Under Spears thus far, no real needle movement or changes made…with the exception being to sports that drew maybe 100 fans in the track coach and baseball coach(that deserved a season in the new field). Just riding on Hamrick’s coat tail and getting the same results so far. Hoping to receive some real leadership from his position at some point.
Spears annual review
- Thread starter Jartard
- Start date
What leadership has he brought to the position? I was all for getting rid of Hamrick, but he’s changed very little to move the athletic department as a whole forward.
CS is an admin guy. Good at making sure the bus is cleaned and the bills get paid. A good #2 man.
He is no leader. A leader fires CH and DD.
He is no leader. A leader fires CH and DD.
Let's be real. What he's saying isn't untrue. Under Spears he's paraded that scoreboard and baseball field as his own doing when it was happening with or without him. He's fired some coaches in sports that no one cares about and when it comes to the two major sports he's done nothing to hold Huff accountable and he's extended Dan not once, but twice in the past two years when we could have had a clean break from Dan not once but twice.
Wow, it's like the previous leadership wasn't so bad when you take into account they were in it for MU and not themselves...you know, omitting the "MU is a stepping stone" mentality.
But to be fair, we don't know what he has said to Huff. I stand by my belief that Huff has to win for himself to be marketable for employment in another area...and either Huff wins and MU is in a more attractive position to hire someone new.
Or, Huff loses and MU doesn't have to buy out his contract, rather, just not renew and both part ways.
He also was hired in February 2022...meaning he hasn't been at MU for 2 years yet.
So what exactly are you expecting? Remember, MU is "but a poor, little public school in a run down, economically deprived state, with little to no major resources."
Y'all's words, always a reason for why MU isn't successful, but easily forgotten when discussing the AD in threads like this.
Also, are you hoping he just magically makes money appear or somehow convinces the wealthy Brad Smith to give money? Basically, you guys suggesting, "hey, here's an idea that someone else can pay for." How many threads recently have begun with or contained suggestions that Brad Smith or literally anyone else, cover the bill, instead of some of you freeloaders?
As for Spears himself, he has overseen the construction of the baseball field, a project all of you crapped on the previous guy for how it was handled.
He has also been at the helm of, you know, MU getting out of CUSA and into the superior Sunbelt Conference...something that everyone never thought MU could actually ever do, move up in competition/conference.
He easily could have not attempted to grow a brain like Goddamn Sam and remain in CUSA, and tell everyone, "baseball just isn't a sport MU really should focus on. So we spent all the money eliminating the color black from everything we own/use" or something dumb like that.
I don't know what Hamrick did in his first two years here, but he was already public enemy #2 behind Doc, and here we are...looking back to the past, something so many thought MU would simply have moved on from.
You reap what you sow.
MH said when he hired Doc that his tenure would be judged by what Doc accomplished. That is what a stand up leader does. And MH was right, when the cabal soured on Doc, MH, for his myriad of accomplishments, was treated as an entry with Doc, and both were let go. For some admin guy who has never been a leader. On his way out, with the “Dollar General bag insult” MH sent one last warning about what we were doing. 5-7, 4-7 in I-A, endless confusion, insults to the fanbase, nameless players in and out of the “portal” here for a year and gone, empty stands, no national prestige.
Doc is gone. He is a part of the past. His era is closed. You can have what opinion of it you have. Others may differ.
But MH had the stand up leader mentality to take the fall for his guy. It is not about “being from here” but about competence. Get CH out of here and replace him with a competent coach. And since CS has tied his fate to that of CH, let us treat them the way we treated Mike and Doc. As an entry. CS is 100% responsible for what CH does next year, as he is the non-leader who did not fire him, even after his gross and disgusting comments.
CS=CH
As to the rest, we have seen zero from CS. He may have made a good women’s basketball hire, ask me in 3 years. The baseball hire looks bad, some buddy retread. The baseball field is 100% Big Jim, thanks Big Jim. The rest is just treading water and using facilities others, mostly MH, built.
Chris Cline, Mike D and JJ built the facilities, as part of Herd Vision - Not MH or anyone else.
Just a random thought.
Marshall's trajectory would be insane if Chris Cline (may he rest in peace) was still with us with Brad Smith at the helm, in my opinion.
Ah no. MU went into the Sunbelt under Gilbert and OMalley
Marshall Joins Sun Belt Conference
NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference announced Saturday the addition of Marshall University into the league after a unanimous vote by the Sun Belt CEOs. Marshall will join the Sun Belt Conference no later than July 1, 2023.
sunbeltsports.org
Didn't Marshall write something into the "rules" that the football coach(and maybe basketball coach) have to be fired by the Board of Governors? Their new contracts, renewed contracts, or termination of contracts? Like the school President can't even do it without their approval?
Well both did give generously to MU....as they also did wvu. If Marshall people would be Marshall people we'd be better off and maybe we would have a great trajectory. But, many Marshall people (high rent and low rent) like to suckle the wvu teat.
Ah no. MU went into the Sunbelt under Gilbert and OMalley
Marshall Joins Sun Belt Conference
NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference announced Saturday the addition of Marshall University into the league after a unanimous vote by the Sun Belt CEOs. Marshall will join the Sun Belt Conference no later than July 1, 2023.
Ah, my mistake.
However, I am not mistaken when I would bet Spears gets a Rear Naked Choke to finish you early in the 2nd round.
I know the BoG has to approve of the contract for hiring a new HC.
Is the MU BoG essentially made of the bigwig donors to MU or are they just the messengers from said bigwig donors?
I recall the literal makeupless clown Chris Miller was a BoG member.
Also, DD's...sister is it, is on the MU BoG I believe?
It's possible certain sects of MU's AD are being held hostage in that they will be left alone if DD is left alone.
Honestly, the AD's at many universities don't hold much power, it's the wealthy donors who can, essentially, call the shots.
Imagine if <insert mega wealthy donor's name> said, "I'll pay for Huff and his entire staff's buyouts, and throw in the contract cost for the new HC, if you hire ________. If you don't. Offer is null and void."
This HerdVision?
Marshall Athletics Set to Launch HerdVision Digital Network - Marshall University Athletics
Sept. 7, 2017 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall Athletics continues to push the initiative to deliver desirable content to its fanbase and the integration...
Or are you referring to the Vision Campaign which Hamrick literally founded?
I was always a firm believer in Hamrick. He had experience, a proven track record at other schools, and he was absolutely accountable, which is critical in the AD position.
He did a lot of good while he was here. No one is perfect, and he made a few missteps along the way, but overall his tenure was net positive.
As for Spears... He seems like a good guy. Nothing has really caught fire and burned to the ground yet on his watch. But he isn't exactly giving anyone much confidence in his leadership ability. I thought he would want to put his stamp on the athletic department and thus far he hasn't. He makes sure the bank deposit gets made, the bills are paid, etc.
There are two types of "good" bosses... The "good" boss that leads the company to sustained success via leadership, management, and competent hiring... Or the boss that's "good" because his people all like him and he makes sure the Friday pizza party arrives at precisely 1 p.m. piping hot. Spears appears to be in the second category.
He did a lot of good while he was here. No one is perfect, and he made a few missteps along the way, but overall his tenure was net positive.
As for Spears... He seems like a good guy. Nothing has really caught fire and burned to the ground yet on his watch. But he isn't exactly giving anyone much confidence in his leadership ability. I thought he would want to put his stamp on the athletic department and thus far he hasn't. He makes sure the bank deposit gets made, the bills are paid, etc.
There are two types of "good" bosses... The "good" boss that leads the company to sustained success via leadership, management, and competent hiring... Or the boss that's "good" because his people all like him and he makes sure the Friday pizza party arrives at precisely 1 p.m. piping hot. Spears appears to be in the second category.
Really? I'm reading more "dislike" than "like".
Why? Because he hasn't fired a basketball and football coach?
You are stuggling this morning...
Spears' people like him, meaning his employees. I talk to a lot of people in and around the Shewey and they all say he is a nice guy, friendly, etc.
Aside from making a change at head coach (which certainly should have already been done in basketball, and we can debate football)... He doesn't outwardly project accountability.
He puts out a press release that says we had a shitty football season, but we aren't making a coaching change, we will try harder, yada yada yada. About the weakest excuse for doing nothing, put to the public in the most chicken-shit way possible (twitter).
Then our head football coach says something so stupid that there is talk he is going to be fired/resign. Spears does nothing. No statement, nothing. Puts his head in the sand, ignores said comments, and hides.
You want to be the man, be the man. You want to be a friendly manager that makes sure Gail in accounting gets flowers on her birthday, the twitter feed looks great, and we have busses lined up for the QB Club luncheon, that's fine. But don't do that and pretend like you are making great progress.
I disagree on Spears. There are a bunch of promotions throughout the season, in both major sports. Just received an e-mail listing all the promos for men’s and women’s hoops into early February. I am looking forward to the renovations at The Joan, presumably in time for next fall? New restrooms might be a bridge too far 😂, but overall CS is doing a decent job of promoting athletics. Not yet 2 years in, as previously stated. It’s easy to attack, but easier to defend, if given the ammunition with which to do so.
p.s. New tradition at basketball games:
Stand & cheer until we score our 1st point.
Hope some of our senior fans can hold up!
p.s. New tradition at basketball games:
Stand & cheer until we score our 1st point.
Hope some of our senior fans can hold up!
Or, you can be both. It’s not that hard. You get Teddy to handle Gail’s flowers, John is on the buses, and one of the younguns to manage the X feed (c’mon Rhino, get with the new name). Part of being the head guy is knowing how to delegate the rudimentary things to others so you can concentrate on the higher level stuff, something I am certain he is taking lessons on from Brad.
And speaking of Huff’s verbal fumble:
I am confident that Spears & Smith huddled and decided that the worst thing they could do would be to give it more legs.
They dressed Huff down in private & let him twist in the wind. And as they guessed, it’s now blown over & we’re on to the next crisis….
The Vision Campaign. He didn't "found" it, it was developed in conjunction with the Marshall Foundation. The Vision campaign was the athletic side of the entire funding plan. They had an academic element as wellThis HerdVision?
Marshall Athletics Set to Launch HerdVision Digital Network - Marshall University Athletics
Sept. 7, 2017 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall Athletics continues to push the initiative to deliver desirable content to its fanbase and the integration...herdzone.com
Or are you referring to the Vision Campaign which Hamrick literally founded?
There were 327 donors on the athletic side. Cline donated 10 Mil. Justice 5 Mil and Dantoni 2 Mil.
Cline also donated to the academic side for medical needs and use.
Mikes greatest achievement was hiring Chris Grassie.
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Wow, so the idiot AD worked hand in hand with the academics of MU to unify and strengthen both their positions?
Wow, something the previous idiot refused to do and something the current idiot hasn't done.
This is the reason MU will continue to struggle moving forward.
You really just don't want to give someone you don't like, any credit for things they did or merely were a part of.
Look, crediting someone for having done something right, isn't going to make you wrong.
The mrs. isn't gonna stop giving you any because you said, "well I don't like MH, but he did help with ____."
Mike also oversaw the soccer field purchase and construction, that houses the NCAA champion caliber soccer team.
But nope, you're going to put some BS response in, distancing Hamricks involvement in any way you can.
You are so hellbent on justifying your statements, you attempt to (and miserably fail) manipulate reality.
Stop taking things so damn personal and grow up. I despise people in leadership positions but I can even acknowledge when they did something right.
CS uses twitter....oooooooo. Get up to speed. It's soon to be 2024 and how most schools post announcements and updated news to their communities/fans. Is "accountability" a post in the Herald Dispatch?
Fact is, this is the kind of fan base that if the buses were not reserved, and flowers were not sent, everyone would be threatening to pull their big $50 donation. Furthermore, how the hell do you know nothing was said to Huff about his comments? Again, we can debate the necessity of firing Huff, but the fact is, with one year left in his contract, I would argue far greater damage of throwing him out now would have done to the program as we were upon the recruiting/portal window closing and losing next season commits than leaving him in place one more season. The decision was made to give him that year. Is "accountability" firing CH with no way to pay two head coaches next season?
Again, I'll ask you, because you seem to be having the hard time. What accountability do you want exactly? Besides firing the football and BB coach, what "accountability" is he missing, because all I'm reading is chickenshit examples of his lack of accountability.
Funny, because this is exactly the type of crap Redsfan talks about that ISNT being done.
The, you know, little things...making sure the busses ARE on time, that certain, little things, are being attended to.
If Spears wasn't active on Twitter, the fans on here would complain that he wasn't.
Now, it's considered "cowardly" when he directly addresses 4,000+ followers (on top of press releasing this through MU directly, a little detail you somehow forgot).
I guarantee you, if he posted about the paint and trim in a facility being addressed, you'd complain about he bragging that he is "getting things done" when you believe he hasn't.
You directly contrast Redsfan and his kind.
Also, what AD has publicly admitted they were wrong? I mean, unless it's a major scandal of sorts, I don't imagine many would.
Why would they? They'd admit weakness and poor judgment, what would a public address from Spears about making a mistake in judgment, do for people like you?
Don't give me the BS that you'd somehow respect him more, you'd use that for every reason to fire him.
"Same old stuff...AD talk..." Yeah, AD's all talk the same...from the AD's at MU to the AD's at Notre Dame or ohio state. He's literally doing the same stuff the top schools you stupidly complain about MU wishing it could be.
It's a lose lose situation:
He tells everyone to remain calm and that MU is moving in the right direction...he's a coward and won't admit wrongdoing.
He publicly admits he was wrong. Says it was a blunder to keep Huff or DD. You proclaim that he is an incompetent and should be fired for <gasp> making a mistake.
Yep. For such a small school, we seem ready, willing and able to activate a big league, big swinging beotch mode whenever the urge hits us!
GHMY, I have given him credit for Grassie, facility management and scheduling. I am not in love with he or anyone, as some appear to be. Why change to O4?
What gave you the idea this was all Mikes creation? Lol! The name changed but still the same ****ing immature piece of shit.
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Well, it's nice to see you haven't contributed to this discussion.
You can at least sit at the head of the kiddie table.
Apparently I'm an immature POS because I asked the same thing, while ruffling the feathers of twolf.
Sadly, wolves are actually legitimate predators and twolf is basically the fecal matter left by chickens.
You're right though. Fans will complain about the little things not being done, then when they are being done, the bigger things are not being done.
This is, of course, after we hear the endless tantrums about how poor and economically bad MU and WV are...they aren't wrong, but seem to deny the reality while acknowledging it's there.
Also, what, realistically is an AD supposed to do in less than 2 years leading MU?
The fact that anything was actually built that cost more than 6 figures is impressive...the continued renderings for a party deck, making sure Goddamn Sam.is wrong about baseball, and actually keeping alive, the original plans before him...he isn't particularly bad so far.
This reminds me of the idiots who "just wanted MU to win" after Snyder. Doc won. Then it was "this brand is boring. I want excitement!"
Didn't happen.
"Hey, Dan's brand of Hillbilly ball is so gosh darn fun! What a comeback! Down by 20 at half and the other team won at the last second!"
"Why was MU down by 20 to begin with?"
"Shut up! Exciting sports!"
Now it's back to, "well, we should probably actually win games instead of this wannabe flashy crap..."
Some people just can't be satisfied with some things...and when they want more, they push beyond the limits of what can be realistically presented to them.
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Between this and Brad's long-standing friendship with DD are likely why he (DD) won't be leaving until he decides to retire.
Guys, my apologies for my post. Shouldn't have resorted to that. Just don't get some people sometimes. But then, if we all agreed, there'd be no message boards. Lol!
He is demanding excellence in every sport, not just football and MBB. Give the guy a chance. Only coaches we have that are his hires are track, WBB and baseball. He has found new sources of revenue and is giving his coaches the resources they need to win. The WBB hire so far looks great.
He is?
He stated that 6-6 (5-6 in division, defeating exactly one team with a winning record) was "unacceptable". Then he accepted it. Then the coach made gross, unfair, disgusting, and flat wrong comments about the fan base. Then he accepted that. Then said coach was outcoached by some guy at some random Texas - Branch Campus, which used to be in CUSA, which everyone here says winning CUSA games should be automatic but are NBD, in which the best player left on the team only played half the time. And he accepted that.
He accepts mediocrity.
Meanwhile DD bumbled and stumbled through another season of nothingness. He accepted that.
So he fired the baseball coach. A coach that literally had no facilities to work with for years and still performed. Not at the regular time that that is done, but on a very short time frame. Replaced with a retread buddy. Not hopeful.
So he got Glenville State's successful women's basketball coach. Fine. Great. Wish her well, see me in 3 years, but the truth of the matter is that there are enough women that are good a basketball for about 30 schools to have teams, but Title IX makes every school in the country have one. Marshall women have the skills of a 9th grade boy. Glenville State's, a 6th grade. Don't get me wrong, the new coach is obviously a great teacher. Which makes her a great women's college coach. The boys learned that stuff in middle school.
And then we have soccer. Mike's coach, Mike's stadium. Almost an autonomous program. Just let it alone and don't screw up what others built.
CH=CS, an entry. CH's failures are now CS failures, he his 100% tied himself to CH.
Thank you Eyore for that unique & never before read opinion!!
Next….
Ohio State?
Was that him though? I know schedules are usually made years ahead of time. Kudos to him if so.
Fell into his lap though we get $1.6 mil for the beat down
The Marshall game will take the place of the first of a scheduled two-year home-and-home series against Washington that Ohio State canceled in February at a cost of $500,000. Ohio State will pay Marshall $1.6 million to play.
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