DG's Signature Opportunity

This Hire Will Define His Career

As the rumors drive people crazy, there are a few things that keep running through my thougts.

First, this is DG's signature moment: He must do this right -- it wil be his legacy. There are some who say that Howland will be his legacy. I disagree, Howland was an "easy hire" in the sense that he really wanted to come here. We didn't have to recruit him. DG gets some credit, but not a lot.

KD was also a DG hire -- but we have all been willing to blame Carnesale, not DG for this one.

However, the situation is different now -- and DG knows it. This one is on him.

Second, by all accounts, DG is a smart man. In situations like this, I think the touchstone for being smart is whether the person can "calculate self-interest". Said another way, does he see how important this is and does he see the career implications, for him, of this hire.

I think DG recognized this 1 week ago when he made his press statement. I won't go through all of the criteria he listed -- but one can say that under those criteria there is no room for DW or Chow or any of the ridiculous names in the rumor mill to get the job.

So, what's the problem? DG may be running a great search, but he is not doing a great job of caring for the people who care about the hire. He's not keeping those who bleed Blue and Gold informed.

There is absolutely no reason to run a "secret" search, one rife with rumors and devoid of facts. None. Other schools are running much more open searches and earning the full respect and support of their fan bases.

I think DG is making a mistake here.

And, because our last two football coaches have been hired from very shallow "finalist" lists -- there is a lot of concern in fandome that it might happen again.

The best way to allay these fears would be for DG to be more open.

All that said -- I can't take any of the rumors seriously. None seem to come from reputable sources with first hand knowledge.

DW having a veto? Chow has an offer?

Here's the problem with both of those statements. If they are true, DG has violated the hiring principles he announced last week. He's broken his word. That's not a good career move.

For one thing, he talked about using a recruiting firm. I suspect one is in place -- but the job of the firm is to find candidates who fit the announced criteria. Neither Chow nor Walker do.

Leach out of consideration? Where does that one come from?

We won't pay for a coach? After DG said we would, what's the source for that? If he backs off now, that is not a good career move.

I can go down the line and question all of the reports that are upsetting us.

But, here's my bottom line.

If DG is doing all of these things, he is not as smart as he need be to keep his job.

Yes, because of he secrecy, we have to keep speaking out and taking on each rumor.

But, if DG wants to keep his job here, or develop a reputation that earns respect, he has to do a good job. He can't be doing what the rumors say he is doing ---

or after this hire he'll be doing what KD is doing, looking for another job.

I choose to believe that DG can "calculate self-interest", that he knows he must hit a home run here, that he knows what a "home run is", and that he will do so.

sjh

PS. I hope KD gets the Duke job. That's $2 million we don't have to raise to pay him, and money that can sweeten the search pot.