Why is Pollard a bad AD?

[ScottyP]

Many people are blaming JP for Cael leaving ISU. The one thing I want to know is why do coaches would dislike him enough to leave. I don't want to hear that its Pollard's fault because other coaches came and left. Is he a real jack-***? Does he have unreasonable expectations placed on his coaches? Does he not care about the sports besides football and b-ball?

Some have said that he is not well-liked in the department. If so, why?

If there is a strong reason why he is not well liked by coaches and other department members, then he has to go. If not, I think he should stay.

 

[HiltonMagic]

Why is Pollard a bad AD?

The product has gotten worse.

 

[jumbopackage]

The product has gotten worse.

Has it? And if it has, is it something that JP actually has had the ability to influence?

If the product is the athletic department as a whole, I think it's doing just fine.

If the product is the football and basketball teams on the field only, it clearly has been a period of transition and turmoil which clearly hasn't resulted in the success that fans expect. But ISU has been doing great on football and basketball tickets. The atmosphere on gameday is absolutely awesome. There are new facilities being built etc.

And on top of all of that, we have had a FRACTION of the off the field issues that our neighbors across the state have had.

We could be WAY worse off, that's for sure.

 

[HiltonMagic]

Has it? And if it has, is it something that JP actually has had the ability to influence?

If the product is the athletic department as a whole, I think it's doing just fine.

If the product is the football and basketball teams on the field only, it clearly has been a period of transition and turmoil which clearly hasn't resulted in the success that fans expect. But ISU has been doing great on football and basketball tickets. The atmosphere on gameday is absolutely awesome. There are new facilities being built etc.

And on top of all of that, we have had a FRACTION of the off the field issues that our neighbors across the state have had.

We could be WAY worse off, that's for sure.

That's not going to keep up very long though...

 

[kingcy]

He has made the right hires. It just isnt working out for some reason. What are the odds that all 3 hot name coaches he hired have little to show for their time at ISU.

 

[jumbopackage]

That's not going to keep up very long though...

Thank you Eeyore.

Sales will likely be down this year, but you could attribute that to the economy as well.

 

[cycloneML]

1. football
2. basketball
3. gymnastics
4. wrestling

all 4 are in worse shape today than before.

 

[ripvdub]

Not his fault the top asst coach in the country ended up sucking ballz. And that the coach that took UNI to 3 straight NCAA's has recruited some top talent, but yet they continue to leave every year for one reason or another. ALL TOTALLY POLLARDS FAULT!

 

[cyclone13]

Here's my own scorecard on JP:
1.I wouldn't blame JP on Chizik's departure. We knew that GC might treat us as a stepping stone, however no one expected him to bolt for Auburn that early.
2. I don't like how JP handle Mac's issues. Yes, Mac needs to go,. However, compared to his treatment to Chizik, JP should've done better with Mac. JP gave Chizik I believe the 2nd highest salary pool for his assistant (while we know the OC and DC didn't have necessary qualifications) while Mac always pleads to get his assistants taken care of (which apparently went unhearded / ignored).
3. I won't blame JP until I know what happened with Cael's departure. Unfortunately, we won't know at all/
4. Basketball: I blame JP for quickly pulled a trigger on Wayne Morgan. I think he should've given him a chance and told him what he didn't like so Morgan can fix things. Remember, Morgan was thrusted to be a HC after we failed to find someone who wanted to coach here.
5. Other hires: Track & Field. Anyone knows ?
6. Gymnastic: I think JP could've done better
7. Volleyball: good hire.
I'm still 50-50 in judging Pollard. I don't know how he interacts with student athletes, coaches, fans, boosters, etc. It'll be interesting to get a first hand feedbacks instead of "I heard", "I know someone who is..."

 

[cyfanatic]

The product has gotten worse.

BINGO!

 

[cyfanatic]

Not his fault the top asst coach in the country ended up sucking ballz. And that the coach that took UNI to 3 straight NCAA's has recruited some top talent, but yet they continue to leave every year for one reason or another. ALL TOTALLY POLLARDS FAULT!

What would have to happen for you to say it is JP's fault? I should say that I am not trying to be a ****...just wondering what JP's apologists think he does control?

 

[Spam]

He has done less with more. That's less wins and more money.
As for the instability....

 

[Klonz]

We need more people to donate more money!

We are in an arms race and we don't have the bucks to keep the coaches we want.

We are SLOWLY building the facilities we need to be a Big 12 - Division I-A university.

Pollard is doing everything he can to attract the best talent - we as fans need to step up and give more money.

He's a great AD, just lacking the funds to keep the talent he can initially attract.

Cael is a traitor - not much else you can say! He should be tried for treason!

 

[jumbopackage]

What would have to happen for you to say it is JP's fault? I should say that I am not trying to be a ****...just wondering what JP's apologists think he does control?

Well he clearly controls hiring and firing of coaches. He controls Athletic department policy and budget. He controls a lot of things.

He doesn't directly control success on the field. He doesn't control other schools offering our coaches jobs. He doesn't control the decisions of 18 and 19 year old kids.

I mean unless you want him to fire coaches every year that they don't produce seasons up to expectations, fine. See how far that gets you.

I think the preponderance of people were behind every decision he made at the time he made it. Now, in hindsight, people are second guessing his decisions and blaming him somehow for things that are really not his job to control.

 

[Chizit]

The practice facilities and JT renovations will be nice. He has brought in good coaches, but they all just feel the need to be Mike Henry and jack him in the nuts. You gotta feel a little bit bad for him.

 

[tyler24]

JP's job is to put peoples butts in the seats, and he has done exactly that. JP has raised the ISU budget for athletics by 40 million.

Also, here is how I see things so far in his tenure with ISU: (Mens Sports)

- Hiring Chizik- Probably one the country's hottest names and somehow we pulled him off, then he bolts for the school he claims he got into the game for.

-Hiring GMAC- Once again a very hot name, many school wanted him and we got him. He is a coach that will do things the right way unlike Wayne Morgan. People need to give him a little more time, probably this year will be his coming out party.

-Cael- I dont pay attention to wrestling, but there is NO WAY this is Pollards fault. Iowa State may be a great wresting college, but 4 times his salary is a hell of a lot of money and about any coach in the country would leave for that money.

Also, people gotta remember why these coaches are leaving, people want them and can offer them more money. This means Pollard is doing a great job of find coaches, it is just he cannot compete with the schools that have that kind of money to spend on athletics.

 

[cyfanatic]

I think the preponderance of people were behind every decision he made at the time he made it. Now, in hindsight, people are second guessing his decisions and blaming him somehow for things that are really not his job to control.

I understand what you are saying...but fans don't do homework on hiring coaches! ADs do. Fans cheer...lets be honest...no matter who JP hired to coach football...there would be a lot of fans cheering whatever decision was made because they were excited and hopeful! Of course, there are also fans that will react negatively because we didn't hire Urban Meyer or Pete Carroll! But the point is that fans are not and should not be an indicator on the day someone was hired in terms of whether or not it was a good or bad hire! ADs are responsible for hiring coaches to build winning programs! If a coach can't or will not do that...bad hire! AD should take blame! Just my opinion...which is not worth a whole lot I will admit...

 

[Angie]

I understand what you are saying...but fans don't do homework on hiring coaches! ADs do. Fans cheer...lets be honest...no matter who JP hired to coach football...there would be a lot of fans cheering whatever decision was made because they were excited and hopeful! Of course, there are also fans that will react negatively because we didn't hire Urban Meyer or Pete Carroll! But the point is that fans are not and should not be an indicator on the day someone was hired in terms of whether or not it was a good or bad hire! ADs are responsible for hiring coaches to build winning programs! If a coach can't or will not do that...bad hire! AD should take blame! Just my opinion...which is not worth a whole lot I will admit...

You're correct, AD's do perform the research behind hires - and AD's at schools a lot bigger and more successful than ISU were also fighting for each of JP's first three hires. And two of those three went on to more money or bigger schools. I don't see how these are faulty hires when they're hires that those bigger schools were fighting for tooth and nail.

 

[tec71]

Has it? And if it has, is it something that JP actually has had the ability to influence?

If the product is the athletic department as a whole, I think it's doing just fine.

If the product is the football and basketball teams on the field only, it clearly has been a period of transition and turmoil which clearly hasn't resulted in the success that fans expect. But ISU has been doing great on football and basketball tickets. The atmosphere on gameday is absolutely awesome. There are new facilities being built etc.

And on top of all of that, we have had a FRACTION of the off the field issues that our neighbors across the state have had.

We could be WAY worse off, that's for sure.

AD's are judged on the winning the coaches they hire do. JP's had a great plan, raised a lot of money, and sold a ton of tickets by selling nothing more than hope, simply hope. Problem is he f'd up the football hire because simply put the guy didn't win and universally wasn't liked by the boosters because he had the personality of cardboard.

The product in the department isn't fine. You can't say that if you've watched fb and bball at all. the icon of isu athletics, the only coach he's hired who's won on a national scale just left us for a worse program. he retained bf but what else was he going to do. And when Minnesota (their coach could retire anytime) or Wisconsin (they haven't been winning as expected) comes calling, our other successful coach, the VB coach will be out there door as well same as our gymnastics coach, and our wrestling coach. now he doesn't have the money to fund those sports enough becuase his plans called for him to sell hope in football, which would translate to success on the field, which would become money on saturdays and booster donations, which then could be used to support the dept including those other sports. unfortunately his hire of chiz was a disaster and he's left trying to sell hope to those that have none.

 

[cyfanatic]

You're correct, AD's do perform the research behind hires - and AD's at schools a lot bigger and more successful than ISU were also fighting for each of JP's first three hires. And two of those three went on to more money or bigger schools. I don't see how these are faulty hires when they're hires that those bigger schools were fighting for tooth and nail.

Well...then JP got half the job done. He hired coaches other schools wanted...but he didn't keep them around long enough to reap any benefits. Big deal if he hired the hottest names...how about putting ISU in a position to win. If JP is going to keep hanging his hat on hiring NAMES that leave after 2 or 3 or 4 years (for whatever reason) then who really cares? If ISU is not winning as a result of JP's hires...then JP is not getting his job done!