The Swamp

Had stories saying AD was fired, but refuted
but AD has not been seen around in a bit
President not happy that AD was interested in Cal job
Nobody happy that fundraising is not as good as it is supposed to be (especially with refurbished Cole Field House).
Now a 6-month sabbatical. Sounds like something of a firing when you have a really strong contract.
Oh and Gary Williams is smart to not take the job. Enjoy his bar he owns with Kornheiser and Povich instead.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ter ... ef32334305

Apropos of nothing, I've coached one of his daughters who goes to my alma mater/my kids school. Won't get into personal stuff, other than to say it's a very Bethesda/Potomac family. Kind of odd she's at Walter Johnson.

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I hang with a bunch of alumni and one guy in particular that is a muckety-muck with fundraising. I will grab him at some point to get more inside dope on this, but what you laid is pretty much what we've heard:

* - Got busted interviewing for Cal.
* - Had already been rumored to be looking at a gig at Stanford. (He was a fundraiser there.)
* - He's from the Bay Area.

Additional information - His eldest daughter goes to school at UCLA or Stanford, I don't remember which. And the daughter that goes to WJ with my daughter had told her circle of friends that she's going to school out west, specifically looking at USC and UCLA.

Just seems pretty obviously that he's getting fired the way they do with people that make over $500k a year and have all sorts of clauses and shit written into their contract.

Is it really that much of a sin for the AD at Maryland to interview for a job at Cal (assuming all proper protocols were followed?)

I can see how Cal might be a step up as an AD position over Maryland though I realize a lot of Terps fans don't want to hear that.

It's a million percent step up.

The area to live in is a step up - but the job? Isn’t Cal about to or is currently in the middle of a massive athletic budget fiscal crisis?

Found it - a deadspin piece from the summer:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadspin.c ... 896858/amp

tennbengal wrote:The area to live in is a step up - but the job? Isn’t Cal about to or is currently in the middle of a massive athletic budget fiscal crisis?

Found it - a deadspin piece from the summer:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadspin.c ... 896858/amp

Yeah, there are definitely some enormous challenges for the next Cal AD. But, on the other hand, it is arguably the most prestigious public university in the western U.S. So, that would look good on one's resume.

brian wrote:Is it really that much of a sin for the AD at Maryland to interview for a job at Cal (assuming all proper protocols were followed?)

I can see how Cal might be a step up as an AD position over Maryland though I realize a lot of Terps fans don't want to hear that.

Your parenthetical question is key here. Anderson and MD President Low don't get along. Goes back to tension around coaching decisions, fundraising, egos, and other personal shit I don't have nailed down but I've heard rumblings about for years.

What I'm hearing is that he took a trip ostensibly to visit his daughter at college. While out there he interviewed, trying to keep it on the QT. Word got back yada yada yada.

And I don't think many MD fans would take issue with it... Well, wait... I'm not a MD fan, but knowing a lot of MD fans... There's a solid core of morons in there, so...

Also gotta factor in the stuff I posted about. Dude tried to land at Stanford, now he's knocking on Cal's door. His personal history and that of his daughters to be out there takes this from "is this a good professional move" to "x factors weighing heavily."

Also, dude is getting up there. I'm thinking his in his early 60s... Next move is likely his last, so all this stuff about professional growth is not a huge factor, IMO.

So guessing the sabbatical may not have been job searching huh? Cal, Stanford, etc may not be so realistic right now.