@kjayhawks This article, courtesy of a poster on another board, tells why he won’t…though the article makes it clear why he should be, at least according to them: https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2018/09/rutgers-kansas_politis_5_observations.html
(pretty poor picture showing attendance near the end of the article)
I’d be among the very last to ever defend the Z person (don’t even want to type his name anymore) but to be fair there was no ESPN+ or other OTT network from ESPN at the time…it was all cable based. That doesn’t excuse the deal Z made…it was lousy, but there were only cable options at that time…no OTT.
@Crimsonorblue22 Agree with you wholeheartedly about that contract…though it seems to have been an “oversight” by the Athletic Corporation Board of Directors…who obviously in hindsight placed too much trust in Zenger who showed, at best, bad judgment, compounded by the Board abdicating its responsibility (as provided in its By-Laws). Setting general policy IS the job of the Athletic Board…carrying out that policy responsibly is the job of the AD. Just like a Board of Directors in a corporation, the AD being the President of the corporation. The Board sets general parameters but the “nitty-gritty” of carrying out those policies (the details like hiring/firing personnel) are left to the discretion of the President. But, the President still remains ultimately responsible to the Board and if they so choose, the Board may terminate him if they do not believe he is responsibly carrying out their policies. Because it was Zenger’s responsibility (coaches, contracts, administration) he was terminated, and properly so, even if regrettably later rather than sooner (in my opinion)…
@Crimsonorblue22 then why hire an AD?..and who makes the “ultimate decision” then, the “committee”/“guider”? (and who chooses the “committee” and who is on the “committee”). Then who is responsible if it doesn’t “work out”…are we going to fire the members of the “committee” and keep the AD since it wasn’t “his” hire, it was the committees? Realistically though, most ADs have at least an informal committee for input, but that is the ADs choice, not someone telling him what he can and can not do. If you “hamstring” your AD, that seems to say you don’t have confidence in your AD to make a good decision so you should not have hired that person as AD in the first place.
@Crimsonorblue22 Yes…but…
Yes, the “responsibility” falls on the AD…he is in charge of the athletic department…BUT, most AD’s seek some kind of counsel on the hire (though not “required” to do so) be it forming a committee, hiring a consultant(s), getting recommendations from the “leaving” coach (assuming he was successful, such as Self) and maybe even “running” his choice by certain people (Chancellor, BMDs, etc.) before an announcement. So, ultimately the AD does the hire, but being a little like a politician…“consulting” with people and trying to get as big a “buy-in” from them as he can on his final choice (something I don’t think Zenger did).
Whether he was a “good” or " bad" hire is now somewhat academic…he has been hired. I think the best thing to do now is to support him as much as we can and hope things work out (no results are ever “guaranteed”). The time for "what if"s is over. Not quite as pessimistic as you are about the B12. Figure that there is a >50% chance the B12 will survive. I’m thinking that neither UT nor OU will want to leave IF a new TV deal is within a couple of million of what they would receive elsewhere. Both have attractive T3s that could make their total take close to or possibly even above what they could get elsewhere without going through the hassle of “moving” (new “rivals”, longer travel, more different time zone to deal with, etc.). But, IF the TV contract is not that good, I do agree that if either “leaves”, even if the B12 survives as a conference name, it will be a P4.5 at best. If both left, then G5 (or AAC) it is for most of the survivors. In that case, the fate of KU is certainly up in the air, in my opinion.
@Texas-Hawk-10 My apologies. I did not understand your wishes.
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