https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article228359544.html

OneTopOneChickenApple said:

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https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article228359544.html

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Some supporters and alums urged Knowlton to give Jones one more season

And that's why Cal will always be Cal.

The year is 2050:
The AD at Cal has just told applicants for the HC job that thge funds for the new practice facility have a good chance of being approved during the next fiscal year.

To be able to buy-out Jones' contract, to hire a "real coach" and to develop the practice facility suggests AD Knowlton has cultivated donors, which, if correct, is an encouraging development for Cal athletics.

puget sound cal fan said:

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To be able to buy-out Jones' contract, to hire a "real coach" and to develop the practice facility suggests AD Knowlton has cultivated donors, which, if correct, is an encouraging development for Cal athletics.

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I actually do not think this has happened.

PtownBear1 said:

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I still don't get the point of the search firm. There isn't an admin working in the athletic dept that can contact prospective candidates and coordinate interviews?

Initially we were stuck with WJ because of cash flow problems and now that some donor(s) came to the rescue, were going to waste I don't know how many 10s of thousands on a search firm?

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I have asked this question as well. The only plausible excuse I've ever received is that it is almost a 'requirement' for UC approval to get an outside consultant on any type of hire like this. But then . . . Williams hires Wyking - so I assumed this was just bs.

Who knows?

The search firm can do a few things
- Call coaches with existing contracts or their agents to explore interest without meddling.
- Pre-negotiate pay packages and terms so no-one wastes time
- Do background checks with dozens of respected experts (other Head Coaches) on viable candidates without revealing the school.
- Ensure that no-one lied on their resume.

RJABear said:

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The search firm can do a few things
- Call coaches with existing contracts or their agents to explore interest without meddling.
- Pre-negotiate pay packages and terms so no-one wastes time
- Do background checks with dozens of respected experts (other Head Coaches) on viable candidates without revealing the school.
- Ensure that no-one lied on their resume.

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Avoids the usual formality of asking another school for permission to speak to a coach they have under contract, since no one from the school looking to hire is communicating directly with the coach.

Yogi Bear said:

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OneTopOneChickenApple said:

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https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article228359544.html

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Some supporters and alums urged Knowlton to give Jones one more season

And that's why Cal will always be Cal.

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The implication being that other supporters an alums said exactly the opposite, however. Some could be Bob Johnson and one other guy.

RJABear said:

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The search firm can do a few things
- Call coaches with existing contracts or their agents to explore interest without meddling.
- Pre-negotiate pay packages and terms so no-one wastes time
- Do background checks with dozens of respected experts (other Head Coaches) on viable candidates without revealing the school.
- Ensure that no-one lied on their resume.

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Good points, but all but the first could be done by someone within the Athletic Department - probably for less than the cost of the consultant. Although, the second point would be considered meddling if done internally as well. However, the department may not have the skills to do any of this.

bluesaxe said:

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Yogi Bear said:

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OneTopOneChickenApple said:

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https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article228359544.html

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Some supporters and alums urged Knowlton to give Jones one more season

And that's why Cal will always be Cal.

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The implication being that other supporters an alums said exactly the opposite, however. Some could be Bob Johnson and one other guy.

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If 5% of supporters and alums (or fewer) urged Knowlton to give Jones one more season, does that make Cal any worse than any other school?

In the case of Jones, the supporters and alums who actually follow the basketball program were pretty united. This was, for the most part, late 2001 Tom Holmoe unity. The 3 late wins this year didn't seem to flip anybody to the other side of the fence, so much as they made some more accepting of the potential financial need to retain. The last three wins may have reduced the number of season ticket holders and donors who would bail if Jones was retained from a nuclear explosion level to a carpet bombing level, but I have trouble imagining there were any who decided, based on the last 3 wins, they would stop donating or buying season tickets if Jones was dumped. Was there a very small number of irrational voices in favor of retaining Jones? Yes, but outside of the college Otis Sistrunk attended, there is a small number of irrational voices at every school.

I believe this is a rare case where the Cal AD got a pretty good idea of how season tickets and donations would drop if he retained the HC, and that had to be far more of an influence on Knowlton than "some supporters and alums" urging him to give another season.

There may be reasons why Cal will always be Cal, but "some supporters and alums" urging Knowlton to give Jones one more season is not one of the reasons. No, this was a case where, on the whole, Cal showed that things can get so bad even WE won't tolerate it.

BearSD said:

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RJABear said:

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The search firm can do a few things
- Call coaches with existing contracts or their agents to explore interest without meddling.
- Pre-negotiate pay packages and terms so no-one wastes time
- Do background checks with dozens of respected experts (other Head Coaches) on viable candidates without revealing the school.
- Ensure that no-one lied on their resume.

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Avoids the usual formality of asking another school for permission to speak to a coach they have under contract, since no one from the school looking to hire is communicating directly with the coach.

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Also gives candidates plausible deniability, both while they are candidates and after they are not selected: "I have never even spoken to anybody from Cal."

Plus, you never know, the search committee might just come up with a candidate that "we" (Cal or even the BI experts) hadn't thought of. For example, when Martin was hired, there must have been speculation here about 20-30 candidates, but no one mentioned Cuonzo's name until the day he was hired. (Not that that worked out really well, but still...)

The problem is when an AD lets a search firm do most all of the searching, instead of taking advantage of the myriad contacts that they should've been building up.

BeachedBear said:

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RJABear said:

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The search firm can do a few things
- Call coaches with existing contracts or their agents to explore interest without meddling.
- Pre-negotiate pay packages and terms so no-one wastes time
- Do background checks with dozens of respected experts (other Head Coaches) on viable candidates without revealing the school.
- Ensure that no-one lied on their resume.

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Good points, but all but the first could be done by someone within the Athletic Department - probably for less than the cost of the consultant. Although, the second point would be considered meddling if done internally as well. However, the department may not have the skills to do any of this.

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You're also buying CYA. They will sign off on a recommendation, and you can blame them if something horrific turns up.

Yogi Bear said:

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OneTopOneChickenApple said:

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https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article228359544.html

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Some supporters and alums urged Knowlton to give Jones one more season

And that's why Cal will always be Cal.

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Yogi:
I wouldn't put too much stock in this sentence in a Sac newspaper. Cal has just under 500,000 alums, a decent percentage of whom are donors to athletics. There are bound to be a few who continue to support Jones. This is true, however, everywhere. There were many outraged alums at UCLA when Alford was fired. The Bee was engaging in shoddy journalism by not noting that there were many MORE alums who were demanding a change.

puget sound cal fan said:

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To be able to buy-out Jones' contract, to hire a "real coach" and to develop the practice facility suggests AD Knowlton has cultivated donors, which, if correct, is an encouraging development for Cal athletics.

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"Working to build a practice facility" is not exactly a done deal

OaktownBear said:

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"Working to build a practice facility" is not exactly a done deal

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Right. Wilner's column says that what this means is:

Quote:

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One piece of encouraging news for the Bears: Funding for a dedicated practice facility has been included in an upcoming campus-wide capital campaign.

That doesn't mean the facility will get built in the next two or three years. But it's an acknowledgment of need at a level that hasn't previously existed.

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do brown, smith, and thorpe stay the course or go bye bye ???

calgo430 said:

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do brown, smith, and thorpe stay the course or go bye bye ???

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Let's hope they're coming to Cal primarily for Cal: "Same great University; even better basketball program!"

Craig Smith would be cool. Kidd could be transformational for Cal if he can fill our roster with top tier talent and get major ($$$) commitments to build us a proper practice facility. And maybe even give Haas a facelift....

Will they contact Missouri's coach?

Bobodeluxe said:

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Will they contact Missouri's coach?

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For what, a refund?

NYCGOBEARS said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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Will they contact Missouri's coach?

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For what, a refund?

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