I have been working the phones, DM's and text messages this morning to try to get you the latest on the Jerry Stackhouse situation.
Okay, not really. The truth is that I woke up before 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. But this is evidence you're never far from my mind.
Anyway, a few things:
- Regarding the Robbie Weinstein report last night: I wouldn't discount that, Robbie is good at his job and has sources that probably aren't mine and what he reported may well be/probably is the truth/based in truth. Or the truth for yesterday. It is entirely plausible that you can take it all at face value and that the situation isn't changing.
- However... I spent some time on the phone last night with my best source who still (and admittedly this is opinion) sees it as "50-50." I have constantly hedged my bets and stayed away from predictions for a reason, and it's because Vanderbilt is a crazy/unusual/somewhat unpredictable place. And remember, there has already been noise about Renaissance/talk in the coaching world of a vacancy, and I could well see the school playing both sides or being truly undecided at this point.
- I believe that if they don't move on, it'll be that Diermeier leaves it up to Candice and she genuinely believes he's the right guy for the job, or the contract she has worked him into is cost-prohibitive/could land her in hot water, or even get fired. There are not a lot of things that could get her fired but again, being fiscally irresponsible would be on that list.
- If they stay with keeping Stack, holy cow, it's going to get ugly. There will be mass cancellations of season tickets. I can't imagine there being many people in the gym next year. I wouldn't be shocked if people gave up other tickets/walked away from donations just because of the anger over this.
- Don't forget what happened with Stephanie White, where Candice had publicly announced her retention and then (I'm told) got called on the carpet by Diermeier soon after. It took a few weeks but they rolled that back and what I was told was that inability to retain players got Stephanie in the end. Stack has had similar troubles. The constant bus of people out of the program, combined with what that does to their graduation rate, could be the straw that ends this.
- The correct move would still be to announce a change on Sunday and move quickly to talk to mid-major candidates who have a free week between the end of their conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament (or are done with their season). So I'm still keeping an eye on that day.
- What Candice has working for her is rapport with the university (again, that could get damaged by a bad contract) and, some think, is doing a respectable job of fund raising. And so there could be some mega-donors who have her back--no matter what. (Although I dont' think that saved Zeppos). But I know the public pressure of the job has really gotten to her. Sources who know her have told me that they think the likelihood of change would be more of her walking away from the job than the school initiating change.
My criticism of Candice has always been professionally-based. I think she has done a good job of sticking up for student-athletes in some spots. When she does not feel threatened/esposed, it allows her better characteristics to shine. I also see her passions based around those things, around Vanderbilt history with Perry Wallace and the things it has done to be on the right side of history in that regard. And the school has gone beyond bending over backwards to shield her from criticism and to promote her publicly for those reasons.
But those aren't things that are primary responsibilities of athletic directors. (well, the fundraising is, but the rest is not.) The reasons it's not working are the same reasons people believed on Day 1 that it wasn't going to work. At some point, if there is doing to be a domino that starts a change whereby one or both parties decides that hey, maybe there is a different arrangement that would work better, it looks like this. I'd bet against it but I don't think it's entirely off the table if they retain Stackhouse.
Okay, not really. The truth is that I woke up before 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. But this is evidence you're never far from my mind.
Anyway, a few things:
- Regarding the Robbie Weinstein report last night: I wouldn't discount that, Robbie is good at his job and has sources that probably aren't mine and what he reported may well be/probably is the truth/based in truth. Or the truth for yesterday. It is entirely plausible that you can take it all at face value and that the situation isn't changing.
- However... I spent some time on the phone last night with my best source who still (and admittedly this is opinion) sees it as "50-50." I have constantly hedged my bets and stayed away from predictions for a reason, and it's because Vanderbilt is a crazy/unusual/somewhat unpredictable place. And remember, there has already been noise about Renaissance/talk in the coaching world of a vacancy, and I could well see the school playing both sides or being truly undecided at this point.
- I believe that if they don't move on, it'll be that Diermeier leaves it up to Candice and she genuinely believes he's the right guy for the job, or the contract she has worked him into is cost-prohibitive/could land her in hot water, or even get fired. There are not a lot of things that could get her fired but again, being fiscally irresponsible would be on that list.
- If they stay with keeping Stack, holy cow, it's going to get ugly. There will be mass cancellations of season tickets. I can't imagine there being many people in the gym next year. I wouldn't be shocked if people gave up other tickets/walked away from donations just because of the anger over this.
- Don't forget what happened with Stephanie White, where Candice had publicly announced her retention and then (I'm told) got called on the carpet by Diermeier soon after. It took a few weeks but they rolled that back and what I was told was that inability to retain players got Stephanie in the end. Stack has had similar troubles. The constant bus of people out of the program, combined with what that does to their graduation rate, could be the straw that ends this.
- The correct move would still be to announce a change on Sunday and move quickly to talk to mid-major candidates who have a free week between the end of their conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament (or are done with their season). So I'm still keeping an eye on that day.
- What Candice has working for her is rapport with the university (again, that could get damaged by a bad contract) and, some think, is doing a respectable job of fund raising. And so there could be some mega-donors who have her back--no matter what. (Although I dont' think that saved Zeppos). But I know the public pressure of the job has really gotten to her. Sources who know her have told me that they think the likelihood of change would be more of her walking away from the job than the school initiating change.
My criticism of Candice has always been professionally-based. I think she has done a good job of sticking up for student-athletes in some spots. When she does not feel threatened/esposed, it allows her better characteristics to shine. I also see her passions based around those things, around Vanderbilt history with Perry Wallace and the things it has done to be on the right side of history in that regard. And the school has gone beyond bending over backwards to shield her from criticism and to promote her publicly for those reasons.
But those aren't things that are primary responsibilities of athletic directors. (well, the fundraising is, but the rest is not.) The reasons it's not working are the same reasons people believed on Day 1 that it wasn't going to work. At some point, if there is doing to be a domino that starts a change whereby one or both parties decides that hey, maybe there is a different arrangement that would work better, it looks like this. I'd bet against it but I don't think it's entirely off the table if they retain Stackhouse.
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