If you have been following anything other than the, football, theft situation you probably read Bob Clark's interveiew with Mike Bellotti in the Register Guard. He doesn't say a whole lot, but it certainly sounds a bit like he's giving Kent more leeway than the fans(that want him gone) are willing to give.
Some would argue that we've seen enough already that he should be fired mid-season, and most would argue that we've seen enough that he shouldn't be back next year regardless. Bellotti's comments would lead you to believe that Kent can retain his job if the team shows a certain level of improvement from here on out. What that level of improvement is, or how likely that is, is completely unkown.
This situation is on Kilkenny, in my opinion. Bringing Ernie back for one more season was a huge blunder last year on many levels. If Kilkenny gave him an ultimatum, or if he felt that he needed to show a certain amount of improvement, he had no way of enforcing that once he left. And to leave a first year AD in this situation is simply a bad idea.
I've heard some people say Ernie should just resign, but that's nonsense. While the problems on the court all fall on Ernie's head, he has no obligation to remove himself from the position. This is all on the A.D. Ernie has a million dollar buyout in his contract. If we want to get rid of him, we owe him that money. "Saving face" is not worth a million dollars, and the buyout is very reasonable in the coaching world.
If a couple late season wins means that Ernie stays on another year, it would be a big mistake and I will criticize Bellotti for it. However, Kilkenny is still to blame, in my opinion because a first year AD just should not have been left with this siutation. Hopefully Bellotti will get it right.
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have you seen the attendence for mac court games lately,its not a good sign.they need to do something now if they want people to come to matt arena!
ReplyDeleteI think Ernie has made many positive contributions in his years of service and deserves to be duly acknowledged and respected by both the fans and the university. His greatest strength is his recruiting and relationship building. His greatest weakness appears to be his courtside leadership and his game planning. That said, I think UO would be best served by having Kent retained as an Associate AD overseeing Basketball Operations, testing his current second in command as a replacement, but also being open to spending big money to attract a big name to open the equally high profile new arena.
ReplyDeleteMy real to-do list is always way too long to have a fantasy list. So I dunno, maybe write a screenplay for a movie.
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