And don’t mention his politics. His hires haven’t been terrible. Moorhead was a miss, but even that was thought of as a great hire by every pundit in the country when it was made. Jury is still out on Leach but we are trending upward. NMP was a bad hire, but other women’s sports hires have been good. Volleyball made the tourney for the first time ever, softball keeps making regionals and soccer is on the upswing. Made the best hire in school history in Lemonis (which most people hated at the time) who won us our first Natty. Yes, he’s missed on two hires (I don’t really put Cannizzaro on him because who could have foreseen that coming and he made up for it by hiring Lemonis) but AD’s miss on hires all the time. I don’t think that rises to the level of vitriol he gets from some on here. Someone please enlighten me.
Why are many people on this board so toxic toward Cohen?
- Thread starter FlotownDawg
- Start date
Athletics outside baseball are bad.
No marketing of our programs since he took over.
Lots of bad hires.
No marketing of our programs since he took over.
Lots of bad hires.
I don’t get the politics thing. Has he ever come out and said anything one way or the other? I know his wife has made some comments but I would probably cringe if my wife tweeted things out and I was an AD at a school.
Edited: I think we could have made a much better hire than Cohen. Someone who has been there/done that and knows how to run a large organization. He’s made some bad hires obviously, but we could have easily been stuck with Moorhead an additional year; so I’m thankful he didn’t drag his feet on that one. Other than that, I would like Cohen to be more strategic and hire someone in the admin that knows the ins and outs on the NIL and can help us start to get in front of it and really start some strategic planning for the future. Also, I don’t like Cohen because Bracky Brett is still drawing a check. A career high school principal.
Edited: I think we could have made a much better hire than Cohen. Someone who has been there/done that and knows how to run a large organization. He’s made some bad hires obviously, but we could have easily been stuck with Moorhead an additional year; so I’m thankful he didn’t drag his feet on that one. Other than that, I would like Cohen to be more strategic and hire someone in the admin that knows the ins and outs on the NIL and can help us start to get in front of it and really start some strategic planning for the future. Also, I don’t like Cohen because Bracky Brett is still drawing a check. A career high school principal.
Last edited:
Well, statistically he was one of the worst baseball coaches in MSU history. And yes, Henderson at UK had basically the same SEC record at UK that Cohen had at State. Henderson was fired from UK.
So, he wasn’t a good baseball coach and we promoted him to AD. Makes sense.
The football experience has been a disaster. My family has had season tickets since forever and we are high up in the bulldog club. My grandfather played football in the 30s. We won’t have season tickets this next year….
So, he wasn’t a good baseball coach and we promoted him to AD. Makes sense.
The football experience has been a disaster. My family has had season tickets since forever and we are high up in the bulldog club. My grandfather played football in the 30s. We won’t have season tickets this next year….
Outside of baseball, we're in pretty bad shape across the board. The biggest win he has had is keeping Darby-Dennis, and that ay be just because there weren't any big time openings in volleyball this season. Lets just say she got a lot of calls, but none from where her situation would be any better.
Football is losing excitement. Men's basketball is a disaster - this is the most talented roster ever at MSU and we are headed to a road game in the NIT. No excitement at all about the Hump renovation, which would have been major news not too long ago. NMP was a terrible hire. Novak has been a pleasant surprise. Softball is a disaster. We've lost momentum from a good run in women's golf and Ole Miss just won the natty.
Coaches don't make good athletic directors in the new era of College sports. Tanner at SC was terrible and Bertman at LSU wasn't great. We're getting killed in the NIL game. Some good talented staff have gone elsewhere (Our entire marketing department is basically at Clemson now). When he was hired, he wasn't a strong candidate. Wicker and Cook both had more upside. Wicker was a hot assistant AD at Georgia Tech at the time and is an MSU grad. He's the AD at San Diego State right now. Cook was the No. 2 at Texas A&M and he is now a VP at Baylor (non-athletics). Another MSU grad.
But yes, Lemonis was a good hire for baseball.
Football is losing excitement. Men's basketball is a disaster - this is the most talented roster ever at MSU and we are headed to a road game in the NIT. No excitement at all about the Hump renovation, which would have been major news not too long ago. NMP was a terrible hire. Novak has been a pleasant surprise. Softball is a disaster. We've lost momentum from a good run in women's golf and Ole Miss just won the natty.
Coaches don't make good athletic directors in the new era of College sports. Tanner at SC was terrible and Bertman at LSU wasn't great. We're getting killed in the NIL game. Some good talented staff have gone elsewhere (Our entire marketing department is basically at Clemson now). When he was hired, he wasn't a strong candidate. Wicker and Cook both had more upside. Wicker was a hot assistant AD at Georgia Tech at the time and is an MSU grad. He's the AD at San Diego State right now. Cook was the No. 2 at Texas A&M and he is now a VP at Baylor (non-athletics). Another MSU grad.
But yes, Lemonis was a good hire for baseball.
Last edited:
You forget that he needed two years to purge the constipated chunklets of Polk II.
Otherwise, he'd be .644 at State which still doesn't place him in the top 3 but respectable nonetheless.
He could have seen it coming with Cannizaro. He was already passed over by Tulane for rumors about his personal behavior. That were definitely signs all over the place when he was hired. And there's the distinct possibility that he hired him just to piss off Paul Manieri.
Last edited:
The MSU nepotism that's held us back for years is an issue too. The fact we chose not to do a search and hire the best person is unacceptable for any job.
It’s hard to judge AD’s by hires, IMO. Sometimes they’re not the ones making the decision. Jeremey Foley was great at UF and for every Urban Meyer there’s a Ron Zook.
Better to judge ADs on when they fire coaches. Cohen knew a change was needed with Moorhead, he saw a higher ceiling than Gary Henderson, etc.
Better to judge ADs on when they fire coaches. Cohen knew a change was needed with Moorhead, he saw a higher ceiling than Gary Henderson, etc.
In most positions at Mississippi State, I would agree with you 100 percent.
Athletics Director is one place though where you'd almost need a person with inside knowledge and known to the fanbase-- edit to add and just as importantly donors.
I'm not saying that he'd be my automatic choice-- I'd have taken a really strong look at Wetherbee too for instance.
Athletics Director is one place though where you'd almost need a person with inside knowledge and known to the fanbase-- edit to add and just as importantly donors.
I'm not saying that he'd be my automatic choice-- I'd have taken a really strong look at Wetherbee too for instance.
Last edited:
Because they know exactly how to run a multi-million dollar enterprise so they know he's doing a terrible job.***
I dont think I have ever commented on Cohen's politics. I dont know what they are and have zero guess as to what he thinks about most topics.
He has had some good hires and bad hires. Most every AD does, if you look at all sports over a 5+ run as AD.
I do wish the athletic department had a wider reach for marketing. No idea how that can happen though, since basically the only chance anyone outside of the state of MS will be a fan of MSU sports is if they are an alum/family.
I think that using STATE as one of our logos would be good. We are surrounded by Bama, LSU, and Ole Miss...all schools with nicknames that are nationally known. We arent MSU at the national level, but itd be cool to be known as a nickname.
He has had some good hires and bad hires. Most every AD does, if you look at all sports over a 5+ run as AD.
I do wish the athletic department had a wider reach for marketing. No idea how that can happen though, since basically the only chance anyone outside of the state of MS will be a fan of MSU sports is if they are an alum/family.
I think that using STATE as one of our logos would be good. We are surrounded by Bama, LSU, and Ole Miss...all schools with nicknames that are nationally known. We arent MSU at the national level, but itd be cool to be known as a nickname.
Yeah, I know many schools do hire from the outside. I'm referring specifically to Mississippi State's hires.
Our last two outside hires (Scott & Carr) were underwhelming.
Carl Maddox was by far our best outside hire in that he brought professionalism to the department post-Tyler and while he wasn't an MSU insider, he was an SEC insider.
Our last two outside hires (Scott & Carr) were underwhelming.
Carl Maddox was by far our best outside hire in that he brought professionalism to the department post-Tyler and while he wasn't an MSU insider, he was an SEC insider.
That’s just a bad take on Cohen as a baseball coach. He took over a program that was bad. It’s hard to hold him too responsible for the first 2 years of his tenure. You can think he sucks as an AD but I don’t think you can really say that about baseball.
In this chat room -- it's pretty much football. And honestly -- isn't that the same everywhere in the Power 5?
When you compare and contrast ADs, you need to look at the following interlocking pieces in no particular order:
1) Coaching decisions and winning "success"
2) Budget
3) Facilities and infrastructure
4) Fanbase and alumni relationships
5) President and Board of Trustees trust and favor
6) Title IX
7) Other
When you compare and contrast ADs, you need to look at the following interlocking pieces in no particular order:
1) Coaching decisions and winning "success"
2) Budget
3) Facilities and infrastructure
4) Fanbase and alumni relationships
5) President and Board of Trustees trust and favor
6) Title IX
7) Other
In terms of pure talent, yeah its pretty darn close. Top 5 in the modern era of college basketball. And top 3 this century, with some worthy discussion of being at the top in some aspects.
That’s fair. The problem with that thinking is that Henderson had to rebuild the UK program after Cohen left as well. Cohen left UK nothing when he went to State.
Henderson’s worst year was year 3, he went 8-22. Cohen’s worst year was year 2, he went 6-24. But, in year 7, Cohen went 8-22. So Cohen matched Henderson’s worst year…in year 7.
Henderson’s worst year was year 3, he went 8-22. Cohen’s worst year was year 2, he went 6-24. But, in year 7, Cohen went 8-22. So Cohen matched Henderson’s worst year…in year 7.
I suspect that the money guys have more influence on all ADs than people would commonly assume. Also, I'm not a money guy, or an AD, so I don't know that for sure, but money seems to corrupt any ideal of pure motives in many cases.
The only sort of political thing that I can think of was the Leach tweet. He handled that incompetently and I think some people think that his incompetence on that was caused by his politics. But unless people have some inside knowledge, I'm not sure why his politics would be blamed for that. It was one of the most perplexing 17ups I've ever seen an organization make. You can argue that it was important for perception to come out and drag Leach or you can argue that silence or supporting the coach was the way to go. But there is no argument for letting the news cycle run its course and then bringing it back up. So he was fairly raked over the coals for that, but I don't see how his politics came into that. Maybe he was more eager to support false claims that it was a racial issue because of his politics, and that ultimately pushed him to 17 it up in teh dumbest way possible, but there have been other opportunities to 17 things up becasue of politics where he hasn't taken the opportunity to do so. I really think that was just gross incompetence and not political.
Yep. That was Year 7 for Cohen.
In Year 8, State won the Conference Regular Season Title and started a run of what's now five consecutive super regional appearances.
In Year 8, State won the Conference Regular Season Title and started a run of what's now five consecutive super regional appearances.
We really do need censorship for aggressive stupidity. What's worse, is that this person really does think this.
TOTAL 17ING IDIOT. Makes you ashamed to be a State fan.
I don't know what's more shocking, the stupidity of that opinion, that it somehow isn't the dumbest opinion in this thread, or that both idiotic opinions received multiple upvotes.
Last edited:
Nah. I think he might just be badly informed or perhaps a younger alum not knowledgeable about our history.
As you know, in the past, we have occasionally had a bad season while rebuilding after great seasons.
Right now though, we've stepped up into a reloading, annual super regional contender thanks in part to the work of many coaches and players including John Cohen.
As you know, in the past, we have occasionally had a bad season while rebuilding after great seasons.
Right now though, we've stepped up into a reloading, annual super regional contender thanks in part to the work of many coaches and players including John Cohen.
That would be the most talented team. It also happened last century, so it doesnt apply to the other part of my comment.
Not sure what your post is really saying since mine didnt exactly disagree with it. I simply said this team is a top 5 talent modern era team and top 3 this century. How is that so controversial?
I did say that there could be conversations around this being the most talented team. I would take the position that it is not the most talented team in the modern era, but I certainly dont mind a discussion. I will say that it would be worth having because the current team has a lot of talent and it could be reasonably argued that some on the current team in the top 9 rotation are better/more effective than the top 9 in the final four team.
But hey, I guess you dont view that as being a worthwhile discussion.
Given my background in communications, I feel there has been an enormous drop off in how we market athletics. For his faults, Stricklin and his staff did a stellar job rebranding to Hail State (regardless what you think of it), building in-house content (Bob/Hail State Productions), messaging (Scott taking the heat about Jeffery Simmons while Dan tucked tail and ran), etc. Fantastic job.
Stuff like #MaroonFriday six years ago was a huge hit and created community within the fanbase. Now, it's nowhere! It's not hard for Cohen to go to the social media department and plan/schedule out posts a month ahead for him and the coaches. That's just a small example of how little things add up.
Our athletics department has grown tremendously in the past three decades. Bryne, then Stricklin, kicked *** letting you know about who State is, our culture, etc. Haven't seen **** since Cohen took over. I could scream.
Stuff like #MaroonFriday six years ago was a huge hit and created community within the fanbase. Now, it's nowhere! It's not hard for Cohen to go to the social media department and plan/schedule out posts a month ahead for him and the coaches. That's just a small example of how little things add up.
Our athletics department has grown tremendously in the past three decades. Bryne, then Stricklin, kicked *** letting you know about who State is, our culture, etc. Haven't seen **** since Cohen took over. I could scream.
Latest posts
Get unlimited access today.