There have been many thoughtful and insightful postings on this website recently regarding the status of our football program and the current coaching staff. This allows us to vent and express our concerns and frustrations, but…Do the powers that be read these? Maybe it is too early, but I think e-mails to Dr. Khator, Hunter Yurachek, and Tillman Fertitta may be in order. I have searched for their official e-mail addresses, but have been unsuccessful. Yes, I realize they probably do not personally read each one, but I would think the most compelling ones are passed along. Just a suggestion.
There are people in the AD that read the forums, but they don’t read individuals. They look to get an overall feel of the hardcore fanbase. Executives will alter their emails from others in the organization, e.g. if UH is last name-first initial @uh.edu, Yurachek will be different to avoid the crazies spamming him.
Duarte reads. You will see concerns and questions brought up here that he will then directly address in press briefings. He is also very involved in Twitter, and there are a lot of posters from CoogFans that all follow each other on Twitter.
I doubt Hunter Y has any power !
I sincerely HOPE you are right!
I doubt if emails, text or telephone calls will do anything positive. Dr. Khator, Hunter Yurachek, and Tillman Fertitta are no happier with what is going on than you or I are. If would like to donate 6 or 7 million dollars to buy out the existing contracts and maybe even have a sure fire, no possibility of failure candidate with a full slate of coordinators and coaches ready to go right now then I am sure they would be willing to talk to you personally. Otherwise we are going to have to ride this situation until the buyout is at a level we can afford. Besides, I have never ever heard of a school firing a coach in the first year of his contract except maybe for moral failings.
It would make getting good candidates difficult. Applewhite has to be given a 2nd year to show he can correct his mistakes, in this case correcting his coordinator hires.
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That is my point. Applewhite will have at least 2 years and more likely 3. Of course that changes if he only wins 3 or 4 games next year.
Southern Miss fired Ellis Johnson after going 0-12 in his first year.
Less than 12 months ago most were singing the praises of Dr. Khator and Tillman. [Not many in the I Like Hunter camp though]
And now many want them to undo their decision on Major.
I was as surprised as anyone that Major was the chosen one but I will give him at least two seasons before passing judgment on the hire.
Go Coogs! LbUSF
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Usually the buyouts are a lot less than he is announced to be making. They usually involve a “base” salary and not the other perks. This was the case with Levine and was paid out over a few years.
I on the other hand think the problem IS Applewhite and yes that includes his chosen coaches possibly, but at the end of the day, Applewhite calls the shots.
I also believe that he is not up to the job, is not a motivator, plays it too much close to the vest, etc…and that he ain’t gonna change.
Keep him around and the ship gonna be sinking.
Ge out the AX !!
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Guess I am not “most” !
One thing I noticed with Levine is he did not have the same staff building qualities as the three P5 OCs. Now CMA has also had issues building a good staff. Continuity does not work if the rest of the staff is not top notch.
You weren’t impressed with Khator and Fertitta for the hire of Herman, the Peach Bowl victory, the political pressures around the state / AAC and the Big XII push before everything started to unravel? And Sampson resurrecting the basketball program? Whitting and Cougar Baseball winning the AAC Championship? Maybe there was silent movement on CoogFans of people saying we have the wrong people running the show while UH was the toast of the G5 and had Herman, Sampson and Whitting at the controls of the big 3 sports…
Hey, at least Dickey is gone. You should at least be somewhat happy about that.
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Very impressed.
Now, they have made a mistake (IMHO).
Great leaders do not let mistakes fester and place into jeprody all that they have worked to build.
Trying to create a straw man argument is not befitting to you.
Then you have lost me if you were impressed with them last year but said you should not be included in my “most” grouping for singing their praises last year. Anyway…
My point is: if they were great leaders when they picked Herman, Sampson and Whitting, then why panic (not you specifically) about the Major selection? The leadership understands the importance of a successful athletics program and especially a successful football program so, if they indeed made a mistake, don’t we trust them to correct it as quickly as they can?
Khator has already said 10-2 is “successful” at UH and “we fire coaches at 8-4”. Even if that was just talk at her party, they fired Levine for going 15-9 in two seasons [Edit: 3 years and 21-17]. Barring a “major” turnaround, Major is on his way to a 6-5 (beating ECU and maybe Tulane?) or worse season in a watered-down version of the AAC. He has to understand this is not acceptable and he will need a very strong 2018.
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I could not disagree more with some of the “it won’t do any good” sentiment in this thread.
ABSOLUTELY you should be writing and contacting the decision makers to let them know where you are at. Bad things happen when good people do nothing.
The most important thing is you be respectful and don’t come off as a raving lunatic. Tell them you demand excellence and how distressed you are. Also, believe me they know. There is NO way anybody in charge is happy with what’s going on… 10,000 unsold seats means half mil lost revenue.
So, we need to validate their concerns by letting them know how we feel. Again be respectful and professional in your communications, and don’t necessarily expect a response. Plus you will feel better knowing you did something proactive.
I will try to find the contact info.
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Agree with Portland. Even if they already know, and I think they do to some degree at least, we owe it to the program to respectfully make our concerns known. It would probably make us all feel better, but Apple is still probably going to be around another year or two.
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Dr. Renu Khator has been the best thing to happen to UH since I became a Coog in 1976. She has brought us from a lightly regarded commuter school (and that’s putting it gently) to a Tier 1 university. From a high school stadium to TDECU. From a deteriorating Hof, to the Fertitta Center. From hardly anyone living on campus to 2nd in the state in beds on campus. Look at our graduation rates. Look at our physical plant. Look at our student growth. Look at the pride our students and alumni have in UH.
You may not like hiring CMA, but you have no basis to disparage Dr. Khator. And while you are running down Fertitta, look at what he has done for our program. Look at our facilities and the bucks he personally pumped in. And just what do you moaners and groaners do? Oh yeah, you bitch and moan about the people who have put UH in its best position in history. I’m really getting sick of it.
It is CMA’s first year and he is putting a team on the field that has substantially less talent than we had the previous 2 years – especially at the most important position on the field. Greg Ward was more responsible for our success than Herman. It is a testament to the impatience, and frankly, the lack of football acumen of those wanting to fire him after his first year.
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who are you responding to? I don’t think the thread is about running down anyone. Rather it’s to express concern to the right people in respectful way.