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Is Engstrom Committed to Excellence in Football?

tnt said:
Well he apparently isn't confiding in you PR, which is to his favor.

He seems to have hired a pretty decent AD, he fired a certain administrator that contributed to the "problems" of a program that believed winning at any cost was the norm.

Its time to get over the firing of a coach and an AD. There are many on multiple levels who played the game, who believed it was necessary for the long term stability of the program. We shall see. The coach was given a second chance elsewhere and has been unemployable since, the AD thinks he still is the AD, just in temporary exile to be returned at some point. So it appears those folks may be right.

He took decisive steps to fix a program that was NOT being well viewed nationally or locally, We shall see how it plays out. Coincidental or not. RE and KH are looking pretty good right now. Funny how in one thread you believe the rich and super rich will hold their $$ over a coach hire, but gave them in spite of RE for facilities.

His goal is to move up, whether that is excellence or not I don't know.
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Okay, so he hired a "pretty decent AD". Not sure if that shows commitment to excellence. I supported Haslam for the job, by the way.

He fired the AD, but I can't agree that the AD contributed to the problems to any significant or material extent, and I know for a fact that the AD was not a win-at-all-costs person. Providing good support to coaches and players is not win-at-all-cost in any respect; it's what a good and supportive AD is supposed to do. Like you, Engstrom acted on faulty information, mis-analyzed the situation, and over-reacted. I agree with others who have said that the firing of the AD and coach seriously set back UM football and caused the decline since that time.

Don't agree that the firings were necessary for the long-term stability of the program. In fact, the opposite has been shown. The firings were unprecedented for a situation like UM had. The firings were the primary cause of de-stabilizing the program, which continues today. The firings have not improved the quality of the program, in my view; they have significantly hurt the program. If the AD/coach were still at UM, UM's program would not have declined like it did and would be stronger today than it is.

The coach could not find a job the next year, due to how he'd been fired and the lack of explanation. The coach got a job at Weber, and lost the job after a year when the head coach was fired. The coach didn't have a job for this past year. Again, this was due primarily to the uncertainty over his firing. The coach should not have settled with UM. He should have sued them, in my view.

The drastic steps that Engstrom took to fix a PR problem, caused in large part by mistakes that he made, the Missoulian, and Florio, were ridiculous. His decision is the primarily reason that so many people, including posters on egriz, don't like him and don't have any confidence in him.

Yes, it looks like the Washington's have made a huge donation that will help propel the athletic department to raise the rest of the funds for the big project. Don't think Engstrom deserves any credit for that. One or more Griz fans who know the Washingtons and the athletic department deserve the credit. We'll see how Engstrom does with the bigger athletic donors in the future, especially with regard to academic donations.
 
NorthEndZoneDan said:
Thanks for the excellent post Umista. I don't think the learning curve for RE is as high as you might believe. Remember that in 2013 the conference bball tourney was here and Royce bought ALL of the tickets for the student section out of his own pocket (probably Main Hall slush fund actually) and gave them away free to the students. I've seen him at many games walking the walk, talking with fans, parents, kids and really enjoying the atmosphere. There are others here who have been in the box with him during football games and they've reported that RE actually cheers the Griz and enjoys the entire game experience, and I don't doubt what the posters report they are seeing. I would say he "gets it" with basketball and he is learning about the importance of football.

as for you knotheads and the Nazi comparisons - knock it off
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I've been told that the things you mention, attending games and cheering for the team and little things like buying the tourney tickets, are what Engstrom believes that support for athletics is. That's part of why I doubt that he is committed to excellence in athletics and knows how to fulfill a commitment to athletics.
 
The answer is obvious to anyone who has paid attention in the last 3-4 years. IF he was committed to excellence, he wouldn't have kept The Mick around after the 2012 season.
 
"Engstrom didn't know much about football or athletics and was mainly an academic who became an administrator."

Where do you think university presidents come from? I can't think of a single instance where someone from the Athletic Department was promoted to the top job with their B.A. in PE, if that. The idea that the first duty of a University President is to deliver a great football program to the unwashed masses shows a complete lack of understanding of what a University is and what the job of president entails. Of course I'm interested in UM football, or I wouldn't look at this board, and I'm reasonably confident that a new coach will bring back the hoped for level of success. But thank goodness no one in charge believes in "winning at all costs." Those costs can kill a University.
 
In addition to several comments from above, don't forget that during the NCAA "investigation" time Royce had plans to self impose a one/two season football program elimination.....
 
srgrizizen said:
"Engstrom didn't know much about football or athletics and was mainly an academic who became an administrator."

Where do you think university presidents come from? I can't think of a single instance where someone from the Athletic Department was promoted to the top job with their B.A. in PE, if that. The idea that the first duty of a University President is to deliver a great football program to the unwashed masses shows a complete lack of understanding of what a University is and what the job of president entails. Of course I'm interested in UM football, or I wouldn't look at this board, and I'm reasonably confident that a new coach will bring back the hoped for level of success. But thank goodness no one in charge believes in "winning at all costs." Those costs can kill a University.
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A president needs to be a CEO with ability to oversee numerous areas. He was a provost at best and should not have been considered for Pres. The BOR did a good job on their 1st and 2nd choice, but when both declined the job, the BOR should have reopened the search. They didn't and thus we were stuck with a poor distant 3rd choice.
 
I've attended many games in the President's Box. Royce cheers certainly, and he fully understands the game and it's importance. But you've got to understand: Royce is working during the game. He doesn't get to sit and enjoy it like the rest of us. He's damn busy working the crowd.

Now, Mary on the other hand, is a huge fan, cheers vociferously, understands the game and knows the players by name. Another huge fan who cheers is Provost Brown.

I haven't personally seen any evidence that the Administration understands the importance of FB. And I haven't seen any raised on this thread.
 
University "administrators" have been taught to "think" and "react" in specific ways. They are not trained to be CEO's, they are trained to be apparatchiks.

But, by definition, allegations of sexual assault against students impact the health and safety of the young people a university is charged with educating, inspiring, and protecting. It is profoundly inappropriate that such allegations be treated as public relations problems to be managed by the university’s senior leadership and its lawyers.

The University of Virginia administration’s approach to Jackie’s allegations is, regrettably, an unfortunate example of an all-too-predictable response by academic administrators across the country who seem to be concerned far less with doing the right thing than they are with keeping their own jobs. The result is almost always callousness, deceit, cover-ups and, far too infrequently, justice. Students deserve better, including the students at my beloved UVA. Mr. Jefferson would expect no less.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-d-gerber/uva-sexual-assault_b_6324446.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
srgrizizen said:
"Engstrom didn't know much about football or athletics and was mainly an academic who became an administrator."

Where do you think university presidents come from? I can't think of a single instance where someone from the Athletic Department was promoted to the top job with their B.A. in PE, if that. The idea that the first duty of a University President is to deliver a great football program to the unwashed masses shows a complete lack of understanding of what a University is and what the job of president entails. Of course I'm interested in UM football, or I wouldn't look at this board, and I'm reasonably confident that a new coach will bring back the hoped for level of success. But thank goodness no one in charge believes in "winning at all costs." Those costs can kill a University.
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Presidents come from various places with various backgrounds. Many university presidents come from other schools where they have already been presidents. Some come from business positions. Some come from government positions. Modern day presidents need to have strong leadership skills, strong management skills, strong fund-raising skills, the ability to deal with growing athletic departments, etc., not just backgrounds in academia. While coming up from academia to provost to president is not uncommon, the vast majority come from a different path.
 
EverettGriz said:
I've attended many games in the President's Box. Royce cheers certainly, and he fully understands the game and it's importance. But you've got to understand: Royce is working during the game. He doesn't get to sit and enjoy it like the rest of us. He's damn busy working the crowd.

Now, Mary on the other hand, is a huge fan, cheers vociferously, understands the game and knows the players by name. Another huge fan who cheers is Provost Brown.

I haven't personally seen any evidence that the Administration understands the importance of FB. And I haven't seen any raised on this thread.
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Glad to see that you're agreeing with us: "I haven't personally seen any evidence that the Administration understands the importance of FB. And I haven't seen any raised on this thread."

You and I apparently in complete agreement on this.
 
Robert Pantzer is a good example of a strong University President without any academic background other than his law degree. But, he was good with people, knew how to delegate and also to "make the call," could go over to Helena and knew how to deal with the politicians and the bureaucrats. A key Montana attribute: he could drink with the best of them, and not whine and cheeze, but beer and whiskey. Ask me about the time he climbed up the fire escape to the Kaimin offices.
 
NLGrizFan said:
PlayerRep said:
Even if he was committed to excellence and success in football, and I see that a number of you don't believe he is, I wonder if he would know how to get to excellence and success. In fact, I wonder if he has a clue about what it takes to be a highly successful program.
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Good question. I for one have no answer to this. I do know someone that knows him who might give some insight on this. I'll have to bring this up to him cuz it's pretty interesting.
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Forget football. I don't think RE has a clue on what it takes to run a highly successful University.......
 
grizpack said:
No he is not.

I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department. Probably considers it a necessary evil. I think he would be fine with a 6-5 team that is squeaky clean, that he never has to worry about or deal with.
...........
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grizpack you are being too kind to Engstrom.

I agree that Engstrom doesn't give a rat's ass about football, but I also don't think he gives a rat's ass about anything other than himself. Engstrom is a poor manager and an arrogant hyprocrite, out only to protect his own reputation (of which he is doing a terrible job!). It is a crying shame that the BOR has forced such a shackle on UM.
 
CV Griz Fan said:
Forget football. I don't think RE has a clue on what it takes to run a highly successful University.......
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That tends to be the opinion on campus. He is no George Dennison.
 
srgrizizen said:
Where do you think university presidents come from? I can't think of a single instance where someone from the Athletic Department was promoted to the top job with their B.A. in PE, if that.
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Then think about Jim Tressel, Youngstown St. Univ. And he knows a little about FCS and football.
 
Something of a concern is that Coach Stitt applied for the UNC HC job, twice, and was on the short list twice and never hired.

WHY ? ? ? ?

Bobby Hauck was never a consideration, although he applies for the latest position at the UM, and was never a consideration per Engstrom.

Brent Pease could not get into Missoula for his interview due to weather, and requested that they meet with him elsewhere, for the interview, because he was still in the employment of UW and recruiting and was told that he would be interviewed over the phone, and in the interview, the subject of a traffic violation was brought up, why I don't know although it was a contributing factor to a bad interview.

Engstom and Halsem wanted a non-controversial coach with no skeletons, and awarded the position to Coach Stitt.

Winning football game is not the top priority, staying out of the Missoulian is.

Not sure if there were any other candidates for the HC position at the UM, although you would have to wonder how many qualified coaches applied after the president of the university fired an AD and the HC over allegations, instead of watching their back till the legal process was complete.
 
Royce, BOR understand well the purpose of our university and it's mission. Without a strong academic mission football or any extra curricular is a total non starter.

Royce and his predecessors face ever shrinking public support/I.e. Legislative funding.

I believe we are on the right track on academic and athletic fronts.
 
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