In Defense of Maturi

[GopherinFlorida]

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.

Not sure what definition of concensus you are using...but if you mean most people on this board think Maturi had a plan and it was Kill and he got his target,,,then no, there is no concensus.

Maturi may have known Kill's name from the beginning, but according to interviews of Maturi, he has stated that Patterson was the one that recomended Kill to Maturi and Kill was not contacted until the Saturday of UConn's win of the Big East...when I have stated that Edsall changed his agreeement to be our coach and Maturi had to go to backup backup backup plan b. Now maybe Edsall wasn't the issue...but regardless, Kill and Maturi both said that he wasn't contacted until the day before he was hired. How could that possibly indicate a master plan that worked out?

 

[millions2spare]

Joels time has passed. We need a business orientated AD who can deal with finance and institute the culture change needed to make us a winning program.

 

[Unregistered User]

Joels time has passed. We need a business orientated AD who can deal with finance and institute the culture change needed to make us a winning program.

Agreed. I think Joel has done some things well, and some things not so well (let's not devolve into a pissing match about which side of the ledger is more completed).

Coach Kill has spoken about the need for a change in culture too, and I agree with him. But I will not pretend that I know the route to the yellow brick road to nirvana, I can only hope that Kaler makes what I believe is the right decision to cut the cord with Joel, and that he makes the right hire.

 

[Go4Broke]

Not sure what definition of concensus you are using...but if you mean most people on this board think Maturi had a plan and it was Kill and he got his target,,,then no, there is no concensus.

Maturi may have known Kill's name from the beginning, but according to interviews of Maturi, he has stated that Patterson was the one that recomended Kill to Maturi and Kill was not contacted until the Saturday of UConn's win of the Big East...when I have stated that Edsall changed his agreeement to be our coach and Maturi had to go to backup backup backup plan b. Now maybe Edsall wasn't the issue...but regardless, Kill and Maturi both said that he wasn't contacted until the day before he was hired. How could that possibly indicate a master plan that worked out?

This is complete Bullsh*t. I heard Kill tell Sid Hartman on his radio show his agent had been in contact with the U for weeks before he talked to Maturi in person. Furthermore, Maturi stated in a newspaper interview when he in Bruininks and flew down to meet Kill they had a fully negotiated contract with them ready for signature.

Maturi had Kill as one of his backup hires early in the search process. If Kill turns out to be a winner you and all Maturi's other critics are going to have to kiss his ass. And it goes without saying you will be reminded about it constantly in GopherHole by me and other posters who are concerned about facts, truth, and accuracy.

 

[Rouser4eVA]

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?

Totally! We in message board world (and I count myself in this group) worked ourselves into a frenzy with each and every rumor that emerged from anyone's mouth during that long couple of months! We were guided into understanding by our own uninformed opinions of the actual reality that was playing out in Maturi's day to day activities. All the venomous allegations related to a "botched" search process and an "accidental hiring" of Jerry Kill are so baseless, and only serve one goal, to de-legitimize the AD, who has overseen overall success of the program but disappointingly tragic performance in his most high-profile sports.

My only defense of Maturi is that he has done a competent job in a majority of the aspects of guiding a department, and I believe him to be a honest, sincere and principled man, which to me, does mean something. That said, I hope he does walk away soon because I don't trust him with some of the biggest decisions involving our highest profile sports.

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

I'm not a person to ask Maturi to leave or stay. I haven't given millions to the U, although tuition occassionally feels like it. Tubby lost a couple of players and the team missed the tourney. Oops. Lucia has so many draft choices on his team, nobody wants to develop as much as a hangnail. They lack chemistry as well. Oops. Football has been run on spit and rubber bands for so long, I don't remember the game as it should be played. Ouch. If I had more skin in the game I would care if Maturi was renewed or terminated. I just don't care. It is not that meaningful. He manages the budget and makes the occassional casting call. The snooze button comes to mind. Let me know when it becomes really important who fills that role.