jdub27

Hush money for what? There's a lot of well placed sources that have very different versions of what/how/why things happened, I'd take everything with a grain of salt. And I'm not sure how anyone could know what Kennedy is looking for but I have a hard time buying he isn't looking for a leader. Going that route would go against pretty much every move he's made to date, especially considering with how highly he places successful athletics in his vision for UND.

The team that UND has been able to put on the field is a far cry from the team that was a consensus top 10 team, like over half of the two deep has changed. There is absolutely no debate about that and the comparison isn't a fair one. One of them had 2 All-American anchoring the secondary, the other has third stringers and true freshman playing almost every defensive snap. Not a real big surprise to see a dropoff when that is just a snapshot of the injury issues the team is dealing with.

Being a better team is not the same as having a better resume. Not sure what's so hard to understand about that.

Per Bubba, Studsrud will play tomorrow.

I'm curious who the hell would actually disagree with all that? Obviously it's easier said than done but there's no doubt we all hope to find someone up to the task.

Women's hockey cost over $2 million/year, can hire a lot of AD's for that money. And for how unhappy people apparently are with the outgoing guy, there shouldn't be much complaining to spend more to get someone who they think is better. Part of the reasons for the cuts were to free up money to reinvest in the remaining programs. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if the next guy gets more money.

The firm was hired, retained and did reviews for many departments before they did the athletics review. This whole thing amounts to splitting hairs. However the Herald feels slighted because Kennedy won't give them the answers they want, continues to be somewhat vague when answering their questions and not agreeing with they terms they use. Because of that, they are going to continue to push their angle, which comes off much harsher than reality. Another stupid thing turned into something much bigger than it actually is. This is getting old.

UND didn't make something special up for him, they allowed him to leave under the standard early retirement package that a lot of people within the NDUS system have used over the last few years. Again, more standard stuff being blown up because of how it was presented by the media.

Barring an exemption from the medical red-shirt rule, it's likely that Reyes has played his last game in a UND uniform. Just terrible, was such a fun guy to watch.

They have defined usage for the money, a sunset on it and have promised no funds to go towards a new library, all things the first vote completely missed on. I think it passes this time around. That being said, I doubt it ever actually goes away, they never do....

Outside of Purpur, not really a big fan of the possible candidates on Tom's list. And he is probably a long shot with two kids in high school, though he did apply when the President's job opened up...

At this point, I'm not really sure what the difference is. He wasn't going to be around much longer, if the President was the one who thought it was a the right time for a new AD, then so be it and he did it in the proper way. If Faison felt he was ready to retire, being 67, dealing with some family health issues and able to see his grandkids more, good for him. Either way, he has left a pretty clean slate for someone new to step in: Conference and nickname issues are cleared up, budget should be in good shape, coaches contracts are fairly settled. I'd rather focus on making sure the next hire is the right person for the job.

Because he has friends that didn't get paid for work they supposedly did for UND (even though no one else has ever heard a peep about it) or something like that.

The coaches made their decision based off what they had seen in practice up to this point, that's literally all they have had to go off of. My guess is there will be a change in their decision after having some game film to watch.

Oops. Yes.

Just spitballing but it looks like Iowa has a 2021 opening.

Probably should have left it that way. We are in a whole lot of trouble if that is somehow something that is considered as a qualification let alone requirement.

I mean, he started his job in May, 2008. The NCAA settlement agreement was signed October, 2007 and it was over long before that. I think you are completely underestimating the whole issue if you think he could have done in his short time he was here before the nickname was done. This was an issue that people had decades to get resolved and didn't.

Anyone in a position like that has pluses and minuses. I think his pluses are pretty impressive, even though 100% of each one can't be directly attributed to him: Transitioned to Division 1, which has had its ups and downs Got UND into the Big Sky when the only other option available would have killed football Spent a few years and finally negotiated UND into the Summit/MVFC, bringing down travel expenses and getting natural rivals back on the schedule permanently Created the NCHC, which immediately became the premier hockey conference in the nation, when it was obvious the WCHA was going to be controlled by schools that were not "like-minded" as UND Oversaw a large portion of the fundraising and completion of the HPC Immediately replaced a coach who left for the NHL with no disturbance in the program that currently brings in the most money for UND Instituted full cost of attendance for all scholarship athletes to ensure programs remained competitive Cut loose the anchor that was women's hockey Coaching hires have largely been great Did all of this while dealing with the disaster known as the nickname issue Again, there are definitely some negatives. The biggest one I have is process of replacing the football coach; appears to have settled on the right guy, but the timeline was unacceptable. Some people say he isn't personable enough, I can't really speak to that as I haven't really had that experience. Budget cuts probably could have been handled differently if women's hockey and corresponding cuts would have been done initially, preventing round 2, but tough to know depending on the information that was available at the time. Maybe fundraising, maybe not? AD obviously plays a part in it, but is not their main job, there are people who's sole job is to do that. Neither list is all inclusive but a pretty decent rundown.

On top of that, he's 67 and there have been health issues his family has dealt with. Timing with conference issues finally being settled and nickname issue put to bed, actually seems like a natural break point to give a new AD a clean slate regardless of how the decision was come to.

It very well could lead to that, actually would be pretty surprised if it didn't.

What would ever give you that idea? Of course, low hanging fruit to drives clicks and interest without having to do much work. Not meant as a knock on him either, just common sense. He does amazing work on his hockey coverage.

And that doesn't even count Connor O'Brien. Or Noah Larson, who is obviously unproven but would have played had he been healthy.

No they don't and you have zero objective rankings to show NDSU having a better resume. Two or one isn't a resume, they are data points on a body of work. But it's OK, NDSU's resume has already started to get better now that they are done playing teams in the bottom 20% of Division 1 in 4 of their first 5 games. Maybe they will even leapfrog USD in individual Sagarin rankings for the season so next time you bring it up, you can use it as a winning argument instead of a losing one.