Kirby Hocutt became AD on Feb. 26, 2011. Six years is enough time to put a stamp on an athletic department. Coaches are evaluated all the time. How about the coaches boss?
IMO, it’s a mixed bag. I think he’s a bit of a Teflon AD in that nothing really sticks to him. I think he’s put on a higher pedestal than he belongs, though he’s certainly done some good things.
The good: Hirings of Tim Tadlock, Tubby Smith and Chris Beard. None of them required any special insight, but the important thing is they were made.
For Tadlock, it was a case of, “Hey, Tim, would you like to be promoted to head coach?” But Kirby’s also done a good job of a deserved salary increase to keep other schools at bay, especially UT last year.
Smith was fired after taking Minnesota to the NCAA tournament. After the Chris Walker interim year, he kind of fell into Tech’s lap. I’ll be the first to admit I thought Tubby was looking for a parachute into retirement and didn’t think he would do what he did. Apparently, Kirby heard the right things in the interview process.
Beard was the slam dunk if Tech could hire him, but Kirby had to extricate him from the UNLV job. It probably Kirby took some maneuvering but he got it done.
The mulligan: Hiring of Billy Gillispie looked promising at the time, and most everyone was on board with that. Who knew that he was a psycho?
The bad: Contract extensions, assistant football coaches salaries and facilities.
He didn’t have sole say in hiring of Kliff Kingsbury (hello, Kent Hance) or Candi Whitaker (hello, Marsha Sharp), but he did in the needless gamble of contract extensions which at the moment is paralyzing both programs.
Women’s basketball is one thing, but it looked like a young AD fell victim to the fool’s gold of overvaluing a bowl win in KK’s first year and mortgaged the future of the program over that one win. Had Tech lost to disinterested Arizona State and gone into 2014 on a six-game losing streak, would there have been an extension?
Since then, KK is 16-21 and 9-18 in the Big 12 with some monumentally embarrassing defeats. And unless there’s unexpected reversal of fortune in 2017, that’s a $6 million buyout to pay someone not to coach. ADs in Texas are judged often by the football programs.
I just don’t get the football assistants salary thing. Are we that poor? According to USA Today, assistants salary total is $2.24 million. Only one Power 5 school – UConn at $1.89 million – is less though some private schools are not listed. Kansas is $2.3 million. Two peer schools – K-State and OSU – are $3.2 million. Don’t understand it.
Facilities – Late to the party here, but the IPF and lockerroom renovations will bring Tech into the 21st century. It has been woeful until now. Jones Stadium improvements and additions have been good.
If Kirby is the AD some think, he will get Tech out of the football jam he created if it comes to that. Otherwise, that cloud overshadows most anything he has done.
Grading a bit on the curve, I’d give him a B-.
IMO, it’s a mixed bag. I think he’s a bit of a Teflon AD in that nothing really sticks to him. I think he’s put on a higher pedestal than he belongs, though he’s certainly done some good things.
The good: Hirings of Tim Tadlock, Tubby Smith and Chris Beard. None of them required any special insight, but the important thing is they were made.
For Tadlock, it was a case of, “Hey, Tim, would you like to be promoted to head coach?” But Kirby’s also done a good job of a deserved salary increase to keep other schools at bay, especially UT last year.
Smith was fired after taking Minnesota to the NCAA tournament. After the Chris Walker interim year, he kind of fell into Tech’s lap. I’ll be the first to admit I thought Tubby was looking for a parachute into retirement and didn’t think he would do what he did. Apparently, Kirby heard the right things in the interview process.
Beard was the slam dunk if Tech could hire him, but Kirby had to extricate him from the UNLV job. It probably Kirby took some maneuvering but he got it done.
The mulligan: Hiring of Billy Gillispie looked promising at the time, and most everyone was on board with that. Who knew that he was a psycho?
The bad: Contract extensions, assistant football coaches salaries and facilities.
He didn’t have sole say in hiring of Kliff Kingsbury (hello, Kent Hance) or Candi Whitaker (hello, Marsha Sharp), but he did in the needless gamble of contract extensions which at the moment is paralyzing both programs.
Women’s basketball is one thing, but it looked like a young AD fell victim to the fool’s gold of overvaluing a bowl win in KK’s first year and mortgaged the future of the program over that one win. Had Tech lost to disinterested Arizona State and gone into 2014 on a six-game losing streak, would there have been an extension?
Since then, KK is 16-21 and 9-18 in the Big 12 with some monumentally embarrassing defeats. And unless there’s unexpected reversal of fortune in 2017, that’s a $6 million buyout to pay someone not to coach. ADs in Texas are judged often by the football programs.
I just don’t get the football assistants salary thing. Are we that poor? According to USA Today, assistants salary total is $2.24 million. Only one Power 5 school – UConn at $1.89 million – is less though some private schools are not listed. Kansas is $2.3 million. Two peer schools – K-State and OSU – are $3.2 million. Don’t understand it.
Facilities – Late to the party here, but the IPF and lockerroom renovations will bring Tech into the 21st century. It has been woeful until now. Jones Stadium improvements and additions have been good.
If Kirby is the AD some think, he will get Tech out of the football jam he created if it comes to that. Otherwise, that cloud overshadows most anything he has done.
Grading a bit on the curve, I’d give him a B-.
