Purdue BS Thoughts On Bobinski and GT

GTNavyNuke

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
9,903
Location
Williamsburg Virginia
OK, I have a lot of respect for Purdue and wondered what their reaction was (BS in the title was a catch and stands for "Boiled Sports"):
http://www.boiledsports.com/posts/roundtable-reaction-mike-bobinski-purdue-athletic-director

The overall thought is that they are glad to get rid of their current AD but have a whole host of concerns about Bobinski. Seems that with few exceptions, ADs are reviled. We've seen that at GT too.

This one quote of support for Bobinski is inconsistent with the reality we have seen. Bobinski as a fundraising ace or he can make football priority #1. Again, as I said in another thread, thank God Bobinski didn't mess with the baseball program.

"There's no arguing that Bobinski brings a very experienced hand, with a ton of success in basketball and baseball hires, and is a fundraising ace. But, as Daniels/Berghoff/Bobinski all acknowledged during this morning's presser, football is priority #1. Bobinski seems to have enough all-around experience to turn Purdue football around, but his lack of football-specific chops could be a source of stress."

I feel sorry for these guys at Purdue. And they recognize a systemic symptom we have:
"Aneesh: I'm just saying that there are much more systematic issues at Georgia Tech that has limited every AD's success since Homer Rice's departure in the mid-90s. Both David Braine and Dan Radakovich, Bobinski's predecessors at GA Tech, left abruptly. To me, that indicates a larger issue plaguing the school itself."

Interesting that the perception of GT is this "Tech's fan base is weird as hell. Alumni are spread all over the world (much more so than Purdue's), and so specialized that almost none of them graduate and stay within several hundred miles of campus." I agree our fan base is weird and we are spread all over the world (about 4% living in other countries at any one time) but inconsistent with the fact that about half of GT grads stay in Georgia. http://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2010/6/16/1519085/where-do-tech-alumni-live

Anyway, any other good sources of what outsiders are saying about the Bobinski move?
 
Last edited:

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
OK, I have a lot of respect for Purdue and wondered what their reaction was (BS in the title was a catch and stands for "Boiled Sports"):
http://www.boiledsports.com/posts/roundtable-reaction-mike-bobinski-purdue-athletic-director

The overall thought is that they are glad to get rid of their current AD but have a whole host of concerns about Bobinski. Seems that with few exceptions, ADs are reviled. We've seen that at GT too.

This one quote of support for Bobinski is inconsistent with the reality we have seen. Bobinski as a fundraising ace or he can make football priority #1. Again, as I said in another thread, thank God Bobinski didn't mess with the baseball program.

"There's no arguing that Bobinski brings a very experienced hand, with a ton of success in basketball and baseball hires, and is a fundraising ace. But, as Daniels/Berghoff/Bobinski all acknowledged during this morning's presser, football is priority #1. Bobinski seems to have enough all-around experience to turn Purdue football around, but his lack of football-specific chops could be a source of stress."

I feel sorry for these guys at Purdue. And they recognize a systemic symptom we have:
"Aneesh: I'm just saying that there are much more systematic issues at Georgia Tech that has limited every AD's success since Homer Rice's departure in the mid-90s. Both David Braine and Dan Radakovich, Bobinski's predecessors at GA Tech, left abruptly. To me, that indicates a larger issue plaguing the school itself."

Interesting that the perception of GT is this "Tech's fan base is weird as hell. Alumni are spread all over the world (much more so than Purdue's), and so specialized that almost none of them graduate and stay within several hundred miles of campus." I agree our fan base is weird and we are spread all over the world (about 4% living in other countries at any one time) but inconsistent with the fact that about half of GT grads stay in Georgia. http://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2010/6/16/1519085/where-do-tech-alumni-live

Anyway, any other good sources of what outsiders are saying about the Bobinski move?

Sounds like a lot of buyer's remorse after the emperor has been disrobed. I think a good portion of GT fans knew MBob was lacking in certain areas, but I don't think anyone outside of the AD knew the extent. What's been revealed over the past 24 hours about MBob's time here is kinda frightening for any fanbase to find out about when it comes to high level athletics. If morale was bad before MBob left, gotta think it's getting a little worse since the people he brought in now have it out in the public that they are as lacking in their job skills as the guy that brought them to GT. Those people no longer have MBob to back them up when dealing with coaches and support staff. Then there's the looming inevitability that a new AD is coming in and he/she's probably gonna clean house and get his/her own people in. Things could get ugly.

Anyhow, seems like Purdue is telling themselves whatever they need to tell themselves to make it easier to swallow the fact that they may have gotten bad goods.
 

ClydeBrick

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
944
Interesting read. I think that this quote is telling in MBob's time here:

There's a fairly significant difference between raising money at an Akron or a Xavier, and raising money at Georgia Tech or Purdue. If you're a part of a smaller, more regional program (like Akron or Xavier) you can do more to be involved in the day-to-day operations of raising money.

When you move up to a bigger program (and one where your alumni base is not regionally-focused), your involvement becomes more strategic. In other words, it's your job as the AD of a P5 program to set the department strategy for development and build a team and a program around you that can execute that strategy. Georgia Tech was an opportunity for him to make that transition, and from at least some accounts, he failed.


Then is a Purdue fan in the ATL that wants someone else from the Institute:

boiler in atlanta said:
job 1...fire hazell (Purdue's football coach)

job 2...hire GT's coach
 

ramblin' wagon

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
41
"There's no arguing that Bobinski brings a very experienced hand, with a ton of success in basketball and baseball hires,

He has only hired 2 basketball coaches. One of them is Pastner who hasn't even started his first season here. We don't know how successful that hire is yet. The other one was at Xavier who has had a solid team well before Mbob got there.
 

RLR

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
355
Interesting that the perception of GT is this "Tech's fan base is weird as hell. Alumni are spread all over the world (much more so than Purdue's), and so specialized that almost none of them graduate and stay within several hundred miles of campus." I agree our fan base is weird and we are spread all over the world (about 4% living in other countries at any one time) but inconsistent with the fact that about half of GT grads stay in Georgia. http://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2010/6/16/1519085/where-do-tech-alumni-live

I take that as a compliment. Much better to be weird than live in Indiana.

Also, much better to have a specialized degree that's in demand worldwide than a general trade that can be offshored to the lowest wage bidder.

Gotta love the propaganda against GT. Please keep calling us nerds, millionaires, highly specialized engineers, and a global network that's not limited to the South. . . it only makes my degree worth more $$$.
 

Tech93

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,225
I take that as a compliment. Much better to be weird than live in Indiana.

Also, much better to have a specialized degree that's in demand worldwide than a general trade that can be offshored to the lowest wage bidder.

Gotta love the propaganda against GT. Please keep calling us nerds, millionaires, highly specialized engineers, and a global network that's not limited to the South. . . it only makes my degree worth more $$$.
Haha...great response. I couldn't have said it better!
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
I LOL'd at this article:

http://georgiatech.blog.ajc.com/201...s-unfair-mike-bobinski-fires-coach-midseason/

Same guy who said the media and fans were the ones making a big deal about extending a coach's contracts for recruiting purposes (when talking about CPJ's extension), then immediately extended Brian Gregory's contract (and as well as his buyout!!) the following season because....wait for it...CBG would be hamstrung in recruiting if we didn't extend him.

Good luck with Bobinski, Purdue...
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
14,433
Location
Atlanta
I LOL'd at this article:

http://georgiatech.blog.ajc.com/201...s-unfair-mike-bobinski-fires-coach-midseason/

Same guy who said the media and fans were the ones making a big deal about extending a coach's contracts for recruiting purposes (when talking about CPJ's extension), then immediately extended Brian Gregory's contract (and as well as his buyout!!) the following season because....wait for it...CBG would be hamstrung in recruiting if we didn't extend him.

Good luck with Bobinski, Purdue...

You can't prove this "Bobinski" exists. You having a John Nash moment? Maybe you should sit down, Techster.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
You can't prove this "Bobinski" exists. You having a John Nash moment? Maybe you should sit down, Techster.

Mike Bobinski, Bill Lewis, and a GT fan walks into a restaurant. Hostess ask if they need a table for 3.

GT fan says, "No ma'am, I'm here by myself. Table for 1 will do."
Hostess, "Oh, those 2 fellas aren't with you?"
GT fan looks around, and back at the hostess, "Ma'am, what other 2 fellas?"
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
Gotta give MBob credit here...this is a REALLY good hire for most any school. Brohm is Petrino without the crazy baggage.



Nice first football hire for him. Did a better job executing this search than he did with our basketball search which became a sideshow after our first choice used us leverage for more $$$.
 

FightWinDrink

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,269
Brohm is a good coach. I think he could have held out for a better job. At least he is in the more manageable half of the B1G so he might have a chance to be competitive rather than play OSU, Michigan, PSU, and MSU every year
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
Brohm is a good coach. I think he could have held out for a better job. At least he is in the more manageable half of the B1G so he might have a chance to be competitive rather than play OSU, Michigan, PSU, and MSU every year

Think his other choices were Baylor, and Cincy. Baylor is a nightmare situation right now due to the rape scandal, and you don't give up a Big10 job for Cincy. With his offense, he will be able to recruit to Purdue...automatically makes them the better in-state program to play for over Indiana which is also having their own issues (Head Coach quit). He's also well connected to that region in terms of recruiting.

Purdue will be a good team similar to GT...may not win 10 games every year, but should be bowling more times than not.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
Oh man, that's career suicide for Brohm. Hold out for a better gig, man.

This is probably why he left...about 3 times as much per year as he was making at WKU.



A little more than what CPJ is making here, but comparable. If Stansbury extends CPJ, CPJ may make more.
 

a5ehren

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
457
This is probably why he left...about 3 times as much per year as he was making at WKU.



A little more than what CPJ is making here, but comparable. If Stansbury extends CPJ, CPJ may make more.

CPJ would absolutely get more than this if he wanted it. He's won a P5 conference and won 10+ games here a couple times. Brohm has won CUSA twice.
 

YJMD

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,601
Well, the point about our systemic issues may be valid. I don't know much about the AD office, but at a minimum there is a discrepancy in alignment between athletics and academics, some of which may be difficult to rectify. But it will take someone who is capable of challenging the status quo to change things. I know from experience in convoluted institutional politics that many people capable of positive contribution are inhibited by nothing more than the group perception that the contribution will go nowhere.

A useful allegory:
  • A group of scientists placed five monkeys in a cage, and in the middle, a ladder with bananas on top.
  • Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.
  • After a while, every time a monkey would start up the ladder, the others would pull it down and beat it up.
  • After a time, no monkey would dare try climbing the ladder, no matter how great the temptation.
  • The scientists then decided to replace one of the monkeys. The first thing this new monkey did was start to climb the ladder. Immediately, the others pulled him down and beat him up.
  • After several beatings, the new monkey learned never to go up the ladder, even though there was no evident reason not to, aside from the beatings.
  • The second monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The first monkey participated in the beating of the second monkey. A third monkey was changed and the same was repeated. The fourth monkey was changed, resulting in the same, before the fifth was finally replaced as well.
  • What was left was a group of five monkeys that – without ever having received a cold shower – continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder.
  • If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they beat up on all those who attempted to climb the ladder, their most likely answer would be “I don’t know. It’s just how things are done around here.”
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
CPJ would absolutely get more than this if he wanted it. He's won a P5 conference and won 10+ games here a couple times. Brohm has won CUSA twice.

I wouldn't doubt it. It's about supply and demand.

Going rate for a P5 HC these days is around 3mill. Brohm got is an up and coming coach that's still young...those guys demand big $$$ these days.
 

GlennW

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,189
Based on the quote from this article, the hire is probably the exact kind of Football Coach MBob would feel most "comfortable" with as he made it very clear from his time at GA Tech, his passion was basketball and he disdained football:

If you want the right guy to bring back the Basketball On Grass style of football that former head coach Joe Tiller made so much fun, and Drew Brees and Kyle Orton took to another level, here you go with the hiring of Jeff Brohm from Western Kentucky.

http://collegefootballnews.com/2016/purdue-hires-jeff-brohm-as-head-coach-what-does-it-all-mean
 
Top