The Longest November

The following post is a modified and truncated version of a future column covering the history of Rutgers athletics from 1997 to the present.

”I’m looking forward to the challenge. I understand it is a challenge and a hot seat is involved. You don’t have to keep reminding me. My career is about winning a championship. We are going to do everything to win. I won two championships at San Jose State; we were bowl champions. That’s what it’s about. If that’s what 2000 means, that’s the challenge I’m going to embrace.” – Terry Shea

In November of 1995, the message of Rutgers athletics was clear:

Today, after two winning seasons out of six and a 29-36-1 record over all, Graber was fired with two years left on his contract. An immediate search for his replacement was begun by the university president, Francis L. Lawrence, who said he wanted a coach who could win consistently, “not do it for one year, then fall back.”

I do not want to be an also-ran,” Lawrence said at a news conference.

Any Syracuse fan reading those quotes should feel a shudder go down their spine, as they eerily mirror the circumstances surrounding the hiring of Greg Robinson in early 2005. Neither athletic department was satisfied with the present states of their football programs, fired their coaches, and hired inadequate replacements.

“Quickly, I’ll just talk about my vision and what I see.  I think that’s what it’s got to be – a vision.  Where are we now?  What is the current reality and what is our vision?  It’s got to be a vision that I have that is so strong that it pulls others up to it.  I see that someday this program is going to be a model of excellence for a lot of schools.  To do that, you have to be very, very successful.  You must win, in a way that’s very special, like this program has done in the past.  I look for it to be a program that others want to emulate.  It takes a lot.  I believe the way to do it is you build it on trust.  You build it on discipline.  You build it on perserverance.  I think that if you can really focus on those areas, I think we have a chance to be successful.  At the same time, we’re going to enjoy ourselves.  As a football team, we’re going to enjoy the struggle.  We’re going to find ways to have fun doing it.  But, it’s going to be a lot of hard work.  I’m looking forward to getting this group together and all of us getting on the same page and going from there.”  – Greg Robinson

The current search in Syracuse has a bit of a wild goose chase quality to it – Edsall! No, Gill! Whipple! Holtz! Edsall, again! When the coaching carousel stops spinning, where will it end? The strangest aspect so far is that this is occurring despite Syracuse securing the services of one Chuck Neinas. That’s a name seemingly whispered in awe in the college football world. You hire Neinas when you have one marquee commodity in mind, and want that coach secured and delivered at all costs. Syracuse A.D. Daryl Gross, despite his denials, likely hired Neinas with Edsall in mind, and it still would not be a big surprise if the Orange end up getting their man.

If that does not turn out to be the case however, the chaotic Rutgers search from 2000 may serve as guide portending how this may all play out. Shea was finished by late October of that year, and the rumor mill soon began swirling. Robert Mulcahy (formerly of the NJSEA) had replaced Fred Gruninger as athletic director in 1998, and Mulcahy was eager to put his own stamp on the program. In Tom Luicci’s first report on the topic, he identified three candidates as potential replacements – Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell, Toledo coach Gary Pinkel, and Miami defensive coordinator Greg Schiano.

Big East: Week Thirteen

No one ever expected Cincinnati to make a BCS bowl. Now they have a huge game with the Panthers coming up. Meanwhile, Brian Kelly is the favorite to be the next Tennessee coach. The same report says that Jim Leavitt is somewhere on the list.

UConn’s senior CB Darius Butler hopes to return in time for a bowl game. They’re hoping that last week’s return of Tyler Lorenzen can lift the offense enough to beat a sinking USF team this weekend. UConn DT Rob Lunn is taking on Hartford Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs (basically their version of Steve Politi).

Louisville AD Tom Jurich is adamant in his support of the embattled Steve Kragthorpe. Hunter Cantwell is trying to stay positive.

Pittsburgh is cognizant that they can’t afford to give up too many big plays in the air against the dangerous Bearcats. Can their revamped OL handle the relentless Connor Barwin?

As expected, Jim Leavitt has quite a bit to say about last week’s debacle. Matt Grothe expects to play vs. the Huskies on Sunday. FireGregGregory.com is one thing, but JimLeavitMustGo.com is taking it a little too far (thanks TNIAAM).

Dr. Daryl Gross will ultimately make the hire at Syracuse, but he’s not putting all of his cards on the table yet. Meanwhile, the rumor mill turns to Notre Dame assistant Rob Ianello, ECU coach Skip Holtz, and former UMass coach Mark Whipple, who almost got the BC job two years ago. Whipple was actually RU AD Bob Mulcahy’s second choice in 2000 after Gary Darnell. Could the Orange actually save Chrismukkwanzaa this year by beating Notre Dame?

West Virginia center Ryan Dent may miss the Louisville game, and up to the rest of the season.

Chapter XXVII: Incompetent, not corrupt

The athletic department has released the results of its internal review.

In a detailed written statement, President McCormick pledged to address carefully all of the report’s recommendations. He outlined a series of immediate actions, including:

• additional administrative oversight over the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics

• expanding the size and responsibilities of the university’s Internal Audit Department
• requiring for all coaches written employment contracts that include all elements of compensation
• requiring presidential approval of the compensation for all head coaches.

The president will take forward to the Board of Governors the committee recommendations that require Board approval.

The committee’s report acknowledges that the changing culture of a rapidly developing NCAA Division I athletics program has placed additional stress on the system at Rutgers. The committee identifies no illegal or unethical activities at Rutgers and does not raise concerns about the outcomes of decisions that were made by the university. The report, however, does challenge the university to improve substantially the way decisions regarding intercollegiate athletics are made in the future.

Of course, not many people are willing to dig through 35 pages.

I’ve looked through the report, and it finds no wrongdoing with respect to any arrangements with Nelligan Sports, however concluding that there needed to be more clarity and oversight of that relationship. The draft escape clause was definitely not included in the final contract. However, this fact was unknown to Richard McCormick and the BoG. The BoG wasn’t even aware of the existence of the draft clause to begin with. The report does take issue with the apparent haphazard commitment to keeping McCormick and the BoG informed on this topic, and that clearly does need to improve. These problems were institutional in nature, and not caused by any inherent desire for secrecy.

I do believe the light amount of criticism in the report is appropriate, as no significant wrongdoing was found whatsoever, nor has it been alleged. However, it does paint a somewhat troubling picture of ineffective governance and poor communication, which should be no surprise whatsoever to anyone remotely familiar with any aspect of the internal Rutgers administration. These problems are pervasive throughout the University, which does not excuse the athletic department.

It’s time for the athletic department to implement the recommended changes, and for the Star-Ledger to move on. They’re not the only group here that needs to change for the better. Margolin and Sherman are clearly defensive over the hostile reaction to their initial reporting, and I think that’s causing them to push back even harder.

Well, at least we won’t hear from them again until the stadium issues are resolved.

In other news

Why didn’t Greg Schiano talk to the out of town media this week?

Apologies in advance for the lack of any major insight from the Rutgers side on the Army-Rutgers game Saturday.

I’ve been told by the Rutgers sports information department Rutgers coach Greg Schiano isn’t making players available to the “out-of-town” media this week,

Guess Schiano doesn’t want any distractions this week as Rutgers attempts to win its sixth game of the season, which would make the Scarlet Knights bowl-eligible.

But what exactly does “out-of-town” media mean? If ESPN wants to do a piece on the resurgent Scarlet Knight, I’m sure their interview request would be granted.

I actually gave some thought last week to attending Schiano’s press conference Monday and hopefully talking to a few players. I decided not to take the trip to Piscataway or New Brunswick, N.J. Glad I did. I was told if I did attend I wouldn’t have been allowed to talk to any players.

If I were Rutgers, I would think it would want all the positive press possible after rebounding from a rough start. But what do I know.

Internet rumors apparently came through, as reserve TE Fabian Ruiz is “getting a look” at DE. This might not be a long term thing, and if it is, perhaps his skill set is better suited to DE. If permanent, it is troubling, because the depth chart at TE is much, much thinner. Who exactly is going to back up Graves next year? And looking at this depth chart, wouldn’t a certain TE have to be completely insane to decommit the way that he did?

That same report covers the development of Art Forst, and that there will be a story about Mike Teel in SI soon. Did you know that people cursed on his Facebook wall? And sure enough, hearing about the SI story likely won’t please Army beatwriter Sal Interdonato.

Greg Schiano: Jack Corcoran may never “be a dominating run blocker“. Jack has been much more involved in the passing game the past two weeks. Frankly, if they’re not going to do that, I don’t understand the reasoning behind keeping Morales out of the starting lineup if the team is going to have so much trouble running the football.

Army coach Stan Brock thinks that the key for the Black Knights on Saturday is to limit turnovers.