🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Douglas Girod anounced today the he has fired AD Sheahon Zenger.

Going to be a lot of happy Jayhawks!

That's big.

Many months too late unfortunately

Bad news for Beaty, and possibly a shake up coming in a lot of the non-revenue sports that weren't performing well.

IT'S A GREAT DAY TO A JAYHAWK GTFO!!!!! lmao @BeddieKU23 Yes the football coach and him shouldn't have made the new year, maybe Beaty will light a fire under the football team and stop holding hands.

The greatest question ever, on all topics, is "why"?

The football failures seem obvious.

But the Adidas issues are more troubling. If he was fired for some role, some complicity, the sacrificial lamb, that could be a concerning "what if."

@BeddieKU23 Zenger was the CEO and the company’s biggest function was in the tank. It’s not complicated.

Glad it finally happened. Sounds like Girod has already started looking for Zenger's replacement even before he fired Zenger. I think Girod gave Zenger the courtesy of finishing put the academic year before pulling the trigger.

I also don't see Beaty being fired immediately either because there aren't any quality coaches available around Memorial Day. I would expect a new AD to be hired in late June or in July and that Beaty will start the year as football coach, but won't make it to the end of the season. KU has a bye week halfway through the season, I would expect Beaty to be fired after 6 games unless there is significant on field improvement and in the W-L column. That'll give the new AD ample time to identify and hire a quality coach for 2019.

Other coaches that need to go are Brandon Schneider, Ritch Price, and the softball coach because those 3 programs have been really bad either since Zenger got here, or significantly regressed since he got here.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Going to be a lot of happy Jayhawks!

Amen sister. About time!!

The firing is important, the timing is great. Once FB season rolls along and the struggles start to mount there can be a move made there as well.

Think about this the next AD will not only potentially be responsible for hiring a new FB coach but Bill Self's replacement as well. Not only that, whatever platoon mess comes with conference realignments, tv contracts, potential staying/leaving the Big-12. This could be seen as a very important hire coming up. KU has to knock it out of the park.

I’m sure the pr about the cheerleading hazing wasn’t a great look for the ad either. The 2 girls were interviewed on a wichita station.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

I’m sure the pr about the cheerleading hazing wasn’t a great look for the ad either. The 2 girls were interviewed on a wichita station.

This might have been the last straw but don't tell some people working on other narratives. ;)

Agree with beddie this iis a huge hire.

https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Board/103723/Contents/Finally-Share-My-Story-118402140 ↗

@BShark

Thanks for posting that link. If there is any truth to that story we are going to have a sports renaissance at KU and Girod is the right man for the job.

The disturbing aspect of that story is how we continue to be hamstrung by outgoing personnel. BGL with Zenger and I seem to recall good ol' Lew Perkins doing some damage on his way out as well. It also appears Zenger was much more of a do-nothing AD than many suspected. If those with the funds would not contribute to fundraisers then that negates the one strength most thought he possessed.

Might this mean you all will be able to watch the first 5 or 6 games of the year on TV like all of us OUTSIDE of the state of Kansas can do? I hope for ya'lls sake that's one of the benefits of this.

wissox said:

Might this mean you all will be able to watch the first 5 or 6 games of the year on TV like all of us OUTSIDE of the state of Kansas can do? I hope for ya'lls sake that's one of the benefits of this.

They fixed that last year.

I'm hearing John Currie is an old friend of our new Chancellor. Sounds like Currie might be the guy.

HighEliteMajor said:

I'm hearing John Currie is an old friend of our new Chancellor. Sounds like Currie might be the guy.

If this is trolling it's pretty brilliant.

@BShark I don't think so

HighEliteMajor said:

I'm hearing John Currie is an old friend of our new Chancellor. Sounds like Currie might be the guy.

Yeah... no.

@Crimsonorblue22 Well if he is serious I simply have no comment.

It's time for new management that really knows sports management. I never felt like Zenger understood enough about sports. I spoke with him many times and the conversations related mostly to business and the real estate developments.

Bringing back football shouldn't be this impossible. Look at all our positives... mainly... being in a good football conference with rich history.

10 years ago we were in the Orange Bowl and we were one game win away from being National Champions.

I seem to recall reading that Brad Underwood, K-State alum, made it well known that he would not even consider coaching at K-State as long as Currie was the AD there. Currie was still there when Underwood left Stephen F. Austin to take the Okie State position. KU fans worry that our travails may have cost us the one-year services of recruit Romeo Langford, but K-State fans not getting a great coach like Underwood and having to live with Liberace thanks to Currie being there came at a much bigger cost. And, speaking of Liberace, Google an episode of the fifty's sit com, "The Real McCoys" and see how much Bruce sounds like Walter Brennen's character, Grampa Amos McCoy.

@BShark I meant the tv contract

Crimsonorblue22 said:

@BShark I meant the tv contract

Same contract but they allowed stations like 38 in KC to pick up the games. And that is an over the air station. I don't know what other stations were able to pick them up. Anyone in Topeka can get in 38 with a good antenna.

@HighEliteMajor

Maybe if you know who ran C-Bernie (I don't) and if you know who imposed Girod (I don't), who had connections to KUMED and MRI and the sort of medical research they might have converged on in disaster areas like, say, Haiti, then you could probably get in the ball park about why Zenger got the ax and why now?

@BShark nobody else

Ah, #fakenews. Sorry. See, it can't get worse than that, right?

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Going to be a lot of happy Jayhawks!

Me, me, me...it took a while but finally happened. :smile:

http://m.kusports.com/news/2018/may/21/possible-ad-candidates-kansas/ ↗

Matt Tait with a very early preliminary list of names for Zengers replacement. Nothing too flashy on this list.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I think Schneider should be given at least one more season with the class he has coming it, people forget the teams best player was injured in the preseason and he has shown improvement each year. Ritch Price is a great guy and it’s hard to recruit kids for a warm weather sport to Kansas but he doesn't have a ton to show for his time here. The same could be said for Megan Smith the softball coach, dead last in B12 this year and that flatout can’t happen. I’d be shocked if any moves are made right away outside of football if Beaty struggles early (which is almost a given to this point). If Curry becomes the athletic director, which I high doubt happens I’ll have to think before I come to any games. Never, ever had anyone that I’ve seen had a even remote positive assessment of him.

@kjayhawks never!

@Woodrow I hope there are more options!

A name I’m interested in that hasn’t popped up yet is former Arkansas AD Jeff Long.

I am totally serious that we need to hire a new AD that will stick his neck out and HIRE Art Freckin Briles! After a winning season everyone will forget about all of this BS going on right now... OKAY guys and gals fire away!

I will take the job and be the sacrificial lamb! Just sayn

@kjayhawks Schneider has had way too much turnover and instability on his roster to ever have consistent success. He's 6-48 in Big 12 games that cast majority of those losses have not been the least bit competitive.

Ritch Price has been here 16 years and has 3 NCAA tournament appearances and has missed the B12 tournament 7 or 8 times I believe.

Softball has regressed from a few years ago when KU was safely making the NCAA tournament.

I think Price's contract is near its end so firing him shouldn't be a concern.

HighEliteMajor said:

The greatest question ever, on all topics, is "why"?

The football failures seem obvious.

But the Adidas issues are more troubling. If he was fired for some role, some complicity, the sacrificial lamb, that could be a concerning "what if."

Word is? The big time KU Donors wanted a change. As they closed their donations to the football program. Yet what do I know I'm naïve?

Texas Hawk 10 said:

Glad it finally happened. Sounds like Girod has already started looking for Zenger's replacement even before he fired Zenger. I think Girod gave Zenger the courtesy of finishing put the academic year before pulling the trigger.

I also don't see Beaty being fired immediately either because there aren't any quality coaches available around Memorial Day. I would expect a new AD to be hired in late June or in July and that Beaty will start the year as football coach, but won't make it to the end of the season. KU has a bye week halfway through the season, I would expect Beaty to be fired after 6 games unless there is significant on field improvement and in the W-L column. That'll give the new AD ample time to identify and hire a quality coach for 2019.

Other coaches that need to go are Brandon Schneider, Ritch Price, and the softball coach because those 3 programs have been really bad either since Zenger got here, or significantly regressed since he got here.

This is a make or break season for Beaty. He either delivers or he is done.

@DoubleDD

There is a week off after the West Virginia game (6th game) and, if KU has won less than 2 games, Beaty will be gone and KU will start the search way ahead of the rest dangling a lot of money to get a good coach with the messages that KU is committed to having a winning football program. There is really not a good reason why KU cannot have a competitive football program.

Isn’t Art Briles in hell?

@dylans We could bring him back

dylans said:

Isn’t Art Briles in hell?

I mean he should be 😂. For a football coach, I’d look at Seth Litrell from North Texas. Young, was a legit college QB at OU (captain on a title team) and has done a very good job at a tough place to win.

@DoubleDD This is quite odd timing, you have to admit. If you want to simply believe what is said, then the word might be most appropriately "gullible." But I'm not saying that here. I would say that I may be searching for something that isn't there, and that you may be gullible. It's all a "may." Or, of course, you may have very logical reasons to think its about football ... in May.

I just don't believe folks like this. Spin and narrative control is quite the rage.

It is undeniably odd that Zenger is canned just after we're named in the FBI baloney, and just after the cheerleader/hazing deal. I also find it odd that the chancellor was so adamant that neither played any role. Almost so adamant that he might have the idea that to do otherwise might impact legal proceedings, right? Almost so adamant it sounds as if its part of a deal to assist Zenger in future job searches?

No, No, it's all football -- 6 months after the season ended, so Girod has been stewing on this for how long? Right, it's all football. If it's all football, what has been the intervening event, football wise, that precipitated this decision?

Or, what have been other precipitating events?

Of course, we can accept the disjointed party line as true, as fact. Or, alternatively, we can simply consider that sometime folks aren't truthful for a reason and there are other answers.

And a completely different thought -- who really runs that university? Who is really the boss? We know that answer. His predecessor crushed a prior AD like a dove, as I recall.

@HighEliteMajor

This link ↗ posted earlier by @BShark tells the story behind the firing of Zenger or at least one version of it. It appears donors were tired by the lack of progress primarily with the football program which as we all know has become an embarrassment for KU, setting all kinds of records, most of them negative. I mentioned a few days ago some of the other programs that were also under performing but football is by far the main one. The one thing that Zenger appeared to do relatively well was fundraising and once he lost the big donors it was time for him to go and surely enough he was gone. I know and talk to a large number of KU alumni in the KC Metro area and I can't think of one that supported him

Last season we all had high hopes for the team some even dared to dream of a bowl bet and after the first game the season went to hell and it was huge disappointment. The upcoming season will start with no hopes and the general expectation that barring a miracle, Beaty will be pretty much gone. No one and I mean NO ONE wanted Zenger to pick yet another football head coach.

Firing Zenger at this time and creating a search committee sends a message that KU is looking not only for an AD but in all likelihood a football HC as well and places potential candidates on notice.

A secondary and more subtle message could also be that KU is cleaning house in advance of any potential negative findings resulting from the ongoing investigations. A proactive approach sends a positive message and helps in this type of situations.

@justanotherfan have you read this article? I'd like your take on it. You might have to google Fritzel, if you are not familiar w/him.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/may/22/rock-chalk-park-started-39-million-deal-ku-now-it-/?source=newsletter ↗

@HighEliteMajor The timing isn't odd at all. Girod recently met with the high value donors in Arizona. They likely withdrew financial support of the stadium project unless changes were made. Since Girod said there was already a search committee in place, that means he likely started assembling that committee shortly after the donors meeting.

That's the why on the timing. The lack of progress is likely specifically referring to the fundraising of the stadium project.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I'm with you on the item of the stadium project. I see that as a bit different than football, as in the product on the field. Beatty should have been canned the day the season ended. I like your words of moderation .. using the words "likely." Personally, I strongly believe there were other motivators here.

To that end, if Zenger knew of the hazing, and didn't tell the chancellor, I do think that would be a really big deal for the chancellor. It would if I were chancellor. I think that may be the case because the coach is still the coach. Just bits and pieces of evidence.

I also wonder ... in the unknown-knowns category .. how much knowledge of the Adidas "scheme" did Zenger have?

And to the post above, did he screw the school out of millions of dollars reworking a contract he didn't have to?

But your conclusion is the best evidence now, related to the stadium project. Not being able to raise money kills an AD.

@Crimsonorblue22

It sounds like they took a good business deal and turned it into a bad business deal. I don't know the details on why, but its a head scratcher to be sure.

@justanotherfan @Crimsonorblue22

The Frietzel name is well known in business circles in Lawrence and the reputation is questionable to put it mildly.

The contract change is very hard to understand and even harder to justify and definitely did not favor KU. I suspect someone built a nice retirement fund as a result of that change.

I think we, KU, has the same kind of deal w/newly remodeled KU country club, the old alvamar, I think.

@HighEliteMajor

I do agree that it is odd timing. Yet I'm kind of old fashion even when I'm trying to concoct some conspiracy theory. Want to find the truth? Always follow the money. The Big money KU alumni's held a meeting to pull funding on the football program, as they weren't happy with the direction. Can't say I blame them. Why invest millions in a football program that really isn't showing any improvement?

Look I'm here to debate and discuss the current events of our beloved Jayhawks. I understand that I'm not always going to be right or that the majority of the board rats may not agree with me. Yet I don't think I deserve sniper shots, no matter how eloquently they are put.

Have a great day.

Yay!

@dylans you slow or what?

@Crimsonorblue22 no, it just makes me happy.

@dylans you didn't just find out, did you?

So, when do we get a real football coach?

@Crimsonorblue22 Nah, it’s old news. Depending on whom gets hired I’ll probably be just as excited in a couple of years. I despised the job that man was doing.

Yay!

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2018/jun/27/lawrence-developer-thomas-fritzel-and-others-indicted-for-alleged-tax-refund-scheme/ ↗

Remember talking about fritzel and sz signing a dumb contract w/him?

Wow .. makes one wonder what incentive there was to sign a dumb contract? Though I have to say I've never really heard a bad word about Zenger personally.

@HighEliteMajor why would KU allow him to sign anything and why does anyone continue to work w/fritzel? What's his tie w/KU?

@Crimsonorblue22 I don't know .. but he sure has a history of being in messes.

http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/town_talk/2015/dec/17/a-list-of-past-thomas-fritzel-controvers/ ↗

HighEliteMajor said:

Wow .. makes one wonder what incentive there was to sign a dumb contract? Though I have to say I've never really heard a bad word about Zenger personally.

I’ve got a few for ya!

@dylans !0_1530222299787_DD75CB18-3F5E-4CB6-9D3A-1B353496F850.jpeg ↗

I'm sure this relates back to sz and the airplane sign at the fb game

@Crimsonorblue22 I really like the LeBatard show. Theta are a bunch of blithering idiots, but he’s not wrong on this topic.

Girod and KU just got turned down by the AD at SMU.

🐦 View Tweet?s=21

Would have been a great hire. Hopefully not a ominous sign.

@Woodrow
I agree, IF true (always take it with a couple of grains of salt unless "verified", which it usually isn't). Would think most ADs would like to move from a G6 to a P5 school. But, if he didn't think he was ready for the job or "up" to the job, maybe it's a good thing he "passed."

This is a tough hire and a tall task for anyone we bring in. On top of everything football that they will have to do, I expect them to have to make a hire for almost every sport. Including Men's Basketball, providing Bill sticks to his word of retiring around 60. A big gamble for an AD who is comfortable where they are.

🐦 View Tweet?s=21

Cross another target off. He’s referencing KU in this tweet.

The expectation is that the new AD will have to fix the football program and that is one tall order that most potential ADs would not want to take on.

💩 we will never find anyone decent!

The fix for football is really easy .. fire Beatty, hire a coach that runs the flexbone like Georgia Tech. We don't need the stud, accurate QB. Time consuming offense. Keeps a bad defense on the sidelines more. Tough to prep for on short time as no one in the conference runs it. While certain players won't want to come here, it will create a situation where guys that can run the ball are at a premium, and athletes are fits for the system. Point of attack blocking takes less time, and thus skill level of O-linemen needed is a touch lower. Most passing is quicker release, and play action. Pass blocking, a difficult skill, is less needed. Navy runs the same thing. And before some say no, just see how GT and Navy have done. They have good players. Better than ours. And before some say no, look how we've done trying to be like everyone else.

I guarantee at least 4 wins in the second season under that system.

@HighEliteMajor I'd be ok with that being our thing.

But I'd rather just get a running QB and run the option out of the spread instead of that.

And, just throw out Navy as a success story for comparison in this case.

But Georgia Tech is a great look at it could possibly be here. And I definitely do love the higher floor of putting in that system. They've only missed two bowl games in 20 years.

I also think it takes away any possibility of ever winning a NC. Probably even takes away any chance of being a top 10 team ever again. Personally, I could live with it. But, I think there are probably some football die hards that wouldn't.

@Kcmatt7 Oh, you're right. No way we're sniffing top 10 or NC. Since 2010, GT won 8, 7, 7, 11, 3, 9, and 5 games. These are dire circumstances.

One thing about the option out of the spread, the defenses prep for that regularly. Meaning, the read option, or the run-pass option, is in most playbooks. Now, excellent defense, top defenses, would stuff the flexbone -- you ain't beatin' Bama. But you ain't beatin' Iowa St. as it is. And play action is incredibly dangerous.

All this weighed against where we are now.

Geez, whatever gets us some wins.

@HighEliteMajor Maybe, just maybe, the underlying premise behind the FBI shoe case as it involves KU is that Adidas committed great crimes against victim KU by never steering any good football players to us. Obviously, the state of our fb program is criminal....

@mayjay ... and most particularly, a fraud. Where's a creative prosecutor when you need one? Kansas, contracted with Adidas, understanding that such a contract would lead to the signing of high level athletes. Adidas, knowing this was significant consideration for the agreement, failed to give reasonable effort to ensure that high level prospects signed with KU, thus defrauding KU of its anticipated benefit. Or something like that.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2018/jun/29/ku-gave-unique-rights-deal-to-fritzel-despite-fraud-investigation-being-underway/ ↗

@Crimsonorblue22

When a private firm gets such favorable treatment from a government/public agency it certainly gives the impression that someone else in the middle benefited greatly.

@Crimsonorblue22 A common word that gets tossed around, of course, as @JayHawkFanToo is implying, is “kickback.” Could someone, somewhere, in the KU chain of command received some benefit for an otherwise unsavory relationship?

@HighEliteMajor

When you look in more detail at all these partnerships, Metro Sports, track and field complex, Alvamar/Jayhawk golf course, either Zenger was a genius or the smell becomes stronger. Since Zenger was fired it only leaves the other option.

@HighEliteMajor http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2018/jun/29/ku-gave-unique-rights-deal-to-fritzel-despite-fraud-investigation-being-underway/ ↗

Bump yay!

Yay!

CAN I GET A HELL YEAH?

@BShark So what does any of this mean? - -I'm not sure. - - Other then looks like this bad boy gonna to prison for fraud. - -How does this or any of this help KU?

jayballer73 said:

@BShark So what does any of this mean? - -I'm not sure. - - Other then looks like this bad boy gonna to prison for fraud. - -How does this or any of this help KU?

Um, what?

@BShark I read the article and saw where people were sayin hell ya so was curious if him being indited was helping us was this FBI thing - wasn't making a connection -it's Friday lol

jayballer73 said:

@BShark I read the article and saw where people were sayin hell ya so was curious if him being indited was helping us was this FBI thing - wasn't making a connection -it's Friday lol

Nah I was just being silly.

Yay! Still happy about this one!