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leatherface wrote:Not only WESTERN, but, Macomb is a factor in who is willing to move their family. Spouses can block a move very quickly.
I think that this came into play 2 years ago.
Ken Ralph had a lot of local supporters who wanted him to get the job.
If I remember correctly, he withdrew his application after he and his wife were in town for his on-campus interview. The word was that is his wife was not happy. Western and Macomb cannot compete with Colorado College when it comes to atmosphere and lifestyle. Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
sealhall74 wrote:Probably the best argument for promoting from within that anyone could come up with.
Promote from within because they are already here. NO. Allow others the opportunity to see what Western has to offer. Promoting from within sounds simple, but time and time again leads to stagnation of ideas.
I agree with Tere. WESTERN needs an aggressive and progressive thinker for leadership. And, they are going to need to pay top dollar for it. If they can't pay a competitive salary, then maybe some hard decisions need to be made. WESTERN can't be in a position of being "left behind" by everyone else in the two conferences.
I agree on hiring outside of WIU and that they have to have a proven and effective fundraising and cost effective plan to present during interview. They need to be fully aware of what WIU is going through before going in to make sure they are capable of maximizing our efforts to remain competitive. I like the idea of an Assistant AD from a DI school, just hopefully we can pay what is needed to bring someone like that to Macomb. Preferably from a state in similar circumstances and downturn so that he is already aware that spending. Does anyone know if there any proven Assistant AD's in any of the larger schools around Illinois that are ready for a bigger position, that we would be able to afford?
Give Nielson a bump to take the AD job and after he wins us our first national championship next year, he can then step down as HC and hire his replacement.
He's probably not interested in the extra work load, wiu might not even be interested, but that would nice. Especially the national championship part.
leatherface wrote:I think Nielson is probably more concerned with having a winning record than the AD job- at least I hope that would be correct.
I went to a small high school (Alexis) where the head football coach had dual role of principal and even later superintendent. He was very successful on the field and off. It can only enhance one's chances on the field if he/she is in charge of finding the right people to make things happen and figuring out where the dollars go. You are basically in charge of your own destiny. Will other programs suffer? Maybe a little bit for a while but if the football program wins, all others will eventually get a boost by it (take a moment to consider how many recruits NDSU snare by simply having them visit when the Bison have a home football game). "Rock" was AD for 38 years and HC for a lot of those. Different eras, yes. But the goals today are the same: Win, baby, win!
Times do change, and WIU needs a leader in the athletic department who will spend his or her time working on the needs of all sports, and their development. Yes, some "big time" programs have some dual roles, but, look at their resources. Some of these dual roles are more figure head any way.
Nielson needs to prove he can win at this level. The last I heard, he is paid to win football games.
Yeah I wasn't completely serious about Bob being the AD as you're correct, winning in football has to be the only focus at this point. He did service in both roles at M-D and my thought was it wouldn't be that much of an increase as compared to hiring just an AD.
I get why Tommy left, but wish we could have got a few more years out of him. Always a tough spot for a school like us. Can't afford top talent, have a tough sell on the area and if you do find talent or a diamond in the rough they don't stick around, as better opportunities will arise.
