Fire Maturi? Only if you have no recollection of 8 years ago

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Rick Mons

Rick Mons

The former MN Snowman
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While I have a lot of respect for some of those who don't care much (or at all) for Joel Maturi, I think the calls for firing him fail to consider where we've been and where we are now.

Just before Maturi came in as AD, there was a fractured department (anyone else remember the days of Chris Voelz?). Athletics was in the red to the tune of $10 Million. The University was planning on cutting men's gymnastics (it's still around) as well as men's and women's golf (they're still around). Basketball was still reeling from NCAA sanctions. Some folks talked about how we should cut baseball.

And before those days, we thought we had a great AD in Mac Boston only to find out that Clem was considered "untouchable" and the AD had abrogated authority.

While I don't think Maturi is perfect and I'll freely admit there are some things I don't like about the revenue enhancements that have gone on, I think we're far better off as a result of his efforts.

And I think a number of those who call for his firing (or that other guy, Joe Matury) either don't recall what things were like back in 2002 or weren't into Gopher athletics back then. Based on where we are and what we know, I think Maturi has been an asset to this University (and thus this state). It would be a travesty to ask him to step down before his current contract expires.
 

1) There was never any talk of cutting baseball.

2) I believe the gymnastics and golf teams were saved because of private donations, not Maturi's magical budget balancing. Simply cutting Voelz' salary was probably enough to save one of those sports.
 

When things aren't going well people always look for someone to blame. Not saying he shouldn't be fired (not saying he should either), but it's not surprising that people are calling for someones head right now. I'd rather give the guy who hired Tubby Smith a little more of a chance though.
 

Tubby hired himself. He knew there was a job opening here and had his people do the leg work while UK was still playing. An orange traffic pylon could've been sitting in Maturi's office chair and hired Tubby.
 

Art Vandelay said:
1) There was never any talk of cutting baseball.
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Sorry, Art, but my understanding is it was under consideration at a relatively high level.

2) I believe the gymnastics and golf teams were saved because of private donations, not Maturi's magical budget balancing. Simply cutting Voelz' salary was probably enough to save one of those sports.
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Wrong again.
 


And before those days, we thought we had a great AD in Mac Boston only to find out that Clem was considered "untouchable" and the AD had abrogated authority.

Sid wrote that Arne Carlson made Clem as you described him "untouchable". Does that match your story?

As for Maturi, the only faults I can point to are some of the extensions he's handed out- Borton and Mason. I have doubts about whether Coach Brewster will get it done, but he was worth the shot and the new extension won't lock us into keeping him going forward starting next year. Regardless if we are taking a step backwards and another possibly next year, he hit it out of the park with Coach Smith. It proved this is still a good job and we'll be able to get a quality coach whenever we are in the market for a new one.
 

Art Vandelay said:
Tubby hired himself. He knew there was a job opening here and had his people do the leg work while UK was still playing. An orange traffic pylon could've been sitting in Maturi's office chair and hired Tubby.
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That's a pretty funny image if you think about it.
 

I don't think Arne Carlson was solely responsible but clearly there was a relatively wide level of support for Clem within the fan base, the boosters and the monied ones.
 

Rick Mons said:
Sorry, Art, but my understanding is it was under consideration at a relatively high level.

Wrong again.
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<"2) I believe the gymnastics and golf teams were saved because of private donations, not Maturi's magical budget balancing. Simply cutting Voelz' salary was probably enough to save one of those sports.">

Not so sure he's wrong about that:

http://www.mndaily.com/2003/04/03/elimination-talk-past-womens-golf-team-eyeing-quick-comeback

This 2003 article confirms that the community raised 2.7 mil for men's, womens golf and gymnastics. This is not to discredit Maturi who may have played a part but I recall folks like Tom Lehman and Lou Nanne weighing in on this deal.

This is a tough job and I would not say Maturi should be fired. But right now it just feels like he's a step behind the music on most issues.
 



The results in men's basketball and football during Maturi's tenure have been awful. Even worse is that Football (and to some extent Basketball) have been easier to break through in during his tenure than they were in the past.

We play in a big boy conference and should have big boy expectations and results. 8 years without accomplishing anything significant in EITHER sport? I don't care if we were in SMU type bad shape when Maturi took over (we were not), 8 years is an eternity.

I have heard several unbelievably dumb comments from Maturi just in the past week or so. If you have not read his comments in the Daily Gopher article on football (comparing Gopher Football to the Chicago Cubs and saying no BCS coaches wanted the football job) and in Sid's column (the infamous 25 sports and FORTUNATE to have a FEW of them do well), I suggest you check them out.

I used to feel bad for Maturi when he got ripped 3-4 years ago, but now? It's an absolute joke that he is still employed.
 

bga1 said:
This 2003 article confirms that the community raised 2.7 mil for men's, womens golf and gymnastics.
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It's eight years later and all three sports are still around ... with no specialized fund-raising appeals that I'm aware of since the 2002 announcement. And clearly the savings from Voelz's salary played no role. I'll stand by my earlier statement regarding Art's assessment.
 

Rick Mons said:
It's eight years later and all three sports are still around ... with no specialized fund-raising appeals that I'm aware of since the 2002 announcement. And clearly the savings from Voelz's salary played no role. I'll stand by my earlier statement regarding Art's assessment.
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I guess this may explain why folks still have to dish out $60-70 for a pair of tickets to see Ivy League juggernaut Brown come to the Barn for an 11:00am Saturday morning tilt.
 

I admit I wasn't an avid follower of the AD's trial and tribulations 8+ years ago. As a teenager I had limited interest in the matter. It's just painfully obvious to me now that the current AD could be doing a MUCH better job than he is. I liken it to the Mason situation. Compared to the previous holders of his title he was a substaintial improvement. But improving performance from dismal to barely mediocre isn't saying a whole lot.
 



I'm sure he did a fine job in his early years cleaning up the mess, but he's not up to being the AD of a successful major-conference athletic program. It's painfully obvious.

On some level I think he realizes it. His recent comments that come of as whining are disturbing. And he's made multiple comments about how this job is not cut out for those who care about academics anymore and how the job is not 'fun' anymore. Fine. Please do everyone a favor and retire, Joel. You're old enough. You've earned it.
 

I think he's a solid worker bee. He's not dynamic and he's not a leader. He gets some of the credit for the stadium, but not a lot. I give him more credit for the Tubby hire than Art. He recognized an opportunity and jumped on it before Tubby started considering other options. The Brewster hire and the Borton extensions were clearly mistakes.

I give him credit for being responsive to the average fan. I emailed him two or three times during the Monson tenure and received a non canned response each time. I criticize him partially for the loss of atmosphere at Williams. I would pay more for the tickets in return for a decent preseason schedule and the band's return to prominence instead of the corporate sponsored timeouts.

The problem is that he's running an $80-100M business and working your way up athletic departments doesn't really prepare you for the reality of running a big, complex operation. Given the size of the budget and the incredibly wide variety of responsibilities I think the position is underpaid. You aren't going to get the talent, leadership and vision required for the job for $300K a year.
 

jamiche said:
The problem is that he's running an $80-100M business and working your way up athletic departments doesn't really prepare you for the reality of running a big, complex operation. Given the size of the budget and the incredibly wide variety of responsibilities I think the position is underpaid. You aren't going to get the talent, leadership and vision required for the job for $300K a year.
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I agree with Jamiche on this one...even if you hire a homer as AD...making 300K running a 100 million dollar business is absurd. College Athlectics is big business and we need to hire a business person to run our program. To a business person, winning would be necessary for revenue and everything that goes into winning (coaches, recruiting, facilities, donors, fans and ticket sales) would be part of the plan and process.

It is time for the U to get into the game. With the BigTenNetwork, we need to take advantage of the financial windfall and transform our program...Maturi is not the guy to do it...IMO.
 

Maturi should have been fired some time back. How can an AD who gave Mason and Monson big extensions and then fire them shortly after still have a job ? Even offering Monson an extention was beyond belief since he was so awful as coach.
 

Art99 said:
Maturi should have been fired some time back. How can an AD who gave Mason and Monson big extensions and then fire them shortly after still have a job ? Even offering Monson an extention was beyond belief since he was so awful as coach.
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Maturi was among 5 or 6 AD up for national ADOTY honors in 2009.
 

I love when Rick is wrong, he doesn't admit it. The Men's golf team was mostly saved due to the fact they won the NCAA Championship in 2002.
 

Re: Golf and Baseball

Yes, the Rick is wrong on these two sports. I was on the golf fundraising committee and the sport would have been axed without the privately raised funds.

And no, there was never ever any "high level" talk on cutting baseball.

Stick with peddling houses, gramps.
 

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