Ellis asks good questions in his blog entry...
- Thread starter 8dog
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You are not the coach anymore. You just wanted Tommy Raffo so you could still run the show (have an office next to his, sit in at practices, etc). It wouldn't surprise me to see Polk right behind home plate next year yelling out commands and plays at Cohen.
Cohen: Call Ron and ask him to remain part of the program. Put him in charge of raising money for another expansion, let him run the Diamond Girls, his camps, whatever. Tell him though, in no uncertain terms, that he's got no charge over on the field stuff.
him to still be part of MSU. Let him do the skybox thing. Just don't let him interfere with coaching. If I was Polk, I would go coach at Starkville High.
this is the line in the blog where i started laughing out loud in my office like a crazy person. Now he is putting Cohen in the position to take the high road and ask him to stay on and help with practice. So first he asks him to not take the job, then bashes him and Byrne when he accepts the job, then tones it back to "Cohen is a good hire," and now to asking publicly to be a part of the program.
that Polk promised Raffo the job. I now understand why he became so mad. He was made out to look like a fool by himself. Like people have said before, if he wanted Raffo to have the job, he should have retired last year.
I don't know Polk personally. As an outsider, I'd question whether or not he'd keep his mitts off important matters of practices, games, and chemistry between the players and Cohen. Someone who actually knows the man should be able to make that call.
i think a public apology to byrne by Polk is appropriate. he has said numerous times now that he was emotional and upset but has yet to retract the statement that Byrne has "no idea" what he is doing. yet...he made a "good hire." i don't think it is enough to say he made a good hire if I am Byrne. make him swallow his pride and apologize publicly (doesn't have to be a press conference...could even be to Ellis types in an interview) and then let him raise money and stay away from practice.
too bad he couldn't hold his tongue. it appears that this could have been a great situation if he had.
too bad he couldn't hold his tongue. it appears that this could have been a great situation if he had.
for him to deny promising the job to Tommy is laughable. and in actuality with LT in charge, a Polk promise to give his "support" is equal to a promise to get the job. that was the chance that Polk took making such statements and the chance that Tommy took believing LT or the next AD would follow Polk's wishes.
you bring up a good point...sarcastic of course but good nonetheless. if Polk is allowed to stay, I wonder what Byrne and Cohen would think about him going on more NCAA crusades. i would rather the ncaa forget about us until it is time to place us in the regional brackets each year.</p>
Cohen and Byrne had better keep him on a short leash. I agree that Polk would be a big asset for raising funds and keeping former players involved. He could also huge albatross if left to run free unrestrained.
I agree. Baseball won't love you back when you get old. Your former players all have their lives and families. You don't have current players anymore because you don't coach anymore. It's tough. If Polk would be less of a control freak, get his ego under control, and work on his confrontational personality he could hang around the program and do a lot of good for MSU, and MSU would in turn be highly appreciative. Even after all of this the fanbase still cares for Ron. If he can set aside his selfishness he could have a very good post-coaching gig here and be around people that care about him. It's hard to have those things when you publicly say you are going to make the AD's life miserable. A public apology is necessary here, the crawfishing isn't enough.
i just hope it doesn't become a distraction for Cohen. he appears to be driven and focused and we definitely don't want that focus to be reduced by power struggles and other ******** that could arise from Polk being around. you are right...a short leash is necessary and if Polk can't handle that then he should just do some volunteer work.
i can't imagine what the conversation would be like if Cohen calls up Polk and asks him for his assistance but only if Polk abides by his conditions. you would be able to cut the tension with a knife.
i can't imagine what the conversation would be like if Cohen calls up Polk and asks him for his assistance but only if Polk abides by his conditions. you would be able to cut the tension with a knife.
M
MasterDawg
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Polk would have to stay out for atleast a year. There is no way you could bring Polk on and let him start working in any capacity during the next year. Cohen needs that time to make the program his own. The reality of retirement has hit a all work no play Polk. If you use him this year, then do it in an as needed advisory role. The next year you could bring him back as a fundraiser/gladhander. My main thing would be that he could never say a thing about the NCAA. That shtick has gotten so old an serves to only agitate the fan base.
have a better coach.
And after all this Polk needs, whether by his choice or forced, to stay away from MSU baseball for a while. A long while.
And after all this Polk needs, whether by his choice or forced, to stay away from MSU baseball for a while. A long while.
The problem of the old boss hanging around is mostly a problem of the inexperienced or weak-willed new boss. That is not the case here. Cohen won't have any problem using Polk as a roll player in his new program, if that is what he wants to do. And to be honest, that is the high ground and right approach. It might just profit the University by a nice contribution to restore that relationship --although that should simply be a coincidental by product of the right decision.
and asked him not to take the job. We all know how Cohen handled that conversation.</p>
I imagine that if Cohen calls and invites him to be a part of the program, Polk will be beside himself with joy. I doubt there would be much tension at all. John has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ron Polk's opinions don't phase him a bit. </p>
I imagine that if Cohen calls and invites him to be a part of the program, Polk will be beside himself with joy. I doubt there would be much tension at all. John has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ron Polk's opinions don't phase him a bit. </p>
that most everything Polk has said can be attributed to emotion except one thing--calling coaches before the decision was made to ask them not to take the job. Im sorry, and this may be an overstatement, but I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him. I dont want him anywhere near the program.
As many noted in this thread, they clearly believe that he promised Raffo the job. And yet, in the interview, he denies it--why? because it doesn't make him look as bad. Again, all about Polk.
And one semi related note: Look at how he doesn't blame Mac for going to Florida b/c of all its resources and money. He is still on his crusade to convince people that every other job in the conf is better than ours.
Please just go to Arizona and teach baseball--you will be a happier person and we'd all like to see that.
As many noted in this thread, they clearly believe that he promised Raffo the job. And yet, in the interview, he denies it--why? because it doesn't make him look as bad. Again, all about Polk.
And one semi related note: Look at how he doesn't blame Mac for going to Florida b/c of all its resources and money. He is still on his crusade to convince people that every other job in the conf is better than ours.
Please just go to Arizona and teach baseball--you will be a happier person and we'd all like to see that.
i agree to what you are saying about Polk being overjoyed but my point was ....
of course it is my opinion but i think giving Polk conditions that he may not like, such as not helping in the coaching aspect at all, would be a tense conversation. But like you said, tense or not, Cohen hasn't shown anything yet that says he would not handle this correctly.
the thing I found odd about him asking Cohen to not take the job is that apparently he believe that if Cohen turned it down that Tommy would get the job. There's simply no guaranteeing that as we have no idea what Byrne would have done if Cohen had said no.
is still AD unless he makes a sincere PUBLIC apology and admit he acted like a childish horses ***...
you just don't threaten someone's job like that...I don't care how upset you were...
you just don't threaten someone's job like that...I don't care how upset you were...
although there were a lot of "buys" to the question of whether Raffo would have gotten the job had Cohen turned us down. I don't think that would have happened until we exhausted a much longer list of successful head coaches.
polk may have calmed, but he's still saying he doesn't regret what he said...all the while changing his tune. he went waaaay to far to just sweep this under the rug
Polk defends PM's bolting to Florida by using many of the same reasons that JC took the MSU job.
polk needs to stay away from anything more than the role of a fan for one season. the new staff needs that time to settle in and implement their own plan, and the players need to get used to it as well. the worst possible scenario would be polk hovering around practice with a box of wet-ones saying "i didn't do it this way."
Good Lord! Do you STILL not realize how unstable he is? He doesn't need to be running camps, coordinating diamond girls, running player alumni or booster groups or anything else. He needs to get the hell out of Starkville and stay out. I don't care if he does apologize (which he's given no indication that he'll do), having him around is about as safe as having a ticking time bomb around.
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