Doogie: Outgoing AD Maturi made errors, but he wasn't a failure.

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station19 said:
http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...turi_made_errors_but_he_wasnt_a_failure061512

As Bleed would say....Go Gophers
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Ok interview.
My opinion is completely opposite.

Maturi was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and the U's reputation locally it's incredible.
Had he been a Vikings coach/GM he'd likely have received death threats, but he was able to develop an environment locally where nobody gave a damn when the sports programs he oversaw lost embarrassingly.
He ushered in an era of apathy and punchline athletics and mismanaged hires which costed the university millions.

His victory of raising money for TCF bank is also hollow since the gameday atmosphere appears to have been managed and planned for and by 90 year old pro sports fans.

He also botched the coaching hire that ushered in the stadium, creating a hostile fan base, and killing ANY momentum the stadium could have built for the program.
It does appear he stumbled upon a coach who knows what he's doing, but it's square one and the stadium will be closer to 10 years old than new before a big time, nationally meaningful BIG game will be played there.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with him even still being employed by the U personally.
Doogie's hypothetical is the perfect example of a coach coming to him with complaints.
He has done such a horrible job, he should have been severed from any sort of influence with the U, not allowed a comfy office somewere as a rally point for non revenue coaches to complain and plot.

Can't say enough about the bad job he did, just a horrible job. Ok person I'm sure, but HORRIBLE at his job.
 

The Brewster hire was a major mistake, but he's not a total failure. TCF Bank Stadium is a major positive. If Kill works out, that scores a positive for Maturi. Athletic directors have done worse jobs than Maturi has done.
 


Ole said:
Ok interview.
My opinion is completely opposite.

Maturi was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and the U's reputation locally it's incredible.
Had he been a Vikings coach/GM he'd likely have received death threats, but he was able to develop an environment locally where nobody gave a damn when the sports programs he oversaw lost embarrassingly.
He ushered in an era of apathy and punchline athletics and mismanaged hires which costed the university millions.

His victory of raising money for TCF bank is also hollow since the gameday atmosphere appears to have been managed and planned for and by 90 year old pro sports fans.

He also botched the coaching hire that ushered in the stadium, creating a hostile fan base, and killing ANY momentum the stadium could have built for the program.
It does appear he stumbled upon a coach who knows what he's doing, but it's square one and the stadium will be closer to 10 years old than new before a big time, nationally meaningful BIG game will be played there.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with him even still being employed by the U personally.
Doogie's hypothetical is the perfect example of a coach coming to him with complaints.
He has done such a horrible job, he should have been severed from any sort of influence with the U, not allowed a comfy office somewere as a rally point for non revenue coaches to complain and plot.

Can't say enough about the bad job he did, just a horrible job. Ok person I'm sure, but HORRIBLE at his job.
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Stated perfectly!
 


zman said:
Now there's a rallying cry!
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I'm not leading the charge to erect a gold statue to Maturi. It's just that being a total failure means something. Everyone, even Maturi, has plusses and minuses.
 


In my opinion, if we were equating Maturi's reign to an APR score, I'd give him a 917.
 

Geez, Ole - I think that's way too harsh.

I think it comes down to this - Maturi saw his job as overseeing an overall sports program. He paid a lot of attention to the 'minor' or non-revenue sports - and many of those sports have been very successful. The U has been strong in Track, Cross-Country, Volleyball, Wrestling and others.

Now, some people feel he paid too much attention to the "minor" sports, and felt he should have been 100% focused on FB and Men's Basketball. Would that have made a difference? I don't know, and I don't think anyone can say what would have happened.

Bottom line - Maturi saw the job one way, and his critics saw the job a different way. We can argue from now until the end of time over whether his approach to the job was correct, or successful - but we can't go back and change anything that happened. I believe that Joel Maturi cares about the U of M, and tried to do the best job he could. According to Doogie, the people who worked for him, including the coaches, liked the man. That should count for something.

Instead of re-hashing old arguments, I'd prefer to look forward. I would hope that Gopher Fans would support the new AD in a positive manner.
 



Joel is the best Gopher's AD since 1967. Those who don't agree don't know sh*t. They are the kind of people who learned to get what they want by whining loud enough for long enough.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think it comes down to this - Maturi saw his job as overseeing an overall sports program. He paid a lot of attention to the 'minor' or non-revenue sports - and many of those sports have been very successful. The U has been strong in Track, Cross-Country, Volleyball, Wrestling and others.

Now, some people feel he paid too much attention to the "minor" sports, and felt he should have been 100% focused on FB and Men's Basketball. Would that have made a difference? I don't know, and I don't think anyone can say what would have happened.

Bottom line - Maturi saw the job one way, and his critics saw the job a different way. We can argue from now until the end of time over whether his approach to the job was correct, or successful - but we can't go back and change anything that happened. I believe that Joel Maturi cares about the U of M, and tried to do the best job he could. According to Doogie, the people who worked for him, including the coaches, liked the man. That should count for something.
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Joel did his job EXACTLY the way Bruininks wanted him to do it. Anyone who knows Bruininks knows this to be true.
 


Go4Broke said:
Joel is the best Gopher's AD since 1967. Those who don't agree don't know sh*t. They are the kind of people who learned to get what they want by whining loud enough for long enough.
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Chris Voelz would argue that point. You sexist pig. LOL.
 



Go4Broke said:
Joel is the best Gopher's AD since 1967. Those who don't agree don't know sh*t. They are the kind of people who learned to get what they want by whining loud enough for long enough.
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This is a more apt way of looking at it. I don't know much about the past AD's but it would be interesting to see how Maturi stacks up.

With Tim Brewster, Adam Weber and Joel Maturi gone, who else will Gopher Nation have to constantly bicker over?????
 

Go4Broke said:
Joel is the best Gopher's AD since 1967. Those who don't agree don't know sh*t. They are the kind of people who learned to get what they want by whining loud enough for long enough.
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Funniest post of the year.
 

Go4Broke said:
Joel is the best Gopher's AD since 1967. Those who don't agree don't know sh*t. They are the kind of people who learned to get what they want by whining loud enough for long enough.
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What planet are you living on? I honestly laughed out loud at the stupidity of your post. And the part I bolded is just an absurd thing to say.
 

Ole said:
Maturi was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and the U's reputation locally it's incredible.
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False. PSU's AD was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and PSU's reputation it's incredible. Maturi was a decent man for the job at the time and kept the department clean after the Clem Haskins ordeal. I think he should have been replaced a few years earlier, but it is absolutely asinine to describe him as "a total, utter, and frightening disaster."
 



mattw1067 said:
False. PSU's AD was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and PSU's reputation it's incredible. Maturi was a decent man for the job at the time and kept the department clean after the Clem Haskins ordeal. I think he should have been replaced a few years earlier, but it is absolutely asinine to describe him as "a total, utter, and frightening disaster."
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I'll defend my opinion of the job he did forever.
In this specific case apples to rotten and creepy oranges

Myself sitting in a whole section ALONE, late in the OSU game 2 years ago tells me enough about how Maturi ran and oversaw the program.
The fact that it was a crisp halloween night ripe for a crazy and fun atmosphere in a brand new stadium with a top opponent coming in made it worse.
The other 1500 people left in the stadium may have been overcome with joy at the great job Maturi did fundraising, organizing, and hiring to that point. I was not.

Yes, he did not foster a predatory child rapist. Kudos.
 

Ole, I think you are the best at summarizing in clear detail Maturi's tenure here. The U has had so many opportunities to get the football program headed in the right direction. They obviously have failed in many areas and MAturi is as much, if not more, to blame than anyone. It makes me frustrated to think about the last 5 years leading up to the new stadium and coaching debacles. I hope so badly for a great future. It really sucks when I have to tell my wife about how fun it was tailgating at the dome. I long for the day we can have a true college saturday atmosphere.
 

Ole said:
Ok interview.
My opinion is completely opposite.

Maturi was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and the U's reputation locally it's incredible.
Had he been a Vikings coach/GM he'd likely have received death threats, but he was able to develop an environment locally where nobody gave a damn when the sports programs he oversaw lost embarrassingly.
He ushered in an era of apathy and punchline athletics and mismanaged hires which costed the university millions.

His victory of raising money for TCF bank is also hollow since the gameday atmosphere appears to have been managed and planned for and by 90 year old pro sports fans.

He also botched the coaching hire that ushered in the stadium, creating a hostile fan base, and killing ANY momentum the stadium could have built for the program.
It does appear he stumbled upon a coach who knows what he's doing, but it's square one and the stadium will be closer to 10 years old than new before a big time, nationally meaningful BIG game will be played there.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with him even still being employed by the U personally.
Doogie's hypothetical is the perfect example of a coach coming to him with complaints.
He has done such a horrible job, he should have been severed from any sort of influence with the U, not allowed a comfy office somewere as a rally point for non revenue coaches to complain and plot.

Can't say enough about the bad job he did, just a horrible job. Ok person I'm sure, but HORRIBLE at his job.
Click to expand...

short ornery norwegian said:
Geez, Ole - I think that's way too harsh.

I think it comes down to this - Maturi saw his job as overseeing an overall sports program. He paid a lot of attention to the 'minor' or non-revenue sports - and many of those sports have been very successful. The U has been strong in Track, Cross-Country, Volleyball, Wrestling and others.

Now, some people feel he paid too much attention to the "minor" sports, and felt he should have been 100% focused on FB and Men's Basketball. Would that have made a difference? I don't know, and I don't think anyone can say what would have happened.

Bottom line - Maturi saw the job one way, and his critics saw the job a different way. We can argue from now until the end of time over whether his approach to the job was correct, or successful - but we can't go back and change anything that happened. I believe that Joel Maturi cares about the U of M, and tried to do the best job he could. According to Doogie, the people who worked for him, including the coaches, liked the man. That should count for something.

Instead of re-hashing old arguments, I'd prefer to look forward. I would hope that Gopher Fans would support the new AD in a positive manner.
Click to expand...

i agree with both posts.
 

mattw1067 said:
False. PSU's AD was a total, utter, and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and PSU's reputation it's incredible. Maturi was a decent man for the job at the time and kept the department clean after the Clem Haskins ordeal. I think he should have been replaced a few years earlier, but it is absolutely asinine to describe him as "a total, utter, and frightening disaster."
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was he really a total, utter and frightening disaster of an AD who did so much damage to the department and psu's reputation it's incredible?

serious question, because i haven't been following psu's recruiting, but they seem to be doing all right. obviously the guy failed miserably in the handling of this heinous situation (assuming that i am abreast of all the information). but as much as it sucks to be a psu fan right now, their program is in far better shape than minnesota's. obviously, it's still to be determined as to whether there will be any lasting damage.
 

Ole said:
I'll defend my opinion of the job he did forever.
In this specific case apples to rotten and creepy oranges

Myself sitting in a whole section ALONE, late in the OSU game 2 years ago tells me enough about how Maturi ran and oversaw the program.
The fact that it was a crisp halloween night ripe for a crazy and fun atmosphere in a brand new stadium with a top opponent coming in made it worse.
The other 1500 people left in the stadium may have been overcome with joy at the great job Maturi did fundraising, organizing, and hiring to that point. I was not.

Yes, he did not foster a predatory child rapist. Kudos.
Click to expand...

You'll attempt to defend it, but your assertion that he was a total failure simply isn't supportable. If he was a total failure, that means he couldn't have been any worse. The stadium screams out against it being a total failure. And Maturi sitting alone in his section doesn't tell a thing about how he ran the program. It was hardly the first time the Gophers had been blown out by Ohio State.

I'm not even saying he did a good job. Just that he wasn't a total failure.
 

MinnMarchDTF said:
Exactly. Whatever has happened, has happened. Just have to move forward and hope we can take the next step with Teague.
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We can't do that until he is burned at the stake! After all we are so perfect and know everything. Don't you understand that MinnMarchDTF? Death to the infidels!
 

Pros:
Effectively merged the Women's & Men's AD (this should not be under-emphasized)
No major NCAA infractions (also should not be under-emphasized)
Majority of teams saw success (NC in hockey, wrestling & golf under his tenure)
Tubby hire (give credit where credit is due)
Kill hire (verdict still out but looking like a great hire)
McCutcheon hire (Team USA Olympic volleyball coach)
TCF Bank Stadium ('nuff said)

Cons:
Revenue sports (at best stagnated at worst regressed)
Brewster hire (by far the biggest knock on his record)
Mason fire (costly due to poorly handled and timed)
Monson fire (costly due to poorly handled and timed)

Based on the above, I see his tenure as a net positive on The U.
 

Joel Maturi's reign was a Quixotic one. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the road to the bottom of the B1G standings in Football and Basketball pass right by a boathouse.
 

Nokomis said:
Tubby hire (give credit where credit is due)
Kill hire (verdict still out but looking like a great hire)
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I'm curious. From the above you seem to be implying that the verdict is in on Tubby Smith. If so, what is it?
 

gophergrad said:
This is a more apt way of looking at it. I don't know much about the past AD's but it would be interesting to see how Maturi stacks up.

With Tim Brewster, Adam Weber and Joel Maturi gone, who else will Gopher Nation have to constantly bicker over?????
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Well, before that it was Mason (at the end), the defense, Maturi, Monson, Cupido . . . so to answer your question, Gopher Nation will bicker about anyone that they feel isn't doing a good job. If Kill doesn't start producing more wins, Gopher Nation will turn on him. If Nelson ends up flopping, he'll receive a lot of criticism from Gopher Nation.

That's just the nature of sports. (look at people constantly hating Vikes coaches, Vikes QBs, now a lot of people have turned on Mauer)
 

Maturi did his job the best he knew how and I don't think anyone should ever question his work ethic or energy to do his job. There were many ways his tenure could have gone but the fact is if the President of the U didn't agree that he was doing a fine job, it was his responsibility to remove Maturi from his position. And that didn't happen until this spring.

Maturi came into a tough position when he took over as AD. How many departments had separate athletic departments for men's and women's sports when Maturi came on board? That sort of thing shouldn't be a part of any AD's job description. Instead of spending time with potential donors he's trying to scrub the Mrs. logos off the walls.

It is time for a Teague to come in and shake the status quo up in Dinkytown......but I will always think that maturis management style were good for the U during that transition and through the building of TCF.
 

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