According to the Muncie Star’s Greg Fallon, BSU Athletic Director Tom Collins has got quite the case of lockjaw when it comes to the current opening for the head football coach. Collins, shielded by University “protocol” regarding personnel decisions, has decided that mum is the word until someone is hired. Let’s take a look at the problems with that approach shall we?
- Like it or not, this isn’t a marquee job. It stands to reason that if there were even some shielded borderline untrue things you could say to generate some interest in the program and the job that may not be a bad thing. Hiding behind personnel protocol or job privacy laws seems a bit not so good. I’m not suggesting you take out a full page ad in the Daily News or the Star Press to announce your targets because that wouldn’t be prudent and no one would read it anyway, but there’s a nice happy medium between cloak and dagger secrecy and blowing your business out in the wind.
- The fans are pissed. Like… PISSED. It’s funny how the BSU football cocktail of running the most successful coach in program history mixed with two pretty not great years has created this dangerous territory of fandom. Fans are pissed at the President, they’re pissed at the AD, they’re pissed at former coach Stan Parrish, they’re pissed at Buffalo, they’re pissed at Dan Lefevour, they’re pissed that the lines to take a piss at the Scheu cause you to miss an entire quarter of football. Give us some sort of lifevest in this sea of pissed-off-ed-ness. Otherwise, we may have to redirect that angry mob and their burning items and pitchforks.
- Hiding behind personnel protocol makes us look small time and bitch-assed. Try and avoid that, mmmkay?
Tom Collins had no comment but did send us this for his response*….
*obviously that is far too creative to be from Collins, himself.
Filed under: Ball State, CoachSearch10 |
Over The Pylon 
I dunno. In most coaching searches, the ADs and their staffs don’t say shit. It’s the coaching candidate’s agents and pals on other staffs who are making the noise to the press, angling for their friends and clients.
My two-bit contrarian thought here: even my usually free-flowing sources at BSU are pretty tight-lipped about this whole process. My conclusion: the key decision-makers are taking this seriously as hell. Also, there aren’t many people outside of Gora, Collins, the BOT and the candidates themselves who will really be clued in to what’s going on.
If you’ll recall, the hiring of Billy Taylor was done without a lot of fanfare and advance buildup. By the time BSU fans found out about him, the deal was pretty much done. I have a feeling they’re going to emulate that process again.
It’s probably also worth pointing out that while a search committee gave us Brady Hoke… a search committee also gave us Ronny Thompson, Tim Buckley… and Tom Collins.