Posted by East Coast Don on 7/3/2009, 10:53 am

I live on the East Coast and have never posted on here, but I read the postings every week. I guess reading about DGM's outrageous salary was the last straw for me. I graduated from USF in 1972 and have seen Athletics go through the good and the bad times. What has happened recently is too embarassing for an alum like myself to keep my mouth shut. I've donated to athletics for many years but no longer will until one of the three people in charge of this mess leave or are fired. The ridiculous response I received to a letter I sent to Privett only reiterated the fact that there is no reason to donate anymore. Something needs to be done and it needs to be done before this next school year starts! Now is the time, otherwise next year will be another disaster. Believe me, I have enough connections to the programs and am very close with two coaches that are still there and have gone through a lot of changes themselves. The coaches only tolerate DGM, Macmillan, and Cross for obvious reasons, job security. The words they've used to describe them when we've talked or discussed any of this - pompous, arrogant, don't care, don't communicate, never see them, never support us, never come to the department, low morale, staff leaving or being fired- these are not words that I like to hear coming from coaches mouths that I respect. I'm sure many of you who read this have dealt with DGM, Cross or Macmillan and probably have the same opinion and descriptions about them. Privett needs to make a stand now as the leader if he is going to continue to stay at USF. Not that he is very well-liked himself. I was personally surprised his contract with extended. These are the reasons one of the Big Three need to go: DGM - has accomplished nothing during her time at USF except destroy alumni morale, alienated alumni and donors, fired staff that should have never been fired, doesn't communicate from what I've heard, embarrased the entire program with the Jessie Evans debacle (God knows how much the school will lose on that one), and has none nothing to prove herself as any kind of leader at all. The fact that she makes over $200,000, regardless of what the actual figure is, is a crime and she need to be held accountable for a change! How bad is it that she is so incompetent that she isn't even a part of the hiring process for the new coach, who happens to be the only bright spot in the past three years from an alumni point of view! Macmillan - he has done a lot for the University from a fundraising point of view but has done nothing for athletics except ruin it and cause this mess. DGM is his fault and now he can just run away and not care. He hired her with national search for the most important job in Athletics. He gave her the job when she never had been an AD anywhere before, was fired from her last job and had a lawsuit pending. He hired her when even Santa Clara didn't want her as an SWA. I never thought Santa Clara would make a better choice than us, but they sure did in this area. He needs to be held responsible for the worst hire in the history of USF Athletics. Besides all of this, he is arrogant and cocky, and not well-liked either by many alumni that I've spoken to. Cross - Well, not much to say about him. Why is he even in charge when he doesn't care about athletics according to the people I've spoken too. Very sad since he is an alum also. He continues to let DGM ruin the department and let her get away with lies and seems to just close his eyes to it. How does he hold her accountable? Does he ever go to the department and meet with coaches and staff? Not according to the coaches I've spoken to. How does he, as an alum, let DGM fire the most well-liked and most respected member of the athletic department? I have to say that after writing this, I'm even more disgusted that this is the type of leadership that run the University that I love and graduated from and have supported for many years. I hope some changes are made soon, very soon. When someone that is as easy-going as I am gets upset, I can't even imagine what some of our other well known alums that have supported the program for years feel. God bless Art Zief, this would have killed him if he were still alive and I know for a fact that he wasn't even talking to Macmillan and DGM before his unfortunate passing. That alone should open someones eyes, when the largest donor is upset with those two, someone should have listened. Yes, something needs to change and it needs to happen very soon!

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