In Defense of Maturi

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I posted it in the Souhan thread. Sorry, I agree with Souhan.
 

It is obvious that there is a fine line between the two. This was a good opinion piece. I like that shot at Souhan if true. Hard to respect a guy that has written numerous times for a guys head and has never interviewed him, himself.

I agree that under a new AD, so of the sports will be cut right away.
 

I have a couple problems with this article. Among other things, it lauds Maturi for cleaning up compliance and getting the budget under control. These are significant accomplishments of which the U should be proud and if we were looking at Maturi’s tenure in 2007, I’d say he’d done a pretty good job. But we’re not. This is 2011 and he has had precious little to brag about lately. The article also talks about how Maturi supports gender equity and I’m sorry, but this should be a basic expectation for someone in his position, not an accomplishment. Lastly, Weiner talks about the improvement of the graduation rate among student athletes at the U (71%), which is the highest it’s ever been. According to the Big Ten website, that’s the average across the conference.

I guess it’s not Maturi’s handling of the department in general that bothers me, but his handling of revenue sports in particular that do. The circus surrounding Jerry Kill’s hire this fall seemed like an exercise in buffoonery and it was only by dumb luck that we ended up with a coach that I think could bring the program some real success. Maturi’s had a long run and I hope he decides that it’s time for him to go.
 

It's a well written and well thought out opinion piece, but:
If the "successes" he writes about are what the U truly wants to emphasize, it's time to become a division III school and elevate academic standards above where they stand now.
Wins and losses matter period. End of story. If your football, basketball, and here, hockey teams are not winning, you lose and should rightfully be replaced. Sorry that's division I athletics, that's Big Ten athletics.
 


Ole said:
It's a well written and well thought out opinion piece, but:
If the "successes" he writes about are what the U truly wants to emphasize, it's time to become a division III school and elevate academic standards above where they stand now.
Wins and losses matter period. End of story. If your football, basketball, and here, hockey teams are not winning, you lose and should rightfully be replaced. Sorry that's division I athletics, that's Big Ten athletics.
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The Ohio State agrees with you!
;)

I don't think he was trying to focus on the successes of the non-revenue sports so much as the overall picture of the department and that was a part of it. The taking over a department that was in serious trouble both financially and with the NCAA and getting it back on its feet.

Overall I thought it was a fair article balancing all the negativity out there about Maturi. I also thought his comment concerning Souhan was justified. To often people get behind a computer, think they have the problem figured out, fall in love with their own opinion and start typing without perspective, without doing their homework and without considering the big picture.

To often reporters feed off each others issues rather then research themselves. I personally think it lacks credibility for Souhan to write so many articles slamming Maturi and not once interviewing him or getting his perspective.
 

Wow, where to start?

1) Yes the athletic departments were merged together in 2002. It seemed that the wrinkles were ironed out 4-5 years ago, so how long can you keep that as a valid reason for Joel to keep his job? If Joel were younger could he still point to that in the year 2015?

2) The increase in revenue is due to BTN and NCAA Tournament revenue increases and credit should be given to the Big Ten collective and not any one AD like Joel Maturi. This feels like lauding a lottery winner for his financial wherewithal in regards to his current financial position.

3) I actually agree with the author here as Maturi isn’t the major Sports AD, but the AD for every sport. He should be visible for as many contests as possible.

4) Academic performance is improved. This is never a bad thing.

5) There have been no major infractions under Joel’s watch. I would trumpet this from the hilltops if we were able to maintain the competitive level of the major programs. Unfortunately Mase’s teams went from the 8-5, 10-3 teams in 2002 and 2003 and took a nosedive to struggling to become a bowl eligible team. Men’s hockey went from NCAA champions in 2002 & 2003 to finishing 7th, 5th, 7th and 5th in the WCHA the last 4 years and giving the coach an extension due to that success. The women’s flagship program (or at least it was) is basketball which went to the NCAA tourney in Joel’s first three years with two Sweet 16 appearances and a Final 4 appearance. 7 years later we’re staring at back-to-back seasons where we are at least 4 games below .500. The Men’s golf team were the NCAA champions in 2002 and won the Big 10 in 2002 & 2003 and have slowly declined since that time. Plenty of NCAA athletic departments play by the rules and find a way to win in the major sports so there’s no pat on the back for Joel here.

6) The author compares the hirings of Brewster and Rich Rod showing that Maturi at least didn’t screw it up as much as Michigan. Yes, Michigan hired a bigger pile of dung, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Maturi hired a pile of dung.

Maturi does have his positives, but his weaknesses do make him better served as an Assistant AD at a university like Minnesota.
 

Two things.

1: I had to laugh at the "Stanford … is that a football power?" line. I understand what he is getting at but he picked the wrong year to make that comment since they did just play in a BCS game.

2: Michigan's AD may have been the former CEO of Domino's but he is also a former Michigan player (we all know how important it is at that school to be an M man) and big time booster. He understands the complexity of running an atheltic dept.
 

The women's flagship team is hockey. One magical season with the two best women's basketball players in Gopher history doesn't change that.
 



I guess I've said it before but my biggest beef with Maturi is his handling of the hiring and firing of major coaches more than anything else. I'll laud what he's done for the budget, getting the Bank built, making the difficult decision to dump 'CCO, etc.

The Don Munson issue was one of the worst for me. To his point of a lesson that winning is the only thing, what kind of lesson does it teach that not achieving the key measurable job requirement set up by your employer is acceptable?
 

On one hand, I understand what Weiner is trying to say - BUT,
I have to admit I can't stand Weiner. He used to cover the Twins for the Strib. In that capacity, he often reported on the teams efforts to get a new stadium. During that time, Weiner wrote a book, criticizing the use of public financing for sports stadiums. Every time the Twins or any other team talked about a stadium, Weiner would quote some economist from Cincinnati who claimed that sports stadiums had no economic impact on the community. And yet, he continued to cover the Twins as an allegedly unbiased journalist, when he was on the record as opposing any stadium plan that included public financing. I felt at the time it was unethical on his part, and a complete lack of journalistic ethics by the Strib to allow him to function as a
'reporter' when he had a well-known bias on the subject.

I realize this doesn't have anything to do with Maturi or the U, but to me, Weiner criticizing Souhan is the pot calling the kettle black.

As far as Souhan is concerned, I think he's a junior-high version of Reusse - less talented, but tries to be a cynical smart-ass like Reusse in order to generate web-hits.
 

Geezo Beezo said:
6) The author compares the hirings of Brewster and Rich Rod showing that Maturi at least didn’t screw it up as much as Michigan. Yes, Michigan hired a bigger pile of dung, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Maturi hired a pile of dung.
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If we hired RichRod here and he didn't work out, I don't know how much anyone would put that on JM. Just like if OTS doesn't work out. The man had a good resume and had won at a high level. I don't know how you really criticize the move other than RichRod was trying to change a culture that frankly didn't want or need to be changed.

Brewster had zero experience as a head coach or coordinator. Picking someone with zero experience was a terrible risk and I really don't know how he ever justified that risk. I freely admit I was caught up in the hype when Brew came, but I also freely admit I'm not capable of being an AD.:)
 

dpodoll68 said:
The women's flagship team is hockey. One magical season with the two best women's basketball players in Gopher history doesn't change that.
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I react to six of the author's points and I only get a minor penalty from dpo on what the flagship of women's athletics program is?

FEELS_GOOD_MAN.png
 




RodentRampage said:
I'd say the women's flagship team is volleyball.
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This is what I was thinking. I couldn't tell you how well the women's hockey team has done lately without looking it up because they don't have the media exposure that hoops and volleyball have.
 

I think Maturi could have done a better job with the timing of the firings of Monson and Mason, He also took a real gamble with Brewster and probably made the wrong decision with Tubby's attempt to hire Williams. However, I don't think he is as bad as most posters claim. He does work hard and has made some good hires. By the way, Chris Volz hired Pam Borton before the men's and women's departments were combined.
 

I'd say the women's flagship team is rowing. We need a nicer boat house. lol
 

If I recall, Weiner also published an article for the Strib around the time the Gophers were looking for a stadium. It discussed the U without Gopher football.
 

Nashvlgopher said:
I guess it’s not Maturi’s handling of the department in general that bothers me, but his handling of revenue sports in particular that do. The circus surrounding Jerry Kill’s hire this fall seemed like an exercise in buffoonery and it was only by dumb luck that we ended up with a coach that I think could bring the program some real success. Maturi’s had a long run and I hope he decides that it’s time for him to go.
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Slam Maturi all you want.. But to say that he 'stumbled' onto Coach Kill and it was only 'dumb luck' that we ended up with him is one of the single WORST points against Maturi I've ever seen. Just because Kill wasn't his/the U's first choice, doesn't mean that he wasn't on their radar the whole time.

Yeah, his 'Tubby-like hire' statement may lead everyone to their opinion that we 'stumbled' onto Kill, but I can assure you, we didn't stumble onto him.

Rip Maturi because he got our hopes up, but not for hiring Kill.
 

Formo said:
Slam Maturi all you want.. But to say that he 'stumbled' onto Coach Kill and it was only 'dumb luck' that we ended up with him is one of the single WORST points against Maturi I've ever seen. Just because Kill wasn't his/the U's first choice, doesn't mean that he wasn't on their radar the whole time.

Yeah, his 'Tubby-like hire' statement may lead everyone to their opinion that we 'stumbled' onto Kill, but I can assure you, we didn't stumble onto him.

Rip Maturi because he got our hopes up, but not for hiring Kill.
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You're misunderstanding. I didn't rip him for hiring Jerry Kill. I think that Jerry Kill was a great hire, but do you honestly think it was Joel Maturi's skill in driving the hiring process that got him here? No way.
 

Nashvlgopher said:
You're misunderstanding. I didn't rip him for hiring Jerry Kill. I think that Jerry Kill was a great hire, but do you honestly think it was Joel Maturi's skill in driving the hiring process that got him here? No way.
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So tell us. What got him here? Mona, the search company? The bottom line is, this is another Maturi hire, good, bad or indifferent.
 

Okay, I must not be writing very clearly. So far, FORMO has accused me of ripping Maturi for hiring Kill and Bayfield says I think he wasn’t Maturi’s hire. My original comment was criticizing the hiring process, so let me use an analogy.

Obviously, they goal of any football game is to win, and in 2009 the Gophers beat South Dakota State. The fact that the Gophers ended up winning that game does not necessarily mean that Tim Brewster did a great job coaching, but rather that enough good things happened to the Gophers to put them over the top. Applying that same logic to the hiring process, the fact that the U ended up with a good hire does not necessarily mean that the search was conducted well. That’s all I’m saying.
 

Nashvlgopher said:
Okay, I must not be writing very clearly. So far, FORMO has accused me of ripping Maturi for hiring Kill and Bayfield says I think he wasn’t Maturi’s hire. My original comment was criticizing the hiring process, so let me use an analogy.

Obviously, they goal of any football game is to win, and in 2009 the Gophers beat South Dakota State. The fact that the Gophers ended up winning that game does not necessarily mean that Tim Brewster did a great job coaching, but rather that enough good things happened to the Gophers to put them over the top. Applying that same logic to the hiring process, the fact that the U ended up with a good hire does not necessarily mean that the search was conducted well. That’s all I’m saying.
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I would doubt you have any information on how the search was conducted other than what was stated in the papers, and that was reporters and columnists putting forward their best guess. Don't you think it is a little unwise to criticize a process you know nothing about?
 

Nashvlgopher said:
Okay, I must not be writing very clearly. So far, FORMO has accused me of ripping Maturi for hiring Kill and Bayfield says I think he wasn’t Maturi’s hire. My original comment was criticizing the hiring process, so let me use an analogy.

Obviously, they goal of any football game is to win, and in 2009 the Gophers beat South Dakota State. The fact that the Gophers ended up winning that game does not necessarily mean that Tim Brewster did a great job coaching, but rather that enough good things happened to the Gophers to put them over the top. Applying that same logic to the hiring process, the fact that the U ended up with a good hire does not necessarily mean that the search was conducted well. That’s all I’m saying.
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Big Plus 1...even a blind squirrel can find an acorn every once in a while...but in the long run...they usually starve...just like our need for wins...we are starving under JM!

Just imagine how bad off we would be if we weren't getting millions more from the NCAA BB and BigTenNetwork...its easy to balance a budget when the money fairy hands you an extra 25 million per year just for being in the big ten...wish the money fairy would stop by my house.

Saying JM did a good job because we haven't gotten into NCAA trouble since he came on board is fine...but lets not act like he should be crowned king for doing one of his core job duties...do we applaud everytime the fry guy at McDonald's doesn't forget to hit the timer buttom?

The extension then firing of Monson, Mason and Brewster are all indications that JM is a wimp and unable to do what is needed. Keeping Borton and Lucia on is another typical JM move. Hell, he is going to extend Lucia afte 3 consecutive years of missing the NCAA tourny...are you kidding me???????

Maturi is a putz and should be the CFO of our athletic department...not the CEO. He lacks vision and fortitude and a willingness to do the hard things before its too late....IMO
 

The perception of Maturi is impacted by four things, all of them having to do with expectations:

1.) A beautiful new stadium with few victories to go with it. By the end of the second season the student section was half empty and the rest of the stadium had plenty of available seats;
2.) The hiring of Tubby Smith and nary a sniff of a B10 title.
3.) The high risk hire of Tim Brewster. I thought it was a worthwhile gamble at the time considering that he didn't have to pay him much.
4.) The expectations surrounding the football coach search. Kill is off to a good start in terms of PR but he is most definitely not the name brand coach we were led to believe would be introduced in December.

For those people who downplay the lack of NCAA investigations during Maturi's tenure, that is an absolutely huge success for which he deserves full credit. For those of us who've been around long enough to endure multiple year long NCAA investigations every five to eight years a quiet decade is truly a big deal.

I've been frustrated with Maturi at times through the years but, if you think about it, his biggest mistakes have stemmed from too much loyalty. In a culture where loyalty is often based on convenience, I would guess that Maturi's employees feel like they have his support. I don't know anyone in the Athletics Dept but if his people like working for him, that says a lot about him as a person and as an administrator. I think he deserves more respect and latitude than he is generally given.
 


It's like Coach Warmath, you didn't exactly love him while playing but you respected him, and loved him after he made you a man. Don't know how much respect Maturi has with the staff of coaches and underlings. They have to be nice in public.
 

Silvio said:
I would doubt you have any information on how the search was conducted other than what was stated in the papers, and that was reporters and columnists putting forward their best guess. Don't you think it is a little unwise to criticize a process you know nothing about?
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This is exactly my point.
 

Nashvlgopher said:
Okay, I must not be writing very clearly. So far, FORMO has accused me of ripping Maturi for hiring Kill and Bayfield says I think he wasn’t Maturi’s hire. My original comment was criticizing the hiring process, so let me use an analogy.

Obviously, they goal of any football game is to win, and in 2009 the Gophers beat South Dakota State. The fact that the Gophers ended up winning that game does not necessarily mean that Tim Brewster did a great job coaching, but rather that enough good things happened to the Gophers to put them over the top. Applying that same logic to the hiring process, the fact that the U ended up with a good hire does not necessarily mean that the search was conducted well. That’s all I’m saying.
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Why does it matter how Kill was hired? How do you know who Maturi has contacted in coming here? For all we know he has contacted Harbaugh, Patterson, Fulmer, etc who were proven winners that would have been considered a Tubby Smith like hire, but they all turned him down.. But we don't know this. We don't know anything except that he made a poor statement (Tubby Smith-like hire) in the beginning of the search process and we got a guy that wasn't on ANYONE'S radar.

I have no quarrels with anyone that doesn't like how Maturi has gone about certain things.. but the hiring (including it's process) of our newest football coach is something that should NOT be a reason to rip Maturi.
 

Nashvlgopher said:
Okay, I must not be writing very clearly. So far, FORMO has accused me of ripping Maturi for hiring Kill and Bayfield says I think he wasn’t Maturi’s hire. My original comment was criticizing the hiring process, so let me use an analogy.

Obviously, they goal of any football game is to win, and in 2009 the Gophers beat South Dakota State. The fact that the Gophers ended up winning that game does not necessarily mean that Tim Brewster did a great job coaching, but rather that enough good things happened to the Gophers to put them over the top. Applying that same logic to the hiring process, the fact that the U ended up with a good hire does not necessarily mean that the search was conducted well. That’s all I’m saying.
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Wrong.

I am interested in hearing all the information you have to back up your statement "but do you honestly think it was Joel Maturi's skill in driving the hiring process that got him here? No way."

Maturi is not above reproach in many areas but I think the concensus here is that he didn't luck out with the Kill hire.
 

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