Shannon Lashes Out on Facebook

Has anyone seen the facebook page going around titled #iamwith21 movement?

It’s a number of fans and family and friends of shannon’s who are are voicing their displeasure over the non renewal and trying to rally support for people to write and bitch to President Bodnar.

There is no one on there voicing their support of Haslam’s decision as they get run off the board pretty quick. Well Shannon finally posted on there herself, and she came out firing:

“‘It was never my intention to get involved with this page and I appreciate everyone’s support but when I have continually been lied to this is all I can take. When you sit across from someone and tell them “you will be back next year as our coach and I am giving you the next two years of your contract ....” that means something. When you tell someone at the end of the conversation ,”we will get the logistics squared away when I get back from vacation… “ That means something. People in the business department knew about this… I called recruits that day and talk to their parents… The head of Learfield and a CEO of Learfield knew about this… other coaches around the big sky knew about this… Other coaches in other conferences knew about this… What does this say about the way Montana operates? Our players knew about this…When you don’t let someone even come in to see you face-to-face and hide behind the Covid that means something. Bad enough you lied and took my contract away after 3 weeks and not one conversation about why... not one meeting to EVER listen to my side of things But now you are going to LIE AGAIN ? What is this athletic department about… Certainly not integrity, certainly not honesty, certainly FULL of DECEPTION !”


Pretty interesting stuff. I still support Haslam’s decision 100%. You gotta win, you gotta graduate your players, and you gotta not run off 16 players who still have eligibility.

She's going to end up tarnishing her Griz legend reputation.

When 2 good players go into the portal, with one going to a rival, and 3 others apparently go to the the AD (and perhaps president) to express their concerns (and potential plan to depart), something is very wrong with the program and big steps are necessary to save the program.

I don't know if Haslam handled the end part well or not, but he made the right decision, in my view. If I had to question what he did, I wonder if he should have not renewed last year, and wonder if he should have waited to talk to her this year until longer after the tourney. A first round loss, to a team you beat twice, and you say immediately or soon say that you plan to extend? Why say that so fast? Why not think about it for a week or two, and talk to returning players other others.

Hooked, why don't you re-post the Shannon stats you posted a few weeks ago. That told a lot of the story for me.

PlayerRep said:

She's going to end up tarnishing her Griz legend reputation.

When 2 good players go into the portal, with one going to a rival, and 3 others apparently go to the the AD (and perhaps president) to express their concerns (and potential plan to depart), something is very wrong with the program and big steps are necessary to save the program.

I don't know if Haslam handled the end part well or not, but he made the right decision, in my view. If I had to question what he did, I wonder if he should have not renewed last year, and wonder if he should have waited to talk to her this year until longer after the tourney. A first round loss, to a team you beat twice, and you say immediately or soon say that you plan to extend? Why say that so fast? Why not think about it for a week or two, and talk to returning players other others.

Hooked, why don't you re-post the Shannon stats you posted a few weeks ago. That told a lot of the story for me.

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Yes!

Shannon is free to comment about any injustice if she wants but it works both ways. Haslam hasn't been forthcoming about a number of issues that led to her dismissal. I imagine she knows that, but again she can continue down whatever path that she wants.

Haslam has had over the course of his tenure a pretty clear about non-disclosure on personnel decisions beyond those that have become public knowledge. He was tight lipped on Stitt and very restrained with Plakorous. That has led to some strife between him and media types, but it does serve a purpose. He isn't just being vague here to send Shannon's supporters into a dither, he's just being consistent.

I'll be clear, I am not sure anyone is best interests (especially those within the program) are in airing everyone's dirty laundry in public. There is an iceberg principle here and I just don't think it serves anyone to completely undressing the Lady Griz's programs shortcomings in public.

This certainly will make Haslem's and Brian Schweyen's relationship more difficult.

Haslam absolutely made the right decision, and he is a hell of an AD. He’s put in a lot of bad situations (some maybe he’s done to himself), but overall I think he’s handled himself pretty well with coaching changes for a swing and a miss with Stitt, Plakorus texting hookers in Vegas on a recruiting trip, and Schweyen not getting the job done despite being the greatest player ever. These are tough situations and all in all, I think Haslam handles them all well, despite the confusion on a potential new contract.

PlayerRep said:

She's going to end up tarnishing her Griz legend reputation.

When 2 good players go into the portal, with one going to a rival, and 3 others apparently go to the the AD (and perhaps president) to express their concerns (and potential plan to depart), something is very wrong with the program and big steps are necessary to save the program.

I don't know if Haslam handled the end part well or not, but he made the right decision, in my view. If I had to question what he did, I wonder if he should have not renewed last year, and wonder if he should have waited to talk to her this year until longer after the tourney. A first round loss, to a team you beat twice, and you say immediately or soon say that you plan to extend? Why say that so fast? Why not think about it for a week or two, and talk to returning players other others.

Hooked, why don't you re-post the Shannon stats you posted a few weeks ago. That told a lot of the story for me.

Click to expand...

Ask and you shall receive!

- 52-69 record (42% wining percentage)
- 1-7 vs Cats
- 1-4 in Big Sky tourney
- only 5 players graduated under her in those 4 years
- 18 players with eligibility remaining left the program

This is the exact opposite of “getting it done on and off the court”

Kaimin Article with Sophia Stiles opening up Shannons Departure.

http://www.montanakaimin.com/sports/lady-griz-player-opens-up-about-shannon-schweyen-s-departure-offseason/article_dab199be-81cb-11ea-805a-9f032018ba14.html

I thought the following was interesting about all the Players leaving or transferring since it has been talked about so much:

“People and media can make it whatever they want, but honestly this isn’t where they were meant to play, and they didn’t feel like they fit into the system,” said Stiles.

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Hopefully, Petrino has better success at finding players that will fit into the system better than Shannon did.
If he does, Lady Griz should have much better success.
I am confident he will because another twitter message message from Madi Schoening about Petrino sure seemed promising.

HookedonGriz said:

PlayerRep said:

She's going to end up tarnishing her Griz legend reputation.

When 2 good players go into the portal, with one going to a rival, and 3 others apparently go to the the AD (and perhaps president) to express their concerns (and potential plan to depart), something is very wrong with the program and big steps are necessary to save the program.

I don't know if Haslam handled the end part well or not, but he made the right decision, in my view. If I had to question what he did, I wonder if he should have not renewed last year, and wonder if he should have waited to talk to her this year until longer after the tourney. A first round loss, to a team you beat twice, and you say immediately or soon say that you plan to extend? Why say that so fast? Why not think about it for a week or two, and talk to returning players other others.

Hooked, why don't you re-post the Shannon stats you posted a few weeks ago. That told a lot of the story for me.

Click to expand...

Ask and you shall receive!

- 52-69 record (42% wining percentage)
- 1-7 vs Cats
- 1-4 in Big Sky tourney
- only 5 players graduated under her in those 4 years
- 18 players with eligibility remaining left the program

This is the exact opposite of “getting it done on and off the court”

Click to expand...

If Shannon hadn't played for the Lady Griz, how long would she have lasted coaching the ladies? Would the responses be any different?

I think that the uproar isn’t so much about whether or not Shannon was let go.

It has a ton more to do with how your AD and your sports information department communicates with not only .your own coaches but with the public also.

After all this, if she now wants to put it out there on social media, it would be best for Shannon to also address the “culture “ of the program that Hallam speaks of. Also,, for her defense, she should address, specifically, the departure of each of the girls that left or threatened to leave and why those defections shouldn’t be a concern for the Lady Griz program. Time to step up and be transparent.

bpcats said:

I think that the uproar isn’t so much about whether or not Shannon was let go.

It has a ton more to do with how your AD and your sports information department communicates with not only .your own coaches but with the public also.

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When a coach is not renewed in MT, the strong legal advice is not to say anything about the reasons or circumstances. The courts have supported non-renewals, but one court, involving Kramer, gave him the right to make a claim for defamation. Over what the AD had said about the resign for the firing, or non-renewal. Eventually, MSU settled that claim for six figures.

I don't know what legal advice Haslam was given, but I assume it was to say nothing about the reasons, and to say only good things about Shannon in general.

The 21 movement and Shannon supporters have a difficult time separating a player that played over 20 years ago and a coach that has had a broken system for the last 4. Most alum I have talked with are okay with Shannon being let go. Stating that Shannon was never a good fit as a coach. They question the way it was done. Some felt this would have been better handled last year at the end of her third year. Sophia is right by saying players didn't feel like they fit into the system. It was disjointed. Time to fix or upgrade the system!
I have seen almost all the post from Shannon and Brian and they should be more careful. Social media has cost many people their job. As a player Shannon did almost everything right. As a coach I have a hard time pointing out anything she did right.
Patrino hasn't been sitting on his hands and looks like he and his staff want to restore the culture of Lady Griz BB.

ThinkingGriz said:

The 21 movement and Shannon supporters have a difficult time separating a player that played over 20 years ago and a coach that has had a broken system for the last 4. Most alum I have talked with are okay with Shannon being let go. Stating that Shannon was never a good fit as a coach. They question the way it was done. Some felt this would have been better handled last year at the end of her third year. Sophia is right by saying players didn't feel like they fit into the system. It was disjointed. Time to fix or upgrade the system!
I have seen almost all the post from Shannon and Brian and they should be more careful. Social media has cost many people their job. As a player Shannon did almost everything right. As a coach I have a hard time pointing out anything she did right.
Patrino hasn't been sitting on his hands and looks like he and his staff want to restore the culture of Lady Griz BB.

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:thumb: Sometimes Great players just are not good coaches, sometimes they just don't have good coaching skills or just don't relate to their players well, who knows exactly went wrong here but something was just not right. Too many players leaving is not normal for a healthy program. That said Good Luck Shannon, all the best in your future. Heads Up!

The House That Rob Built is not owned by any designated property manager.

There are substantive arguments on both sides of the non renewal question. Very competent analyst on this cite and other venues have dissected the status of the program and found it lacking by our (or what should be our) standards.

There is nothing negative personally in saying Shannon should rise to the occasion like she has scores of times in her athletic career as a player and coach and, with class, call off the uprising.

It is one thing to analyze the process and another to work and hope for the destruction of the program. There is way too much of that going on.

Shannon, no, no, no - please no. Don't start this. Your will now be known more for how you handle this than the way Haslam handled it. Take the high road, difficult as that is to do.

Good observations on this thread.

The first Montana coach I knew by name was Frosty Cox. Since Frosty, most coaches at UM departed via an honored retirement or by "stepping up" to a bigger program w/better salary... almost always celebrated with both coaches and the system gaining greatly by the asssociation.

The huge majority of those who were "escorted out" of the Montana program, departed for reasons that didn't normally have much to do with X's and O's... or their knowledge of the game they coached. In other words, something about their management style, something in their personal lives etc. that hindered their ability to succeed as a coach (and sometimes as persons). Most usually left humbled... honorably, and usually "got things together" in a subsequent position or career.

Nowadays we're seeing more contested departures, almost always controversial and destructive to the programs and private lives. Hope that an be avoided with this situation.

grizzlyjournal said:

Good observations on this thread.

The first Montana coach I knew by name was Frosty Cox. Since Frosty, most coaches at UM departed via an honored retirement or by "stepping up" to a bigger program w/better salary... almost always celebrated with both coaches and the system gaining greatly by the asssociation.

The huge majority of those who were "escorted out" of the Montana program, departed for reasons that didn't normally have much to do with X's and O's... or their knowledge of the game they coached. In other words, something about their management style, something in their personal lives etc. that hindered their ability to succeed as a coach (and sometimes as persons). Most usually left humbled... honorably, and usually "got things together" in a subsequent position or career.

Nowadays we're seeing more contested departures, almost always controversial and destructive to the programs and private lives. Hope that an be avoided with this situation.

Click to expand...

Given or nickname? That's right up there with Dick Pound...

Bjorn Bjornstein said:

grizzlyjournal said:

Good observations on this thread.

The first Montana coach I knew by name was Frosty Cox. Since Frosty, most coaches at UM departed via an honored retirement or by "stepping up" to a bigger program w/better salary... almost always celebrated with both coaches and the system gaining greatly by the asssociation.

The huge majority of those who were "escorted out" of the Montana program, departed for reasons that didn't normally have much to do with X's and O's... or their knowledge of the game they coached. In other words, something about their management style, something in their personal lives etc. that hindered their ability to succeed as a coach (and sometimes as persons). Most usually left humbled... honorably, and usually "got things together" in a subsequent position or career.

Nowadays we're seeing more contested departures, almost always controversial and destructive to the programs and private lives. Hope that an be avoided with this situation.

Click to expand...

Given or nickname? That's right up there with Dick Pound...

Click to expand...

His given name was Forrest Cox. He coached at Colorado for more than a decade before taking over the Griz. I will never forgive him for dismissing Jimmy Powell from the team because he got married.

Bjorn Bjornstein said:

grizzlyjournal said:

Good observations on this thread.

The first Montana coach I knew by name was Frosty Cox. Since Frosty, most coaches at UM departed via an honored retirement or by "stepping up" to a bigger program w/better salary... almost always celebrated with both coaches and the system gaining greatly by the asssociation.

The huge majority of those who were "escorted out" of the Montana program, departed for reasons that didn't normally have much to do with X's and O's... or their knowledge of the game they coached. In other words, something about their management style, something in their personal lives etc. that hindered their ability to succeed as a coach (and sometimes as persons). Most usually left humbled... honorably, and usually "got things together" in a subsequent position or career.

Nowadays we're seeing more contested departures, almost always controversial and destructive to the programs and private lives. Hope that an be avoided with this situation.

Click to expand...

Given or nickname? That's right up there with Dick Pound...

Click to expand...

I only remember Frosty. FORREST, "Frosty" Cox, coach of the Montana Silvertips from 1955-1962. His career record at Montana State University (which is what it was called at that time) was 80-85, and his best season (14-9) was in 1960-61. Montana usually co-occupied the cellar of the Skyline Conference with Wyoming, as I recall (faintly). He was actually highly respected for making Montana pretty competitive in the Skyline... though he did not succeed in recruiting Wayne Estes. I actually saw my first games in 1953, when George "Jiggs" Dahlberg was the coach. OK, anyway... back to the thread.