[CHRON] UH narrows search for AD to six candidates

As a UH Alum, I hope Patterson gets it. His firing from the Rockets is similar to Weisbrod (I know he left on his terms) yet both put the pieces in places for a title contender while many just remember the current GM. He won't be assembling a team but I think he would do a good job as AD.

You can't just say he got us Mad Max, the trades for Kenny and Herrera were important as well.

 

Don't do it, Mack!

 

I also remember that Patterson was a hair away from trying to trade Dream away during the faked injury, but that was more of a Charlie Thomas problem than a problem with Patterson.

Patterson knows a lot of big-money guys in Houston but are those guys really going to do anything for UH? I'm not sure Patterson's been on a college campus since he graduated. He's a familiar name and maybe he's got the tools to succeed, but the process of building a pro stadium (pretty sure he worked for McNair) is a whole 'nother universe from getting capital improvements done on a campus. I'm sure these are the things he'll be asked about by the committee.

 

It won't be Mack. If it's anyone with UTEP connections, it's going to be Wickstrom.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6469295.html

looks like Wickstroms name is now in the hat

 

I've heard through someone reliable that Patterson is out.

 

search now down to two

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6470003.html

USC senior associate AD Brandon Martin and Akron AD Mack Rhoades

 

Could have gone with the splash hire with a guy like Patterson who is well connected and has mucho experience with capital projects, but instead they will take a flier on a guy with a great educational background, but zero "real" athletic department experience. This guy sounds like an Ivy League option more than UH.

 

I am with you on this Matt... I guess all of us fellow cougars will just have to wait and see.

 

UH has a much smaller budget for player salaries than USC. Nothing to do but wait to see what happens.

 

I would much rather it be Wick than Mack...

 

New Ad is Mack Rhoades

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/local/090611_rhoades_university_houston

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2009/06/akron_ad_rhoades_is_off_to_hou.html

 

I was wrong. It's Mack.

 

This was posted over on Coogfans... I'd include a link, but I don't know where it's from. Somewhere in New Jersey, obviously.


Analysis of Rhoades during the Rutgers Process

Mack Rhoades

Strengths: His background includes a little bit of everything, with a heavy dose of fund-raising. Rhoades, 43, is generally viewed as an aggressive, no-excuses guy who demands excellence. That's why he is considered a rising star in the AD ranks.

He cleaned house in the coaching ranks where he needed to as the athletic director at Akron, and it's under his watch that the school built a $55 million on-campus football stadium that is scheduled to open this fall.

Rhoades' bio at Akron also features a strong emphasis on academics. He implemented an academic review process and a code of conduct for athletes. At the same time, he upgraded the facilities for the basketball arena and for the baseball, softball and track complex.

The seven years that Rhoades spent at Texas-El Paso prior to Akron appear to give him exactly the type of background Rutgers is looking for. As senior associate AD at UTEP he oversaw fund raising, marketing, media relations, major gift giving and facilities improvements.

Weaknesses: Does it matter that Rhoades has never worked at a BCS-conference school? It might to some. Like Mehrtens, Rhoades also doesn't appear to have any New Jersey ties, which makes him an outsider in a strange place that operates in a funny ways. Will he be able to adapt to the political animal at Rutgers? How will he deal with a school in a major media market -- something he has never done? That will be critically important now, with the operations of Rutgers athletics likely to be more transparent than ever before.

Will his aggressive approach and eagerness to make his mark -- something he has done at Akron with a couple of coaching firings -- rub people the wrong way at Rutgers?

Bottom line: Rhoades isn't so much of a compromise candidate as he is the one who offers the strengths of both Pernetti and Mehrtens in one package. The absence of any BCS-conference experience is a concern, but he has been a major college AD (something Pernetti hasn't been) and he has overseen big-time football (something Mehrtens has not yet done). He appears to be less of a gamble than the other two. And it would be a rare catch for Rutgers to actually snare someone whose career is still on the rise.

 

Dammit...

 

Can you elucidate your feelings a little better, Jeeber? Do you have an opinion on Rhoads?