Why David Climer's Column About Vanderbilt's Need to Hire an Athletic Director is Misguided

Before I delve into the substance of this post, let me say that I am a complete, 100%, in the tank, David Williams homer. I took a class from him, have done research for him, and had the good fortune to get to know him a little bit over the last year. He was incredibly gracious a few years ago when he sat down with VSL to discuss the state of Vanderbilt sports.

With that as context, you can imagine my initial reaction when I read David Climer's column in today's Tennessean about David Williams and the need for Vanderbilt to hire an Athletic Director, and essentially return to a more conventional athletic department structure. It's not that I disagree with the notion (although I do), it's that I find real fault in the underlying assumption: that there is something wrong with the current state of Vanderbilt athletics. There's not. In fact, I think this is a strong case, given the overall strength of the SEC in a host of sports, that Vanderbilt athletics has never been stronger.

Climer's evidence for the decline of Vanderbilt sports and the need to call "the grand experiment...neither [a] rousing success nor utter failure" boils down to the fact that last year's Commodore team went 2-10. It is inarguable that Vanderbilt had a disappointing season after winning their first bowl since the 50's, and making their first appearance since 1982. Additionally, I would note that after Vanderbilt's last bowl appearance (a loss to Air Force in the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1982), the Commodores finished their next season with just 2 wins. I doubt Tennessean columnists were calling for a fundamental restructuring of the way athletics was run at Vanderbilt after that disappointment.

But Climer cites little else to support his point. He does go out of his way to gloss over the successes in sports Vanderbilt has achieved since the 2003 restructuring, notably that the men's basketball team has made 4 of the last 7 NCAA tournament, while the women's team remains a perennial tournament team. Climer fails to mention all together the baseball team, probably the strongest program the school has. I get it, never let the facts get in the way of a good argument. Climer then pulls out the trump card for those eager to mock Vanderbilt athletics: the women's bowling team. I'm proud as hell of our women's bowling team. Those women don't deserve your derision, nor anyone else's for that matter. But besides all that, how many national championships had Vanderbilt won in anything prior to the restructuring?

Climer writes: "Any upticks are due in large part to the leadership of the coaches in the respective sports, not to any fundamental changes that came due to reorganization." Without taking anything away from the leadership of the coaches Climer is taking about, doesn't this argument seem incredibly convenient? It also ignores the job Williams and his staff have done at keeping these coaches, no easy task given their successes. You can't have it both ways.

Climer notes that David Williams has a plethora of responsibilities at Vanderbilt beyond athletics, including the important tasks of serving as the University's General Counsel as well as sitting on the Board of Trust just to name a few. Is he a busy guy? No doubt about it. But given the list of accomplishments that were delineated above, it doesn't seem like his schedule has affected his ability to oversee athletics in the slightest. Again, given the strength of the SEC in almost every sport, I would argue that Vanderbilt athletics, as a whole, is as strong now as it's ever been.

All I can figure is sports fans and sports columnists still haven't gotten over the restructuring because it threatens the notion that there is only one way to skin a cat (in this case, compete at the NCAA level). Vanderbilt's restructuring was symbolic of the University's desire to make every athlete a student. Given what's transpired in college sports since the restructuring, that strikes me as a pretty powerful symbol. Symbols are important, they matter, but they are also just symbols. Does anyone think that Vanderbilt doesn't have an athletic management structure that resembles that of every other school? Is it that important that this apparatus be called an "athletic department?" If the restructuring hasn't been a huge failure, why disrupt the structure in place? While I don't always subscribe to the notion of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," that axiom seems particularly appropriate.

Climer is right about one thing, Williams' decision about who the next football coach will be is incredibly important. It is the "first critical hiring decision of the restructuring," because, as mentioned above, Vanderbilt sports has been blessed since the restructuring to have had a stable of excellent, dedicated, and effective coaches guiding their respective teams? Why discard an organization before it's been tested because you're not sure how it will do? If the hiring of a football coach is bungled, that's another thing. But as I read it today, it strikes me as entirely premature.

Congrats to Stanimal and Bobby on Finishing the Bar Exam!!!!

A year ago today I had some of the best few hours of my life. I had just finished the NY State bar exam and it was an absolutely beautiful day in NYC. I slept in, went to the bagel place around the corner, got some food and the newspaper, ate my bagel, read the sports section and all was right with the world. Now a few hours later would come a miserable 48 hour stretch which included packing my apartment up, a disastrous moving truck rental, a huge storm during the move and various other awful events. But that morning, while I was eating my bagel and reading the Daily News's Sport section, was absolute bliss. I hope Stanimal and Bobby are enjoying something akin to that right now. Congrats boys!

Anyway not sure if you guys have been keeping up with Chris Low's ranking on ESPN.com of all the SEC's offensive and defensive units but I have. http://espn.go.com/blog/sec

Here are Vanderbilt's breakdowns (my computer won't let me add the actual descriptions but I'll try to get them up later:

DB's - 5th
LB's - 9th
DL - 12th
OL - 12th
WR's - 12th
RB's - 8th
QB's - 11th
Special Teams - 6th

I think DB's COULD be slightly higher, maybe 4th, linebackers could be higher if John Stokes, Tristan Strong and maybe DeAndre Jones step up to join Chris Marve. Defensive and Offensive line probably need to be ranked 12th simply because we don't have a ton of experience, though with the freshman depth we have coming in at DL I think our future is bright. WR's should def be 12th though we HAVE to improve from last year right? I mean how can we not? And QB 11th or 12th is where we are gonna be until we know who the starter is going to be.

BUT Running backs getting rated 8th? 8th? Ummmm. Obviously Bama should be number 1 and Georgia, Auburn and Arkansa appear to have some real talent but after that I think the Commies are right up there. I think we have more talent (and will def put up better numbers) than Florida's running game. The Gamecocks are depending on a true freshman and I don't think UK's players are anything special.

What do you guys think

Go Get 'Em Boys

Stanimal finishes the bar exam today. O'Shea starts it tomorrow. Good luck to them as they seek to join Douglas James in the ranks of VSL writers who have successfully duped the Board of Bar Examiners into believing they are fit for the practice of law.

As if Stanimal didn't have enough stress on his plate already, Paul Finebaum over at al.com has him covered. In yet another (to put it politely) ill-conceived "kick Vanderbilt out of the SEC" article, Finebaum calls the past two weeks the "nadir of Vanderbilt football" and announces that Robbie Caldwell's Media Days comments "insulted" his delicate sensibilities. The reality is Finebaum's article would be what's really insulting -- that is (to put it a bit less politely), if anyone cared half a rat's rear about his deluded point of view. Need I recount Stanimal's obliteration of the argument in full detail? I think not.

In other news, even Gator fans seem to think Warren Norman is as good as we do.

Go Dores.

The Shrewdness of Robbie Caldwell

Much of the buzz coming out of SEC Media Day(s) this past week surrounded Vanderbilt's newly named Interim Head Coach, Robbie Caldwell. Based on the antidotal evidence of my Vanderbilt Google Alerts, I can tell you it seemed everyone in the conference was talking about the new coach and his folksy demeanor.

The New York Times' Ray Glier describes the scene this way: "For 60 minutes here this week the turmoil around the Southeastern Conference was interrupted by the homespun, uncomplicated media presentation of Robbie Caldwell, Vanderbilt’s interim head football coach. While talking about the coming season, he delighted the crowd with tales of working on a turkey farm and his varied skills, such as pouring concrete." All the more ironic, it seems, that it's the haughty Vanderbilt who's coach captivated the gathering in such a way. To hear the Commodores described throughout the league, you'd more expect Vanderbilt's coach to liken an offensive scheme to an 18th century battle, or describe the gridiron in poetic terms, then recount a childhood of inseminating turkeys and being a "collards man."

In listening to Coach Caldwell's interview this friday on 650 WSM here in Nashville, the shrewdness of the interim coaches charm offensive became clear to me. Coach Caldwell has introduced himself to Vanderbilt fans and the rest of the SEC as a lovable assistant who was finally getting "his shot." Don't get me wrong, I believe it's genuine. But it's also very smart. Caldwell's efforts to charm his way into the hearts and minds of Commodore fans, the national media, and perhaps most importantly, the Vanderbilt administration (i.e. David Williams and his staff) is undoubtedly designed to remove the "interim" from the beginning of his title. After all it's harder to fire someone you, and the fans, like personally. And frankly, it's hard not to like Robbie Caldwell after hearing him speak and answer questions.

Perhaps I'm missing something or just not listening, but it seems that every time I've heard Caldwell, the talk is about himself, his job, and the circumstances surrounding his hiring. Talk of the season, the team, and the expectations therein, have been in short supply so far. How good this team will be remains to be seen. While VSL will be doing our usual full-scale preview in the weeks to come, I think it's fair to say that the expectations (particularly on the offensive side of the ball) are not sky-high. After a 2-10 season and without prospects that things are necessarily looking up, I can see why the conversation has been about Caldwell than the squad. ICRC's charm offensive does two things: 1) it makes him likable and 2) it (might) give him more than a year to be the head coach.

But another interesting thing happened this week: Robbie Caldwell added his first assistant coach (as everyone has gone to great pains to emphasize, the current staff are all CBJ holdovers). The Tulsa assistant was the offensive line coach (the position Caldwell was in charge of prior to ascending to the head coach position), as well as the Golden Wave's co-offensive coordinator. As the Tennessean story by Jeff Lockridge highlights, Herb Hand is the 5th Tulsa assistant to leave this offseason. But it's his title as co-offensive coordinator that piqued my interest and indicates to me, above and beyond his charm offensive, that Caldwell wants to be Vanderbilt's head coach beyond this season. Caldwell's fate (and probably that of the rest of the staff), is so heavily intertwined with the offense's production that Hand can be seen as an insurance policy. Ted Cain was replaced in the offseason with Jimmy Kiser, who was actually calling all the plays last season anyway. If the offense under Kiser stalls, Caldwell now has a plan-B, a thought that had to cross his mind.

I wouldn't be the first blogger to read too much into things, but after this week's happenings, I'm convinced Robbie Caldwell is a folksy genius with his eyes on the prize, and so far, ICRC seems to be hitting all the right chords. Whether that will matter once the season beings is remains an open question.

It's Football Season: The Beginning of the Obligatory "Vanderbilt Should Not Be In The SEC" Stories

So for the past 10 days or so I've woken up pretty much in Groundhog's Day. Much like Bill Murray arising to yet another day of depression, unable to move forward with his life until he learns to appreciate it and face it, I arose this morning with the impending anvil of the South Carolina Bar Exam hanging over my head. But, as per my usual routine, I take the morning to peruse the various news outlets and see what's going on in the world of sports. As many of you no doubt have already seen, this article made its way into the Tennessean, courtesy of Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:

"SEC Should Drop Vanderbilt".

Unfortunately for Mike, I am in one of the worst moods imaginable since I've spent over a hundred hours studying this summer and I still don't feel 100% prepared for this stupid exam. So if this gets somewhat "uncouth", you'll have to forgive me.

I could rehash old arguments here about how Vandy upholds the academic integrity of the SEC and how it competes in other sports just fine (by the way, the last time UCF made the NCAA tournament was 2004-2005, and they've only made it four times total, never getting past the first round and never being seeded higher than 14). That's actually quite true on both counts. As to the first point, I'm not saying that Florida, or Georgia, or any other SEC school is a bad school, far from it. I'm just saying that their football programs are completely separate business entities and the right arm, the football side, doesn't really care about the left unless newspapers broadcast it. So this isn't a knock on anyone's personal education because you got a great one and it's what you make of it, but college football is a crap system that completely defaces the concept of an academically-driven university in the name of money.

It would be an overly broad generalization to say that all coaches don't care about the academic progress of their kids, so I won't make that kind of statement. But it is fair to say that many coaches don't care about the academic progress of their kids, because it's certainly more than a few. The problem is a major issue in college football just as it is in basketball, but it's simply more diluted because football has more players. I'm not saying that every athlete has to be a rocket scientist, but I am saying that programs have to hold their kids accountable for their academics, because they are, after all, a part of a school. On this topic I could go for hours, but it would be tangential to the point I was about to make.

Oh yeah, Mr. Bianchi's Opus....the novel idea of removing Vanderbilt from the SEC.

Note to Mr. Bianchi: barring some sort of catastrophic destruction of the SEC, Vanderbilt....isn't....going....anywhere. At least not involuntarily. Why? Because as a charter member of the conference, once you're in, YOU'RE IN. You can whine and cry about being "an upcoming football school in a big media market" and about our presence in the SEC as being "un-American" all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that barring SEC expansion you will be sitting on the outside looking in. This is what we call a MOOT POINT. In addition, based off the almost seismic shift of this offseason's conference realignments, there wasn't even a PEEP of discussion about UCF becoming an SEC school. Why? Because why the heck would we want UCF when we have the whole Orlando market anyway with Florida? THAT'S why.

And now I begin my rant: Journalists like this are the exact reason why the University system is perverted in the manner it is. How we got to a point where the media basically tells people that the only thing that matters is the potential money a school can bring in for football when determining conference affiliation is absolutely beyond me. Never mind history and tradition, which Bianchi basically dismisses as Vanderbilt being in the right place at the right time, and never mind the previously mentioned competitiveness of our other programs, we don't deserve a slice of the SEC pie because our football team is fighting an uphill battle. Fortunately for our Oliver Twist "please sir I'd like some more selves", the presidents of the Universities in the SEC like being able to point to Vanderbilt as the academic school that it is. It makes the rest of the conference still look like a group of SCHOOLS and not a group of MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL TEAMS. If you think the conference academic profile isn't a major reason why you don't hear anyone but media types crying about Vanderbilt being in the SEC, you've got your head in the sand. Let's just say that at the next meeting of SEC big wigs I think some presidents would be uncomfortable with replacing this for this simply because they can attain a few dollars more in the Orlando market than they already have because of a much better football school (a.k.a. Florida). It's a lot more enticing to bring Texas A&M, who happens to be a Top 75 University AND bring in Texas dollars. Same with Virginia Tech,Clemson, and Florida State; all top 150 schools. It makes the conference APPEAR to legitimately care without actually throwing in the towel and saying "yeah we only care about football money."

To summarize very clearly for Mr. Bianchi: 1) Vanderbilt isn't going anywhere because a) we're a charter member, and b) the SEC likes having an academic school in it. 2) UCF is not getting in the SEC unless there is conference realignment. 3) In order to get in to the biggest money drawing conference in the country you need to bring a) additional dollars and b) at least a smidgeon of academic cache. 4) UCF can do neither because everyone is tuned in to watch Florida on Saturdays anyway and because they are a Tier 3 university. Therefore 5) shut your pie hole about Vanderbilt not belonging in the SEC, because it deserves to be there a hell of a lot more than UCF. And, in closing, 6) try to maintain some semblance of journalistic integrity, because the fact that you just compared Vanderbilt staying in the SEC to African-Americans remaining sitting in the back of the bus if there were no civil rights movement is offensive and insulting. Furthermore, it's completely disgraceful to dismiss a legitimate point by our coach that we think guys can be students and athletes simply because he stated he worked for the insemination group on a turkey farm.

End rant, time for UCC.

John Jenkins Interview on NBADraft.net

I know it's football season. I know CRC did a fantastic job at the SEC Media Days, but you know something, I'm talking basketball anyway.

NBADraft.net did an interview with John Jenkins about his offseason workouts and some of his off-the-court goings on. Jenkins has moved to the #26 slot of the First Round in their 2012 NBA Draft projections.

Jay Bilas also gave JJ the title of "Best Shooter in the Country" during one of his chats a couple of weeks ago. While some who haven't seen JJ shoot the rock tried to refute it, I think that the consensus amongst those in the know is that it's pretty much not even close.

Anyway, just a little something to ponder. Perhaps the pundits who think we'll finish 5th in the SEC East behind Kentucky, Tennessee, UGA, and Florida should look a tad more closely.

Ok, back to football.

VSL Poll: Who Will End the Season as Offensive Coordinator?

With the news that Vanderbilt has hired Tulsa's Co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand, it's never too early to speculate, regardless of how unsubstantiated that speculation might be.

Vandysports.com Reporting that Tulsa Coach to Join Vandy Staff

Vandy's Rivals site Vandysports.com is reporting that Tulsa Co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand (what a name) will be joining Coach Robbie Caldwell's football coaching staff. Hand was co-offensive coordinator and o-line coach with Tulsa since 2007. I assume he will be taking over as o-line coach for Caldwell.

Tulsa has run a pretty productive spread offense for the past few years so maybe they are bringing him in after last years attempt to implement the spread largely failed. I guess we will see.

On the ICR-Seat: What Does Robbie Caldwell Need to Accomplish?

For those just tuning in, ICRC’s SEC Media Days performance is blowing up the web (see ESPN, New York Times blog, USA Today, Sporting News, etc.). His utter lack of pretension and real-deal country humor are making him seem like an ideal representative for a Vanderbilt program coming off a rough year and a school that, I guess we should confess, is often viewed around the southeast as a bit on the hoity-toity side. But while everyone’s focused on “bless[ing] Coach Caldwell’s heart” and rehashing the unprecedented applause he received from the media in Hoover, an anonymous poster who says s/he’ll be a Caldwell fan if we win 6 games or beat UT has raised an interesting (if Debbie-Downer-ish) question: As of right now, how many games does ICRC need to win this season to have a reasonable shot at keeping the head coaching gig for another year?

This question is certainly premature seeing as we haven’t even figured out who this team’s starting quarterback is going to be much less gotten to our season preview. It’s possible, even likely, that opinions on this will change as the season gets closer, but why not ask yourself -- if you were David Williams or the Board of Trustees or a booster of inordinate influence, what kind of season would it take for this interim head coach to lose the “interim” label and land a payday? Now obviously this decision is a lot more complicated than wins, losses and box scores; it includes a host of other factors such as (but not limited to) whether we have a strong alternative candidate to turn to come end of season. But I am of simple mind and need simple games to entertain myself. So enter a vacuum, rid your brain of rationally minded clutter, and humor me for a moment.

As the oddsmaker for Interim College Coaching Fantasy 2K10, I’m putting the early line at 4.5. Five wins and Caldwell’s got a good shot at staying on, four wins and he’s a goner. Here’s the reasoning:

1. There are two, and only two, “really oughta wins” on the schedule: Eastern Michigan (the worst team in the country) and Wake Forest (which is back to being an ACC bottom feeder after some pretty dramatic success) -- both home games.

2. As I see it there are at least three write-off games (Florida, Arkansas, and LSU) and one more probable loss (Georgia). Georgia has been very good under Richt and the only reason I put them in the “probable” category is because they’re revamping their defense and moving to a 3-4 after a less-than-awesome season on that side of the ball, plus QB is a huge question mark. With strong RBs and WRs though, plus the game being in Athens, you have to figure the Dores to be a long shot.

2a. Initially forgot to mention UConn. On the road, they are also a write-off. They return a ton and will be sick this year. Forget UConn.

3. South Carolina is interesting. They should be good again on D, even though they lost some studs, but the question (which is starting to feel eerily familiar) is whether they will discover an O-line and whether Stephen Garcia will decide to play like a quarterback. Highly touted RB Marcus Lattimore joining their ranks leaves me inclined to place this one in the L column, but not out of reach.

4. That leaves four games against teams that I think may wind up roughly in the same middling-to-decent category (i.e., top half to top third of FBS): Northwestern, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and UT. While it’s probably too early to predict exactly what our chances are in these four games, I’m saying right now they are all “winnable.”

So figure up the math and what you’ve got is a Commodore football team that could finish as bad as 2-10 or as good as 7-5, leaving us with an over/under of 4.5 wins to determine the ultimate Fantasy Football fate of everyone’s favorite new SEC coach/turkey farmer. What say you, Nation?

Further Praise on CRC's Inaugural SEC Media Days Appearance

Here is a brief synopsis of what our new Coach talked about at his press conference. Seems like everyone in the media loves this guy. Hopefully this gets us some better press and some better recruits. At least the post and pre-game press conferences will be more entertaining than in years past.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2010/7/22/1582464/2010-sec-media-days-robbie

UPDATE: Here is the full transcript
http://www.secsports.com/sport_stats/football/mediaday/RobCaldwell.pdf

Caldwell a Hit at SEC Media Day

At least that's the tenor of Jeff Lockridge's piece on the Tennessean's website. I suspect the following quote will be posted on boards across the SEC blogosphere about the Commodores ICRC: "Last night I was opening the door for people and they gave me a tip." I can see the clever headline now: "SEC Doormat gets Doorman."

When asked about his interim status, Caldwell responded: "Vanderbilt will do the right thing. They always have... Whether it's two days or 20 years, I will be able to say, 'Hey, I was head coach one time.'" Certainly its the right attitude for ICRC to have. For what it's worth, I think it's more important to find the right coach then worry about how the interim title will affect 1 year's recruiting class. But my lack of interest in recruiting is well-established.

Any thoughts, VSLNation?

Not a great start...

I know it wasn't necessarily by choice, but all my fears about Vanderbilt sports' flagship station being a rock n' roll rather than a sports station came to fruition with the first interview on 97.1 with Coach Caldwell. Can we at least do a taped segment with Joe Fisher asking questions and interviewing the coaches? The interviewer's got nothing to say and is adding nothing. Do you think the guy asking questions can name 5 Commodore players? "Coach, what's your mission statement?" Seriously?!?!

Dear 97.1 WRQQ Management, after July 29th, I am available. One request, can I get Bruce as a lead-in?

First 3 Football Game Times Annmounced

Vandy has announced the starting times for the first 2 home games (Northwestern and LSU) and the first away game (OLE Miss).
http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072110aaa.html

Both home games will be at night. I always liked the night home games as I could sleep in from the night before, get several good hours of tailgating at the fratter, go to the game, grab dinner and head back out for the night without losing any momentum.

I am not looking forward to hearing the TERRIBLE announcers who do the ESPNU games. Good God they are awful.

ESPN.com's Chris Low gives his "Key Stretch" for Vanderbilt

And, as almost always seems to be the case, it's early. In his blog post this morning, Low looks at Vanderbilt's first 4 games as critical to their season. While he doesn't come out and say it, Low thinks if Vanderbilt is going to have any chance at going to a bowl (yes, I said it), they need to finish no worse than 2-2 in this stretch, with the most likely wins coming against our out-of-conference opponents Northwestern and UConn. If we should steal a game in the SEC, all the better, but Vanderbilt's formula for success this year (like most), is take advantage of non-conference games to get to at least 3 wins, and try and make something happen against the SEC west. This year's SEC West slate is less cooperative than usual with road games at Ole Miss and Arkansas and a home date against LSU. We'll delve more into the schedule in the next few weeks, but I truly think Vanderbilt's 2 game road trip early in the year (at Ole Miss and at UConn) will tell us how soon VSLNation will be asking: "is it basketball season, yet."

Pedro Has Big Game

Former Commie Pedro Alvarez had a big night for the his current Black and Gold seaworthy team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pedro had a Grand Slam in the Bucs 9 run 1st and a solo shot in the 2nd inning. Glad to see Pedro is starting to put a solid year together.
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=300720123