Fire Todd Butler

[1972Shocker]

He did not make one SINGLE worthwhile hire

Not really my place to defend Sexton and it is clear that the baseball situation is a fiasco. However, Eric made an outstanding hire in Women's tennis Coach Colin Foster and an okay hire in softball Coach Kristy Bredbenner (at least she was an upgrade from her predecessor and has won the Shock's only Valley softball championship).

Now whether those hires or "worthwhile" I suppose depends on what the meaning of "is" is. I think anytime you sponsor a sport making a good hire is worthwhile. However, these were not high profile, key program hires.

The much tougher question now is how to best extricate ourselves from this quagmire and get the WSU baseball program back on a the rails.

[ShockerFever]

It was time for Gene to go. At least ADES did that much. ADES was a decent steward of the house that Schaus built, but that'll only take you so far.

Hopefully Boatright can get the baseball train back on the rails.

If a legendary coach was gonna get ousted with a year left on his contract, then the following hire better be a slam-dunk, home run that produces results.
Hmmm... nope.

I can think of 1.3 million reasons that say Sexton was in no way a "decent steward" of the house that Schaus built.

[ShockerFever]

Not really my place to defend Sexton and it is clear that the baseball situation is a fiasco. However, Eric made an outstanding hire in Women's tennis Coach Colin Foster and an okay hire in softball Coach Kristy Bredbenner (at least she was an upgrade from her predecessor and has won the Shock's only Valley softball championship).

Now whether those hires or "worthwhile" I suppose depends on what the meaning of "is" is. I think anytime you sponsor a sport making a good hire is worthwhile. However, these were not high profile, key program hires.

The much tougher question now is how do best extricate ourselves from this quagmire and get the WSU baseball program back on a the rails.

That's somewhat fair, but as you stated, those Tier III sports don't really carry the weight any of the big boys do. And that's what I was referring to in my statement.

[1972Shocker]

That's somewhat fair, but as you stated, those Tier III sports don't really carry the weight any of the big boys do. And that's what I was referring to in my statement.

I was more wanting to defend Coach Foster and Coach Bredbenner then defend ADES because I could only guess at what you meant by worthwhile.

Unfortunately, based upon the current level of fan support WSU baseball appears to now have joined the ranks of those Tier III sports.

[DUShock]

Don't forget that the Todd Butler hire has Boatright's DNA. Hopefully we hire an AD with a proven track record as the man from a couple of other schools. Unfortunately, I do not think this will be the case...

[Dave Stalwart]

If a legendary coach was gonna get ousted with a year left on his contract, then the following hire better be a slam-dunk, home run that produces results.
Hmmm... nope.

I can think of 1.3 million reasons that say Sexton was in no way a "decent steward" of the house that Schaus built.

This reminds me of that time the packers let Favre go even though he was a legend with a few years left because they knew they had something special waiting in line. Letting Favre leave was more about Rodgers having already demonstrated he could be the man just as well, if not better so the transition was perfect. Meanwhile at WSU...

[KC Shox]

Fever was right, he did jack crap at Middle TN, then he rides the coattails of SEC programs of Arkansas and Alabama which were good before he arrived and are good after and now his second stint as top dog is another overwhelming failure.

The deeper this hole gets the longer and more difficult it will take the Shox to get out of. The higher ups need to act at the end of the year. WSU does not have to be a basketball only school, we're big enough, have the fan support and money to have two successful men's top 4 sport programs.

I never thought I would see the day that the Shox would be a cellar dweller in the MVC.

[ShockTalk]

It was probably time to transition to leadership in the baseball program but for whatever reason this was handled very poorly. Seems like someone wanted Gene gone unceremoniously. Whether that was on ADES or goes higher up the ladder I couldn't say.

My recollection is that Don Beggs sought Eric out to replace Jim Schaus. I don't recall Eric actively seeking that position. To the extent that is true then Don Beggs deserves some of the blame for seeking out a person who was really not prepared for many aspects of the AD position.

I definitely have no idea what went on in the back room. That said, however much fADES wanted Gene gone, I don't believe he wanted/intended to piss off a lot of fans that were loyal to Gene. That would be counter productive to whomever the new coach would be. I also do not believe it was a knee jerk reaction by fADES to let Gene go, but the result of an on going process.

It was no secret that Gene wanted to be left alone and not be bothered by the athletic department. This particularly comes in if anyone tries to convince Gene that it's time to start moving on if you cannot earn your half mill per year and/or make suggestions for a passing of the torch (have a coach in waiting). My guess is that Gene called what he thought was a bluff over a couple of years. It wasn't a bluff.

Also, if Gene was being Gene, I think him staying another year would only make things worse for all.

Others more in the know, please correct me in the following: I don't believe Gene and Schaus got along either. Didn't Beggs give the OK to re-hire Gene and staff after the Oklahoma fiasco while Schaus was out of town? If there was a mistake by the athletic department, particularly after Gene's comment in Norman, was that, yes, we'll take you back, but with a new contract that is heavily back loaded with performance $s that would be equal, or even potentially be better, than the contract he had. That could have been a win-win for all. If Gene declined, we would have been in a much better position to have quality choices for a replacement with a better position for such new hire to succeed.

[Shockers5150]

Non school with these facilities, and fan base should suck this bad... HCGS must be giggling everyday at Starbucks.

[Dave Stalwart]

At this point I'm ready to say I'd rather we just kept him. I never knew much about the stories and the only thing on the table for me was the decline in the record and competitive play. But still, the team was at least able to compete with good teams and in one season they won the MVC tournament and stayed alive. The teams weren't fantastic at the end but they weren't bad either. Now we're looking at potentially irreparably bad. We are about to do what Bradley and SIU did in basketball and it's been a long time that they've been trying to dig out. That's what we may be looking at...

[shockfan89_]

Others more in the know, please correct me in the following: I don't believe Gene and Schaus got along either. Didn't Beggs give the OK to re-hire Gene and staff after the Oklahoma fiasco while Schaus was out of town?

Gene and Schaus didn't get along that well either. I believe this is where Sexton got his hatred for all things Gene. You are correct that Gene didn't even talk to Schaus when returning from OU, Beggs made the call without speaking to Schaus.

In hindsight it may look like a good idea to place stipulations on Gene returning, but at that time we were just lucky he changed his mind and came back. We had just come off of season records of 47-17, 49-27, and 49-16 over the past three seasons (regional appearances in all 3 years). Upon Gene's return from OU we were 51-24, 46-22, 53-22, and 48-17 (4 regionals and 2 super regionals). All a FAR cry from what we have witnessed without him. Also, keep in mind at that time, if Gene wouldn't have been allowed to return we would have lost the entire coaching staff.

[Aargh]

I didn't like Butler the moment I saw the assistant he was bringing with him. You'd think that by now the players would at least have the "fake hit by pitch" perfected.

On the subject of Sexton, the contract he made with Butler wasn't his only screw up. The contract he set up with Adams, even AFTER he knew what was going on with the players, was unforgivable. He absolutely enabled the ongoing mistreatment of the players by giving Adams a $500K buyout when the players were leaving faster than they could be brought in.

When it's financially prohibitive to fire an abusing coach, it's not surprising that Bardo wasted little time getting Sexton out of the athletic department, without firing him. That entire episode was more about saving face than anything else, since Adams would have been able to retire on the payout she would have gotten if she were released. So WSU retained a coach who went from first to eighth, 10 games behind the league leader. All because Sexton gave a troubled coach an extension with a ridiculous buyout.

[Kung Wu]

If a legendary coach was gonna get ousted with a year left on his contract, then the following hire better be a slam-dunk, home run that produces results.
Hmmm... nope.

Yeah, there's some truth to that.

I can think of 1.3 million reasons that say Sexton was in no way a "decent steward" of the house that Schaus built.

The income from the F4 makes the 1.3M snafu a drop in the bucket, but it still stings and worse yet may reduce the amount that can be offered to his replacement.

[ShockTalk]

Gene and Schaus didn't get along that well either. I believe this is where Sexton got his hatred for all things Gene. You are correct that Gene didn't even talk to Schaus when returning from OU, Beggs made the call without speaking to Schaus.

In hindsight it may look like a good idea to place stipulations on Gene returning, but at that time we were just lucky he changed his mind and came back. We had just come off of season records of 47-17, 49-27, and 49-16 over the past three seasons (regional appearances in all 3 years). Upon Gene's return from OU we were 51-24, 46-22, 53-22, and 48-17 (4 regionals and 2 super regionals). All a FAR cry from what we have witnessed without him. Also, keep in mind at that time, if Gene wouldn't have been allowed to return we would have lost the entire coaching staff.

I don't know what would have happened had Gene and staff not come back or rejected a new contract offer. What I do know is that there was a large group of players (14-15 by my count) from 2005-2008, already playing or signed incoming freshmen, that played 3, if not all 4 of those years and when those players ran out, we went 30-27 the next year.

[SB Shock]

At this point I'm ready to say I'd rather we just kept him. I never knew much about the stories and the only thing on the table for me was the decline in the record and competitive play. But still, the team was at least able to compete with good teams and in one season they won the MVC tournament and stayed alive. The teams weren't fantastic at the end but they weren't bad either. Now we're looking at potentially irreparably bad. We are about to do what Bradley and SIU did in basketball and it's been a long time that they've been trying to dig out. That's what we may be looking at...

I will disagree.

1. The hole would have been much deeper - Gene didn't have any recruits signed for the next year.

2. Butler was not the target. The homerun hire was DBU coach, but he backed out at the last moment. The brand was already damaged under Gene.

3. NCAA sanction probably would have been more significant. It is clear that Gene wasn't paying attention so who knows how long the stuff would have gone on before being found out.

4. Gene conduct off the field was bringing negative attention to WSU.

5. Butler at the very least was needed to clean things up for either Hooper or Standiford can be hired.


Gene is HOF coach who lost his way professionally and ethically. He refused to refresh his coaching staff with hungry young coach who would do what he wouldn't do - beat the bushes. Then it started on that day when he put on OU uniform and said he couldn't win at WSU, it became a self fulfilling prophecy.