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Awkwardness of Kent Haslam...

B

Brother Bear

Well-known member
Well, the last 72 hours sure have been interesting... I think lost in a lot of this right now is the situation of the Athletic Director, Kent Haslam. How does everyone feel about him? He was hired by the last President (now Chemistry Professor at the U) and seemed to be a "yes" man. He was under O'Day and got the job as the internal candidate when the previous AD and Football Coach were fired. Is he the best man to lead the athletic department into the future? Does he get the alumni, athletic department fired up, ability to bring in money that wouldn't normally be there? Curious to what folks think there. He was after all the guy who hired Stitt three years ago and look where we are now... hiring another football head coach.

I just found yesterday awkward. He opened up the press conference talking about the weather, followed by saying you know why we are here. It just seemed so uncomfortable. Maybe he was just nervous. Later in the press conference started talking about his wife's birthday after firing a staff and he had not told her happy birthday yet. The more interesting part was when he raised his voice a bit and made it very clear that he has not talked to anyone about the job yet. However, Skyline sports had reported differently.

http://www.montanakaimin.com/sports/stitt-happened-bob-stitt-out-as-montana-head-coach/article_16d66a74-ce3b-11e7-acfe-bb286fb7112c.html

Many folks on Egriz have reported that Haslam was ready to give Stitt a multi-year extension then it was reported a big time booster talked him out of that.

Sunday night a story goes out in the Missoulian after they talked to Haslam that night and he hadn't decided anything as of Sunday Night.

http://missoulian.com/sports/college/big-sky-conference/university-of-montana/haslam-decision-on-stitt-s-future-could-come-as-soon/article_b23fb230-2d8a-56bc-92c5-84aaaca8f633.html

Monday morning he meets with Coach Stitt and other staffers in a meeting that apparently stretched into the early afternoon and that is where coach Stitt was let go?

I'm not saying everything has to or needs to be transparent but holy heck this is just getting awkward now if you read what is being printed in the media and what Kent is telling people. Kent mentioned in the press conference that he is going to keep the process confidential and he will stand up there when he is ready to introduce a new head coach. Didn't want to put a time line on it as everyone would just keep asking questions etc. once that day passed or got close.

It just seems odd how everything is unfolding especially if there isn't actually a plan in place...
 
The University of Montana is beyond fortunate to have Kent as their AD.

Unfortunately, he'll get sucked up by a P5 far too soon.
 
EverettGriz said:
The University of Montana is beyond fortunate to have Kent as their AD.

Unfortunately, he'll get sucked up by a P5 far too soon.
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You beat me to it; I was going to post exactly the same two thoughts. He is far smoother than Jim O'Day ever thought of being. It is naïve for anyone to think that an AD's decisions should be insulated from key donors. A big part of the job is finding the funds to keep the lights on. This was very hard for him; he hired Bob Stitt against a lot of input; he really, really likes Bob Stitt. Bob Stitt was not getting it done. Tough day for Kent; still he answered all the questions professionally.
 
I understand the sentiment of the OP. I think it's a fair perception of the press conference. Admittedly, I am sooooo far from the Program I don't know these people.

I came away thinking KH had a hard time with the firing, and was a bit relieved it was done.
 
...if he goes anywhere...
...odds on place to go...
...somewhere in utah...

... :shock: ...
 
Triwest said:
The.Real.2506 said:
kemajic said:
The.Real.2506 said:
He seems like a puppet, just a different person put their hand up his ass on Sunday
Click to expand...
You could not be farther from reality.
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Yeah, I don't know the guy at all, just how he comes across in the media, he may be solid.
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He is solid.
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If he hires BH (I hope he does) then I would say puppet status confirmed. I guess we will see.
 
I just think he was probably exhausted. I'm guessing he didn't sleep much from Saturday through the press conference. Never easy letting go a guy you hired, like, and care for.
 
Stop_HammerTime69 said:
Brother Bear said:
Washington State?
Click to expand...

Have they already hired their next AD or is he still interim?
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Still have an interim, probably until sometime in January or February. But There is no way Haslam is on that shortlist. They have people already on staff there that are much more qualified for a P5 job than Kent.
 
AD is a thankless job. If one group is happy about football, another group is pissed about men's or women's basketball. Golf, track, softball or tailgating. Hell you name it, someone is pissed about something.
 
ari gold said:
Stop_HammerTime69 said:
Brother Bear said:
Washington State?
Click to expand...

Have they already hired their next AD or is he still interim?
Click to expand...

Still have an interim, probably until sometime in January or February. But There is no way Haslam is on that shortlist. They have people already on staff there that are much more qualified for a P5 job than Kent.
Click to expand...

They may hire internally. But they will absolutely contact Montana about the right to talk to Kent. I'm not convinced Kent will leave UM for the Coug job, but I assure you they have already considered him.
 
Regarding KH saying he hasn't been in contact with any coaches...duh.

How this works during the season is his agent/lawyer reaches out to the coach personally, or the coaches agent/lawyer/trusted person and they talk through there. That way interest is shown early, but everything between the AD and the coach is on the up and up.
 
kemajic said:
EverettGriz said:
The University of Montana is beyond fortunate to have Kent as their AD.

Unfortunately, he'll get sucked up by a P5 far too soon.
Click to expand...
You beat me to it; I was going to post exactly the same two thoughts. He is far smoother than Jim O'Day ever thought of being. It is naïve for anyone to think that an AD's decisions should be insulated from key donors. A big part of the job is finding the funds to keep the lights on. This was very hard for him; he hired Bob Stitt against a lot of input; he really, really likes Bob Stitt. Bob Stitt was not getting it done. Tough day for Kent; still he answered all the questions professionally.
Click to expand...

I think there is some confusion as to "booster input" There are certainly those Boosters who somehow feel they have ownership of the program and can dictate what happens. a skillful AD deals with those folks, makes them feel important, gets them to pullout their checkbooks before they leave and goes ahead and does what needs to be done.

But the real influencers are a different breed, they understand (after they are successful people in their own right) that there is a business end to this whole thing and can offer some very valuable and helpful insight on how to make things work. That clearly is the case this time (and Kent said as much in his presser)

Right now the athletic program is short some 600K. There are a lot of possible reasons but i would submit the biggest is the drop in attendance in fact the numbers almost match, 12,000 fewer tickets at $50.00 a ticket plus the loss of other game day income covers it and then some. These community leaders and business people likely have more insight than anyone in the Athletic department. Their advice and insights are near as valuable as their checks and on it goes.

I don't see how Kent could have been asked to do anymore. I'm not sure that what egriz, or reporters looking for a scoop add to that or how anyone can even remotely believe they have a better idea of whats going on than the folks doing it. The end result may very well be what the outsiders predict BUT that doesn't mean those same outsiders have a clue how that result was reached. Kent will follow the "process" even if he knows the likely outcome. he is a professional and a damn good one.
 
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