tpstulane wrote:
Fred Dowler wrote:
tpstulane wrote:
Fred Dowler wrote:
tpstulane wrote:
At one time Arnie was the deputy commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association and was president of the Southern League of Minor League Baseball.
He'd be a great COO for Tulane.
But he's never been in a college operation? Or has he?
Can't find where he has. But if he survived working at city hall for 8 years Tulane should be no problem.
Maybe not.
But it does strike me as notable that he hasn't worked for any long period of time/high capacity in a college setting, if ever, and yet might possibly be athletics-director-to-be.
That is not meant to be saying anything about Arnold Fielkow's overall ability to be an effective manager, just that it doesn't appear that he has experience in a college setting.
And, yes, I would have to think that the NFL or wherever else he has been, which seems to be mainly professional sports organizations, are not the same animal as a college sports operation (or maybe that is not an issue at some lower level position...but...if he's being brought in to become athletics director eventually...and who honestly really believes that he would be brought in to stay for the long term in some lower level position in the department?).
What I would hope to see would be the incoming administration selecting an athletics director of their own choosing from the ranks of the staffs of the better-regarded operations among private school programs, e.g. Baylor's. Stanford's, etc.
Just as with the bball coach, it really doesn't matter whether the person is someone with whom locals are familiar. What matters and what should matter is what kind of experience that they have and ability to bring in solid coaches and players.
The position of COO is what I believe Arnie is best suited for. He has always been on the admin side of things. If he feels that the COO doesn't pay enough or it is second fiddle so be it. But I would rate it like a council position as compared to mayor (who would be more like an AD).
Does anyone who feels excited about this development, though, honestly not feel that the plan is that Arnold Fielkow is going to be the next athletics director in a few months?
Also, that's a good point about whether being in a position reporting to the department head rather than being the department head itself is going to be something that he is actually going to be comfortable with, given that right now he is CEO of an organization?
I am not looking to sound dismissive of his overall ability here.
To me, candidly, though, something does not add up.
For one, this "assistant/vice director" or whatever position in the athletics department that's reportedly being filled has been being advertised for months, as in several, and not filled, though indeed it's considered an essential office. Why not just find someone who's qualified, which I can't imagine would be that difficult to do, from the ranks of the staffs of actual college athletics departments and be done with it?
Was there a need for Cowen/Dickson to go out and make some big splash here? Not really. But it does seem like that if this rumor is valid that that's what's going on.
I have to say this: Cowen and Dickson are excellent at reading the tea leaves. Dickson's become the lightning rod of fan angst (of course, hardly undeserved). He gets to be eased out to pasture (maybe). Cowen gets publicity that he so loves. But, in the end, does TU really address what's at the root of the issues? I don't know.
I'd prefer to see Cowen out of the picture totally and no appointees of his in any important position in the school and a clean break there with the incoming leadership being afforded a full opportunity to take things in a completely new and fresh direction.
Statistics: Posted by Fred Dowler — Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:10 pm