What were Maturi's biggest negatives?
You really don't know? His first few years seemed OK. Hockey was winning titles, Mason had the football running smoothly, Monson was being given a long leash, Borton was leading us to Final Fours. Around 2005, the wheels started to come off.
-2005: Dithers around and lets Mason's contract negotiations go down to literally the last minute, then gave him a big extension. Well run programs don't do this.
-2006: Let's it leak that he's firing Monson. It gets reported in the Star Tribune, etc. Then changes his mind for reasons we never find out. Holds the worst press conference of all time to tell us that he would fire him, but it's not all about wins and losses. This was Maturi's single worst moment. Just awful.
-2006: Mason has become unpopular after starting 3-6 before winning 3 in a row. They don't fire him. After losing a bowl game they were expected to lose, they fire him. In January. When all the best coaches have already been hired. Awful timing.
-2007: Hires Tim Brewster. The pickings were slim, but still this was one of the worse BCS football hires this century.
-2009: Trevor Mbakwe has issues. Instead of issuing a clear statement on whether he can or cannot play while it's worked out, he dithers and refuses to make a decision until the last minute. When Royce White gets in trouble too, he takes the safe route and suspends them both. When the Royce White stuff drags out for an unreasonable period of time, he does nothing. Royce has enough and quits. To be clear both Royce and Trevor are at fault. But a strong AD would have acted more decisively at a minimum.
-2011: Makes an awful mess of the football search, starting with promising to make a 'Tubby Smith' hire, getting spotted flying coach to interview coaches, etc. The fact that he may have tripped into the right hire doesn't completely erase the ugliness of the sausage making. Norwood appears to have missed this.
Maturi's biggest flaw was his indecisiveness. If you want to keep Glen Mason, sign him to an extension right away. If you want to fire him, do it the day after the regular season. If the President tells you to do it in an emotional knee-jerk after a Bowl Game, refuse. If a player under a pending charge can't play, let him know immediately, etc.
