Bzdelik's CU Legacy

[cubuffs85]

Well it is kind of hard to justify keeping Bzdelik when they canned the guy who led them to the Tourney three years in a row and Bzdelik can't even lead them to the postseason in the past three years. Bzdelik isn't going to get a 5 year turnaround period like a coach would've gotten two decades ago.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Well it is kind of hard to justify keeping Bzdelik when they canned the guy who led them to the Tourney three years in a row and Bzdelik can't even lead them to the postseason in the past three years. Bzdelik isn't going to get a 5 year turnaround period like a coach would've gotten two decades ago.

True. Although truth be told, Wake likely would have sucked had they kept Gaudio for another year. They were headed for an inevitable major drop off and rebuild, although the coaching change made it even worse by so many guys leaving.

 

[cubuffs85]

True. Although truth be told, Wake likely would have sucked had they kept Gaudio for another year. They were headed for an inevitable major drop off and rebuild, although the coaching change made it even worse by so many guys leaving.

Probably, I would guess the AD was trying to get ahead of curve, seeing that that Gaudio wasn't the long-term answer despite their relative success. As Bill Walsh said, "it's better to cut a player, a year too earlier than a year too late." You usually get a minimum of three years to prove yourself so you have your own staff/players in place, can't ride the coattails of your predecessor or attribute the failures to them.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Probably, I would guess the AD was trying to get ahead of curve, seeing that that Gaudio wasn't the long-term answer despite their relative success. As Bill Walsh said, "it's better to cut a player, a year too earlier than a year too late." You usually get a minimum of three years to prove yourself so you have your own staff/players in place, can't ride the coattails of your predecessor or attribute the failures to them.

It's all tragic, really. Prosser was a great coach and great man.

 

[Buffnik]

Well, I'll say this about Dino. Dude can recruit. If both Rohn and Pri get HC jobs after this year and the #1 spot on the CU bench opens up I would be doing cartwheels if Tad hired him to be his right-hand for a year.

 

[GoBuffs!!]

Well, I'll say this about Dino. Dude can recruit. If both Rohn and Pri get HC jobs after this year and the #1 spot on the CU bench opens up I would be doing cartwheels if Tad hired him to be his right-hand for a year.

I have to say I enjoy hearing him speak on ESPN as well, he is better than a lot of the crappy people they have on there.

 

[cubuffs85]

I wonder what he gets paid at ESPN?, I'm guessing it's more than he'd earn as Assistant at CU.

 

[DBT]

All I know is that I'm glad Bzdelic is gone and we have Tad.

 

[cubuffs85]

All I know is that I'm glad Bzdelic is gone and we have Tad.

I do wonder how things would've turned out if Bzdelik had stayed?

 

[CVilleBuff]

I do wonder how things would've turned out if Bzdelik had stayed?

JMHO, but we'd usually be an 17-18 win type team. Kind of like you see from Stanford most years under Dawkins. We would slip in the Dance every now and then, and be 15-15 on occasion

 

[cubuffs85]

JMHO, but we'd usually be an 17-18 win type team. Kind of like you see from Stanford most years under Dawkins. We would slip in the Dance every now and then, and be 15-15 on occasion

I thought he had the inside-track to the Duke job when Coach K stepped down, now not so much.

 

[MtnBuff]

And for those of you who say, Embree wasn't who he wanted to hire -- then why was he AD if he's just a figure-head. The primary job of an AD is to hire the people to lead program revenue generators, which is up until this year has only been football.

I don't have any question that Embree was pushed on him, not his decision.

That said if M2 doesn't succeed somebody has to take the fall and it won't be the people above Bohn. The nature of the AD job is that when you can no longer put the blame on coaches for failure you are next in line no matter who was actually responsible for the coaches. We know that Dr. Phil isn't getting fired and that Benson isn't getting fired, that leaves Bohn if the pressure reaches that point.

 

[cubuffs85]

I don't have any question that Embree was pushed on him, not his decision.

That said if M2 doesn't succeed somebody has to take the fall and it won't be the people above Bohn. The nature of the AD job is that when you can no longer put the blame on coaches for failure you are next in line no matter who was actually responsible for the coaches. We know that Dr. Phil isn't getting fired and that Benson isn't getting fired, that leaves Bohn if the pressure reaches that point.

If Bohn isn't making those decisions, it's kind of pointless for him to be in his position since he was going to blamed when Embree failed. That's on him to resign or just accept what it is. But really, CU should be having the AD as the person responsible for making such decisions. No reason he should be undermined in this aspect, it's the most important part of his job.

Good article in USA Today about AD's salaries (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...thletics-directors-salaries-increase/1964239/). Unlike

 

[MtnBuff]

If Bohn isn't making those decisions, it's kind of pointless for him to be in his position since he was going to blamed when Embree failed. That's on him to resign or just accept what it is. But really, CU should be having the AD as the person responsible for making such decisions. No reason he should be undermined in this aspect, it's the most important part of his job.

Good article in USA Today about AD's salaries (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...thletics-directors-salaries-increase/1964239/). Unlike

Idealy your AD has full authority to make the key decisions and takes full responsibility for those decisions.

Unfortunately it often doesn't work that way. The AD still has bosses and those bosses may interject themselves into athletic department decisions for political reasons or simply because they can't keep their hands off and want to use the authority they have.

In the case of Bohn we know that he had the situation lined up to fire Hawkins at the end of the season prior to him actually being fired only to have the rug pulled out from under him. I have no question in my mind that this was a political decision as Benson didn't want to deal with the publicity of CU paying (another) person millions of dollars to not coach in the middle of an election cycle. The following year it finally came to a point where the administration could no longer resist the pressure and they gave the go ahead to fire Hawkins. The hiring of JE was then done again in a political manner to placate certain alumni and media who wanted a return to the "glory days" and at the same time spend the least possible money doing it.

Bohn is smart enough to know that he is hired in part to put a face to certain decisions that aren't his, this is the nature of the job. Athletic directors don't work in a vacuum, the smart ones know that they are hired to do certain things that may not align with outside appearances.

For what it is worth I do think that M2 finally was at least mostly a Bohn decision. His future will ride on how well M2 does regardless of how well the BB program does. Even at it's best BB will never generate close to the amount of money that the difference between success and failure in football means to the overall picture.

 

[cubuffs85]

Idealy your AD has full authority to make the key decisions and takes full responsibility for those decisions.

Unfortunately it often doesn't work that way. The AD still has bosses and those bosses may interject themselves into athletic department decisions for political reasons or simply because they can't keep their hands off and want to use the authority they have.

In the case of Bohn we know that he had the situation lined up to fire Hawkins at the end of the season prior to him actually being fired only to have the rug pulled out from under him. I have no question in my mind that this was a political decision as Benson didn't want to deal with the publicity of CU paying (another) person millions of dollars to not coach in the middle of an election cycle. The following year it finally came to a point where the administration could no longer resist the pressure and they gave the go ahead to fire Hawkins. The hiring of JE was then done again in a political manner to placate certain alumni and media who wanted a return to the "glory days" and at the same time spend the least possible money doing it.

Bohn is smart enough to know that he is hired in part to put a face to certain decisions that aren't his, this is the nature of the job. Athletic directors don't work in a vacuum, the smart ones know that they are hired to do certain things that may not align with outside appearances.

For what it is worth I do think that M2 finally was at least mostly a Bohn decision. His future will ride on how well M2 does regardless of how well the BB program does. Even at it's best BB will never generate close to the amount of money that the difference between success and failure in football means to the overall picture.

Yeah and I understand that and there's chain of command, it's just MB is undermined when he doesn't have the autonomy to make crucial decisions like hiring the football head coach. I get the not firing aspect, but he should be in charge of who works under him. If Benson/Phil don't feel comfortable letting him make these decisions they need to hire someone else.

I completely concur with your last statement. Football is the most important thing by far. When football fails, all programs are failing. This is the first year CU is supposed to generate revenue in basketball, I read.

 

[MtnBuff]

Yeah and I understand that and there's chain of command, it's just MB is undermined when he doesn't have the autonomy to make crucial decisions like hiring the football head coach. I get the not firing aspect, but he should be in charge of who works under him. If Benson/Phil don't feel comfortable letting him make these decisions they need to hire someone else.

I completely concur with your last statement. Football is the most important thing by far. When football fails, all programs are failing. This is the first year CU is supposed to generate revenue in basketball, I read.

I think the problem here is that it is not a question of not being comfortable with Bohn making the decisions, it is their desire to make the decisions no matter who the AD is. I sense that this is much more common at other schools than we might think. Lots of schools have presidents at the top who want to "make the decision" instead of leave it to the person who by definition should be making that decision. I also agree with you that doing this in general isn't the most effective way to run an athletic program. The AD should be the person best equiped to make this decision and have the authority to do so but that doesn't mean it works that way. I would also imagine that there is a correlation between interfearance from above and lack of success but those who are not letting their ADs do the job would never admit that.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

JMHO, but we'd usually be an 17-18 win type team. Kind of like you see from Stanford most years under Dawkins. We would slip in the Dance every now and then, and be 15-15 on occasion

So, kind of like it was under Patton, huh?

 

[CarolinaBuff]

Bzdelik is given an 8 out of 10 on the hot seat index:

Wake Forest: Jeff Bzdelik - It's never a good sign when there's an ad in the school newspaper calling for your head. The Demon Deacons coach has some serious heat on him, and may not make it until next season. The good news? Wake has made progress in his three seasons. The Deacons won just one ACC game in his first season, got four victories a year ago and won a half-dozen this year. However, the program is just 34-60 overall in his three years. The one way he survives is because he was hired by AD Ron Wellman -- who will try his best to stand by Bzdelik. HOT SEAT INDEX: 8

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ollege-basketball/21892685/hot-seat-index-acc

 

[CVilleBuff]

http://firebz.com/FireBz/Home.html

 

[Buffenuf]

So, kind of like it was under Patton, huh?

No, under BZ, the team would actually run a recognizable offense and players would improve year to year, instead of regress.

Also, the type of players would be different. BZ= basketball players who are athletic; RP= athletes who happen to play basketball.

 

[MtnBuff]

No, under BZ, the team would actually run a recognizable offense and players would improve year to year, instead of regress.

Also, the type of players would be different. BZ= basketball players who are athletic; RP= athletes who happen to play something that sometimes resembles basketball.

fify.

A number of schools win a lot of games by being more athletic than their opponents. RP's teams could look like they had no clue at times despite their talent levels.

 

[Dark Bohner]

Bzdelik is miraculously surviving another year at Wake. I feel for the fans.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/81907/wake-forest-sticks-with-bzdelik

 

[cubuffs85]

Bzdelik is miraculously surviving another year at Wake. I feel for the fans.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/81907/wake-forest-sticks-with-bzdelik

Helps when you have friends in high places. I'm somewhat surprised, I guess beating Miami counts for something? I can't imagine they are too happy with the rebuilding? I'm not saying it's easy, but three straight losing year and without many road conference wins isn't what they probably had in mind when they hired him.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Not shocking. Just hope Wellman is prepared to go down with the ship if they fail again next year. Hard to envision how they're going to be more than an NIT team in that loaded new-look ACC. It's not just the new arrivals, it's teams like Virginia that are loaded next year and teams like Boston College ready to take a big leap forward as they mature.

 

[Buffnik]

Not shocking. Just hope Wellman is prepared to go down with the ship if they fail again next year. Hard to envision how they're going to be more than an NIT team in that loaded new-look ACC. It's not just the new arrivals, it's teams like Virginia that are loaded next year and teams like Boston College ready to take a big leap forward as they mature.

I'm with you. I see improvement happening at places like Georgia Tech that are more encouraging than what's going on at Wake, too.

 

[MtnBuff]

I'm with you. I see improvement happening at places like Georgia Tech that are more encouraging than what's going on at Wake, too.

Wake fans don't think of themselves as a program that belongs below schools like those in the standings. They can understand (not like but understand) being behind UNC or other traditional ACC powers, they aren't going to be happy looking up at the new schools as well as another season out of the running.