BUYING WHAT THEY'RE SELLING? NOT REALLY
Well, nobody could have been surprised that coach Ray Giacoletti resigned from the Utes - though his timing did catch the players and a few others off guard.
But it should not have been a surprise.
For starters, understand that Giacoletti was pressured into quitting, as evidenced by the university's willingness to pay him the $700,000 buyout he would have received if he had been terminated. Had Giacoletti really quit on his own - to take another job, for example, or just because he felt like it - he would have owed the university $250,000, according to the terms of his contract.
But the Utes wanted him gone without the stain of having fired the coach just three years after they hired him.
So they negotiated a way for Giacoletti to ''resign'' - putting the responsibility on him - but also getting the buyout for the four years remaining on his contract. That way, everybody gets to take the high road.
What's more, athletic director Chris Hill will be leaving town on Tuesday to begin his work in Indianapolis as a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. That means he will be basically incommunicado - nobody can even call his hotel room without a password - through March 11, and the Utes did not want to leave the
situation hanging unanswered for that long.
Which was smart.
Not only does the move relieve the crushing pressure on the coaches, but it placates the unsettled fan base and frees Hill to head to Indy with an actual coaching vacancy to fill. That could turn out to be crucial, too, considering how many rivals in the Mountain West Conference alone might soon be looking for new coaches, too. The
decision might just give the Utes the first crack at their top candidate, whoever that might be.
Still, it was pretty amusing watching Hill and Giacoletti try to stick to their script about who made the call.
Hill is actually pretty polished at it - he simply declined comment on everything, or cited ''Ray's decision'' - but Giacoletti had a hard time answering all of the questions about ''his'' decision. When asked why he made ''his'' decision now, instead of waiting until after the BYU game on Saturday and the Mountain West Conference tournament next week, he said, tellingly:
''That one, I'm not sure.''
Obviously, nobody told him.
Priceless.
But it should not have been a surprise.
For starters, understand that Giacoletti was pressured into quitting, as evidenced by the university's willingness to pay him the $700,000 buyout he would have received if he had been terminated. Had Giacoletti really quit on his own - to take another job, for example, or just because he felt like it - he would have owed the university $250,000, according to the terms of his contract.
But the Utes wanted him gone without the stain of having fired the coach just three years after they hired him.
So they negotiated a way for Giacoletti to ''resign'' - putting the responsibility on him - but also getting the buyout for the four years remaining on his contract. That way, everybody gets to take the high road.
What's more, athletic director Chris Hill will be leaving town on Tuesday to begin his work in Indianapolis as a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. That means he will be basically incommunicado - nobody can even call his hotel room without a password - through March 11, and the Utes did not want to leave the
situation hanging unanswered for that long.
Which was smart.
Not only does the move relieve the crushing pressure on the coaches, but it placates the unsettled fan base and frees Hill to head to Indy with an actual coaching vacancy to fill. That could turn out to be crucial, too, considering how many rivals in the Mountain West Conference alone might soon be looking for new coaches, too. The
decision might just give the Utes the first crack at their top candidate, whoever that might be.
Still, it was pretty amusing watching Hill and Giacoletti try to stick to their script about who made the call.
Hill is actually pretty polished at it - he simply declined comment on everything, or cited ''Ray's decision'' - but Giacoletti had a hard time answering all of the questions about ''his'' decision. When asked why he made ''his'' decision now, instead of waiting until after the BYU game on Saturday and the Mountain West Conference tournament next week, he said, tellingly:
''That one, I'm not sure.''
Obviously, nobody told him.
Priceless.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 11:21 PM |
4 Comments:
Why do you think Hill has such a problem conveying the whole truth? If the boosters forced him out, then fine, just tell us. It's like he's afraid to come forward with the real reason Giac got fired, when it is actually a good thing in a lot of fans' eyes. I don't get why Hill and the rest of the U brass have to be so secret about these things all the time. It drives me crazy!
Hill just doesn't ever want to be seen as the guy who's "bad-mouthing" a guy in public -- especially because Giacoletti was his hire, and a guy about whom he had been particularly excited because he promised to be such a breath of fresh air after Majerus ...
A breath of fresh air like losing? I hope the Utes get another "breath of fresh air"!
Of course, they'll probably hire Majerus JR., Dick Hunsaker, and Mike Lewis will want to quit his job....
Spotted ...
As if I don't ALREADY want to quit and go lay on a beach somewhere ... :-)
But seriously, what I meant was -- as I'm sure you can guess -- Hill and many others at the U. were tired of dealing with Majerus, and they saw Giacoletti has definitely a refreshing change from that, in addition to thinking at the time that Giacoletti would be able to uphold the tradition ...
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