Tanner takes himself off Recruiting Trail

[Mr. Burns]

Originally Posted by SwimCock

Is he an excellent candidate? Yes.

Are you an excellent cook? Yes. So, you're an excellent farmer?

RIP Mitch Hedberg

[GamecockMastermind]

Originally Posted by Mr. Burns

Are you an excellent cook? Yes. So, you're an excellent farmer?

RIP Mitch Hedberg

Hedberg has awesome one liners, but this doesn't apply to Tanner because he has done business in the AD's world.

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by GamecockMastermind

Hedberg has awesome one liners, but this doesn't apply to Tanner because he has done business in the AD's world.

Oh wow.

"Doing business in the AD world" (whatever that means) is superior qualification to run the entire office when gauged against multiple successful AD's with proven track records of success? (as in, ones we haven't even looked at)

Seriously - Tanner is most qualified to run the program because he's familiar with the specific duties?

[RoosterBooster]

Originally Posted by spareparts

To be completely honest, this is NOT true. He has to do ALOT more than just "keeping the train on the tracks". And if this is all his early supporters can come up with to justify this hire, then we really are in deep shit because it shows how incredibly blinded people are to the situation by their love for Tanner as a coach.

Some of you are naive about what it takes to run a successful business. I love how everyone says, "Michael Roth is such a nice guy, such a great guy, he's going to do awesome in the majors!!", meanwhile Bryce Harper is a certified jackass, probably one of the biggest jerks in all of sports, and will likely be a HOF'er if he stays healthy. Being a great guy, a nice guy, a good guy, doesn't mean shit in the business world. And if this hire is seriously going to happen, I really hope there's a side to Tanner we don't know about other than "very successful coach" and "philanthropist" and "he speaks well" and all the other stuff people are pointing to as an indicator of success. Because we're going to have to do way more than keep the train on the tracks to keep up with the rest of the SEC, let alone the rest of the country.

How does it feel knowing that Southern Cal has the preseason number one ranking with a flaming jackass for a coach, a guy who consumes half of Peru's coke production per year, and more than likely will play for multiple national championships before all is said and done? You know how stuff like that happens?

Look at Bama: trophy case is stocked. You think those guys "keep the train on the tracks"?

I don't think anybody has said Roth would do well in the majors because he is a nice guy. He ha a great chance because he is a great leader and a great competitor.

Tanner hasn't succeeded as a head coach because he is a nice guy. Ask his players how nice he can be. He has succeeded because he is focused and driven.

By the way, the guy "keeping it on the tracks at Bama" was an assistant coach and assistant ad for 5 years before taking over, no more experience than Ray has. Wouldn't really use Mal as an example though, he's hired 5 football coaches and 4 didn't turn out so well.

[Mr. Burns]

Originally Posted by GamecockMastermind

Hedberg has awesome one liners, but this doesn't apply to Tanner because he has done business in the AD's world.

So have thousands of other people you've never heard of.

I was a bank teller my freshman year of college. Where do I sign up to become CEO of Goldman Sachs?

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by RoosterBooster

I don't think anybody has said Roth would do well in the majors because he is a nice guy. He ha a great chance because he is a great leader and a great competitor.

Tanner hasn't succeeded as a head coach because he is a nice guy. Ask his players how nice he can be. He has succeeded because he is focused and driven.

By the way, the guy "keeping it on the tracks at Bama" was an assistant coach and assistant ad for 5 years before taking over, no more experience than Ray has. Wouldn't really use Mal as an example though, he's hired 5 football coaches and 4 didn't turn out so well.

Still waiting for a list of Tanner's qualifications to be athletic director at USC other than emotional appeals and cliches.

By the way, "leader", "competitor", "focused" and "driven" are resume cliches I hope you don't use. They have absolutely no link to established success and credentials needed in either AD candidates or, in my example with Roth, success at the professional level when one is a college athlete. Roth is not as good as he is because he's a competitor, he's as good as he is because he throws strikes and gets people out.

And lastly, Tanner has not been successful as a coach because he is "focused" and "driven".

[yazoo]

Originally Posted by robgusc76

Ironically the first hire Ray will have to make is the "Official" naming of the new head baseball coach. He'll have two applications to mull over Holbrook, the number one candidate, and some guy named Jack Leggett who said he was tired of wearing skinny jeans on the baseball field. He also threw in a personal fact about himself stating that his favorite ice cream was from Zestos.

Gee, that's a tough one. Let's see, Holbrook or Jackleg? Hmm. What a dilemma.

Originally Posted by spareparts

Still waiting for a list of Tanner's qualifications to be athletic director at USC other than emotional appeals and cliches.

By the way, "leader", "competitor", "focused" and "driven" are resume cliches I hope you don't use. They have absolutely no link to established success and credentials needed in either AD candidates or, in my example with Roth, success at the professional level when one is a college athlete. Roth is not as good as he is because he's a competitor, he's as good as he is because he throws strikes and gets people out.

And lastly, Tanner has not been successful as a coach because he is "focused" and "driven".

Perhaps you could make a list of the AD credentials you require. For one, I figured leadership would be primary. If that is not a credential, then I'm at a loss to address what others you believe are important. Therefore, please provide your list.

[LegalCock]

That's a rediculous analogy. Tanner basically had the baseball park designed and located before hyman was even hired. He has multiple head coach quality guys on his staff and has managed every aspect of his program down to the design of a freaking logo and uniforms. He is unflappable, masterful with the media and indeed with people in general and his network is robust and deep. Furthermore he was an assistant AD at NCSU. It would be more like the EVP for goldman's M&A division taking over or one of the division executives (Jeff Immelt) from GE taking over from Jack Welsh, which is what almost always happens at the best companies. They don't bring in outsiders much unless things aren't going well and there is a perceived need for a change.

[LegalCock]

Tanner is successful because he hires better coaches, has designed a better program and recruits better players. Bottom line.

[CockySpaniel]

Who's to say that if an AD job at another school had been offered to him in the next couple of years that he wouldn't be gone?
We get to keep him here, and we get a good guy that is totally in our corner.

Win-Win.

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by CockySpaniel

We get to keep him here, and we get a good guy

Facepalm

[Mick Chicken]

DK was on 107.5 earlier, and he did say Ray handled the books for the baseball program and had them in the black almost every year. Granted a much smaller scale than an entire athletic department

[Garoon]

Few thoughts, no particular order of importance:

- Keep in mind that those making the hiring decision (BoT) take under advisement the current personnel at the school, including head coaches of every sport at USC. It's not like the board just floundered around, unable to find anyone, and picked Tanner like ticket in a raffle box. (Although I bite my tongue on that now that Darla Moore is gone and our Guv, who campaigned on the evil of trial lawyers, put a trial lawyer in Moore's place).

- Experienced ADs of large programs are not born overnight or imagined into existence. They all worked in lower-level director positions before, often assistant ADs, at even D-3 schools. The number of people who have experience as an AD in a D-1 school, much less in a major BCS conference, and are also looking for a new job doing the exact same thing are probably very, very few in number.

- Whoever mentioned the underrated value of competent hiring of management and administrative talent cannot be overstated. Being a great manager means knowing how to spot this kind of talent, close in on it and hire it. If that kind of talent isn't in place in USC's athletic department already (which by all appearances, that talent is there already), Tanner is well-networked enough to know where to find it.


Main thing is, even if Tanner has never been an AD at a top-flight university athletic program, there's not many places you can look on his resume and NOT find the things that translate very easily to performing as a great AD.


But yes, sad, he will not be coaching USC baseball. No gettin around that one.

[yazoo]

Originally Posted by spareparts

Facepalm

yeah, we should hire an *sshole.

[Don Giovanni]

I'm curious about something. Are most of the concerns that if Tanner becomes the AD and doesn't "knock it out of the park" (couldn't resist - sorry) that there will be an awkward feeling of needing to can one of if not the MOST beloved coach ever at USC, or is there any feeling that the cash cow that is football may suffer somewhat because Tanner was/is a baseball guy first, or is it simply that most want Tanner to stay on as the head coach of the baseball team?

[GarnetArmy07]

IMO I like the move. Is Tanner the best college baseball coach in America. Yes, that's a no brainer, but he has continuously said he wants to work as an AD. What better time would this opportunity arise like this. The baseball program is in great shape, and I personally think Holbrook will continue the tradition that RT has laid before us. All the coaches get along and are very vocal and supportive of each other. With Ray as AD and most of the administrators still in their respective positions, allows this to be a smooth transition. Tanner knows where the athletic department/programs are headed, and I believe he will continue to get us there.

[kosimpsononthestop]

Just heard that Esposito is recruiting at a tourney in Georgia. With only being allowed three recruiting off campus, sounds like Tanner is the one sitting out for now.

[The Unit]

Originally Posted by Mr. Burns

So have thousands of other people you've never heard of.

I was a bank teller my freshman year of college. Where do I sign up to become CEO of Goldman Sachs?

Start here: http://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/

[Mr. Burns]

Originally Posted by The Unit

Start here: http://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/

[Garoon]

Originally Posted by Mick Chicken

DK was on 107.5 earlier, and he did say Ray handled the books for the baseball program and had them in the black almost every year. Granted a much smaller scale than an entire athletic department

Of course the entire athletic department has independent (and/or even in-house) accountants to tend to this in the first place. This isn't to say that it makes Tanner's accounting chops, whatever they may be, irrelevant; instead, I would say the benefit of his familiarity with bookkeeping and wise financial choices, even if he's not a CPA, is a bonus. Especially when he's kept a positive balance year after year for the baseball team.