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Rocco mentioned in connection with UD job

Spiders10 said:
Richmond "has been real good for me," said Rocco. "But I do think it's time for me to move on."

“The landscape of college football is changing rapidly,” Rocco said Tuesday after news of his move was reported. “And some of the adjustments that you’re recognizing are significant adjustments. I think the support at Richmond is there. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the school is supporting football.

“I had numerous conversations with (athletic director) Keith Gill and with (school president Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher). I felt they were willing to kind of meet the most significant needs.

“But my statement about vision was more the landscape, the landscape is changing so rapidly.”

“I don’t know that Richmond will be able to match those (landscape) changes,” said Rocco. “So in my mind, I used the word ‘vision.’ Maybe I used the worst word I could have used.”

“I was never in a position to say ‘yes,’” he said, referring to Temple. “When I mentioned ‘weighing options,’ there were obviously other things that could have been out there, but the one that had the most traction for me was Delaware.”

“I am closer to home. I am back into the region that I really started my coaching and recruiting career, in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Rocco. “That’s where all of my ties are. My dad was the president of the Pennsylvania High School Coaches Association back in 1982.”

“I’ll be a little closer to home and be at a school I think is a little better fit for me moving forward,” Rocco said. “To me, this is the only (FCS) league to be in, for me geographically, the only league I’d want to be in. I learned that quickly after arriving at Richmond.”

“I really would think that next year’s team would be highly ranked as they head into the preseason,” said Rocco. “Richmond is going to hire a really good coach and they’re going to have a really good team. And they’ll have really good teams throughout the years. I recognize that.”

Thanks for the exit interview, Coach.
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So "Landscape" means $$$$$$ now. Interesting
 
Spiders10 said:
Richmond "has been real good for me," said Rocco. "But I do think it's time for me to move on."

“The landscape of college football is changing rapidly,” Rocco said Tuesday after news of his move was reported. “And some of the adjustments that you’re recognizing are significant adjustments. I think the support at Richmond is there. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the school is supporting football.

“I had numerous conversations with (athletic director) Keith Gill and with (school president Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher). I felt they were willing to kind of meet the most significant needs.

“But my statement about vision was more the landscape, the landscape is changing so rapidly.”

“I don’t know that Richmond will be able to match those (landscape) changes,” said Rocco. “So in my mind, I used the word ‘vision.’ Maybe I used the worst word I could have used.”

“I was never in a position to say ‘yes,’” he said, referring to Temple. “When I mentioned ‘weighing options,’ there were obviously other things that could have been out there, but the one that had the most traction for me was Delaware.”

“I am closer to home. I am back into the region that I really started my coaching and recruiting career, in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Rocco. “That’s where all of my ties are. My dad was the president of the Pennsylvania High School Coaches Association back in 1982.”

“I’ll be a little closer to home and be at a school I think is a little better fit for me moving forward,” Rocco said. “To me, this is the only (FCS) league to be in, for me geographically, the only league I’d want to be in. I learned that quickly after arriving at Richmond.”

“I really would think that next year’s team would be highly ranked as they head into the preseason,” said Rocco. “Richmond is going to hire a really good coach and they’re going to have a really good team. And they’ll have really good teams throughout the years. I recognize that.”

Thanks for the exit interview, Coach.
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This at least answers some questions. I'd like to know what he means by landscape though because that would answer whether or not we can do anything to fix the perceived problem
 
I didn't think we could do it. We didn't give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. Good work team. Maybe we can move our posting to the Hens board.
 
I like the quote "I felt they were willing to kind of meet the most significant needs." There in lies the real problem.
 
Honestly, I feel like Rocco is all over the place with his comments. Soooo..."I was oh so close to staying at Richmond, and they definitely want to support the program, and I BELIEVE they want to fulfill the most significant needs, but the landscape is changing and I don't think they can keep up." WTF are you talking about, Danny?
 
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SpiderCoastie said:
Honestly I hope you are right. That's an easier pill to swallow than "I wanted reasonable improvements and the admin didnt give them to the players"
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Maybe they argued over "reasonable", but it still came down to salaries as it always does. Why else would he have been sniffing around Temple at the last minute?
 
Not1richmond said:
It wasn't about money. Those on the outside looking in will never understand. There is a virus in the system. Same level of commitment to football that went into that press conference. Just enough to get by.
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Guess I have been around business owners and employees too long. It's always about money. Either not enough of it or who deserves what. Once they are paid enough then they start complaining about using Bic pens instead of Montblanc.

I do agree with you about the press conference. It was not professional and up to the standards for a 63k/yr school.
 
SpiderK said:
Guess I have been around business owners and employees too long. It's always about money. Either not enough of it or who deserves what. Once they are paid enough then they start complaining about using Bic pens instead of Montblanc.
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I see it as money, opportunities, and fame as the trinity to career progression...but to your point it's ultimately boils down to money.
 
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Not1richmond said:
I can't go into detail due to retaliation. I do have a current investment in this team I hope things change on the inside and ready to move forward. I appreciate everyone's opinions and passion. Here's to the 2017 CAA Football Championship.
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Completely understand the need for candor but i will say that the student athletes should bring their issues to the donors so that the donors can lobby for them to the AD. Not much anyone on here can do if the players dont come forward with some details. there is a right way to do it, just gotta figure out how
 
The players follow the lead of thier coaches
Unless the donors want a full access account of what the players feel (Crutcher should be there too)
It ain't going to happen. Frankly if I'm a major donor I want to hear unfiltered information after what went down and by speaking with the team or certain team leaders that would be a way to do that

Let's see what the AD dept does to placate the masses.
 
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PhillySpider said:
I do not think that he engineered it all. I do think its played out that way. Here is my opinion and how I come to it. This is a story -- - plenty will disagree that this is what happened. It will be long - - - you are obviously free to not give a rats about what I heard or think and skip the whole thing!

I get information generally from 3 UR connected sources. These folks are higher up the UR food chain than I (which ain't saying much since I am nobody). Two of them are probably one source combined in that they know each other and the higher yet person they each know and get info from is the same person. It is fair to say these two are not big Queally guys and neither is their higher up guy. The third is unrelated to those two and his higher up yet connection is different. They share with me because we are friends and Spider supporters. On this particular topic I also have a Delaware source. That source is actually very much higher than my direct UR sources. He tells me things about what he hears as well. Things about what Rocco wants and what Delaware must commit to because they are Rocco hot buttons etc. What he shares can only be used to see if it fits with the story I hear from the UR sources or are there discrepancies somewhere etc.

Here is how I think its all come down , based on all I have heard (none of ot obviously from Danny, Gill, Crutcher etc.). I am filling in at some points with opinion and I am sure some details are wrong/missing but I do believe this is the jist of what occurred

A good while ago (as in not days, weeks or even months ago) Danny approached admin with a list of things he felt he needed. Admin was somewhat surprised by list, but more out of a lack of knowledge about what top level FSC programs have. At that point they said they needed to look at it etc. There was no animosity either way. Danny likely thought what he needed to do was educate the key folks some more about what top programs have and why they needed them but believed admin was committed but didn't necessarily understand what that meant.

Discussions continued over time with Danny pushing for what he wanted and as he did admin came to believe that Danny was "cherry picking" a bit - - that is, he was pointing to programs A, B and C and saying they have this (e.g. higher asst salaries) and then Programs D and E have this other thing (e.g. state of art weight/locker room) etc. etc. but that Danny's insistence that he had to have it all was overreaching. Danny likely thought he was negotiating, not truly expecting or demanding everything. To this point I think still no ill-will either way.

Admin comes back and does some cherry picking of their own, pointing to schools 1,2 and 3 that don't have this and schools 4 and 5 that don't have that and implying - - you don't need any of that stuff to be successful. They too probably thought they were negotiating and didn't intend to give nothing. The debate to this point was about "what does a Top level FSC team really need " not whether UR would commit to do whatever that was.

At that point, had it stopped there I think things would have been fine eventually as there was plenty of middle ground. Several things then seemingly happened that got the train off the tracks. Admin cited that one thing we did have already was a really high head coach's salary. How this was said and what was implied etc. is highly unclear, but Danny took a little (and maybe more) umbrage - - feeling his performance had earned that and it shouldn't be used against him. The next thing that happened is where things crash and burn. Someone tells Danny or Danny thinks he hears that it really doesn't matter what other Top level FSC programs have because UR doesn't have the money to do any of those things. This starts the Vision/commitment concerns. But also pisses Danny off because its clear (to him) we can afford it if we want to. He raises the commitment concern - - hey are we really committed to top flight FSC football. The admin says of course we are - - just keep doing what you are doing, its great. Danny thinks (and says) that's not so easy as you think - - are you really not committed to doing what it takes. A little bit of a pissing match ensues Admin - - Yes we are. Danny - - no your not!

Danny sort of doubles down, pushing his concerns and also citing what he believes are commitments already made and not delivered and strongly stating his long term concern over vision and commitment. Admin is now getting annoyed but still clearly wants to keep him. Danny refuses contract talks that don't also include resolution of other issues. Admin starting to get very annoyed and feeling like Danny is overstepping his bounds. Large ego's (on both sides) are now implicated because its shaping up as a winner/loser. Admin again says we can't afford it. Danny says - - so you aren't committed to Top Level FSC. Admin doesn't like Danny characterization of that and a number of things at this point. Danny is now fully concerned and pissed off. Admin expressed lack of money concern leads to comments from Danny about how come we can't afford any of this football stuff but Lax gets whatever they want! He cites that Lax has clear vision - - Top level program that competes for NCAA championship and they get whatever they need in pursuit of that. Lax benefactors are immediately inflamed. I will guess for multiple reasons - - - (1) hey just leave us out of your problems; (2) they didn't like being the villains before and sure don't want to be portrayed that way again and (3) if there are money concerns, they don't want to be losing anything they could or might get to football - - i.e. they don't want to be competing with football for resources. Admin is also inflamed that football coach is overstepping bounds and bringing up sore subject.

At some point both parties say - - you know there are other fish in the sea. who says it first, who the hell knows, but everyone is pissed off. Lax guy who hadn't been too involved now "advises" admin they need to get a hold of this situation and that they should call Danny's bluff (and put him in his place in some versions of the story) with a take it or leave it big contract offer but denial of most other things. His motivations for recommendation not entirely clear but LAX best interests almost certainly part of it - - to some no matter what the cost to other programs. That path is followed. Danny not bluffing (and not interested perhaps in being put in his place wherever that is) and flat out refuses the deal.

Some believe Danny is still negotiating. I do not. Some believe there are forces at work on UR side to save the day. I do not.

To specifically address the notion that Queally orchestrated this - - here is my view. He was a late entry to the dance. A lot of ground had been covered (or lost) before he got directly involved. He didn't even interject himself. Danny mentioned LAX - - no doubt because LAX's treatment is something which in fact really sticks in his craw. That brought Lax man in. Once he is in - - he is in charge because that's how he wants it. So from that point forward he's calling the shots and he's pissed off about the negative connotations around Lax (and maybe other things). This might very well (probably even by the sounds of things) have ended up here without his direct involvement at all however, because things hadn't gone very well up this point and everyone was already pissed off at one another.

Now, he's a smart guy and one who knows how to play the back room and board politics really well. I also believe he certainly is a strong UR supporter beyond the lax program as well. If he sees this now as a disaster about to happen (for both the school and/or football and/or himself and/or Lax) , it is very possible he changes his course and I hope that happens. He may have thought the course of action he advised was the wisest way to get past this with the least damage especially if Danny had accepted (as Q might have really believed he would) but now sees we are instead headed toward the iceberg and is working furiously to turn the ship before the crash.

As a last comment for what its worth, I do hear that UR may not have given up as much as many on this board (including me) have.
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Looking back Best post of entire ordeal ...well done! I'll keep a keen eye on your posts going forward
 
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LongTimeLurkerFirstTimePoster said:
remember this is the guy who said we would not even contact Huesman and that we are PL bound. You may want to look elsewhere for your news
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I hear you, but I think he captured the right back story leading up to everything, just my thoughts but it ties together and makes sense with benefit of 20/20 hindsight. As far as the other things ,let's say he is good with details of the past not so much with the future.
 
SpiderK said:
Guess I have been around business owners and employees too long. It's always about money. Either not enough of it or who deserves what. Once they are paid enough then they start complaining about using Bic pens instead of Montblanc.

I do agree with you about the press conference. It was not professional and up to the standards for a 63k/yr school.
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Or sporting a Rolex, Omega, Tag Heuer or Casio, Invicta, Timex.
 
said it before, think it had been 5 years, time to go, delaware fires their coach, his agent contacts delaware and indicates an interest, the deal was done a while back. sure we have some needs, every program does, it was just time for him to move on, nothing more, pretty simple. the prob came up when he went public, a no-no and feel that was part of his excuse exit strategy so that he did not look stupid or money-grabbing.
 
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The more I read and hear the more I am convinced we came out of this whole thing smelling like a Frisco burger next year. The Deleware game is one game our family will make next year, even if we have to walk. Been looking for the right time to wear my "We beat Flaco and crew in Five Overtimes"
 
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K, how about the genius business owner on the west coast who decided to pay all his employees the same amount, $100,000 i believe. all of his excellent employees quit because they understood that the others should not be making the same amount for what they contributed.
 
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Eight Legger said:
Heard today from a good source that it was Rocco who blocked Andrew White from coming here. TWICE.

Discuss.
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How is that possible? I realize I don't understand everything that happens in the process but why would Rocco ever be in the loop on this type of decision?
 
o_O

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DTSpider said:
How is that possible? I realize I don't understand everything that happens in the process but why would Rocco ever be in the loop on this type of decision?
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Rocco doesn't need to screw with the hoops team, Mooney does that just fine himself.
 
The most revealing statement by Danny was he has taken Richmond as far as HE could. I hope he never beats a Richmond team.
 
Let's see what the AD dept does to placate the masses.

Not so sure "the masses," whoever that might be, require placating. The longer this went on the more people realized we are in excellent shape, with a head coach who wants to be at UR.
 
urfan1 said:
The most revealing statement by Danny was he has taken Richmond as far as HE could. I hope he never beats a Richmond team.
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Notice Danny's goal at UD is the "return them to National prominence"? Such a cop out.
 
I'm very pleased with the selection of the new coach. But until he surpasses what DR has done or at least equals it I'll reserve final judgement. College football is awash of fabulous hires and homecoming of succesful coaches that don't meet expectations and fizzle out and for everyone that works there are more that don't
Let's hope it doesn't go that way and I for one remain very optimistic

After watching the recent FCS playoffs I feel that without the key injuries we experienced we are in the Final! And even better is that the cupboards are full with talent!

However, One issue that I can't get over is the AD not having command of the facts for the improvements... I think most would agree there are no concrete timetables or firm plans. Goes back to the real lack of vision of the Athletic department and frankly a total lack of transparency. If the isn't anything really on the table just tell the coach, players, alumni, fans
I hope there is accountability for him in this issue brcsuse it don't be long until he alientates our new guy too!
 
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Uconn fired Bob Diaco today. I believe the Uconn job is one that DR covets. Great vision in Storrs.
 
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