Snagged and edited from another site:
5018Calhoun I just thought it was gold!
My guess is he leveraged with Baylor that he was responsible for the Herman and Sampson hires. Sure you get credit good or bad because your sitting in the chair but that doesn’t mean it was his choice or final say.
I just wonder when Herman doesn’t go to Baylor if Mack will tell the alumni on TV that “We are Baylor and are expectations are to high”
Honestly, to me, this just cements the reality that Baylor is going to regress to it’s norm…sucking. Maybe they’ll do a bit better than they were before but 6-7 win seasons are their future.
At this time, no one knows what recruiting, TV, and player limitations might be imposed on BU. They will probably be unknown for one or more years.
Not a HC job to pursue.
lol at this hire. Murder and Rape University better get ready to suck big! As for TDECU… it’s the stadium Case Keenum built.
This is why these guys are called “Talking Heads” !!
They talk without any facts.
Found this from a poster on Baylorfans.com. Laughing my ass off at the delusion.
This is typical UH delusion. It never ends. Once again, to repeat what was stated last month. In the last 5 years, Baylor has accomplished more than UH has in their history. That is objective fact. Nothing will change that. The above posts are just absurd.
I just don’t understand all the hate for Mack. He only was responsible for the biggest facility improvement program in our history. It was a start and he knew it. Some act like he had an unlimited budget to work with. And of this with your profound knowledge of budgets and fundraising. Did he make a couple of bad hires. Yes. Did he make valuable contributions? Yes.
Why virtually every thread on (now) both boards have to turn into abject criticism and hate – not just about the topic but eventually for each other?
So many experts. If only you would volunteer your time, money and expertise to the BoR. Sheeeesh.
Agree. Had a couple bad hires but couple excellent ones. Had the vision that others did not to build a new 40K seat stadium vs. an endzone facility. Seemed rather personable. More than average.
People are wanting to build statues of Uncle Dave outside TDECU. Uncle Dave laughed at donors who thought a new stadium was possible so he pushed a stupid end zone proposal for Robertson.
I am thankful for Mack. Who here had heard of TDECU before they were named the stadium rights donor? Who here isn’t happy with our relationship with TDECU?
Who knew that the original “academic” space for the stadium was not going to go to the school of music? Who here knows that it was Mack who worked with me to push that to the BOR and Renu in order to help secure a large foundation gift that otherwise would not have happened?
Who here had hear of Ron Yokubaitis before his $10 million gift?
Sure, Mack wasn’t perfect but we are in a MUCH better place after he left. Why so many of our fans detest him is beyond me.
God bless Dave and Mack, but before Dave was pushed out, didn’t switch over to the new stadium idea?
I mostly agree with you. But you’re not telling the full story if you ask me. Or maybe not telling it the right way. Sure Mack was great for what he did, he helped get our stadium off the ground, but in no way did he do it alone. The singular fact that Khator is building up the campus as a whole suggests that she is the real driving force behind the stadiums and athletic buildings too. Mack was a great sidekick to her in that, and definitely the one needed at the time, but boy am I glad he moved on. We were in the flow of things and moving forward what we need now is an AD who is actually good at athletics, not at getting funding. In my opinion(and I know someone who worked with him before the UH AD gig) Mack isn’t the best with his athletic decision making.
So I say THANK YOU to him for what he did for our school, but I’m definitely happy he moved along when he did.
I think part of the vitriol you’re feeling is a bit more about Baylor and how they hired someone who really won’t make them any better athletically. Baylor has a shiny new stadium…I’m just not sure what Mack was really brought in for then.
He was brought in to bring Herman IMHO.
Mack sucks at hiring for the major sports. He is better at fundraising I suppose, but I’m old school - you need your AD to hit on football and basketball hires. He swung and missed on both of his opportunities there and it really hurt us. Glad he is gone - good luck at Baylor.
GO COOGS!
Baylor’s being set up for disappointment.
They both made valuable contributions in different ways – I knew them both well. Let’s just be grateful for their accomplishments without dragging them through the dirt. Neither had a budget of any consequence to work with. We’ve made tremendous progress during my tenure – and I graduated in '62. Take some time to be thankful and appreciative that we finally have an administration that cares, and a BoR that include UH alumni. Beat OU. 1-0.
My first UH football game was my freshman year, in 2012 versus texas state at Robertson. I was pumped as one would expect from a first-timer.
What I saw that day was a poorly coached football team that could not get out of its own way. Then I overheard someone talking about TL, and how he was our SPECIAL TEAMS COACH the previous year.
I was horrified. Never had I heard of a ST coach being an expert on either side of the ball. That’s why they are in control of the least important aspect of the game. Any coach worth his salt would be a coordinator at a different school before taking the ST position, RIGHT?
I know it is not fair to put all the blame on MR, but I am sure he was instrumental in setting the program back years (and if we do not get in a P5, decades).
Please don’t tell me he was a driving force on the stadium. Case Keenum built TDECU stadium in my opinion. WINNING is what got UH the money, recruits, facilities, and conference upgrade. MR almost blew it by making a lazy and incompetent hire.
Mack Rhoades was brought in to do two jobs after Dave Maggard left: 1) improve Academics in the AD and 2) implement Renu Khator’s vision of a new stadium. He was successful on both counts.
Beyond that, Rhoades’ tenure could be best be met with a shrug of the shoulders. His handling of the 2 revenue generating sports was an unmitigated disaster. His hirings in women’s basketball, swimming, and soccer saw the programs drop to embarrassing lows. No one knows what happened with Patrick Sullivan which left the Tennis program in shambles the year after reaching a Top 50 ranking. He did hire Whitting, Dismuke, and Chadwell (as well as Sullivan), but that really doesn’t offset the many other baffling hires – led by Levine and Dickey. By the end, the administration had removed his hiring capabilities and even hired his replacement-in-waiting.
It’s obvious that Rhoades is only interested in his career after having his Baylor hiring announced at the same time that the new Mizzou football coach (who he had hired) was being interviewed at SEC Media Days. Rhoades knew his days at Mizzou were numbered after this past year’s disastrous outcomes and saw an opportunity at Baylor to where he could build his brand again. We vilify “Toad” Graham for how he treated Rice and Tulsa; Rhoades isn’t much better at this point as he leaves the Mizzou program in a lurch without the integrity to finish what he started. And while he did stay for 6 years in Houston, he also tried to ride out of here with Sumlin in 2011 to AggieLand before A&M boosters put a stop to that.
Some that worked close to him will remember him fondly and defend him stating he didn’t have much to work with. That’s fine, but he had more than his predecessor and did less with it and his hirings of Tony Levine and James Dickey did irreparable damage to the momentum that the athletic department had made under Maggard (think how the Big12 expansion talks would be going if UH could have had a strong football and basketball program since 2011 instead of just since 2015). To me, the most telling thing about Rhoades is that after he was hired at Baylor, not one current athlete and (only one former athlete), coach, or University administrator (besides Hunter Yurachek and James Dickey) tweeted out congratulations to him. No one really misses him; no one really wants to go back to him.
This is the most balanced article I have read so far. Although, it feels a little contradictory to say he has such a sterling reputation in the business after talking about how he left his brand new football coach out to dry just before media days.
Basically, he is an AD that has gotten stuff done when opportunity presented itself, and has seen bad situations before… though he didn’t necessarily see them through. He is the best available who is interested in the job, and by all accounts he gives Baylor a better (albeit still small) shot at CTH.
what inroads, Bleed?? it isnt like Rhoades had ANYTHING to do with Herman being hired, because he didnt…That was Tillman Fertitta’s baby…if they were smart, they would give Grobe a multi year contract because he’s a far better coach than they deserve…but probably they wont be smart enough to do it.
Make me wish that MR went with Scumlin to A&M. The stadium was about to be built regardless after the 2011 season. Letting him hire Levine, Dickey and the women bkb coach from HBU was a travesty.
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