Changes in UT's athletic administration

Discussion in 'Women’s Basketball' started by BabHorn, Jun 7, 2018.

  1. BabHorn

    BabHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Some major changes in the department, consolidation of some offices, hiring of two new senior associate athletic directors: TCU's Drew Martin and Nebraska's Shawn Eichorst. Might explain Fran's leaving. Plonsky has been moved into a new position as Del Conte's Chief of Staff.

    Going to be an interesting year.
    https://www.hookem.com/story/texas-...-nebraska-ad-shawn-eichorst-tcus-drew-martin/
     
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  2. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    Not sure what to think of Plonksy being the primary liaison for women's basketball. All I can think is that with it being the biggest sport in women's athletics (nationally) that it may needs more attention?
     
  3. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Agree. There is something not being told.
     
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  4. DINO22

    DINO22 1,000+ Posts

    Bout time.
    Texas need a change.
    A different approach.
    Hookem'
     
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  5. BabHorn

    BabHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I thought that she had been moved to oversee ALL student services for athletes. Not sure if she reminds the primary liaison for WBB, although it is worth following up on. It's an interesting question as to whom WBB primary contact is now.
     
  6. brnkj

    brnkj 2,500+ Posts

    Yes, this!
     
  7. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    She has been stripped of a lot of responsibilities, including marketing and involvement with LHN and IMG.

    Articles I've read say "primary liaison to women's basketball" which means not the other women's sports.

    https://247sports.com/college/texas...ersity-of-Texas-athletic-department-118868042

     
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  8. BabHorn

    BabHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Thanks for the link to that article, Moooooo. The AAS story left that last statement about Plonsky remaining the primary liaison to WBB out.
     
  9. NTexan9

    NTexan9 < 25 Posts

    Drew Martin is a friend of mine and did wonders for TCU. Excited to see how he can help evolve our athletics program and excited for change in general!
     
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  10. Karen

    Karen 25+ Posts

    I would like to see UT hire more African American women in high level positions in athletics (and the rest of the university). It's still very white and very male at the top. The University profits heavily from black student athletes but hires white men very heavily for the top positions.
     
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  11. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    I agree. That’s why I think it’s great that Coach Tonja-Buford-Bailey will be the Head Coach of the track and field program.
     
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  12. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    I think Texas should hire the best person for the job. I dont care what race, sex, sexual orientation, etc they are. Just hire the most qualified person for every job.
     
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  13. UTexRulz23

    UTexRulz23 500+ Posts

    Yeah, I think the point is that sometimes POCs who ARE the most qualified get overlooked because a white applicant has more opportunities in terms of their resume in high executive positions most of the time.
     
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  14. BabHorn

    BabHorn 10,000+ Posts

    which goes against hiring the most qualified because someone is white or a member of the old boys club.
    BTW, I found that statement to be really convoluted and difficult to understand. I missed what POCs means although I think I figured it out by where it is and how it is used (something about potential candidates?). The rest seems to be an explanation of why a white candidate would appear to be a better candidate although I am not sure that was your reasoning.

    I am not an HR person so have no idea what some of those acronyms mean nor how the actual hiring process works. But I am interested in the university hiring the best qualified candidate, understanding that people are doing the hiring in most cases (not a committee) and sometimes, individual bias do creep into a decision.

    And this is a long way from WBB and probably on the wrong forum.
     
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  15. DFW_Horn

    DFW_Horn 2,500+ Posts

    POC = Person of Color
     
  16. BabHorn

    BabHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Thanks for the clarification. I was trying to fit that into HR terms. Makes a lot of sense now.
     
  17. Karen

    Karen 25+ Posts

    This is usually said when there are very few or no POC hired or sitting on a board of directors. Too many people hire only people who look like them or they already know through non-noninclusive social or academic circles.
     
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  18. Karen

    Karen 25+ Posts

    We just lost two strong, black women (Tina and Fran). It feels very relevant to me.
     
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  19. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    Say what? I love Tonja, but the women's team finished 34th at nationals with 7 points and the men finished 25th with 12 points. Women's team couldn't even field a 4 x 400 relay squad.

    The only good seasons (her first two) Tonja had at Texas were because she had 2 elite sprinters from Illinois transfer when she moved to Texas, and what she inherited from Bev Kearney. Since then, it's gone downhill. Yes, she has a monster 2018 recruiting class signed mainly of women sprinters from the Caribbean, but she can't recruit any men's sprinters to the program. For someone to be the new Director of both program's, they need to have a resume of success for both men and women, IMO.

    I do hope the new Director keeps Tonja as an assistant coach, but she hasn't proven much at Texas to earn her the job as the Director.
     
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  20. DINO22

    DINO22 1,000+ Posts

    I believe Tonya would be good as a Head Coach at Texas.
     
  21. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    Tonja-Buford-Bailey is the director and she will do a great job. You also have to take into account the issues with Mario the last couple of years in how that impacted recruiting. Again, Tonja-Buford-Bailey is and will be the director of Both programs.

    And one of the male recruits that she did recruit was one of only two freshmen to even make it to nationals in that sprinting event. John Burt also did very well and made it to nationals and finished 8th in the hurdles and he obviously spent most of the year playing football. She’s a great coach and will do a great job.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  22. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Could be, but what did CdC mean when he said he was going to the NCAA finals over the weekend to "find a track coach?" The AD doesn't travel to find assistants.
     
  23. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    Do you really believe that all the track recruits, especially on the women’s side would still be coming to Texas if it wasn’t already communicated to them when Mario was basically fired that Coach Bailey would be the Coach? Keeping in mind that one of the highly touted recruits from Jamaica chose to sign with Texas well after Mario was fired.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  24. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Yes; from personal experience. Once committed foreign athletes have visa issues if they try to change schools from the one that is listed on their visa application. How many are staying away because of who is the interim coach? The NCAA results are not encouraging.
     
  25. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    Florida fans say that we tried to hire away their T&F head coach; UF then gave him a 10 year contract extension. So, if that is what led to the contact extension, it sounded to me as if we were going after a big fish.

    We made an internal hire last time in Mario Sategna; I think Deloss Dodds took the easy way out so he wouldn't have to conduct a lengthy coaching search. In the end, it wasn't the right decision. But, it was also the first time Texas combined the men's and women's programs. Maybe now things have been learned along the way.

    If Tonja is getting the promotion, then it could be announced no later than Tuesday. Seems very odd that it wouldn't have been announced officially already if a decision had been made a while back.
     
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    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  26. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    Kennedy Simon is the best 400 runner in her class from Georgia. Kennedy Flannel is the best track athlete in Texas for her class when you consider her sprinting, and long jump.

    Do you really think they’d still be coming to Texas if it wasn’t already communicated to them that Coach Bailey would be the Coach? Also, why would CDC travel to Eugene to look for a track coach? They’re not going to be doing job interviews while NCAA’s are going on.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  27. Moooooo

    Moooooo 5,000+ Posts

    So, kurupt, do you have inside information that Tonja is getting the promotion, or do you just "think" she is getting it?
     
  28. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    No, I don’t have any inside information I’m just using common sense. When a head coach gets fired one of the first things he or the coaching staff does is to inform the signee’s. There’s absolutely no way that every single signee would still be coming to Texas if there wasn’t some sort of understanding that Coach Bailey would be the coach.
     
  29. utfannforlife

    utfannforlife 1,000+ Posts

    I've seen it happen in multiple sports where the coach who recruited the athlete is fired, yet the kids still end up at Texas in particular, even where there was a total staff shakeup. Happened with Karen and Shaka if memory serves me correctly.
     
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  30. kurupt

    kurupt 1,000+ Posts

    Track and Field is a different animal. You also have to keep in mind that there’s that pending lawsuit involving Coach Kearney and her accusations claiming the very thing that poster Karen talked about.
     

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