Why is this such a hard decision?
- There’s no hurry.
- 12 college presidents is not a great search committee.
- A lot of people in sports media have big public lists of what is needed in this hire. The result is that any strong candidate with original ideas is criticized, while lifers like Oliver Luck are championed. Oliver Luck will do fine, but he’s not very exciting. Maybe a boring insider is what the conference needs for a few years.
All true but the longer it takes (like filling a coaching vacancy) the worse the job looks. Even if that perception isn’t reality.
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I offered. Now, I won’t do it either. Oliver and I turned it down last night. I guess the options are Snoop Dog, Will Ferrel and Bill Walton?
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A conversation with Jon Wilner about broken trust and busted culture in Pac-12 Conference
May 10, 2021
Oregon State wide receiver Trevon Bradford (8) is taken down by Oregon’s Isaac Slade-Matautia and Verone McKinley III (23) during an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Oregon State won 41-38.
By John Canzano | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Jon Wilner joined me on Monday for a 1-on-1 discussion about the Pac-12 Conference. He’s got a new No. 1 pick in the North Division in football. Also, The San Jose Mercury News reporter had some thoughts about the conference’s search for a new commissioner.
Listen to the full interview with Jon Wilner here.
On the ‘drop-dead’ timing of the Pac-12′s hire for commissioner:
“I do think that if it goes into June something has gone wrong.”
On whether it will be one person or multiple people hired:
“I think they’re going to end up with more of a traditional structure, where there’s one person. Then, depending on their background, they’ll hire someone (to shore up the weaknesses).”
On the Big Ten having ex-Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez be a liaison between the league and the football coaches:
“There’s a broken culture in the Pac-12. There’s a lack of trust. There’s a lack of consensus. It’s been missing for the last 10-12 years between the campuses and the conference offices. You hire Chris Petersen and have him kind of be your roving advisor. He talks to the coaches regularly and talks with the conference offices regularly. He helps with cohesion and culture. You need that.”
Wilner has Oregon winning the North Division and Arizona State winning the South. He also spoke about USC, Oregon State, Washington and others. It was a candid and wide-ranging discussion about the conference.
Listen to more with Jon Wilner here:
George Kliavkoff It is!
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