Posted by Purple Pride on 4/12/2011, 5:18 pm, in reply to "Just the opposite."
Perhaps you're right, but at this point, is USD really concerned about what looks bad? I mean, they just got implicated in a point-shaving scheme that stretches over multiple years, involves (arguably) the greatest player in school history, and they potentially have players currently on their roster that are involved with fixing games.
I'm not sure how it gets much worse, and I really don't get how keeping the coaching staff that was in place when it all went down is a sign of stability. And who do they need to "appear" stable to anyway? Fans? Donors? The NCAA? They need to get working on fixing things. Maybe I'm being too cold-blooded about it...
I do completely agree, however, that they need to get out in front of the story and be very proactive about making their case and getting their message across. Don't hide behind the "it's an ongoing investigation" and totally stonewall... don't comment on the things you truly can't comment on, but be as open as possible with everything else. Get aggressive. Go after the "real" criminals - the bookies and drug dealers - and not the student-athletes who are young and impressionable and got mixed up with the wrong crowd.
I think way too often institutions bunker down and don't recognize that swift action is the best way to get ahead of something. Take BP after the oil spill, for example, or even right now with the Japanese energy company and government and the nuclear plant meltdown. Or Notre Dame with the sexual assault and the death of the videographer this year.
Here's a great article from the New York Times about BP and damage control:
I'm not saying I think they should kick Grier out the door - I agree, firing him at this point would look very bad. But I am saying that, behind closed doors, they should be strongly encouraging him to look elsewhere.
In my opinion, the best thing that could happen for USD is Grier resigning or leaving, because that would at least allow for a fresh start with someone who is completely uninvolved with the situation and can start clearing house and recruiting and rebuilding.
Because that's probably going to have to happen anyway, so why wait an extra season or two? Just for PR purposes?
If the USD administration truly believes Grier is still the right guy for the job and they truly believe he will be able to continue to recruit to his highest ability, then they should definitely keep him. And that could potentially be the right decision.
But considering all the turmoil under Grier (lawsuits, suspensions, transfers, and now point-shaving) and the fact that he hasn't had a winning team since inheriting Brad Holland's players and his win total has gone down every single year he's been the coach... I'm just not sure what the benefit to wanting him to stick around any longer is, especially if they have to kick off some players from the team or they start losing more players as transfers.