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Post by longsuffering on May 14, 2019 22:20:41 GMT -5
The search committee was headed by John Mahoney, former chair of the BoT. He is no longer on the BoT, nor is he a a member of the advisory committee to the BoT. ____________________________ I'm curious. For those who claim to know the identities of the other finalists, could you indicate their background in a general sort of way: i.e., are they at a FBS school, FCS school, Div I without football, Div II, Div III, not presently at a college university? does the school have a small, medium, large enrollment? is it public or private? Not looking for names or the name of the schools, simply a sense of the experience level / bachround of a finalist I'm curious because no one claiming to have knowledge of the finalists singled out a finalist who looked better than the rest. The finalists were collectively characterized -- and I'm paraphrasing -- as underqualified, less than inspiring, weak resumes, etc. This leads me to conclude: 1.) either nobody knew Blossom by name or present position;, or 2.) they knew Blossom by name or present position, but didn't do any 'research' on him . or 3.) they did research him, and found his qualifications lacking. If John Mahoney is the same fellow who used to sit near me at the Hart, I don't think GL could be disrespected in any way during this process. I posted earlier that GL and Ronnie the younger would be strong choices and if not them I would prefer an AD at a D-2 or D-3 school who had been in charge while the Athletics program turned completely around as opposed to a D-1 Ass. AD who was ready for his own gig. But, when you see how relevant ADMB's progressive experience has been to a New England D-1 school like HC, I think the committee hit a home run. If there is a mythical D-2 or 3 AD out there who turned around a strong established academic school from an overall .333 winning rate to .667 in a few years, then perhaps he or she would have been better but I doubt there was an applicant like that. We got that type of candidate in Coach Chesney for FB so let's try a top pick with New England D-1 experience this time.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 14, 2019 23:32:28 GMT -5
The introduction of ADMB will be videocast tomorrow on the PL network. Young was an assistant at Northeastern from 1996-2000 when Blossom was there.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 14, 2019 23:33:26 GMT -5
The search committee was headed by John Mahoney, former chair of the BoT. He is no longer on the BoT, nor is he a a member of the advisory committee to the BoT. ____________________________ I'm curious. For those who claim to know the identities of the other finalists, could you indicate their background in a general sort of way: i.e., are they at a FBS school, FCS school, Div I without football, Div II, Div III, not presently at a college university? does the school have a small, medium, large enrollment? is it public or private? Not looking for names or the name of the schools, simply a sense of the experience level / bachround of a finalist I'm curious because no one claiming to have knowledge of the finalists singled out a finalist who looked better than the rest. The finalists were collectively characterized -- and I'm paraphrasing -- as underqualified, less than inspiring, weak resumes, etc. This leads me to conclude: 1.) either nobody knew Blossom by name or present position;, or 2.) they knew Blossom by name or present position, but didn't do any 'research' on him . or 3.) they did research him, and found his qualifications lacking. If John Mahoney is the same fellow who used to sit near me at the Hart, I don't think GL could be disrespected in any way during this process. I posted earlier that GL and Ronnie the younger would be strong choices and if not them I would prefer an AD at a D-2 or D-3 school who had been in charge while the Athletics program turned completely around as opposed to a D-1 Ass. AD who was ready for his own gig. But, when you see how relevant ADMB's progressive experience has been to a New England D-1 school like HC, I think the committee hit a home run. If there is a mythical D-2 or 3 AD out there who turned around a strong established academic school from an overall .333 winning rate to .667 in a few years, then perhaps he or she would have been better but I doubt there was an applicant like that. We got that type of candidate in Coach Chesney for FB so let's try a top pick with New England D-1 experience this time. The former Assumption AD is currently an Assistant at Holy Cross....just saying
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on May 14, 2019 23:49:01 GMT -5
Here's a point of distinction for our new AD--don't think it has been mentioned: he's the first Holy Cross athletic director to have competed against HC. Northeastern played HC in men's basketball in Dec 1999 and Dec 2000
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Post by longsuffering on May 15, 2019 0:13:34 GMT -5
Regarding the former Assumption AD, the committee went local but not that local. I didn't notice mention of whether any current HC employees applied for the position or were one of the finalists.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on May 15, 2019 7:17:20 GMT -5
Regarding the former Assumption AD, the committee went local but not that local. I didn't notice mention of whether any current HC employees applied for the position or were one of the finalists. NP brought in two Div II ADs to serve as senior associate ADs at HC, Smith and Sullivan. Brendan Sullivan was the former AD at Stonehill. Sullivan was an AD for 6+ years, and an assistant AD at Stonehill for five years Smith was AD at Assumption for five, and nine years an assistant at Stonehill. Which begs the question of why would one bring in a Div III AD with five years total experience in college athletic departments over a Sullivan or a Smith?
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Post by DiMarz on May 15, 2019 8:17:22 GMT -5
I just hope he comes in and tweaks the athletic department...Too often I hear of a company bringing in a new hire to take control and move the company forward..and so often that results in a total disaster, changes for the sake of changes, getting away from what is positive, and driving away good people..Let us all hope the athletic department can take steps forward, and move forward in a positive direction..
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Post by joe on May 15, 2019 8:32:28 GMT -5
As I mentioned before, this hire would lead one to be at least open-minded to the concept that the BoT and president are willing to re-invest in winning at the D1 level. Now we need to allow for the transition and observe for evidence of the changes, some common sense, others bordering on radical, that need to be done to get a school of under 3k to succeed in D1 athletics without sacrificing academic integrity. As TD said, Blossom could have superstar potential, but if they don't let him get things done, it will be more of the same.
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Post by purplehaze on May 15, 2019 9:01:37 GMT -5
Press conference starting soon on the PLN
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Post by Sons of Vaval on May 15, 2019 9:22:02 GMT -5
Regarding the former Assumption AD, the committee went local but not that local. I didn't notice mention of whether any current HC employees applied for the position or were one of the finalists. NP brought in two Div II ADs to serve as senior associate ADs at HC, Smith and Sullivan. Brendan Sullivan was the former AD at Stonehill. Sullivan was an AD for 6+ years, and an assistant AD at Stonehill for five years Smith was AD at Assumption for five, and nine years an assistant at Stonehill. Which begs the question of why would one bring in a Div III AD with five years total experience in college athletic departments over a Sullivan or a Smith? What terrible logic. You assume that Smith and Sullivan were good hires by Pine. No idea if they are or are not. Bill Carmody had been a Division I head coach for nearly 20 years -- most of which came in the Big Ten -- so based on that alone he is a better hire than nearly every other coach HC could have hired, right? Based on what you're saying, why hire Nathan Davis -- a Division III head coach -- over Carmody? I don't know, maybe because he's a far superior coach. Just because Mudd would be coming from Worcester State means he is either less than or just as qualified for the job as Sullivan or Smith?
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Post by hc87 on May 15, 2019 9:22:52 GMT -5
Video goes off air...welcome to the PL Marcus
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Post by crusader12 on May 15, 2019 9:24:46 GMT -5
After watching the press conference I am impressed by the emphasis that ADMB is putting on getting to know coaches and getting the right coaches in place to be successful. Time will tell but I believe this is a major upgrade from FADNP in that Marcus will get into the more nitty gritty rather than the social media smoke and mirrors. Also from a personality standpoint he seems to be an extremely humble human being, something we have not seen in athletics since Ron Perry Sr.
On a disappointing note, it is now even more clear after listening to Fr. B's remarks that winning is not a top 3 priority of TPTB. I worry that the status quo at the top will continue to handcuff athletics, good luck ADMB.
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Post by sader1970 on May 15, 2019 9:25:37 GMT -5
Maybe just my computer but before the press conference ended, amid press Q&A, lost the video link and could not bring it back. Thought Nate fixed all that!
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Post by alum on May 15, 2019 9:26:03 GMT -5
Video goes off air...welcome to the PL Marcus I saw the whole thing. EDIT: Actually, I take that back. I was doing other work and not watching continuously. Perhaps the video went out. I did watch the end so it must have come back on.
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Post by rgs318 on May 15, 2019 9:29:56 GMT -5
The press conference was brief and to the point. AD Blossom comes across well and will be a good "face" for HC athletics. The tone was moderate, but he did touch on some of the points mentioned here earlier in this and there threads: * HC is small but that allows athletes to know (and be known by) virtually everyone on campus * the academics and the goal "educating the whole person" are strong selling points for HC * the coaches are vital links to any future or greater success and he will be getting with all of the coaches over the next several weeks to find out their needs to build their respective programs * like FCMB, ADMB has two daughters...and they will get to go to Disney World because he got the job! I believe he has familiarity with HC, our programs and facilities as well as our traditions. (I wonder if he has ever dropped by CROSSPORTS?) He said he came to the campus and looked over the facilities (he did cite the new athletic center as one of the reasons he wanted to come to HC) and when he stopped in the room where theyheld the press conference/announcement, he said to himself "This is where they will hold my first press conference." He was right. I saw nothing that raised any concerns for me about his current and future potential. Welcome new AD Marcus Blossom...with good wishes for every success in this important post!
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Post by sader1970 on May 15, 2019 9:30:29 GMT -5
Thought the same thing. A little concerning, too, that Marcus said that one of the things that attracted him to HC is that Holy Cross looks at "more than winning" but development of "the whole person." We have the "student" part of "student-athlete" down pat, need to work on the latter "athlete" part. Now, that might have been because he was sitting right next to Fr. B and that was his primary audience. But, he was a player and sure he wants to field winning teams. I agree with others, he will have an uphill battle.
Time will tell whether he/we succeed in play.
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Post by rgs318 on May 15, 2019 9:32:02 GMT -5
Maybe just my computer but before the press conference ended, amid press Q&A, lost the video link and could not bring it back. Thought Nate fixed all that! I lost the link as well and then saw that I needed a subscription to see the video (which we do not). I hope that was not an omen of things to come.
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Post by rgs318 on May 15, 2019 9:38:22 GMT -5
...as to Fr B's comments. They are/were basically "boiler plate" - the usual statements made at times like this. He can be a bit underwhelming in his presentations. I did not see athletics being excluded from HC's top priorities for TPTB in anything that was said. In any case, as some of you have mentioned above, it will be his actions and not words at a press conference/announcement that will bring about needed changes. We'll see what develops from here.
Good luck to new ADMB!
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Post by sader1970 on May 15, 2019 9:40:25 GMT -5
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Post by hc87 on May 15, 2019 9:41:26 GMT -5
Nothing substantial is going to change in football or men's hoops as long as we are in the PL...he seems like a very solid guy and wish him success here but he really can only do so much given the constraints in place due to our league affiliation and thinking of our administration with regards to D1 football and basketball.
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Post by rgs318 on May 15, 2019 9:44:39 GMT -5
Maybe he will be the catalyst to help some of our fellow PL members to get off of their butts and make some of needed changes for the league as a whole. sader1970 - thanks for the heads up!
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Post by trimster on May 15, 2019 10:08:12 GMT -5
Maybe he will be the catalyst to help some of our fellow PL members to get off of their butts and make some of needed changes for the league as a whole. sader1970 - thanks for the heads up! I think that is wishful thinking and not something even a group of AD's in the league could pull off without the support from the league's true power brokers. My guess is the thinking is the AI produces the high APR the presidents desire so much. My feeling is HC will always rank high in the APR, whether there is an AI in place or not. I would think given the financial investment HC makes in athletics that winning would be a lot higher on the priority list than it is. As long as it is done right, there is nothing wrong with winning.
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Post by Chu Chu on May 15, 2019 10:57:48 GMT -5
Thought the same thing. A little concerning, too, that Marcus said that one of the things that attracted him to HC is that Holy Cross looks at "more than winning" but development of "the whole person." We have the "student" part of "student-athlete" down pat, need to work on the latter "athlete" part. Now, that might have been because he was sitting right next to Fr. B and that was his primary audience. But, he was a player and sure he wants to field winning teams. I agree with others, he will have an uphill battle. Time will tell whether he/we succeed in play. The fact is, at Holy Cross we do look at "more than winning",and we do tout development of "the whole person." In my way of thinking, that is really our story and our niche. It is the truth, and proclaiming this truth is the way we can differentiate ourselves and attract the right kind of student athletes who will thrive at Holy Cross. I was glad to hear his comments. I view this hire as a strong commitment by the administration and BOT to continue the increasing support for athletics.. ADMB's New England roots, contacts and experience will help us with local rivalries. He will be a great next step for us. Go Cross!
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Post by sader1970 on May 15, 2019 11:04:29 GMT -5
Chu, it would seem that this press conference was a Rorschach test for everyone.
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Post by Ray on May 15, 2019 11:07:51 GMT -5
Here's one way to look at this:
Realistically, like Pine before him, this is a stepping-stone job for Blossom. And that's not a bad thing.... if he has a five-year run of meaningful accomplishments that he can turn into another gig, and leave HC's athletic department better than he found it, so be it.
But the question is: over the next five years, what are those meaningful accomplishments? W-L records aside, you can see what Pine had to pitch on his resume to AFA: construction of Luth, dramatic expansion of Crusader Athletic Fund, signficant investment/modernization in marketing, operations, etc. He probably (not totally unreasonably) hand-waved the W-L issues, saying that it takes longer to turn a battleship, the infrastructure upgrades are just starting to bear fruit, etc. (Again, you can debate whether that's all spin or not, but this is the pitch Pine would make to AFA. And obviously, AFA bought it.)
So, back to Blossom: with Pine's infrastructure work already baked in, five years from now what is Blossom's pitch to his potential next boss? It kind of has to be a dramatic improvement in on-field success/conference championships, right? There isn't likely to be a new capital project even announced in that time frame. Sure, he can keep advancing in the fund-raising area, but that's just expected.... not transformational. His path to having a transformative impact on HC is to change a campus-wide culture of losing to one of winning.
If he does that, and he's gone in five years to go try and do the same thing, at, say, Northwestern or Rutgers or Maryland or UConn or BC or whatever... I think we'd all take that, right?
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