tribal culture around the sports programs.
Fire Knowlton
MBB could be retrievable with some fundamental changes in AD staffing and mindset, and also fundamental changes to the program, particularly with respect to funding and NIL. But you are ignoring the present reality. It is not simply fire this coach and have Knowlton replace him. Absent the McKeever investigation allowing Cal to threaten termination for cause, I'm not seeing JK moving on. This also is a timing issue, unless someone can tell me when the investigation is ending.
Agreed. First, the 'institution' must want to succeed and have a vision. And that mean some level of support from management (Regents, etc), employees (including academics), students, alumni, community, fans, etc.
Then, the leadership (Chancellor and Athletic Director) need to support that vision of success.
The reality is I don't see these first steps in place. In fact, other than a dwindling fan base and some enthusiastic donors/alumni, the 'institution' seems indifferent at best.
if the above were to change - getting the program back on track is by no means insurmountable. However, the window to go from rebuilding to start over is rapidly closing.