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247 Update on Admin Changes

Badbart43 said:
Toretta is my choice (if it mattered, lol) But I would also love to see Highsmith involved in some way.
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Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
 
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Empirical Cane said:
MSU runs a high risk of buyer's remorse.
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I wonder what the fine details are of that deal. I’m sure the buyout probably starts fairly high but I wouldn’t be surprised if dropped considerably after years 3 or 4. At least I’d structure it that way if I was paying him $9 Million/year off of a season and a half.
 
aelmiami said:
I wonder what the fine details are of that deal. I’m sure the buyout probably starts fairly high but I wouldn’t be surprised if dropped considerably after years 3 or 4. At least I’d structure it that way if I was paying him $9 Million/year off of a season and a half.
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that's where I'm at. I'm pretty confident there are escalation clauses year by year. So, maybe next year he's in the $5m range and then up from there. His buyout must be enormous. But, he's a corch so they'll eventually can him.
 
canesbaby said:
Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
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I agree with this. The right candidate is the right candidate based on merit. Not connection. If Mario had zero ties to the school he’d still be a good option because he has proven he can win at a high level with 3 different quarterbacks and can recruit well. That makes him a good hire. Not because he played here
 
canesbaby said:
Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
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Gino Toretta is a very passionate UM Alum. As you state .. he WAS a Heisman winner as UM QB .. and was the QB for two national championship teams back in the UM period of college football dominance. He is a graduate of the UM School of Business, is a VP for a wealth management firm in South Florida, and does have a vision for what UM athletics COULD be. That alone makes him a HUGE upgrade over Blake James. He also does bring a genuine insight of a high caliber recruit / player to the position .. much different from an AD that never played any sports at any level. He would certainly have to have quality assistants to be sure he was up to speed on the compliance aspects of the 15 D1 sports programs that UM operates. He is a numbers guy, finance oriented, which is a major aspect of the position. He is also a very experienced public speaker and is articulate. Wouldn't be my first choice .. but would not necessarily be a bad choice either.
 
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JTKoval said:
Jurich all day assuming he isn’t 80 soon.
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All we need is 5 years with Jurich. That'll be around the same time the Adidas contract is up (I think).

If there is any program that looks like Adidas flagship it's Louisville. There's a big a** Adidas sign on the seats in the north end zone at Cardinal. And an Adidas Club that the players walk through to take the field. Jurich was the architect behind all of that.
 
AUcane said:
that's where I'm at. I'm pretty confident there are escalation clauses year by year. So, maybe next year he's in the $5m range and then up from there. His buyout must be enormous. But, he's a corch so they'll eventually can him.
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I’m not a big fan of his either. Walker is legit and he’s benefited a ton of him.
 
canesbaby said:
Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
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Probably not. But to be fair I’ve never watched or followed an AD hire for any other school so there’s nothing to compare it to. The only one I know that hired a famous alum was USC with Lynn Swann and that failed miserably.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
Had a bunch of classes with him, lived in the same dorm, ate in the same cafeteria, worked on The Miami Hurricane with him.

He made everything about him. Got suspended from the school newspaper for publishing Lou Holtz's home phone number. Got suspended at nearly every print job he's worked at. PLUS he snitched.

For the record...setting aside the ridiculous Tony Russell stuff, which was valid and valuable reporting...nearly everything LeBastard disclosed was personal information with which he was entrusted by players. Minor stuff. Those poor players trusted LeBastard and he screwed them over (though he had the "decency" to do so AFTER they graduated, what a prince he was).

Look, I could tell you plenty of damaging stories about the late 1980s Hurricane football players, and some of it is WAY worse than what LeBastard printed...but I would never do so, even if I could cash in. It's just not in my character to take anyone else's life stories and traffic in them for my gain/their loss.

Fvck that guy...I can respect his talent and accomplishments...while still acknowledging that he built his empire by ******** over everyone that trusted him.

The funny thing is...if you listen to that podcast...you recognize that LeBastard now has NO INFORMATION. No connections. No sources. He makes some "poor, poor, pitiful me" comments about how he didn't WANT to compete with other journalists who broke news stories...while ignoring that he made his bones BREAKING A SCANDALOUS STORY...and then you realize that nobody gives him information anymore...so his entire career, for the past 20+ years, is all about being a "shock jock" dealing in sports opinion and sports gossip, but NEVER in actual sports journalism. All of the so-called information that came out of that podcast came from Mike Ryan, not Dan LeBastard.

I just steer clear of him whenever I see him at UM events (not very frequently). I'm not afraid to be honest and shoot off my own mouth at him, so I try not to cause trouble.
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him and billy corben have made a living dissing the U.
 
canesbaby said:
Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
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Nothing. Well, playing devil's advocate, I think he'd do well with the fundraising aspect of it. As for the general admin of the AD, laying out a vision, hiring the right people, don't know that he has any experience with that. Look at all of the big boys in CFB - ALL of their ADs are seasoned and have had quite a bit of experience in ADs in some capacity over a long period.
 
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canesbaby said:
Not criticizing you in particular but I just really don't understand what Gino has done to warrant consideration as AD here. If he wasn't a heisman winning quarterback from the University of Miami, would any of us have even heard his name in an AD search? Really confused by this one.
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Have you not read his qualifications?

Torretta is currently the Senior Vice President of GAMCO Asset Management which is reportedly a $41 billion company. In addition to GAMCO, Torretta is also the chairman and CEO of Touchdown Radio Productions that syndicates a national college football game of the week. Torretta is also a national college football analyst.

Although he has not specifically worked in an athletic department Torretta has a background that is relevant to being an athletic director. He spent the majority of his post-playing career in asset management which is critical to being a collegiate athletic director. Torretta also has experience playing in a championship program.

caneswarning.com

Three Miami football alums who could be candidates for athletic director

Miami football alums Alonzo Highsmith, Twan Russell and Gino Torretta are or potentially could be candidates to be the next athletic director per sources.
caneswarning.com caneswarning.com
 
Badbart43 said:
Have you not read his qualifications?

Torretta is currently the Senior Vice President of GAMCO Asset Management which is reportedly a $41 billion company. In addition to GAMCO, Torretta is also the chairman and CEO of Touchdown Radio Productions that syndicates a national college football game of the week. Torretta is also a national college football analyst.

Although he has not specifically worked in an athletic department Torretta has a background that is relevant to being an athletic director. He spent the majority of his post-playing career in asset management which is critical to being a collegiate athletic director. Torretta also has experience playing in a championship program.

caneswarning.com

Three Miami football alums who could be candidates for athletic director

Miami football alums Alonzo Highsmith, Twan Russell and Gino Torretta are or potentially could be candidates to be the next athletic director per sources.
caneswarning.com caneswarning.com
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If he was not a former QB of the school, would you so enthusiastically want him as AD? There is a LOT more than goes into it than this. Let's find someone with track record as an AD or associate AD to be our AD.
 
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Rickd said:
Gino Toretta is a very passionate UM Alum. As you state .. he WAS a Heisman winner as UM QB .. and was the QB for two national championship teams back in the UM period of college football dominance. He is a graduate of the UM School of Business, is a VP for a wealth management firm in South Florida, and does have a vision for what UM athletics COULD be. That alone makes him a HUGE upgrade over Blake James. He also does bring a genuine insight of a high caliber recruit / player to the position .. much different from an AD that never played any sports at any level. He would certainly have to have quality assistants to be sure he was up to speed on the compliance aspects of the 15 D1 sports programs that UM operates. He is a numbers guy, finance oriented, which is a major aspect of the position. He is also a very experienced public speaker and is articulate. Wouldn't be my first choice .. but would not necessarily be a bad choice either.
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I would also add this.

Too many porsters think that the "stated job description" of an AD is all that the job entails. They overlook the fact that the MOST effective ADs actually know how to work all the levers of power within a University, whether that is fighting for resources within the school or convincing external donors to give millions.

I like Gino a lot, and I am not saying he is the ONLY candidate or the BEST candidate, but he would certainly, on Day 1, be the most effective hire in one regard, which is being able to navigate within the UM community to get resources and engagement at all levels. There might also be a highly-experienced candidate, such as Tom Jurich, who would command a lot of respect by virtue of his past accomplishments. But other "up-and-comer" candidates like Purinton would need a few years to master the relationships and power channels that would come more quickly for a guy like Gino.

Again, that is not a blanket endorsement, it is just an acknowledgement that a lot of "Gino critics" are overlooking some very important attributes that an AD needs to be most successful.

I'd be willing to bet that most porsters don't even know what Iron Arrow is at UM (and, ****, most of the guys on the LeBatard podcast didn't know either). Iron Arrow runs UM. Gino is in Iron Arrow.




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RedPill Stepdad said:
All we need is 5 years with Jurich. That'll be around the same time the Adidas contract is up (I think).

If there is any program that looks like Adidas flagship it's Louisville. There's a big a** Adidas sign on the seats in the north end zone at Cardinal. And an Adidas Club that the players walk through to take the field. Jurich was the architect behind all of that.
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And adidas cost Jurich his job.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
I would also add this.

Too many porsters think that the "stated job description" of an AD is all that the job entails. They overlook the fact that the MOST effective ADs actually know how to work all the levers of power within a University, whether that is fighting for resources within the school or convincing external donors to give millions.

I like Gino a lot, and I am not saying he is the ONLY candidate or the BEST candidate, but he would certainly, on Day 1, be the most effective hire in one regard, which is being able to navigate within the UM community to get resources and engagement at all levels. There might also be a highly-experienced candidate, such as Tom Jurich, who would command a lot of respect by virtue of his past accomplishments. But other "up-and-comer" candidates like Purinton would need a few years to master the relationships and power channels that would come more quickly for a guy like Gino.

Again, that is not a blanket endorsement, it is just an acknowledgement that a lot of "Gino critics" are overlooking some very important attributes that an AD needs to be most successful.

I'd be willing to bet that most porsters don't even know what Iron Arrow is at UM (and, ****, most of the guys on the LeBatard podcast didn't know either). Iron Arrow runs UM. Gino is in Iron Arrow.




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Since you have a lot of knowledge regarding this, just give me your take on Frevola being a possible GM candidate.
 
Bender said:
Since you have a lot of knowledge regarding this, just give me your take on Frevola being a possible GM candidate.
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I like Jim a lot, but I don't see him in this role and I am not godfather to his kids, as LeBatard is. Jim came from the WVUM and Sports Information side of the operations.

Would love to see Jim come back as an AAD. I just don't think he would be the resources/fund-raising/push-the-envelope-with-his-vision guy on Day 1 that some others would be, at least without a few years of being re-immersed at UM.

I think that if people read between the lines, we are going to have a restructuring within the Athletic Department. Maybe some new roles and/or delegation/specialization of certain roles. I'm not against Jurich, but we MIGHT not hire a one-guy-great-at-all-aspects within the structure. I think it all depends on who wants/gets the job(s).

A lot of very belated but rapid "learning" is happening right now, within the BOT and elsewhere in the UM admin. I still want Frenk fired, but I will give credit where credit is due. He may still be as clueless about Athletics today as he has been for 6 years, but at least he is getting the fvck out of the way and finally letting some of his guys get ****e done.

I was skeptical. I'm starting to become a tiny bit hopeful. Show me, and I'll buy in. I love my alma mater, but it has let me down for a while now (in Athletics).
 
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