Keith Gill Apology Thread

[Floridaspiderfan]

If you all want to see what a college AD should be look no further the the UD AD! Passionate, Actually cares ..focused and driven ..
Does anyone feel that gill is any of those????
We need to do better. For all everyone involved with the school we deserve better

 

[wr70beh]

I'm not ready to forgive Gill just yet. There's probably going to be a hire for women's hoops coming in the Spring, and the whole Moooney thing is still a work in progress. If he makes good on facility improvements and makes the right moves with all of our programs, I'll get back on board. the stench of that press conference yesterday is pretty bad, and no amount of Lysol is going to get rid of it that quick.

 

[97spiderfan]

Gill has proven his mettle with this hire but has also shown not to be very publically savvy in doing so. He needs a course in crisis management.

 

[Eight Legger]

I think Kevin Gill needs time to grow into this job . Thus far, he grades out as a solid "D". You shouldn't get credit for causing a fire , and then , seemingly putting it out quickly . It's still his fire . And Unfortunately, his is a job that doesn't come with a grace period. I say that the jury is still out on Kevin Gill.

Maybe Gill didn't cause the fire. Just a thought.

I don't know anything either way, but again, I don't think we can blame him entirely without knowing both sides of the story. What if Rocco demanded a 20k-seat stadium and a doubling of salary for every assistant? Should Gill just have said yes, no matter what? At some point, he has a budget to meet. Rocco was a great coach for us, but that doesn't mean he gets anything he wants.

 

[keefusb]

Everyone knows that RS can't be expanded because of City of Richmond ordinances. I doubt a bigger stadium was realistically high on the DR wish list. We will likely never know what DR was asking for, but I doubt he asked for anything that was outside the realm of the possible.

 

[WebSpinner]

maybe he was not asking for the moon but whatever it was, best believe it involved lots of money and the school is not an ATM. again, think all of this is a smoke screen, he was just ready to go and the delaware opening came at just the right time for him.

 

[I-M-UR]

Maybe Gill didn't cause the fire. Just a thought.

I don't know anything either way, but again, I don't think we can blame him entirely without knowing both sides of the story. What if Rocco demanded a 20k-seat stadium and a doubling of salary for every assistant? Should Gill just have said yes, no matter what? At some point, he has a budget to meet. Rocco was a great coach for us, but that doesn't mean he gets anything he wants.

That's why my post earlier, I want to know what the issues were and are they reasonable (or not) and if so are they being addressed.

 

[paward]

I think Gill deserve the same benefit of doubt that Rocco is getting. I like Coach R and wish him well but my thoughts is he over played his hand and that it will prove to be more of a challenge than the unlimited support he may think is there. UR may have challenges but we fair pretty darn good with them.

My philosophy is if everyone is on the left side and you are on the right, it might be that you are on the wrong side of this. Today is all we have and so far it is a good day.

 

[WebSpinner]

PA, you tend to make things easy for the rest of us

 

[whampas]

Just best Delaware.

 

[URPike]

I think Gill deserve the same benefit of doubt that Rocco is getting. I like Coach R and wish him well but my thoughts is he over played his hand and that if will prove to be more of a challenge than the unlimited support he may think is there. UR may have challenges but we fair pretty darn good with them.

My philosophy is if everyone is on the left side and you are on the right, it might be that you are on the wrong side of this. Today is all we have and so far it is a good day.

Does everyone agree that when paward speaks it is best to listen? We are all fortunate the her experience and that of her family was positive enough that they are still interested and involved. The Ward's left an indelible mark on this program. Pa - what do you all think of the Huesman hiring?

 

[97spiderfan]

I don't think Gill caused the fire, I think Rocco did. Did a lot of us overreact against Gill? Yes, I think we did. Was our reaction unfair to Gill, only from the extent that everyone was only hearing DR's version of events. The school had an opportunity to put a more positive spin on things and we got 2 vanilla press releases and that really amateur presser yesterday. So, they need to learn from that.

Now having today to reflect, Gill hit a home run with the hire, and at the end of the day, his actions today are what we are paying him for.

 

[wr70beh]

I don't think Gill caused the fire, I think Rocco did. Did a lot of us overreact against Gill? Yes, I think we did. Was our reaction unfair to Gill, only from the extent that everyone was only hearing DR's version of events. The school had an opportunity to put a more positive spin on things and we got 2 vanilla press releases and that really amateur presser yesterday. So, they need to learn from that.

Now having today to reflect, Gill hit a home run with the hire, and at the end of the day, his actions today are what we are paying him for.

Well, judging from another thread, it was major donors and the BoT who got this done, not Gill.

 

[97spiderfan]

Well, judging from another thread, it was major donors and the BoT who got this done, not Gill.

Maybe, if we are going to rip Gill though for not giving Rocco what he desired in terms of financial upgrades (and most likely Gill's hands were tied in most of those decisions by finances), than I think we need to praise Gill for getting Huesman on Board (even if he was spending other people's money). That is still his job and he performed it well today.

 

[paward]

I am just a retired country sweet tater type girl. As for Coach H. Back in ancient times when Clawson left we felt like you all do now. We thought he would be there forever and the Spiders were headed to Patriot League, or purgatory or hell or maybe somewhere in between. When Huesman applied it was not a consensus players choice. For some reason the players did not like that pick because he was always the bad cop of the team. We all trust at the time the Adminstratiom knew what they were doing.

Two things stand out regarding Huesman. He has done a damn good job making Chatty successful. Before him they were the team that traveled with a float. They were everyone's homecoming team. Second is when it was evident that the UR job was not his back then he was best recruiter the school had. He was at basketball games with recruits. He is hard and a disciplinary type coach. IMHO that is what will make him a success.

As stated I and my family are no experts but we think it is a great hire. He recruits hard and heavy in Georgia. Say I am biased but that will help us. Besides the DC that got us to Chatty knows how to win it all. He was the common denominator.

 

[URWilk110]

If there wasn't any truth to Danny's vision comment, why wouldn't the AD come out in public after the loss to EWU and fire him? If I am the AD and the football coach creates a huge media storm that is complete BS, you don't come out and say you are doing everything possible to keep the coach. Add on the players' public comments, I still strongly believe all is not roses within the RC and Gill is the problem. Just because we hired Russ, Gill still should be held accountable.

 

[iSpider]

If there wasn't any truth to Danny's vision comment, why wouldn't the AD come out in public after the loss to EWU and fire him? If I am the AD and the football coach creates a huge media storm that is complete BS, you don't come out and say you are doing everything possible to keep the coach. Add on the players' public comments, I still strongly believe all is not roses within the RC and Gill is the problem. Just because we hired Russ, Gill still should be held accountable.

I think firing would be a bridge too far. Would you settle for castration?

 

[urfan1]

I started calling paward "Sweet Tater" about 10 years ago. We were talking on the phone before one game and I asked if she was coming up for the game. She told me due to a family issue she would not be able to make it, I told her I was sorry and hoped there was nothing wrong while wishing her the best. She thanked me and told me she was helping a family member pick sweet taters, I laughed and told her she had a new name Sweet Tater. paward is one of the best, we love her!!!!!

 

[Eight Legger]

If there wasn't any truth to Danny's vision comment, why wouldn't the AD come out in public after the loss to EWU and fire him?

Because then we would have owed him $437,000 for next year. Instead, we let him walk, owe him nothing and may even have collected a buyout from Delaware. Gill may not be a world-beater as an AD, but he's not an idiot.

 

[Wood Hall]

Gill may not be a world-beater as an AD, but he's not an idiot.

Seeing as how we now have the guy they really wanted, maybe he's smarter than the passionate, big-talking go-getter at UD as well.

 

[MrTbone]

I don't know how you come to that conclusion unless you simply want to. For me a lot of an ADs job is getting to know the alumni, both to build up some relationships when problems do arise and for hitting them up for donations. I don't see Gill doing that at all. Also, I really can't validate or get over this having an AD who doesn't live in the community for the same reasons. Unless I get info to the contrary it appears the Athletic Dept which Gill is supposedly the head of could not or would not deliver on some very basic needs the head coach had.

Why do you guys keep insisting that Keith doesn't live here? That's just inaccurate. Plenty of reasons to blow him up for other things but that's a dumb argument that waters down other legitimate reasons you may have for thinking he's not a good fit.

 

[MrTbone]

Through his inaction, incompetence, and crappy PR/people skills, KG allowed Rocco to make him (and by extension, our athletic department and entire school) his b!tch, and I think that is unforgivable.

You can also consider the alternative which is he tried to make them his bitch and they rejected it. And thus he left or wasn't offered an option to remain. I don't know the truth and suspect very few people know beyond DR, KG and DrC.

 

[paward]

We may have sealed the deal with Huseman at night but it was not last night. Could be there was a plan in place for some time.

 

[MrTbone]

We may have sealed the deal with Huseman at night but it was not last night. Could be there was a plan in place for some time.

Agree, there is no chance this happened in one day. Strong indication that admin/AD knew it was not trending their way or had decided not to renew and had already laid tracks with RH.

 

[JM09]

We may have sealed the deal with Huseman at night but it was not last night. Could be there was a plan in place for some time.

I agree

 

[KWeaver]

HR is often based on patience. It's not as simple as our President-Elect would have you believe. You don't just walk in and say "you're fired." There are times that you have to withstand the pitchforks and wait to make your move when the time is right.

I am not fully confident in Gill yet, largely due to basketball - how long must we continue to have patience there? But he is more of a poker player than I have given him credit for. I respect that.

 

[iSpider]

Do most of you believe that this was a power play on the part of Rocco for dominance and control and that Rocco lost this power play? As to the comment which someone made about DR approaching Dr. Crutcher for a meeting, are you sure that the meeting was instigated on DR's part? I had thought that Dr. Crutcher had reached out to DR after receiving our emails and learning more about the situation.

I really do not have a firm opinion, though I am inclined to think that there is a good chance that this whole fiasco was brought about solely by a losing tactical plan for power on the part of Rocco and that had he played his cards differently, he would still be our coach today. Based on many other posts on this board by those with more inside information than others, I am also more inclined to believe that the refusal of the administration to allow Broadus to play as a backup and in view of the outcome of our game against W&M, Rocco being convinced that Broadus could have made us a winner in that game, was more of a factor in his behavior than I had initially thought.

As to Huesman, Clawson says he is a straight shooter. I admire and respect Clawson. I think he was not only the finest coach we have ever had, I think that no one embodies a more principled approach to life than he does. Given that, Huesman's statements about the significance of UR being able to hire away another top-10 coach, his statement that UR is the only school in FCS that could have taken him away from UTC, and his belief in the goal of attaining another National Championship, lead me to conclude that he is being absolutely sincere and truthful and it is not just new coach speak, and that makes me delighted that we now have him as our coach.

I have my doubts as to whether Huesman actually turned down a $500,000 offer from Delaware a week or so ago. Not because he would have accepted it, but because I have seen no credible evidence that Delaware would have made such an offer in view of its continuing pursuit of Rocco. It is also inconsistent with the proposition that the Delaware/Rocco deal was made over two weeks ago which many believe and is supported by a large degree of evidence based on knowledgeable posts on both the Delaware board as well as this one.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Maybe Gill didn't cause the fire. Just a thought.

I don't know anything either way, but again, I don't think we can blame him entirely without knowing both sides of the story. What if Rocco demanded a 20k-seat stadium and a doubling of salary for every assistant? Should Gill just have said yes, no matter what? At some point, he has a budget to meet. Rocco was a great coach for us, but that doesn't mean he gets anything he wants.

So true Eight, but my guess is there are negatives on both sides of this fence. If Huesman works out, then many of us will forget this media storm and fiasco.

 

[Spidergate]

If you all want to see what a college AD should be look no further the the UD AD! Passionate, Actually cares ..focused and driven ..
Does anyone feel that gill is any of those????
We need to do better. For all everyone involved with the school we deserve better

Keith Gill is smart and didn't take Rocco's bait...Rocco hung himself.

 

[Ulla1]

Keith kicked Rocco's butt and now the Spiders will be better off because of it. One listen to Russ and you understand why we wanted him. (Do wish Keith could at least feign a bit more enthusiasm.) OSC

 

[Floridaspiderfan]

At this point alls well that ends well .... we hope
please don't let the AD off the hook on the upgrade issue. If there are NO real plans just let everyone know there are other ways to do things but when there isn't truth nothing gets done and animosity sets in as we have just witnessed first hand

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

If Keith Gill is the source for that TN reporter's tweet about Huesman being Delaware's first choice...

Good on him.

 

[PhillySpider]

I think what some here are hinting at is this: At a certain point, UR decided it didn't want Rocco coaching its football team anymore.

Yeah - - - once they knew he was gone - they decided they didn't want him anymore. But I think they did decide before that that they weren't giving him what he wanted and they would live with the consequences; - - consequences they fully understood!

 

[LKNSPIDER]

Let's get it right! UR Admin. didn't fail to do anything!! Coach Rocco failed to handle the situation privately and if he couldn't get it resolved....his only viable alternative was to leave.....NOT GO TO THE PRESS. Coach Rocco is a good coach and an even better person but hopefully he has learned. Coach works for AD ...not reverse!!

 

[Juris Spider]

I don't think Gill caused the fire, I think Rocco did. Did a lot of us overreact against Gill? Yes, I think we did. Was our reaction unfair to Gill, only from the extent that everyone was only hearing DR's version of events. The school had an opportunity to put a more positive spin on things and we got 2 vanilla press releases and that really amateur presser yesterday. So, they need to learn from that.

Now having today to reflect, Gill hit a home run with the hire, and at the end of the day, his actions today are what we are paying him for.

I don't think that cake has yet fully baked. Give it time before inducting Gill into the Hall of Fame....

 

[Floridaspiderfan]

Fyi all those who thought gill did this by himself
Excerpt from press conference acouple hours in Chattanooga

Huesman says Richmond University president Ronald Crutcher helped seal his decision to become the Spiders new head coach.
Said Huesman:”After the conversation he looked at me and said, I really want you to be our football coach here. I think at that point and time I think I said, yeah, I think this is what I want to do.”

 

[MolivaManiac]

Fyi all those who thought gill did this by himself
Excerpt from press conference acouple hours in Chattanooga

Huesman says Richmond University president Ronald Crutcher helped seal his decision to become the Spiders new head coach.
Said Huesman:”After the conversation he looked at me and said, I really want you to be our football coach here. I think at that point and time I think I said, yeah, I think this is what I want to do.”

Who said Gill did this by himself?

 

[Eight Legger]

Good thing Stonewall D didn't fire Crutcher last week like he wanted to.

 

[McSpider67]

That press conference was better prepared than the one Gill had yesterday.

Our AD dressed like an AD introducing our new FB coach too should look too. Big improvement...

 

[WebSpinner]

this is pretty much how things operate, a new coach, going to any school, meets with top admin. the key is, KG got him here and then the deal was closed. if indeed the Crutch, uttered those words, am impressed, a candidate in any endeavor needs to know he or she is wanted. just looking back on this, we on here handled things terribly, understand that a lot of emotion came out but half, probably more than half, of the crap we heard on here was false and hope we learned some things as well.