I am disappointed in Gill

[UR Fan 2]

I rarely post on the Football board but here it goes. I am very disappointed in Gill. It is one thing to lose a coach to a higher level program but Delaware is not that thing. It is not that job. This is plain and simple Rocco getting frustrated here and flipping us the bird. From a preponderance of circumstantial speculation it sure seems like it is primarily directed at his boss.

Rocco has some culpability in this as well as it was handled poorly. But in his favor he has totally brought back Richmond football to the highest level. Gill meanwhile has had very little to do in his time here at Richmond other than to not let the bus swerve off the road. Today he has failed to do that. Time will tell if he can find another Rocco and quite frankly he can not afford to miss or we will soon be looking for another Gill.

 

[bullfrog91]

This my biggest issue..regardless of what went down recently, all that was needed was to maintain status quo in the short term...failing to do this is a huge swing and miss...it has me questioning a lot about our beloved school.

 

[College Drive]

Keith Gill should be fired, you just don't lose your most successful football coach in school history for what amounts to a lateral move.

 

[gospiders12]

I feel like the tweets from the students/student athletes were the most telling.

 

[iSpider]

Keith Gill should be fired, you just don't lose your most successful football coach in school history for what amounts to a lateral move.

I am not so sure that this is all on Gill. I watched the press conference and heard him speak for the first time. I don't know what else he could have said. He pointed out that we are committed to maintaining one of the top football teams in FCS, that we were already active in seeking a new coach, and he addressed the facilities in large part, though understandability without specificity. He probably told the truth when he said he did not know why Rocco left and he seemed surprised at his leaving, and I am not sure that he does not have a right to be.

We were all surprised by Rocco's departure, but we shouldn't have been. There is a gypsy or nomad gene in Rocco that we witnessed when he left Liberty but which none of us suspected to still be alive and well when he left us under similar circumstances.

It appears that Rocco's vocabulary could use some polishing inasmuch as he retracted the word "vision," which I think we all understood and substituted in its place the word "landscape" which is much more nebulous. But it is always hard to choose the correct word when one is not being sincere about what one is stating. In his heart, I think that he knew that he was just ready for a change as is his nature. His propensity to migrate kicked in and he was ready to move on to a new location in keeping with the transient nature of his personality. Delaware, a new setting with a new set of challenges, presented itself and he jumped at the opportunity to be engaged as their new coach. They should take note of his transmigratory nature but, like us, I doubt that they will.

I believe that Rocco's behavior, nature, and conduct better explains what happened than any action or omission by Keith Gill. I am not blaming either of them for what happened. I will reserve my judgment on the actions of either of them until/unless I learn more facts than have been set forth on this board.

 

[wr70beh]

I think Gill's lack of preparedness for the statement today, his laissez-faire attitude towards everything, and the way things went down mean he should be dismissed. A real AD wouldn't look like he was choke-slammed in the middle of the ring after the winner pranced off with the belt (and the podium). Man he looked small time today. A real AD wouldn't be consistently playing catch-up. He would be on top of things. A successful coach would not have taken a lateral move if he thought things were ok in the athletic department. It only means that things in-house aren't going so well. That's a "rats fleeing the sinking ship" kind of move.

 

[Floridaspiderfan]

I don't what type of a person Keith gill is, I met him a few times. However, I did get to know Danny Rocco so it's not exactly balanced , with that said
I don't think gypsy has anything to do with it . I think after being given the run around for years on a lot of issues, facilities, asst coach salaries, admissions , tittle nine he made a cold calculated decision - who had more upside going forward UR or UD

I think if we had the right AD perhaps this might not have happened
I really get the feeling that gill doesn't have the expericemce or the temprermemt to deal with his assignment. He has two needy coaches (all the good ones are) and just didn't know how to handle Danny. Ur should of never hired an AD without football admin experience and I just don't think he and Danny ever clicked and this lead to a clear anomosity between The both of them

What is scary is that he seemed clueless of Danny's impending move and if huesman doesmt work out he doesn't even have a search committee or firm to help him, so it's pull names out of a hat time
Finally when asked about facility improvements he couldn't even name the third improvement. Compare UD's AD to gill. Not even close. She is energized, focused and enthusiastic. Not how you would describe gill
Get a strong AD that will fight for his coaches and student athletes and THAT will take us to a new level on all the sports. We have had success despite a lackluster performance from our AD

 

[keefusb]

Gill needs to go, and go quickly. This Rocco Fiasco is just the latest in a line of leadership failures, as far as I am concerned, Keith Gill was the enabler-in-chief. As long as KG is at the helm at the RC, no self-respecting football coach is going to touch our football coaching vacancy with a ten foot pole. Plus, I don't want Gill to have anything to do with the selection of a new football coach. Like someone said earlier, all he had to do was keep the bus pointed straight on the interstate, and he couldn't even manage to do that. He has been asleep at the wheel for years now, and it's time for a new leader at the RC. I have already sent emails to the President's office urging Crutcher to re-evaluate the leadership in our athletic department. Gill's head must roll.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

You can't watch that "press conference" and not be disappointed in Gill. That just made us look ridiculous and not at all a championship program. Right down to Gill rocking back and forth, jiggling his keys with his hands in his pockets, Bob Black holding mics and a phone and some random holding other mics and chewing gum open mouth right on camera.

This train's been coming down the tracks for a while, there is absolutely no excuse for appearing so unprepared.

 

[Spidergate]

I rarely post on the Football board but here it goes. I am very disappointed in Gill. It is one thing to lose a coach to a higher level program but Delaware is not that thing. It is not that job. This is plain and simple Rocco getting frustrated here and flipping us the bird. From a preponderance of circumstantial speculation it sure seems like it is primarily directed at his boss.

Rocco has some culpability in this as well as it was handled poorly. But in his favor he has totally brought back Richmond football to the highest level. Gill meanwhile has had very little to do in his time here at Richmond other than to not let the bus swerve off the road. Today he has failed to do that. Time will tell if he can find another Rocco and quite frankly he can not afford to miss or we will soon be looking for another Gill.

Better check the overall success of NCAA athletics at Richmond during Gill's tenure!!

 

[9Legs]

I am not so sure that this is all on Gill. I watched the press conference and heard him speak for the first time. I don't know what else he could have said. He pointed out that we are committed to maintaining one of the top football teams in FCS, that we were already active in seeking a new coach, and he addressed the facilities in large part, though understandability without specificity. He probably told the truth when he said he did not know why Rocco left and he seemed surprised at his leaving, and I am not sure that he does not have a right to be.

We were all surprised by Rocco's departure, but we shouldn't have been. There is a gypsy or nomad gene in Rocco that we witnessed when he left Liberty but which none of us suspected to still be alive and well when he left us under similar circumstances.

It appears that Rocco's vocabulary could use some polishing inasmuch as he retracted the word "vision," which I think we all understood and substituted in its place the word "landscape" which is much more nebulous. But it is always hard to choose the correct word when one is not being sincere about what one is stating. In his heart, I think that he knew that he was just ready for a change as is his nature. His propensity to migrate kicked in and he was ready to move on to a new location in keeping with the transient nature of his personality. Delaware, a new setting with a new set of challenges, presented itself and he jumped at the opportunity to be engaged as their new coach. They should take note of his transmigratory nature but, like us, I doubt that they will.

I believe that Rocco's behavior, nature, and conduct better explains what happened than any action or omission by Keith Gill. I am not blaming either of them for what happened. I will reserve my judgment on the actions of either of them until/unless I learn more facts than have been set forth on this board.

How are you reserving judgment when your psychoanalysis deemed Rocco "transmigratory" and possessing a "gypsy or nomad" gene?????

 

[Eight Legger]

The press conference was an abject disaster, at least from an appearance standpoint. No excuse for CALLING a press conference and then having everyone just standing around like that. Embarrassing. That's the type of scenario I would expect to see if an airplane crashed into the Robins Center and the media showed up right away to get comment.

As to the rest of things, who really knows. We'll never know the full story either way, despite the info we get on here from those well-connected. It's possible that Rocco wanted an environment with 20,000 screaming fans, a marching band, unlimited supplies and gear, etc. That is not us and never will be. Maybe after 5 years of being here he had enough of that, complained to Gill and Gill said, sorry, but we can't promise you those things. In that case, no hard feelings, see you later.

Maybe what he asked for was completely reasonable and for reasons unknown Gill simply shot him down and that prompted him to feel underappreciated and want out. In that case, shame on Gill.

Maybe they just genuinely didn't get along – through no one's fault – and Rocco wanted to work for someone who he got along with. Perfectly understandable.

Maybe Gill is a horrible AD and a jerk and treated Rocco like garbage, prompting him to leave. Again, understandable.

Maybe Rocco is an egomaniac and Gill said, Screw this, I'm not letting a football coach call all the shots in the athletic department. Somewhat understandable.

I'm not taking sides here. I appreciate what Rocco did for us and wish him well. I haven't heard a lot of good things about Gill and some of what I have witnessed from him lately is poor. But I'm going to give him a chance to hire the next coach before I crucify him.

We are Richmond, and that's still a damn good thing to be.

 

[WebSpinner]

agree with little i, think this is DR at his best. departed liberty in a cloud of dust with people, players scratching their heads for basically a lateral move within fcs. same 5 year period now he gets to go build up another program and in 5 years, will be off again, in his blood. this time he made excuses and put the blame elsewhere but really feel it is him not us.

 

[iSpider]

How are you reserving judgment when your psychoanalysis deemed Rocco "transmigratory" and possessing a "gypsy or nomad" gene?????

View it as you will. It was not a psychoanalysis, merely a behavioral observation. The terms I used are descriptive of behavior. They do not suggest whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, moral or immoral. There is a difference, the latter being a judgment.

 

[Ulla1]

A bit redundant here, but have never seen anyone so unprepared and unimpressive as our AD at his own press conference. The man speaking was simply not a leader. OSC

 

[keefusb]

A bit redundant here, but have never seen anyone so unprepared and unimpressive as our AD at his own press conference. The man speaking was simply not a leader. OSC

If the Ulla thinks Gill was unprepared and unimpressive, it must absolutely be true. Gill needs to go.

 

[97spiderfan]

The press conference to me really exemplified Gill's issues with PR and media relations. First off, given that we have a whole set up press room at the RC, why just not use that, instead of standing around, jiggling your keys in your pockets, rocking back and forth and looking like you've never given a press conference before. If your in a position of Athletic Director of a major university, you have to command the room in a situation like that and he was nowhere close to that.

It was just terribly unprofessional and completely unavoidable, considering he called the press conference. But it was not unpredictable. Gill has let this story take a life on its on by not controlling the message better. He is up in New York at some dumb conference, while Danny Rocco is lobbying grenades at his department and the University and he makes no public media comments other than a couple milk toast press releases.

Gill might be knocking the ball out of the park in other aspects of his job, I honestly don't know, but the one park that we can all see on a regular basis, media relations and PR, he appears amateurish.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

The press conference to me really exemplified Gill's issues with PR and media relations. First off, given that we have a whole set up press room at the RC, why just not use that, instead of standing around, jiggling your keys in your pockets, rocking back and forth and looking like you've never given a press conference before. If your in a position of Athletic Director of a major university, you have to command the room in a situation like that and he was nowhere close to that.

It was just terribly unprofessional and completely unavoidable, considering he called the press conference. But it was not unpredictable. Gill has let this story take a life on its on by not controlling the message better. He is up in New York at some dumb conference, while Danny Rocco is lobbying grenades at his department and the University and he makes no public media comments other than a couple milk toast press releases.

Gill might be knocking the ball out of the park in other aspects of his job, I honestly don't know, but the one park that we can all see on a regular basis, media relations and PR, he appears amateurish.

And the local media all lapped it up. Lane is the only one who pressed him at all. Bob Black didn't ask a single question (I realize there is a conflict there). Nobody called him out on the inaccurate talking point that we've made the playoffs 9 times since 2000. "We've been talking about that for a while" - well maybe Rocco was sick of talking about it!

 

[iSpider]

A bit redundant here, but have never seen anyone so unprepared and unimpressive as our AD at his own press conference. The man speaking was simply not a leader. OSC

It would appear that way from what we saw, but who knows what the circumstances were that prompted that press conference in the manner in which it was conducted. It may have been that it was set without sufficient notice to set it up any other way and that he was directed to make it happen then and there, regardless of what other crucial events may have been in the works. I feel sure that he would have preferred that it be conducted in a more professional manner as well. Sometimes when things are in meltdown mode, things are dealt with differently than they would be otherwise.

 

[WebSpinner]

yep

 

[Ulla1]

It would appear that way from what we saw, but who knows what the circumstances were that prompted that press conference in the manner in which it was conducted. It may have been that it was set without sufficient notice to set it up any other way and that he was directed to make it happen then and there, regardless of what other crucial events may have been in the works. I feel sure that he would have preferred that it be conducted in a more professional manner as well. Sometimes when things are in meltdown mode, things are dealt with differently than they would be otherwise.

Agree. If he did not have a press conference to announce Rocco's departure, the later press conference would have not only been about Rocco's departure, but also the hire of Huesman. OSC

 

[iSpider]

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.”
― John F. Kennedy

 

[Wood Hall]

I'd rather lose the press conference and win the coach-hiring derby than vice-versa.

As it turns out Gill was no hat, but all cattle.

 

[UR Fan 2]

So I started this thread by saying I am disappointed with Gill. He partially redeemed himself today with a great hire. That being said when you have 2 flagship sports, and you have 2 established coaches, keeping them happy seems pretty easy. Some would argue Mooney's contract does that for him but with Rocco, listening to your people and flying air cover over them to assuage their concerns is your main job.

He went from 0 to minus 100 with Rocco leaving. With the Huesman hire he comes back to minus 25 but still a long way from positive 100 in my eyes.