From Rick Cleveland's article

[tossedoff]

polk prefers raffo

Polk prefers no search. He believes none is needed and State would be best served to simply name his longtime assistant Tommy Raffo as his successor.

"I've made it plain with Greg how I feel," Polk said. "Tommy's been with us 19 years as a player and a coach. He knows the program, he knows the alumni. He knows the summer camps. He knows our players and their parents and they know and respect him. The continuity would be smooth.

"I've made my feelings known to Greg (Byrne) and everybody else. I respect Greg and the job he has to do but if he decides to go elsewhere, he'll do it without my blessing."

And what about Cohen, who played for Polk from 1988 until 1990, and was a three-year teammate of Raffo?
"I've talked to John and he knows how I feel," Polk answered. "I have all the respect in the world for John but there's one person I want to see get this job and that's Tommy."

My God, does the man think he is the Pope? Byrne will do it without his "blessing"? What an ego. And good to see he's undermining our chances of getting Cohen.

 

[tossedoff]

polk prefers raffo

Polk prefers no search. He believes none is needed and State would be best served to simply name his longtime assistant Tommy Raffo as his successor.

"I've made it plain with Greg how I feel," Polk said. "Tommy's been with us 19 years as a player and a coach. He knows the program, he knows the alumni. He knows the summer camps. He knows our players and their parents and they know and respect him. The continuity would be smooth.

"I've made my feelings known to Greg (Byrne) and everybody else. I respect Greg and the job he has to do but if he decides to go elsewhere, he'll do it without my blessing."

And what about Cohen, who played for Polk from 1988 until 1990, and was a three-year teammate of Raffo?
"I've talked to John and he knows how I feel," Polk answered. "I have all the respect in the world for John but there's one person I want to see get this job and that's Tommy."

My God, does the man think he is the Pope? Byrne will do it without his "blessing"? What an ego. And good to see he's undermining our chances of getting Cohen.

 

[saddawg]

Cohen ain't coming. And that is the reason why.

 

[thunderclap]

"From Living Legend to Little **** in Four Short Weeks."

 

[Stormrider81]

I think it's totally unprofessional of Polk to do this. He's told his employer who he thinks should be his successor, now go shut up and let the man do his job. What would Polk say if Tommy Raffo came up to him and said, "I'm resigning my position and I want ____ to be my successor, and if you don't follow through with that you'll do so without my blessing?" What if Raffo went to the media over and over again saying those things? Polk would likely be extremely upset, and rightfully so. In that scenario it would be Polk's job to pick the replacement, after all he would be held responsible for that person's performance. However, Polk is doing the exact same thing to Greg Byrne. He's not letting the guy do his job but rather is trying to dictate what happens. He's far overstepping his bounds and is making himself look worse and worse all the time.

I don't want to dislike Polk. He did a ton for our university. There were a lot of years where baseball was all we had and that program made us proud to be bulldogs. However, the current state of the program combined with Polk's antics have made me really resent the man.

One final thing: If Ron Polk wanted Tommy Raffo to get the job he should have retired after the CWS last year, left with legacy firmly intact following that run, and told LT he wanted Raffo to be the next head coach at MSU. I would be willing to bet that LT would have promoted Raffo.

 

[Hanmudog]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why Polk did not just step down after Omaha. He could have gone out with fond memories and Raffo could very well have been named successor without alot of fuss. Now it would just look idiotic for the captain of a sinking ship to hand the wheel over to his first mate. Raffo needs to do the honorable thing and pull his name from consideration and leave at the end of the year to test the waters elsewhere for a head position.

 

[RebelBruiser]

I'm with you on that. It is definitely possible that Cohen would turn down the MSU job out of respect for Polk. I don't know their relationship, but if Cohen still respects and likes Polk, there is a good chance he'd turn down a job offer solely because he knows Polk doesn't want him to take the job.

Under normal conditions, I would think Cohen would jump at the chance to come to MSU as the head man, but if Polk asked him not to and he still respects Polk, there is a good chance he'd turn it down.

 

[chewgumm]

Makes me wish we had never hired him back. What a nightmare. It is hard to believe that someone with his reputation is dong this. I mean, there is a lot to lose, jsut to get someone a job. Basically, he is throwing away a legacy so "Tommy" can have a job. Makes me wonder if Polk promised it to him years ago. And if he did, it is even more disappointing, because at no point is he in a position to promise anyone a job.

And what about Raffo. Would you want the job under these circumstances? I wouldn't. To get the job, you have to have a living legend threaten to take his ball and go home. How degrading to Polk. I am having a hard time deciding who is doing the bigger disservice, Polk or Raffo. I lean toward Polk, because he is the position of power, but Raffo is not doing him any favors either.

 

[lawdawg02]

The continuity would be smooth.

read: We would be able to maintain our current level of suckitude.

seriously, if polk REALLY wants raffo to have a legit shot at the job, he should leave the team now. that's raffo's only chance - to prove he can do it, and turn this season around as a head coach. i don't think it would work, but that's his only (long) shot.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

is he embarrassed about all this?

is he willing to get the job at any price? surely, if he had any pride at all, he would see the writing on the wall and remove his name from consideration.

you would think that, at some point, raffo would say, "look, tweedle dick, thanks for giving me the old vote of confidence, but you need to drop it already. you arent helping matters." though, i really don't see that working with polk. he's like that drunk friend that doesn't know when to shut up and always makes a fool of himself in public.

 

[chewgumm]

and when they ask him about Polk and Raffo and how can he taek the job under these circumstances, he should reply:

"That's baseball."

 

[Woof Man Jack]

Continuity? So...we could go from a ****** team, to a ****** team with very few bumps in the road?

Very appealing.

 

[RebelBruiser]

Seriously, I don't think Byrne is going to hire Raffo unless he's the last option or the best option he can find. Hence, I don't think it'll be Raffo. I don't think it'll be Cohen either, but either way, this will be some fun drama to follow.

Polk is definitely a crazy old man, so I can't wait to see what he does when he figures out his wishes aren't going to be honored.

Wouldn't shock me for him to do something crazy like ask for his name to be removed from the stadium or something like that.

Should be fun to watch, though it's a shame he's doing this. He has a good legacy behind him. If he'd just make his recommendation and step aside gracefully, that legacy will remain in tact. If Byrne doesn't hire Raffo (which I don't think will happen), and Polk does anything like I think he might, then there is a good chance that he'll erase his entire legacy and be almost solely remembered for how he left.

Edited to add: And I still halfway expect to see him try to pull a Jim Wells and attempt to unretired if and when he figures out Raffo isn't going to get the job.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

of such a move...like being taken off of polk's christmas card list.

i don't think cohen will turn down the job just because of polk's wishes. there might be other reasons, but it's obvious he is aware that he is wanted by, at least, a large number of fans. if he does have that deep desire to come back, polk won't stop him.

 

[MSUCostanza]

for the job, why would he discourage having a search? If Raffo is truly the best option, then having a search would only confirm that.

That fat little troll has an ego the size of Nebraska.

 

[CroomOwesMeAnApology]

He believes he is entitled to dictate what happens to "his" program. It's not Miss State University, it's Ron Polk University.

And he should can the remarks about respecting Byrne since Byrne's refusal to kiss Polk's *** is the reason Polk resigned in the first place.

Good luck in retirement Ron. I'll try to remember the good things you did for the program after we finish DEAD LAST in the SEC in your swan song year.

 

[bulldogbaja]

Raffo being his successor. Or even as about the summer camps.

 

[dawgoneyall]

began neglecting our baseball program 15 years ago without my 17'ing blessing. Screw that Napoleonic bastard.

God. That poll regarding JWS and this bastard is should not even be close.

 

[Todd4State]

To respond to several:

Polk did not step down after the CWS because A. He didn't forsee us having the season we are (i.e. pitching will be our strength.) B. He did not forsee us hiring an AD with the balls to tell him no. Believe me, Polk is used to getting what he wants, with the exception of decent uniforms, and someone telling him he can't have his way at MSU is a big shock to his system.

I think Byrne has someone in particular in mind- I suspect it's Cohen- and I suspect that he feels pretty good about getting whoever that is. I think that even if Polk is able to convince Cohen to not come, or Cohen chooses not to come, we still probably won't hire Raffo. It would look bad for Byrne because after all this "National Search" stuff, he would like "same ol' crappy MSU" by doing what LT would have done. Byrne wants to make the alumni happy now as much as any time. So, we'll probably get someone decent no matter what.

I don't care what Polk does, it will tarnish his legacy, but it's absolutely ludicrous to suggest that his entire career will be forgotten because he was acting crazy as an old man. I'm not going to sit around and think about that ONE losing season he had- I'm still going to think about 85, the CWS teams and the good things for the most part. Once we get a new coach in, a lot of this stuff will be forgotten in a few years. It just seems like forever because of when he announced his retirement.

And because of Murphy's Law, Raffo will take over Kentucky and take them to 12 NC's in baseball.

Also, we all know that Cohen wasn't one of Polk's favorites as a player, but how do we know that Cohen doesn't at least feel a little bit of resentment towards Polk? And yeah, I know what Cohen has told the media "I respect Polk and Raffo", but really what is he supposed to say? Screw them, I want the job? Not in the middle of the season with his own team to worry about.

I think it might be quite possible that Cohen feels a little bit more loyalty to Byrne than Polk. Think about it- Byrne helped hire him at UK in the first place. Cohen coming to State would be a very popular move, and would make Byrne look good. It would also give Cohen a chance to coach at a legendary program, make more money, and be closer to his home. It would be a you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours situation.

 

[SLUdog]

and was attacked for it. That was the old days when Gene was the only game in town.

 

[patdog]

if Polk thought we'd have a good team this year, he really is beginning to lose his mind. Our top 2 starters both had ERAs of about 5.00 last year and we lost 3 of our 4 good position players off last year's team. Going into the season, I thought we'd finish anywhere from 5th to 9th in the SEC. And even without the injuries and distractions, I don't think this team would have been any better than that.

As for Byrne having someone specific in mind, there's no doubt that his list isn't more than 3 to 5 coaches long. And he had that list made up before he even interviewed for the AD job. And if Raffo's on the list, it's only as a courtesy. If he were going to be hired, it would have already happened. His comment the other day that it might be 2-3 weeks after the CWS is over tells me that Cohen is at least on the list. If Kentucky hasn't made "substantial progress" on a new stadium by July 1, then Cohen's $600,000 buyout goes away. And there's no way they will break ground on the stadium by then. Then the lawyers can argue about what "substantial progress" means and the buyout would probably be negotiated down by at least half. I think that if push comes to shove, Cohen will take the job over Polk's objections assuming that he wants it. I know he wouldn't want to cross Polk, but at the same time, if he wants the job, this may be the only time he'd have a chance to get it.</p>

 

[ArrowDawg]

......should be the last straw for a lot of people. Like many of you said, we'd all like to respect Polk and wish him well, but how can you do that with the way he's been behaving lately? It's pathetic.

 

[ArrowDawg]

.....going off to some other program and taking them to greater heights than MSU. Still, Polk is the one to blame for this mess. It's a combination of poor timing and crazy antics that have put us in a situation where hiring Raffo will be vastly unpopular. Maybe Polk didn't foresee this season going the way it's going, but maybe he should have held on for another year or two and left us in a better situation. It might have been easier to get Raffo promoted then.

 

[ArrowDawg]

MSUCostanza wrote:

That fat little troll has an ego the size of Nebraska.

Yeah, but apparently Omaha is immune.</p>

 

[CroomOwesMeAnApology]

will tell us what we need to know about the direction of the new athletic department.

If we hire Raffo, it's the same old ****.

If we land a big name coach (preferably Cohen unless Polk ask him as a personal favor not to come here), then we can finally turn the page. Byrne needs to back up his recent power play vs Polk with a hire that he knows Polk won't be happy with.

No matter what, Polk will come off looking like the bitter old man he is. He will destroy any goodwill that he built over the years because he doesn't know how to make a graceful exit. It's all about Ron Polk. He blew a chance to leave last year after the Omaha miracle. Like Jackie, he stayed too long and his legacy will be forever tarnished because of it.