OT? Ok so what's the deal behind Maturi's final extensions?

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Ole

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I couldn't find a good discussion thread anywhere on this on any of the boards.

I am a huge critic of mother joel.
To me he has been such a destructive and horrible AD it possibly cannot be calculated.
He has literally made blunder after blunder, wasting incredible amounts of money, demanding mediocrity, and championing his non revenue sports while the breadwinners of Bball and football crumbled and rotted around him. I cannot name a decision he made that was well executed.
He is not describable without rage IMO.

But even I was surprised at the Borton extension, and now we find that he extended 7 or 8 other non revenue coaches.

Does anyone have some insight into why this happened?
I will only theorize there's some lurking huge donor or politician involved, obviously who supported Maturi's love of the non revenue sports, and holds power over the U as a whole in some way.
It's obvious why it wasn't announced, It's not feasibly explained why an outgoing and incredibly unpopular AD would extend so many coaches, it's not going to be popular with the fans, and takes decision making away from incoming AD handcuffing him.

So what's the deal?
 

Joel is a nice, caring man who likes to be liked. He doesn't like to have enemies, he is sensitive to what's written and said about him. He didn't like to have hard conversations with Mason, Monson, etc. Those are great traits to have as a person, but not always great traits to have as a major market AD. The latter caught up to him and the U will pay the price for years to come.
 

An outgoing AD at U doesn't have the authority to approve contract extensions for anyone or anything unless his bosses agree with the rationale for the extensions and approve them as well. My guess is that Kaler, and whoever he listens to, didn't want the new AD (whomever it was going to be) to try to make wholesale coaching changes in the Athletics Department that would involve significant cost increases, and that would end up pissing off large numbers of U donors and supporters along with the Board of Regents, State Legislature, and the Governor.

One of the reasons Maturi loved non-revenue sports is because their are significant numbers of U alumni and fans who love non-revenue sports. And add to that the fact that there are more than a few wealthy and very influential supporters of women's athletics at the U who are very protective of women's sports in general, and female coaches in particular. If they want Borton or any other female coach to get an extension they know exactly how to make it happen.

Apparently, you are under the mistaken impression that the U Athletics Director is the Master of his Domain and is able to hire and fire coaches, give them extensions, or otherwise negatively impact the U's athletic's budget without the oversight and approval of his superiors (formerly Bruininks, and now Kaler). Get a clue. Monson received a contract extension because Bruininks wanted him to get one. Mason was fired because Bruininks wanted him fired. Brewster was fired because Bruininks knew there was no other choice. Kill was hired because Bruininks wanted him hired. No non-revenue sports were eliminated on Maturi's watch because Bruininks, and the people he consulted with besides Maturi, didn't want any eliminated.

The new AD has exactly the same power to hire coaches and give them extensions as Maturi did. That is to say he will be able to do those things as long as Kaler agrees with the rationale and then gives his approval. And if Kaler wants a coach fired he will do it exactly the same way Bruininks did it. He will tell his AD to get rid of him as soon possible.
 

It's the culture:

Presently there is a good old boy/girl mentality, what's needed is a responsibility mentality.
 

Go4Broke said:
An outgoing AD at U doesn't have the authority to approve contract extensions for anyone or anything unless his bosses agree with the rationale for the extensions and approve them as well. My guess is that Kaler, and whoever he listens to, didn't want the new AD (whoever it was going to be) to try to make wholesale changes in the Athletics Departments that would involve significant cost increases, and that would end up pissing off large number of U donors and supporters along with the Board of Regents, State Legislature, and the Governor.

One of the reasons Maturi loved non-revenue sports is because their are huge numbers of U alumni, and fans who love non-revenue sports. And add to that the fact that there are more than a few wealthy and very influential supporters of women's athletics at the U who are very protective of women's sports in general and female coaches in particular. If they want Borton or any other female coach to get an extension they know exactly how to make it happen.

Apparently, you are under the mistaken impression that the U Athletics Director is the Master of his Domain and is able to hire and fire coaches, and give them extensions, or otherwise negatively impact his budget without the oversight and approval of his superiors including the U President. Get clue. Monson received a contract extension because Bruininks wanted him to get one. Mason was fired because Bruininks wanted him fired. Brewster was fired because Bruininks wanted him fired. Kill was hired because Bruininks wanted him hired. No non-revenue sports were eliminated on Maturi's watch because Bruininks, and the people he consulted with besides Maturi, didn't want any eliminated.

The new AD gas exactly the same power to hire and fire coaches and give them extensions as Maturi did. That is to say he will be able to do those those as long as Kaler agrees with the rationale and then approves of them.
Click to expand...

Good thing you added "my guess", because that's quite a leap.
 




station19 said:
It's the culture:

Presently there is a good old boy/girl mentality, what's needed is a responsibility mentality.
Click to expand...


This is not the situation at just the University of Minnesota. Just ask Beej.

What is more important? Whom you know, or whom you blow.
 

Ole said:
I couldn't find a good discussion thread anywhere on this on any of the boards.

I am a huge critic of mother joel.
To me he has been such a destructive and horrible AD it possibly cannot be calculated.
He has literally made blunder after blunder, wasting incredible amounts of money, demanding mediocrity, and championing his non revenue sports while the breadwinners of Bball and football crumbled and rotted around him. I cannot name a decision he made that was well executed.
He is not describable without rage IMO.

But even I was surprised at the Borton extension, and now we find that he extended 7 or 8 other non revenue coaches.

Does anyone have some insight into why this happened?
I will only theorize there's some lurking huge donor or politician involved, obviously who supported Maturi's love of the non revenue sports, and holds power over the U as a whole in some way.
It's obvious why it wasn't announced, It's not feasibly explained why an outgoing and incredibly unpopular AD would extend so many coaches, it's not going to be popular with the fans, and takes decision making away from incoming AD handcuffing him.

So what's the deal?
Click to expand...

I don't follow all of the non-revenue sports that had their coaches receive extensions but follow and attend a few of them. Other than the Borton extension, none of the others raise an eyebrow, they all seem to have been fairly successful as coaches and extensions are easily justified. I have no idea how their salaries compare, relative to their sports. Women's basketball certainly has taken a few steps back and I don't understand what Borton did to deserve the extension.

Lot's of reasons to hate on Maturi but I don't think these other extensions are one of them.
 



Tim Riggins said:
I don't follow all of the non-revenue sports that had their coaches receive extensions but follow and attend a few of them. Other than the Borton extension, none of the others raise an eyebrow, they all seem to have been fairly successful as coaches and extensions are easily justified. I have no idea how their salaries compare, relative to their sports. Women's basketball certainly has taken a few steps back and I don't understand what Borton did to deserve the extension.

Lot's of reasons to hate on Maturi but I don't think these other extensions are one of them.
Click to expand...

Then why couldn't Teague extend them when he got in?
Something just doesn't add up to me.
Was this a stipulation for Maturi not signing his extension from Bruininks or something. Something like "Extend all my beloved coaches, give me a golden parachute, and I'll walk away."?
Wild speculation, but it all just doesn't smell right.
 

Pwers that be for whatever reason wanted the contracts extended and the outgoing AD had nothing to lose by doing it....or the outgoing AD had the authority to it and in an effort to take care of his "people" with no retribution possible, gave them contract extentions.

Either way, this yet another extremely embarrasing situation for the U.
 

Ole said:
Then why couldn't Teague extend them when he got in?
Something just doesn't add up to me.
Was this a stipulation for Maturi not signing his extension from Bruininks or something. Something like "Extend all my beloved coaches, give me a golden parachute, and I'll walk away."?
Wild speculation, but it all just doesn't smell right.
Click to expand...

No idea why he did it and I agree it doesn't look good for U that it happened this way. Just saying that some/most of those coaches are good at their craft and extensions were deserved.

I would be surprised if Kaler wasn't aware that this happened either. Hopefully it's as simple as Kaler not wanting the incoming AD to have to focus on extending these contracts immediately upon arrival (trying to find a positive in all of this).Allowing him to focus on the facilities updates that will come out shortly. I am sure some people will find a way to complain about some part of it but the plan is simply amazing.
 

Go4Broke said:
An outgoing AD at U doesn't have the authority to approve contract extensions for anyone or anything unless his bosses agree with the rationale for the extensions and approve them as well.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if that was true. I would think he had the authority to extend contracts as long as they were within a certain percentage raise of their existing contracts and it was contained within the departmental budget. Do you honestly think Kaler cares if J Robinson is extended again, as long as they aren't giving him some ridiculous raise? How about the women's rowing coach? Golf?

Does Kaler need to sign off on every professor getting a new contract? The non-revenue coaches would be very similar to that.
 



Maturi is still making more than all of them except Borton, Smith and Kill.

That is your question. Why does the U pays 350 000 to a former AD who is 65 or so? Who else does this?
 

Nothing about Maturi's exodus makes sense to me. But I whole-heartedly agree that the more time moves on and reflection on his tenure is supposed to gain understanding....or at least move towords 20/20 hindsight, the freakin madder I get at him.
 

JoeDirt said:
Nothing about Maturi's exodus makes sense to me. But I whole-heartedly agree that the more time moves on and reflection on his tenure is supposed to gain understanding....or at least move towords 20/20 hindsight, the freakin madder I get at him.
Click to expand...

He was a gong show. I do legitimately enjoy our successful volleyball and women's hockey seasons (no sarcasm, those girls are great), but winning in a sport where you see box scores online and then a few games come tournament time doesn't come close to the amount of fun I have when a sport that is consistently televised has success.
 

From Saturday's Strib:

BORTON CONTRACT

U made mistakes, but so did Star Tribune

The University of Minnesota is committed to being transparent and accountable. When we fall short, we correct it. Recent Star Tribune news and editorial coverage of Gopher women’s basketball coach Pam Borton’s contract extension did not report all of the facts and made an unfair insinuation (“Borton deal puts U on the defensive,” March 1, and “A contract blunder for U athletics,” March 5 editorial).

Last summer, the university negotiated a two-year contract extension with coach Borton. Did the university publicize Borton’s extension with a news release or press conference? No. And for that, shame on us. Borton’s extension received final approval just before the July 4 holiday, after Joel Maturi stepped down, and during the athletics department leadership transition. Publicity was simply overlooked.

As further evidence that the university did not intend to hide Borton’s contract, as implied by the Star Tribune, we also did not issue a news release about six other contract renewals last summer, including for wrestling coach of the year J Robinson and national champion women’s hockey coach Brad Frost. Holding us accountable for our mistake in not publicizing the contracts is fair game. But it is simply not fair, especially given evidence to the contrary, to imply the university intentionally tried to mislead the public or conceal information in this matter.

In its coverage, the Star Tribune also failed to report that under the state’s Data Practices Act it requested and received Borton’s original contract and the extension in October 2012. However, the Star Tribune did not report the extension until now — five months after the information was provided.

The bottom line: The Star Tribune should hold itself to the same standards it is expecting from us.

Eric W. Kaler

The writer is president of the University of Minnesota.

=====

You can debate the merits of the contract extensions for all the coaches, which ultimately come back to Joel's recommendations to the president, but I don't believe there was anything nefarious here about it not being announced. Simply a casualty of the transition. The letter also points out that the Strib held onto this information for quite some time. Not sure why they felt now was the right time to delve into this.
 

HHH_Gopher said:
From Saturday's Strib:

BORTON CONTRACT

U made mistakes, but so did Star Tribune

The University of Minnesota is committed to being transparent and accountable. When we fall short, we correct it. Recent Star Tribune news and editorial coverage of Gopher women’s basketball coach Pam Borton’s contract extension did not report all of the facts and made an unfair insinuation (“Borton deal puts U on the defensive,” March 1, and “A contract blunder for U athletics,” March 5 editorial).

Last summer, the university negotiated a two-year contract extension with coach Borton. Did the university publicize Borton’s extension with a news release or press conference? No. And for that, shame on us. Borton’s extension received final approval just before the July 4 holiday, after Joel Maturi stepped down, and during the athletics department leadership transition. Publicity was simply overlooked.

As further evidence that the university did not intend to hide Borton’s contract, as implied by the Star Tribune, we also did not issue a news release about six other contract renewals last summer, including for wrestling coach of the year J Robinson and national champion women’s hockey coach Brad Frost. Holding us accountable for our mistake in not publicizing the contracts is fair game. But it is simply not fair, especially given evidence to the contrary, to imply the university intentionally tried to mislead the public or conceal information in this matter.

In its coverage, the Star Tribune also failed to report that under the state’s Data Practices Act it requested and received Borton’s original contract and the extension in October 2012. However, the Star Tribune did not report the extension until now — five months after the information was provided.

The bottom line: The Star Tribune should hold itself to the same standards it is expecting from us.

Eric W. Kaler

The writer is president of the University of Minnesota.

=====

You can debate the merits of the contract extensions for all the coaches, which ultimately come back to Joel's recommendations to the president, but I don't believe there was anything nefarious here about it not being announced. Simply a casualty of the transition. The letter also points out that the Strib held onto this information for quite some time. Not sure why they felt now was the right time to delve into this.
Click to expand...

The Strib should have reported it when they found out, as should any other media source that knew.

I'm sorry, but this could not have been a simple oversight. Maturi was under so much heat at the end of his reign of terror here, I think the U knew they would get filleted if they announced all of these contracts post Maturi. Regardless of the reasoning, it looks like Maturi gave a bunch of extensions out last minute and squeezed the U for a golden parachute. It just looks bad.
 

Ole said:
The Strib should have reported it when they found out, as should any other media source that knew.

I'm sorry, but this could not have been a simple oversight. Maturi was under so much heat at the end of his reign of terror here, I think the U knew they would get filleted if they announced all of these contracts post Maturi. Regardless of the reasoning, it looks like Maturi gave a bunch of extensions out last minute and squeezed the U for a golden parachute. It just looks bad.
Click to expand...

The difference for me between the Strib not reporting the info and the U is that while I am a repeat paying customer to both the University and Gopher Athletics, I do not have a subscription to the Strib and haven't paid them a dime. If Strib subscribers are upset about this, that is fair, but the U pointing out that someone else also sat on the info doesn't do much for me in absolving the administration of blame.
 

We just forgot to tell anyone? Right. No one realized it wasn't made public? Right.

Not sure on the actual time-line, but when Maturi's new job description and pay rate were announced, and met with poor reaction, probably wasn't a good time to announce several other extensions. Most notably to Borton.

I was excited when Kahler came on board, because of his passion for sports, but I do question some of his decisions.

1. The golden parachute for Maturi.
2. The $800 K to buy out UNC
3. This latest Borton/Maturi fiasco.
 

Leaders in the women's basketball booster club only found out about it a couple months ago when she made a comment.

I guess I don't know how close a booster/program normally are, but seems odd that you wouldn't share with your biggest fans.
 


People do realize that athletic department didn't pay a dime for Maturi's transitional position right? It came from the U's fundraising foundation. If you're someone who donates via the foundation then you have a right to be bugged by that since your donations are helping pay for it. Anyone else is just griping.
 

GoAUpher said:
People do realize that athletic department didn't pay a dime for Maturi's transitional position right? It came from the U's fundraising foundation. If you're someone who donates via the foundation then you have a right to be bugged by that since your donations are helping pay for it. Anyone else is just griping.
Click to expand...

I think it is just another example of the university as a whole placing little value on the funds they receive, be it from donors or the legislature. The university has demonstrated time and again that they don't know the value of a dollar.
 

Ole said:
I couldn't find a good discussion thread anywhere on this on any of the boards.

I am a huge critic of mother joel.
To me he has been such a destructive and horrible AD it possibly cannot be calculated.
He has literally made blunder after blunder, wasting incredible amounts of money, demanding mediocrity, and championing his non revenue sports while the breadwinners of Bball and football crumbled and rotted around him. I cannot name a decision he made that was well executed.
He is not describable without rage IMO.

But even I was surprised at the Borton extension, and now we find that he extended 7 or 8 other non revenue coaches.

Does anyone have some insight into why this happened?
I will only theorize there's some lurking huge donor or politician involved, obviously who supported Maturi's love of the non revenue sports, and holds power over the U as a whole in some way.
It's obvious why it wasn't announced, It's not feasibly explained why an outgoing and incredibly unpopular AD would extend so many coaches, it's not going to be popular with the fans, and takes decision making away from incoming AD handcuffing him.

So what's the deal?
Click to expand...



Never forget Ole! You ask good questions...the right questions. Why? Why is this retired ad still being taken care of by still another generation of administrators? There are many unanswered questions and the answers would not be pretty.

Always question...NEVER forget what happened during the mature era...it was not good...it was not pretty...and it still may not have ended.

On a brighter note: Here is hoping for a great bowl game experience for our Golden Gopher Football Program during the 2013 season. 2012 gave our program progress...may 2013 take us further!

; 0 )
 

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