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Post by sader1970 on Aug 30, 2021 12:26:43 GMT -5
My hope is that Creighton gave a two-for-one deal and they will be taking Brett Nelson along with Marcus Blossom.
I base that on my latter career experience when one of my companies started hiring and promoting (younger) people with "potential" rather than based on actual experience and proven success patterns. See, Brett hasn't accomplished anything but he's got LOADS of potential. Creighton must need that more than Holy Cross.
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Post by hchoops on Aug 30, 2021 12:44:49 GMT -5
Despite a major verbal error, Gregg McDermott is going nowhere.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2021 12:48:17 GMT -5
Thanks, as always, for your encouraging words and supportive attitude about Holy Cross Am I the only one that believes a low level FCS school coach that continues to win won't get better job offers? That is the place Holy Cross is right now nationally as seen by the AD moves. I spoke with a former Assumption player last year who coaches at the HS level. He said there's no doubt that Chesney would be using HC as a stepping stone.
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Post by newfieguy74 on Aug 30, 2021 13:01:36 GMT -5
Somehow it seems wrong for one Jesuit school to poach another's AD two years into his tenure.
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Post by football44 on Aug 30, 2021 13:03:10 GMT -5
Geez. That's, what, 25 months on the job? Given the pandemic, he basically never even saw his way through a full and complete academic/athletic year. What exactly has he accomplished here? I don't think we had enough evidence to know whether Blossom was at all good at his job. But Creighton apparently thinks so. Go figure. I will say that a Big East/non-football school is a good fit for Blossom's background. I think now we know why Blossom was so quick to hand-wave the revolving door in the transfer portal as just a sign of the times. Seems like that principle extends to ADs, too. Chesney will be bolting soon if he continues to win...that is just a given No it's not. Chesney is likely to stay now that Blossom is GONE!! Did absolutely nothing for football but get in the way. Nothing that Gordie Lockbaum and Nick Smith can't fix.
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Post by Ray on Aug 30, 2021 13:05:03 GMT -5
Seems pretty telling to me that administration was able to get a communication out this morning, but were not prepared to name an interim AD.
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 30, 2021 13:16:17 GMT -5
We may have a different definition of "poaching." If Blossom actively reached out rather than Creighton going to him first, would that be poaching?
With such a short tenure and hardly a stellar win/loss record in any sport other than football; I have to wonder if new guy, Vince, thought he'd rather see someone else at the helm of HC athletics.
Probably just me but getting video boards up and going to ticketless admissions just don't seem like things that gets an AD a career boost.
While I stipulate I've never run an athletic program, I was given solid advice decades ago when looking to hire or promote: "look for patterns of success." Did Marcus tell the Creighton folks "ignore my record at Holy Cross - no one succeeds there."
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Post by hchoops on Aug 30, 2021 13:30:27 GMT -5
No matter what he said, he got the job. Doubtful Creighton would have taken him without strong recommendation from HC
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Post by crusader12 on Aug 30, 2021 13:31:58 GMT -5
The new president will probably hire the local park ranger to serve as our next AD given his athletics acumen aligns more with kayaking and hiking (his words not mine). Do the right thing and hire Gordie Lockbaum as the new AD but this "school" is so a**backwards who knows what will happen...
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Post by Chu Chu on Aug 30, 2021 13:33:28 GMT -5
I don't have any personal knowledge, but from my vantage point on the left coast, I am surprised at the negative talk about this, and I believe that he did accomplish a lot for us. From the Creighton article:
"As athletic director at Holy Cross, Blossom led the development of the athletics department's first-ever strategic plan, with a focus on creating a high-performance culture, achieving and sustaining competitive excellence, and increasing ticket sales, external support and community engagement, while also enhancing facilities. Under his leadership, academic success within the Holy Cross athletics program was among the very best in the nation, ranking first for graduation success rate, with the school receiving more than a dozen Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) public recognition awards from the NCAA. Several teams at Holy Cross posted multiyear APR scores in the top 10% of all squads in their respective sports. Holy Cross' on-field success under Blossom's leadership has been equally impressive. Despite a pandemic-shortened season last year, the men's basketball team saw tremendous growth with an incredibly bright future under a new head coach. The Crusader football team won consecutive Patriot League championships, and following several impressive coaching hires, many other women's and men's sports saw ascension up the conference standings during his tenure."
I liked this article because they never once referred to "The College of . . ."!
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Post by newfieguy74 on Aug 30, 2021 13:37:39 GMT -5
The new president will probably hire the local park ranger to serve as our next AD given his athletics acumen aligns more with kayaking and hiking (his words not mine). Do the right thing and hire Gordie Lockbaum as the new AD but this "school" is so a**backwards who knows what will happen... Bonus points for getting so much snark into one sentence.
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2021 13:45:58 GMT -5
Chesney will be bolting soon if he continues to win...that is just a given No it's not. Chesney is likely to stay now that Blossom is GONE!! Did absolutely nothing for football but get in the way. Nothing that Gordie Lockbaum and Nick Smith can't fix.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Aug 30, 2021 13:47:09 GMT -5
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Post by purple1 on Aug 30, 2021 13:47:24 GMT -5
Chu Chu he was MIA for the two years he was at HC. Butted heads with Coach Chesney, his only successful coach and sport. Not a personable individual and less liked by his subordinates. Need someone who " bleeds purple ", not a transient hire.
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Post by alum on Aug 30, 2021 13:52:12 GMT -5
The new president will probably hire the local park ranger to serve as our next AD given his athletics acumen aligns more with kayaking and hiking (his words not mine). Do the right thing and hire Gordie Lockbaum as the new AD but this "school" is so a**backwards who knows what will happen... Again, with the Gordie Lockbaum stuff. As I posted when this topic came up two years ago, if you want to hire someone from the Sullivan Group, hire the that firm's CEO and President. He has an MBA from Clark, a certification from Harvard Business School, and holds his industry's top designations. He has served on and led multiple non profit boards. He is an HC Hall of Famer who played professional football. He has coached high school football for two decades. I assume he had some influence in preparing his son to get to the bigs. I don't know if John Andreoli '82 wants the job, but if you thinks he isn't a better candidate than a guy who would not appear to have an advanced degree or any industry certifications and who would not appear to be involved in the management of his firm, I have to disagree with you. I am sure that Gordie is a great guy and might succeed at this job, but I doubt he would ever be the best candidate. The fact that MB was hired away quickly to a major conference position tells me that those in the field think he has the skill set we ought to be seeking.
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Post by WCHC Sports on Aug 30, 2021 13:58:56 GMT -5
"As athletic director at Holy Cross, Blossom led the development of the athletics department's first-ever strategic plan, with a focus on creating a high-performance culture, achieving and sustaining competitive excellence, and increasing ticket sales, external support and community engagement, while also enhancing facilities."
The culture didn't result in wins. So that's all just kind lip service. Increased ticket sales during a pandemic where attendance was not allowed? Also seems like lip service. Facilities were enhanced, but I believe that fundraising and groundbreaking and building was all initiated before maybe even Nate Pine was here.
The rest, regarding academics and graduation rates, is not on the AD. Hell, we've lamented that we're TOO nerdy to let game-breaking athletes on campus. That's a testament to our Admissions department, academic-first mindset, integrity of our student athletes, and the dedication of faculty and staff to keep the learning in its proper place of priority.
I hope our next director is willing to stay until HC becomes a powerhouse within our own world of the PL. The perpetual whining about us leaving the PL at that point would be somewhat justified because we proved we were too big for our old pond. And I also hope that if/when they leave, it's not one week into the new school year.
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Post by bigfan on Aug 30, 2021 14:01:57 GMT -5
Big East over the Patriot League, not even close. When will we admit that the Patriot League is holding HC back?
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Post by crusader12 on Aug 30, 2021 14:02:16 GMT -5
The new president will probably hire the local park ranger to serve as our next AD given his athletics acumen aligns more with kayaking and hiking (his words not mine). Do the right thing and hire Gordie Lockbaum as the new AD but this "school" is so a**backwards who knows what will happen... Again, with the Gordie Lockbaum stuff. As I posted when this topic came up two years ago, if you want to hire someone from the Sullivan Group, hire the that firm's CEO and President. He has an MBA from Clark, a certification from Harvard Business School, and holds his industry's top designations. He has served on and led multiple non profit boards. He is an HC Hall of Famer who played professional football. He has coached high school football for two decades. I assume he had some influence in preparing his son to get to the bigs. I don't know if John Andreoli '82 wants the job, but if you thinks he isn't a better candidate than a guy who would not appear to have an advanced degree or any industry certifications and who would not appear to be involved in the management of his firm, I have to disagree with you. I am sure that Gordie is a great guy and might succeed at this job, but I doubt he would ever be the best candidate. The fact that MB was hired away quickly to a major conference position tells me that those in the field think he has the skill set we ought to be seeking. JA would be an excellent hire too. Not sure if there is any interest..... I think the bigger point here is to hire someone who bleeds purple, not a career stepping stone hire.
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Post by HCFC45 on Aug 30, 2021 14:09:50 GMT -5
I think we can all agree that CU hiring MB did not just happen overnight, but probably has been in the works for some time.... I wonder if this June announcement fits into the equation: goholycross.com/news/2021/6/23/athletics-nick-smith-selected-to-attend-topconnect-ad-2021.aspxThat being said, I do not know who the other finalists were when MB was hired, but that list might be still relevant. I would definitely support Gordie as the next AD! He certainly knows the landscape and Worcester, something that is badly needed!
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2021 14:12:22 GMT -5
The new president will probably hire the local park ranger to serve as our next AD given his athletics acumen aligns more with kayaking and hiking (his words not mine). Do the right thing and hire Gordie Lockbaum as the new AD but this "school" is so a**backwards who knows what will happen... You broke the Cardinal Rule. Whenever there is an AD opening you must mention Ronnie Perry Jr. as well as Gordie Lockbaum.🙂
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 30, 2021 14:13:57 GMT -5
What does John Andreoli earn as CEO of an insurance company (I don't know if it's a 400 person company or three guys and a shared assistant in a strip center) versus what the HC AD job pays? As much as I love HC I would not have taken a big pay cut to work there...
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2021 14:19:47 GMT -5
Air Force lauded NP for getting the Luth built. CU lauded MB for high academics and for impressive hires. But we're still losing to beat the band everywhere except football, which those in the know on the board are indicating MB is not responsible for. Can we get a new AD with "patterns of success" that actually amounts to consistent winning records by coaches he or she hired? We're dining on potential breakfast, lunch and dinner at HC and it's getting stale.
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 30, 2021 14:20:00 GMT -5
I know John and also know Gordie a little. While everything alum says is true, Gordie would be a higher profile hire - he's known nationally and by virtually every alum, John, not so much.
As to post grad/professional studies, John A shares some of the professional designations that I have and I know the degree of difficulty to achieve these. But having these designations and post-grad degrees don't necessarily give him a leg up. Most importantly, John is Gordie's boss and likely makes a lot more than Gordie and John seems pretty happy doing what he's doing and coaching St. John's. I think Gordie would be "freer" to take the position if offered.
In either case, I'd be ecstatic to see HC hire one of them. I have total confidence either would do better than the last 3 position holders.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 30, 2021 14:23:09 GMT -5
How about Eddie Reilly?
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2021 14:25:51 GMT -5
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