Biondi and Crews Announcement

[bonwich]

One would hope that one of his Jebbie peers from the Beast would call him and tell him this is not helping SLU's cause.

Yeah, he clearly has a close working relationship with those guys.

[Pistol]

It is completely telling (and par for the course) that not a single member of our enormous Board of Trustees has stood up and addressed the coaching situation, or the Law School situation, or the votes of no confidence, or basically any of the string of massive embarrassments that have been happening in the past year. They should, to a person, offer their resignations and have the board be completely reconstituted.

+1

It's absolutely staggering how poorly this university is being run these days. The president and entire board need to be replaced immediately. They've done enough damage and there's no end in sight.

It also occurred to me in one of these threads that I've wanted Biondi to leave for over a decade now. Wow.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Biondi needs to attend Dale Carnegie classes.

Problem is he is going on 75 years old and a member of the KMA Club (kiss my arse).

[slu72]

Ah, it's 10:00 am there. Any announcement?

[RiseAndGrind]

+1

It's absolutely staggering how poorly this university is being run these days. The president and entire board need to be replaced immediately. They've done enough damage and there's no end in sight.

It also occurred to me in one of these threads that I've wanted Biondi to leave for over a decade now. Wow.

I've been sitting here wondering if anything has gone smoothly in the past year. Can anyone offer a single example of a completely positive story coming from SLU? It's really depressing...

At the risk of AlumniFan getting really pissed (and I don't mean to piss him off): What the hell is going on?

People say "if you're not happy then leave." Well, great. Then where are we? Employing a bunch of under-qualified non-tenured, adjunct professors? That'll really up the resale value.

[Box and Won]

+1

It's absolutely staggering how poorly this university is being run these days. The president and entire board need to be replaced immediately. They've done enough damage and there's no end in sight.

It also occurred to me in one of these threads that I've wanted Biondi to leave for over a decade now. Wow.

Apparently we should hire Creighton's president.

[brianstl]

Apparently we should hire Creighton's president.

Would they go the lay route like Georgetown and Gonzaga?

[ACE]

I've been sitting here wondering if anything has gone smoothly in the past year. Can anyone offer a single example of a completely positive story coming from SLU? It's really depressing...

At the risk of AlumniFan getting really pissed (and I don't mean to piss him off): What the hell is going on?

People say "if you're not happy then leave." Well, great. Then where are we? Employing a bunch of under-qualified non-tenured, adjunct professors? That'll really up the resale value.

You have nothing to fear. He'll likely just get a little huffy and call you a "hate Biondi first" guy. And when that happens, wear that label like a badge of honor.

[AlumniFan]

I've been sitting here wondering if anything has gone smoothly in the past year. Can anyone offer a single example of a completely positive story coming from SLU? It's really depressing...

At the risk of AlumniFan getting really pissed (and I don't mean to piss him off): What the hell is going on?

People say "if you're not happy then leave." Well, great. Then where are we? Employing a bunch of under-qualified non-tenured, adjunct professors? That'll really up the resale value.

Okay, now I'm really pissed!!!!

I think a lot has gone right within athletics and especially men's basketball. A10 conference champions. A10 tourney champions. A top 20 ranking, 2nd round of the tournament. TONS of great national publicity. A team of STUDENT ATHLETES who are all classy guys. Two very nice recruits coming in. A very strong returning group of players. A nationally recognized coach who has done amazing things is an incredibly challenging year. Sell out crowds in Chaifetz. Really great new pretzels at the concession stands.

At the broader University, I see a lot of positive things, the Biondi/tenure/compensation/etc. fiasco notwithstanding. If you spend some time on campus and doing things with the University beyond athletics, I think these other things become much more apparent, but often and easily get overshadowed by the very public and very nasty "internal" debate going on between Biondi and his detractors.

I just want the University to advance. Period. Biondi is surely to blame, at very least for the manner in which he has handled things, but the other side deserves some blame too. In the oft quoted words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

I really love SLU and while part of that is Billiken basktball, a larger part is the overall University. Obviously, the primary focus on this board is basketball (as it should be), but sometimes the larger mission of the school gets forgotten.

[TRN]

Again: I know lots of insiders and not a single one of them really thinks anything is running smoothly at SLU, let alone this PR debacle.

I hope those in other walks of life--and not dealing with SLU realities on a daily basis-- can smell the coffee here and realize why there is so much tension and distrust about leadership at SLU. Based on the very long threads on this topic, it appears some folks are beginning to figure out what's up at SLU, and what's hurting the university. Maybe it's not just a bunch of whiney tenured radicals who took too much acid and listened to too much Hendrix back in the 60s . . . . (not that there's anything wrong with that, as Jerry and George might say).

I graduated from SLU in 99 and there was a high level of distrust with Biondi back then because of his tactics. He received a no confidence vote from SGA during that time. He has been hurting the university since at least then. Now there is social media and the Internet to make it apparent to those outside his little kingdom.

Personally, his actions haven't affected me anymore, so he really hasn't raised my ire. But now he is showing his true colors to the world in mishandling the coaching situation, which is something that does get my attention. He took a great story, something that brings alums and current students and staff together, and made the story about him. His time has come, hopefully some board members can grow a set and get rid of him ASAP.

[cheeseman]

I was under the impression that the charter requires a Jesuit to be president - if that is wrong please correct me.

[bauman]

I'll be interested to see how May/Crews handle questions about why it took so long. Surely Biondi will be at the press conference. Will they throw anyone under the bus? Doubt it. What's the alternative though? You can't say you didn't want to rush it. Makes you look like you don't care enough. You can't say other things were a priority. Makes you look really bad. Crews was only at the Final Four for about 3 or 4 days. The rest of the time he's in the area recruiting. He can tell recruits he's the coach, but it's still a disadvantage that it hasn't been announced. Going to be bad publicity either way I think. Right now it's all about the publicity for SLU if we want to get into the Big East. This is a bad start.

I'm just wondering if the good father knows Jim's name or if we have a repeat of the "hiring of Brad Soderberger" presser where he didn't even know the name of the man sitting next to him that he was hiring to lead the "top 50" national basketball program!

[RiseAndGrind]

Okay, now I'm really pissed!!!!

I think a lot has gone right within athletics and especially men's basketball. A10 conference champions. A10 tourney champions. A top 20 ranking, 2nd round of the tournament. TONS of great national publicity. A team of STUDENT ATHLETES who are all classy guys. Two very nice recruits coming in. A very strong returning group of players. A nationally recognized coach who has done amazing things is an incredibly challenging year. Sell out crowds in Chaifetz. Really great new pretzels at the concession stands.

At the broader University, I see a lot of positive things, the Biondi/tenure/compensation/etc. fiasco notwithstanding. If you spend some time on campus and doing things with the University beyond athletics, I think these other things become much more apparent, but often and easily get overshadowed by the very public and very nasty "internal" debate going on between Biondi and his detractors.

I just want the University to advance. Period. Biondi is surely to blame, at very least for the manner in which he has handled things, but the other side deserves some blame too. In the oft quoted words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

I really love SLU and while part of that is Billiken basktball, a larger part is the overall University. Obviously, the primary focus on this board is basketball (as it should be), but sometimes the larger mission of the school gets forgotten.

I agree with your assessment of the basketball team. However, I think it's a microcosm of the larger issues surrounding SLU. Fr. Biondi kicked off the success of the men's basketball team by building Chaifetz Arena, firing Brad Soderberg, and then hiring Rick Majerus. But, Rick took the team to the next level. Some would say that Rick succeeded despite the institutional barriers he faced. He very publicly battled with Fr. Biondi, and because of his past success and celebrity status, he was able to win some battles. However, the relationship had deteriorated so much that it seemed to be common knowledge this would have been Rick's last year. Fr. Biondi's quest for complete control and domination turned a very good thing (a successful basketball team with a celebrity head coach) into a constant battle forged by the men's basketball team.

Moving forward, Coach Crews is implemented as the interim head coach. After initial early season struggles, Coach Crews gets things turned around very nicely. The team wins both the A10 regular season and tournament titles. Furthermore, the team advances to the third round of the NCAA tournament. Again, great publicity for the University. From the local media to the big timers at ESPN, there were constantly "feel good" stories coming out of Midtown. Then, to top it off, Crews is recognized as the Coach Of The Year by the NABC. Perfect! We now have the National Coach of the Year that wants to continue coaching at OUR University. Yet, here we are, twenty three days after our season ended without a head coach. Again, the SLU administration has left a black mark on something that should have been nothing but great news for SLU Basketball.

Yes, I realize you, amongst others, have stated the people on this board are making too big of deal out of the hiring process. That may have been true. Now, it seems other media outlets are picking up on the mishandling of the situation. Call it an overreaction, or whatever you will, but it has once again lead to negative publicity for our University.

Also, I spend/spent a ton of time on campus. And I can tell you the negative vibes are very palpable. It's very evident to me that SLU does not know the first thing about public relations.

Anyhow, that's just my two cents. I feel like I've sufficiently beat the horse.

[bonwich]

I was under the impression that the charter requires a Jesuit to be president - if that is wrong please correct me.

It doesn't matter if it does. They can simply change the charter, as countless other colleges and universities have in the past century. (Or Father Biondi can simply dictate that it happen. )

[jbizzle09]

Per tweet from Tom Timmermann, SLU will announce Crews as head coach this afternoon. Appears it is FINALLY official.

[JMM28]

It doesn't matter if it does. They can simply change the charter, as countless other colleges and universities have in the past century. (Or Father Biondi can simply dictate that it happen. )

SLU is a school governed by a lay board. At least that applied five years ago, east of Grand Blvd.

[ACE]

I agree with your assessment of the basketball team. However, I think it's a microcosm of the larger issues surrounding SLU. Fr. Biondi kicked off the success of the men's basketball team by building Chaifetz Arena, firing Brad Soderberg, and then hiring Rick Majerus. But, Rick took the team to the next level. Some would say that Rick succeeded despite the institutional barriers he faced. He very publicly battled with Fr. Biondi, and because of his past success and celebrity status, he was able to win some battles. However, the relationship had deteriorated so much that it seemed to be common knowledge this would have been Rick's last year. Fr. Biondi's quest for complete control and domination turned a very good thing (a successful basketball team with a celebrity head coach) into a constant battle forged by the men's basketball team.

Moving forward, Coach Crews is implemented as the interim head coach. After initial early season struggles, Coach Crews gets things turned around very nicely. The team wins both the A10 regular season and tournament titles. Furthermore, the team advances to the third round of the NCAA tournament. Again, great publicity for the University. From the local media to the big timers at ESPN, there were constantly "feel good" stories coming out of Midtown. Then, to top it off, Crews is recognized as the Coach Of The Year by the NABC. Perfect! We now have the National Coach of the Year that wants to continue coaching at OUR University. Yet, here we are, twenty three days after our season ended without a head coach. Again, the SLU administration has left a black mark on something that should have been nothing but great news for SLU Basketball.

Yes, I realize you, amongst others, have stated the people on this board are making too big of deal out of the hiring process. That may have been true. Now, it seems other media outlets are picking up on the mishandling of the situation. Call it an overreaction, or whatever you will, but it has once again lead to negative publicity for our University.

Also, I spend/spent a ton of time on campus. And I can tell you the negative vibes are very palpable. It's very evident to me that SLU does not know the first thing about public relations.

Anyhow, that's just my two cents. I feel like I've sufficiently beat the horse.

+1,000 Bang he got it.