Sipple: New AD might encounter rugged terrain

[NoKoolAidForME]

This is the same man that Harvey Perlman begged to come back and help him straighten up the athletic department. I not saying TO's advise should have been accepted but you at least listen to the man's reasoning. I think he is owed and has earned that respect.

 

If this reflect poorly on anyone it seem like egg is on the face of Harvey. To the untrained eye it appears that Harveys decision was pretty much made prior to TO's press conference.

 

Also Harvey decided to take advice from Barry Alverez. If you are soliciting advise from outside sources you have to at least listen to the legend on your campus.

[Saunders]

I agree. The article by Sipple in my opinion seems to be adding fuel to a situation that really has no fire.

There's absolutely fire... Behind the scenes. Harvey was almost forced out in 2007 when he screwed the university over for millions of dollars. He was told to hire TO, or GTFO. This situation isn't sitting well.

[The Snork]

Septemeber 2012

 

T.O. : Harvey ... I've been thinking about scaling back my duties ...

H.P. : I've got your replacement all lined up!

T.O. : Huh?

H.P. : I mean I'm sorry to hear that, you can count on me to keep you invovled in the transistion.

T.O. : uh

H.P. : See you Tom, I have a press conference to schedule!

[zoogs]

T.O. scheduled his own press conference, quite abruptly I might add, speeding up this whole process and probably to Harvey's displeasure.

 

It does seem as if there is contention but the little swings are not one-sided. And we all love Dr. Tom, he is an eternal Husker legend. But this call was Harvey's to make. Anyway, Tom is all class in his latest statement and I'm looking forward to a smooth transition with efforts made to that effect on all sides.

[JJ Husker]

Any change of this magnitude is bound to generate both good and bad reactions. From my point of view, Eichorst looks like a well qualified excellent hire. I will treat it as such until proven wrong. As far as all the theories about why certain people (TO, Sip, Pearlman, etc.) have done the things they have done, I have my own theory; In the grand scheme, an AD hire is a rather boring thing. I think everybody is simply trying to create some angle or spin that adds some element of excitement or intrigue. In other words, there's not much really happening that ahould generate this level of concern. We're just overly involved fans trying to make the process more contentious than it really is.

 

However, this is totally rational and to be expected with the Pederson thing in our recent past.

[Saunders]

T.O. scheduled his own press conference, quite abruptly I might add, speeding up this whole process and probably to Harvey's displeasure.

 

It does seem as if there is contention but the little swings are not one-sided. And we all love Dr. Tom, he is an eternal Husker legend. But this call was Harvey's to make. Anyway, Tom is all class in his latest statement and I'm looking forward to a smooth transition with efforts made to that effect on all sides.

It is Harvey's call. Just like it was his call to give Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan raises adn contract extensions (which nobody liked) less than 6 months before they were both fired, cosuting NU millions of dollars. He also told members of the staff they'd have some input, which was a lie.

 

IMO, TO scheduled a PC because he felt Harvey forced his hand by going behind his back and giving the job to a n00b before he had even announced his retirement.

[zoogs]

I see you've made up your mind about Eichorst already

 

I wonder how you feel about the qualifications of TO's guy.

[RyouN?]

I think it is fair to say that the University of Nebraska and Lincoln wouldn't be the same w/o a great football team. Lincoln would be much smaller, the Universities enrollment would be smaller and the importance of the university really wouldn't have much of any. The football team has perpetuated the success and benefited the University, the City of Lincoln and the State beyond the scales of tangible measurement. That being said, where is the University, Linocln... the State without TO? Aren't we indebted to TO. Is it too much to at least hear his opinion? Also, I'd like to point out, the University and their athletics has been representative of the Nebraska culture, values... etc. mostly due to the success of the football team and their position in the national spotlight. It used to be that nebraska stood for the blue collar mentality, family values, humility etc... mostly because the state was a reflection of TO. Is Harvey Pearlman treating the university like a family? Does he reflect any of these values... at all? It appears through his actions that he is a self-absorbed person and consequently apathetic to opinions that should carry a heavy weight in the Husker family. I don't know what quality he has that makes him an appropriate fit but I think it is safe to say has been and is a horrible representative of the University and should have been fired a long time ago... I hope this doesn't lead to a gloomy existence for Nebraska. More importantly I pray that Pearlman is relieved of his duties before he causes any more damage.

[zoogs]

By many accounts, Harvey has been an outstanding chancellor and brings a lot to the university as a whole, including outside of athletics.

 

It's no surprise that many Husker fans - me included - don't have any vested interest in this thing apart from football. In that regard, Tom Osborne is an icon and a legend, and well deservedly so. And Perlman is nothing more to us than "the boss of the AD", never mind his significant responsibilities beyond that. This is short-sighted.

 

The search had been going on for some time by Tom Osborne's retirement announcement on 26 September. This was not news at that time. Yes, I do believe there were some differences of opinion in how the line of succession at the AD position should go. Tom had one thing in mind, while Harvey had another. I don't think Harvey was unaware of Tom's endorsement, but as Chancellor, he elected to override it, and go out and get in his opinion, the right man for the job.

 

The thing is, if Tom was chafed by that, he's put it behind him at this point - and we ought to take his cue.

 

The decision, as any momentous one, is going to ruffle some feathers. A new boss who isn't the same as the old boss, it's only reasonable that a number of people within the athletic department are nervous about their future. There could well be personnel shakeup - new guy's call. Every booster and their mother probably had an opinion on who "the guy" should be, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them aren't happy with the results of the nationally conducted search.

 

There's been a (frankly) disturbing attempt to draw battle lines in the sand, paint Eichorst as an outsider, as someone who represents everything that is not Tom Osborne, so on...a PR plea to Husker fans, particularly Husker football fans, attempting to leverage our collective love for Dr. Tom, just to undermine the new AD and the Chancellor who didn't let Tom get his way on a call that wasn't Tom's to make.

 

But forget the imaginary battle. Forget the politics and the teeth-gnashing. Let's instead heed the wisdom of the man who has done so much for NU athletics over his lifetime:

 

It is important that Nebraskans give Shawn Eichorst every opportunity to have a successful tenure as the next athletic director at the University of Nebraska.

[Polarhusker]

I assume that the story about Pelini being angry that he didn't get to put in his two cents is untrue. Eichorst is going to be his boss, why would Pelini have any involvement in the hiring of his boss?

 

Furthermore, I'm curious as to why anyone thinks that Pelini should have a say in any of this to begin with? What has Pelini done during his time here that would warrant that kind of involvement?

 

Being a head coach.

 

So why would Bo be involved and no other head coach. None of the head coaches should be involved.

[Polarhusker]

Seems like there might be some ugly politics involved. I'm so tired of this. I get that there is big money (and big egos) involved, but I just want to enjoy watching a football team that can block and tackle. (If they move around well and are excellent in all areas, all the better!) All the infighting (among fans and staff) since 2003 just sucks. I blame the internet.

 

I think you can expect any major hiring to cause some hurt feelings, or disappointment, from some of the affected or close parties.

 

The reason this is an issue now is because Sipple, among others perhaps, are choosing to air it out and milk it for the publicity it's worth. But there is no way you ever make a hire or conduct a search in a way that is satisfactory to everybody.

 

I believe firmly that the Chancellor alone should have made the call here. It's his AD, and for better or for worse, his hire. The idea that the football coach would have a say is sort of silly. Especially from a chain-of-command standpoint, this makes sense.

 

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^

[True2tRA]

By many accounts, Harvey has been an outstanding chancellor and brings a lot to the university as a whole, including outside of athletics.

 

It's no surprise that many Husker fans - me included - don't have any vested interest in this thing apart from football. In that regard, Tom Osborne is an icon and a legend, and well deservedly so. And Perlman is nothing more to us than "the boss of the AD", never mind his significant responsibilities beyond that. This is short-sighted.

 

The search had been going on for some time by Tom Osborne's retirement announcement on 26 September. This was not news at that time. Yes, I do believe there were some differences of opinion in how the line of succession at the AD position should go. Tom had one thing in mind, while Harvey had another. I don't think Harvey was unaware of Tom's endorsement, but as Chancellor, he elected to override it, and go out and get in his opinion, the right man for the job.

 

The thing is, if Tom was chafed by that, he's put it behind him at this point - and we ought to take his cue.

 

The decision, as any momentous one, is going to ruffle some feathers. A new boss who isn't the same as the old boss, it's only reasonable that a number of people within the athletic department are nervous about their future. There could well be personnel shakeup - new guy's call. Every booster and their mother probably had an opinion on who "the guy" should be, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them aren't happy with the results of the nationally conducted search.

 

There's been a (frankly) disturbing attempt to draw battle lines in the sand, paint Eichorst as an outsider, as someone who represents everything that is not Tom Osborne, so on...a PR plea to Husker fans, particularly Husker football fans, attempting to leverage our collective love for Dr. Tom, just to undermine the new AD and the Chancellor who didn't let Tom get his way on a call that wasn't Tom's to make.

 

But forget the imaginary battle. Forget the politics and the teeth-gnashing. Let's instead heed the wisdom of the man who has done so much for NU athletics over his lifetime:

 

It is important that Nebraskans give Shawn Eichorst every opportunity to have a successful tenure as the next athletic director at the University of Nebraska.

Great, Great post. Plus 1. We couldn't agree more.

[True2tRA]

Oh yea, by the way, IT'S GAMEDAY UP IN THIS MOTHER FUCKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Polarhusker]

T.O. scheduled his own press conference, quite abruptly I might add, speeding up this whole process and probably to Harvey's displeasure.

 

It does seem as if there is contention but the little swings are not one-sided. And we all love Dr. Tom, he is an eternal Husker legend. But this call was Harvey's to make. Anyway, Tom is all class in his latest statement and I'm looking forward to a smooth transition with efforts made to that effect on all sides.

It is Harvey's call. Just like it was his call to give Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan raises adn contract extensions (which nobody liked) less than 6 months before they were both fired, cosuting NU millions of dollars. He also told members of the staff they'd have some input, which was a lie.

 

IMO, TO scheduled a PC because he felt Harvey forced his hand by going behind his back and giving the job to a n00b before he had even announced his retirement.

 

You do have this conspiracy theory thing down pat.

[Hayseed]

It's possible that Bill Byrne will be available soon. The entire process and future expectations are a mystery to me.