Polisky picked as AD

[JournCat]

Per Shannon Ryan … Schapiro made the pick despite Polisky being a named defendant in the cheerleading lawsuit. (Not to mention being a key figure in the Johnnie Vassar controversy.)

Interesting that none of the sitting ADs made finalist. Also interesting that the three other finalists are all women.

Mike Polisky named new Northwestern athletic director despite some internal opposition

Northwestern announced Mike Polisky as its new athletic director Monday despite some internal resistance to the selection. Polisky replaces Jim Phillips, who left after more than a decade in Februa…

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Per Shannon Ryan … Schapiro made the pick despite Polisky being a named defendant in the cheerleading lawsuit. (Not to mention being a key figure in the Johnnie Vassar controversy.)

Interesting that none of the sitting ADs made finalist. Also interesting that the three other finalists are all women.

Mike Polisky named new Northwestern athletic director despite some internal opposition

Northwestern announced Mike Polisky as its new athletic director Monday despite some internal resistance to the selection. Polisky replaces Jim Phillips, who left after more than a decade in Februa…

www.chicagotribune.com

This isn’t going to fire up the fan base.

 

[villox]

This isn’t going to fire up the fan base.

I for one base my entire fandom on the person who serves as AD.

 

[BleedingPurple15]

Love the choice. Polisky was great whenever I interacted with him back when I was in school.

 

[its_the_sauce]

It says a lot about how far we've come in that we're selecting from within.

 

[freewillie07]

Pretty balanced article.

I wonder if there was the sense that Polisky was going to leave if he didn’t get the promotion.

 

[NJCat]

Pretty balanced article.

I wonder if there was the sense that Polisky was going to leave if he didn’t get the promotion.

I thought the article cast Polisky in a pretty harsh light.

And you don't promote someone because you're afraid they'll leave if you don't. You hire the best candidate and fill open slots below as necessary.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I for one base my entire fandom on the person who serves as AD.

Cool. Guess I won’t need to save you a seat at Ryan Field this year.

 

[rmndcat]

Per Shannon Ryan … Schapiro made the pick despite Polisky being a named defendant in the cheerleading lawsuit. (Not to mention being a key figure in the Johnnie Vassar controversy.)

Interesting that none of the sitting ADs made finalist. Also interesting that the three other finalists are all women.

Mike Polisky named new Northwestern athletic director despite some internal opposition

Northwestern announced Mike Polisky as its new athletic director Monday despite some internal resistance to the selection. Polisky replaces Jim Phillips, who left after more than a decade in Februa…

www.chicagotribune.com

Blais sounded--from that description, at least--like a better option if the desire was to hire from within.

 

[lunker35]

This isn’t going to fire up the fan base.

I’m fine with it. I think it’s a really good hire. I don’t know why we needed the massive circus to get there, but he will be good and consistent from what we had with JP.

 

[charcat]

Great pick. I was afraid they were going to fall into the PC, we must pick someone who shows how woke we are. An internal hire is much less risky as you already know this person and their work, vs someone who is looking to get out because their existing gig is not working.

 

[Sheffielder]

Big shoes to fill.

As a fan I obviously want Polisky to be to be an awesome pick who will do nothing to diminish the same unbridled support I gave Phillips for his entire tenure. I have no significant objections, and would like to trust that an investigation around the cheerleading situation CLEARED him (as opposed to turning up "insufficient evidence" to the contrary). On paper I prefer an AD be rooted in student development with more direct experience in college athletics, but with so many other factors to consider like development, legal, marketing, and NCAA/B1G politics...I get it.

As a cynic I can't help but point out the lame duck retiring white man picked the already-part-of-the-establishment white man with some ethical baggage over the internal woman candidate who was good enough to serve as interim AD, and two other fairly well-qualified female minority candidates. Always bet on the white man.
Ultimately, with the Phillips departure and Morty's being imminent, continuity might be the most important factor here as we transition to a new president. If Polisky doesn't fit I doubt the new president will hesitate to make a change.

 

[phatcat]

As a side note, could there be a better Chicago name?

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Per Shannon Ryan … Schapiro made the pick despite Polisky being a named defendant in the cheerleading lawsuit. (Not to mention being a key figure in the Johnnie Vassar controversy.)

Interesting that none of the sitting ADs made finalist. Also interesting that the three other finalists are all women.

Mike Polisky named new Northwestern athletic director despite some internal opposition

Northwestern announced Mike Polisky as its new athletic director Monday despite some internal resistance to the selection. Polisky replaces Jim Phillips, who left after more than a decade in Februa…

www.chicagotribune.com

Interesting. Best to the new AD.

 

[NJCat]

That said hope she does a great job and proves to be the best of the remaining candidates and proves herself worthy of the selection so this isn't just an interim fill in until the new University President takes charge.

Huh???

 

[stpaulcat]

This isn’t going to fire up the fan base.

Shapiro is not an idiot.

 

[stpaulcat]

I for one base my entire fandom on the person who serves as AD.

You have a fandom? Well, I like you, but I can't speak for the entire NU fan base.

 

[stpaulcat]

As a side note, could there be a better Chicago name?

Yup, "Da Bears".

 

[Alaskawildkat]

I’m fine with it. I think it’s a really good hire. I don’t know why we needed the massive circus to get there, but he will be good and consistent from what we had with JP.

Definite advantages to hiring within, especially when nothing is broken that needs fixing.

 

[rwhitney014]

Definite advantages to hiring within, especially when nothing is broken that needs fixing.

One thing is broken, and the guy who got the job is the guy who’s in charge of it.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Admittedly not up on the specifics, but it had appeared that the necessary corrective action going forward had already been taken under the current AD.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Huh???

Quick catch. That was corrected and edited almost immediately.

 

[NJCat]

Quick catch. That was corrected and edited almost immediately.

Emphasis on "almost".......... 😜

 

[JournCat]

Rittenberg reports that the delay was so NU could clear Polisky of wrongdoing in its own internal investigation of the cheerleading lawsuit. Just a bad look.

 

[stpaulcat]

Cheerleaders sexually exploited? At NU? In what way?

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Great pick. I was afraid they were going to fall into the PC, we must pick someone who shows how woke we are. An internal hire is much less risky as you already know this person and their work, vs someone who is looking to get out because their existing gig is not working.

Have to wonder if one of those candidates having sued a former employer raised some questions going forward.

 

[peatymeanis]

Rittenberg reports that the delay was so NU could clear Polisky of wrongdoing in its own internal investigation of the cheerleading lawsuit. Just a bad look.

So we ran a sham selection process.

 

[NJCat]

Cheerleaders sexually exploited? At NU? In what way?

Back in the day, Playboy did features on cheerleaders, "Girls of the Big 10". NU's claim to fame in 1977 was the roommate of a lady I was dating, Eve Sutherland. And Eve definitely deserved consideration..........

To be fair, NU had nothing to do with the selection. And Eve was completely clothed.

 

[lunker35]

Rittenberg reports that the delay was so NU could clear Polisky of wrongdoing in its own internal investigation of the cheerleading lawsuit. Just a bad look.

No it means they did their due diligence. He’s a very good hire. Hold me to it, but we shouldn’t see any regression here in our progress with all sports.

 

[NJCat]

Hold me to it, but we shouldn’t see any regression here in our progress with all sports.

Only because Mens Basketball is about as low as it gets.........it stands in stark contrast to just about every other sport.

Polisky needs to hire a Mens Soccer coach as first order of business.

 

[SteveNU]

Oof, not great, Bob.

 

[Katatonic]

My concern about the hire is that Polisky will put business interests first over the well being of the athletes, based on the allegations.

But maybe the internal investigation (not that have a lot of faith in those things) turned up nothing.

 

[stpaulcat]

Oof, not great, Bob.

Bob? Is bob back? God help us.

 

[HawkCat]

Rittenberg reports that the delay was so NU could clear Polisky of wrongdoing in its own internal investigation of the cheerleading lawsuit. Just a bad look.

Why is letting the internal investigation play out a bad look? By the way, “bad look” is becoming one of the most overused phrases on these boards.

 

[charcat]

Morty was in a good position to make this hire, having been with NU for a decade and having worked closely with the NU Athletic Department personnel for years. With Polisky’s appointment we don’t skip a beat, you avoid the risk of an outsider not understanding how the existing operations run. Remember this is a fundraising and administration job, overseeing dozens of teams and coaches. If you have grown experienced people in house that you think are good, it is a great thing. Too many schools hire former famous athlete with no experience in administration and you have problems. I am glad they found a candidate they know well and trust. The internal investigation and speculation is nonsense. But it did give NU the opportunity to make sure they knew what happened and hold the right people accountable for poor oversight of a situation that was unfortunate.

 

[JournCat]

Why is letting the internal investigation play out a bad look? By the way, “bad look” is becoming one of the most overused phrases on these boards.

You're right -- just saying a "bad look" is a copout on my part so let me use a few more words. I'm opposed to Polisky (though not strongly) because of his alleged roles in the Vassar and cheerleader lawsuits. I'm more familiar with the Vassar case, having read most of the documents filed, and they make a persuasive case that Polisky directly tried to push Vassar out through creating things like an "internship program" where he did groundskeeping. I question how vigorous the investigation was of someone who it appears NU wanted to hire from the beginning. With two lawsuits pending, there's always a chance of a revelation that makes his new position untenable.

Polisky has also never run an athletic department before, though he has served under someone most of us would agree was an excellent leader. I think we would have been better off hiring a sitting AD. Both Phillips and Mark Murphy were college ADs before coming to Evanston.

 

[NUCat320]

I personally don’t like the idea that he comes from the branding/marketing side, versus the academic support / student services side, which is where Blais’ background lies. Naively, I think the latter is more important.

I tend to agree with @Katatonic’s uncharacteristically brief assessment above.

 

[HawkCat]

I personally don’t like the idea that he comes from the branding/marketing side, versus the academic support / student services side, which is where Blais’ background lies. Naively, I think the latter is more important.

I tend to agree with @Katatonic’s uncharacteristically brief assessment above.

Simply because he has a marketing/branding background (after all, that was his job at the time) doesn't mean he can't excel on the academic support/student services side as well. The fact is that both are important in this job. If the marketing and branding fail, causing the department to lose a ton of money, student services might be impaired and entire sports might be eliminated.

 

[NJCat]

If the marketing and branding fail, causing the department to lose a ton of money, student services might be impaired and entire sports might be eliminated.

My guess is that the bulk of the money NU makes from marketing/branding comes from the Big 10 Conference TV contracts. At the margin Polisky's work created some revenue, but it had to be far outweighed by the loot NU pulls in by virtue of being part of the highest revenue conference. So even a complete fail (which is highly unlikely) in NU's efforts will likely have a small impact on the athletic department.

 

[HawkCat]

My guess is that the bulk of the money NU makes from marketing/branding comes from the Big 10 Conference TV contracts. At the margin Polisky's work created some revenue, but it had to be far outweighed by the loot NU pulls in by virtue of being part of the highest revenue conference. So even a complete fail (which is highly unlikely) in NU's efforts will likely have a small impact on the athletic department.

The biggest gripe among the fans on the boards is the game-day experience, including attendance. How will picking someone with an academic support/student services background address this problem?