FanPost

Did Doughnut take a risk in hiring Mora?

In the discussion about the Mora/Sark/Peterson carousel, there was discussion as to how much credit Doughnut should get for the current state of the football program (consensus- little if any, a view with which I agree). But there was a view by some that Doughnut had gotten lucky after taking a big risk, and that was one reason why he should get little if any credit.

I would like to respectfully dispute the notion that Doughnut took any risk in hiring Mora.

Let's use an analogy from the world of common stock investing. An individual investor can choose to invest in a company like Google or Webvan, or can choose to invest in a company like General Electric or Procter & Gamble. The perception is that there is more upside in Google/Webvan, but there is also more downside. So the person investing in Google/Webvan is taking a risk in terms of downside with the hope of getting reward.

Now let's change the situation. Suppose there is only one stock. It is the only "choice" available. And suppose that you are required to purchase the stock. And suppose further that the only stock you can buy is Yahoo. Are you taking a risk when you make the purchase? No, because there was no less risky alternative.

Let's now come back to Doughnut and Mora. As has been chronicled at the time of the search, Doughnut used a "single thread" approach, where he put all his eggs in one basket. And when that basket broke, Doughnut had no option. He had to hire a coach, because CRN was no longer there. Mora came calling. Thanks to the bungled search process, he was the only alternative available. He was Yahoo in my example above.

Risk can only arise in the context of available alternatives. And Mora was not one of the available alternatives. He was the only alternative. Doughnut did not take risk in this hire. His bungled search process may have led to an acceptable outcome (we shall see), but so does betting on black in the casino, and having black come up.

The acceptable outcome (if it comes) will be the result of pure and simple luck on Doughnut's part, not a reward for taking on risk.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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