The Illinois AD Search

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#2,426      

Flight 33

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Flight 33
InterimLoyalty said:
Take it for whatever it is worth (probably not much)...but from the middle of January to close to the end of the month Whitman either tweeted or retweeted something 16 times from his school twitter account. Since January 29 he has not tweeted anything.
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He's had multiple twitter breaks of 5-6 days already this year. He seems to tweet in batches with some breaks in between. Still this is a pretty long break from tweeting.

Rick George tweets Colorado stuff on a daily basis typically and he hasn't tweeted anything in 3 days related to the Buffs.

There's probably nothing to either of these situations, as you state, but it's interesting. I follow those two and just started following Tom Michael today. He has been tweeting EIU stuff lately! :)
 
#2,427      

Second and Chalmers

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Second and Chalmers
Flight 33 said:
He's had multiple twitter breaks of 5-6 days already this year. He seems to tweet in batches with some breaks in between. Still this is a pretty long break from tweeting.

Rick George tweets Colorado stuff on a daily basis typically and he hasn't tweeted anything in 3 days related to the Buffs.

There's probably nothing to either of these situations, as you state, but it's interesting. I follow those two and just started following Tom Michael today. He has been tweeting EIU stuff lately! :)
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This is good Loyalty.
 
#2,428      

Sybok

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Sybok
Second and Chalmers said:
IT'S BEEN FOUR MONTHS. George has said no publicly twice and no privately more times than that, including, I've heard, within the past week.

I get the Khan worship, I really do. The billionaire ubermensch kicks down the ivory tower and #capitalism's Illinois into the elite. It's like a sports fan's Harlequin romance novel. But you have to open your eyes and look at what's actually going on.
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Yyou don't seem to know what's actually going on compared to any other posters here, so your phrasing here seems a bit awkward. Also, I'll wait until they can't pull Tiley from Oz. He's worth the wait. You seem antsy, and pulling a Mike Thomas just wanting to get the thing over with. What's a few more months, if in 5 years the new, quality hire has the revenue sports rocking out?
 
#2,429      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
champaignchris said:
Not to speak for S&C, but it was the timing of Thomas's firing that was so gob-smacking stupid. The main thing that makes the search look bad is the context of that timing.

Fire Thomas (and Beckman), say, last June and we'd have an AD sometime in mid-October, and a few weeks for the new AD to evaluate and make a decision on Cubit, etc.
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Yeah, and then don't claim to want a "fresh start" as the reason for firing Thomas right before extending the interim head coach another season for "stability".
 
#2,430      

Second and Chalmers

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Second and Chalmers
Sybok said:
You seem antsy, and pulling a Mike Thomas just wanting to get the thing over with.
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I'll be turning this around back on you when this entire board is caterwauling about John Groce being given another year.

If "if you're just patient little boys, the college sports fairy will come and put Rick George, someone none of you know a damn thing about other than that your media overlords have dictated that he would be a 'win' for this process, under your pillow" is enough for everybody, knowing full well that it's a lie and there is zero chance that's happening, be my guest. It's your funeral.

Hear the truth or don't. Whatever.
 
#2,431      

IlliniBuff

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IlliniBuff
Dinger said:
Long time lurker but I gotta chime in.
So let me get this straight, there is a small group of donors in ECI that are pulling strings. And this "ECI Mafia" is using their money and influence to make sure they have a say in the new DIA structure? How dare they! Why can't they just donate their big dollars and go sit in the corner like good little kids?! Stop it.
The bigger question is where are the other donors to offset this ECI Mafia agenda? That's the real outrage. If the admin is being held hostage by the ECI Mafia, they should be able to say seeeyaaa and go onto the next donor.

Sincerely,
Wanna Be Member of the ECI Mafia
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This is a brilliant first post. The more insular the network -- from contributions, to influence, to candidate consideration -- the great the opportunity for a misfire. Let us hope the next AD broadens the net!
 
#2,432      

InterimLoyalty

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InterimLoyalty
I would be ecstatic with either George or Tiley. But I'm curious to know why so many people in the media think George is so much superior to Tiley? From the limited research I've done I sort of think that Tiley is the best candidate. I mean, other than facilities improvements what has George accomplished at Colorado? Can't really say they've been knocking it out of the park in either basketball or football.
 
#2,433      

Sybok

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Sybok
Second and Chalmers said:
I'll be turning this around back on you when this entire board is caterwauling about John Groce being given another year.

If "if you're just patient little boys, the college sports fairy will come and put Rick George, someone none of you know a damn thing about other than that your media overlords have dictated that he would be a 'win' for this process, under your pillow" is enough for everybody, knowing full well that it's a lie and there is zero chance that's happening, be my guest. It's your funeral.

Hear the truth or don't. Whatever.
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Groce is likely being given another year regardless. You won't be turning anything back on me. Secondly, it's interesting I mentioned Tiley and you are complaining about George. GMAB. I am right there with you regarding the Babers non-hire. The interim AD could have handled that one. The committee isn't looking bad at this point. The forumites posting up things they can't possibly know is what makes them believe they see extreme dysfunction in this AD hiring right now. We will have to wait and see.
 
#2,436      

TheBucket

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TheBucket
RyanK said:
Just shared a few tidbits. Still no definite info out there. Talk is announcement will be in the next week (I feel like we've been saying that for the last 3 weeks).
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The first anticipated announcement date was January 21st. Then it was by the end of the month. Then it was late January / early February. Now it's the week of February 15th(?)
 
#2,437      

RyanK

RyanK
RyanK
TheBucket said:
The first anticipated announcement date was January 21st. Then it was by the end of the month. Then it was late January / early February. Now it's the week of February 15th(?)
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Seems as if they're delaying as long as possible to get a definite answer from their top target. ;)
 
#2,438      

AutoPoster 3000

AutoPoster 3000
AutoPoster 3000
InterimLoyalty said:
I would be ecstatic with either George or Tiley. But I'm curious to know why so many people in the media think George is so much superior to Tiley? From the limited research I've done I sort of think that Tiley is the best candidate. I mean, other than facilities improvements what has George accomplished at Colorado? Can't really say they've been knocking it out of the park in either basketball or football.
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Personally, I would prefer Tiley to George, but I admit I'm partial to candidates with a more generalized CEO leadership orientation than candidates with prior hands-on athletic director experience. I think dynamic, visionary people tend to fluidly adjust to new challenges and quickly overcome whatever experience deficiencies they may have when they arrive. Based on his spectacular successes with the U of I tennis program and Australian Open, I would gamble his learning curve here would be short. He also seems to have the kind of natural charisma to win friends and goodwill in places where his predecessors struggled, whether that be with fans, donors, or the media.

Having said that, George has been an executive for the PGA and Texas Rangers, so he's no slouch in the leadership category either.

This is also why I'd prefer Whitman as the fallback, because, even though his leadership accomplishments are fewer and lower profile to date, at least he has some and he demonstrates a lot of long-term potential.

Tom Michael, meanwhile, has only been in charge of one organization (EIU for a year and a half) and if you Google him, you can't find one article highlighting an accomplishment of his since he's been there. Even his bio on the EIU athletics site ( http://www.eiupanthers.com/staff.aspx?staff=271 ) lacks a single reference to any improvement, project, or achievement of his in that job. The only positive thing anyone can say about him is that he was point man on the the Assembly Hall renovation. There's also the leadership "it" factor, which, if you watch his pressers or read his interviews, he clearly doesn't have.

In sum, the falloff from my #1 to my #2 is not great. The falloff from #2 to #3 is survivable. The falloff from #3 to #4 is going off the cliff Wile E. Coyote style.
 
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#2,439      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
mattcoldagelli
Second and Chalmers said:
What's not in the past is this ridiculous Lloyd Dobler narrative about Rick George. It has a natural warm and cozy feeling for a message board because it's essentially just a recruiting tale with a series of hats on a table at the end.
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Can't you see it now?

"Guys, all I can say is that Khan blew Rick away with his visit. Said it was the best visit he's ever been on. In fact, he committed while they were at breakfast, but wanted to go home to triple check with his family to just go the extra mile. That's where the problems started. He's had his wife in his ear from the start of this process talking up Colorado. And then let's just say the Buffs took the opportunity to operate in the gray area. Even then, Shad thought he had him right up until the press conference. Crazy stuff, but this is big time college sports.

Know it stings now but rest assured these boosters are putting in the work and giving it 110% This is the type of AD candidate everybody said they wanted to chase, and frankly, if you're not hearing "no" you're chasing the wrong caliber of person. I dunno about you, but in the end I want people who want to be here and who aren't afraid of taking the keys, and if that's Whitman or Michael, then I say come on down."
 
#2,442      

Deleted member 569417

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Guest
Deleted member 569417
We go Live to outside Rick George's home in Boulder, CO

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#2,443      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
What I'm getting from my "three degrees of Guenther-loving boosters" source is that Guenther himself has contacted some of his favorite boosters (which doesn't equate to largest donors) and is involved in a whisper campaign for Michael. Some of said boosters are so blindly loyal to Guenther that they barely question it.

And on top of that, Guenther allegedly has questioned George's loyalty because George "went to Colorado, after all" and Tiley's "just a tennis guy, although a really good tennis guy."

I don't know how much of this is gospel, since it came through the filter of someone who really dislikes Guenther, but I'm honestly not surprised.
 
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