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Fire Ron Wellman

Dino was fired because he wasn't a Wellman yes-man. The post season record was a convenient reason for Wellman (no doubt he did struggle in the posseason).

Wellman is coasting to retirement and Hatch will let him, they are combined the reason major athletics at Wake are in the state they are. That has been established here and by people I know who have worked for the school. It's a toxic environment and if you question certain people, you will be shown the door.
 
RacerDeac said:
It would have at least forced us to clean house.
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Exactly. Would have allowed us to start fresh while saving a shit ton of money. What have we gained or accomplished in the last 6 seasons? Not a damn thing. The past seasons have been pretty damn pointless tbh. Why didn't we try blatantly cheating? Seemed to have worked for the cheats. I mean... What's the worst that could have happened? The death penalty for a few years? Who gives a shit?! The death penalty Would have been a blessing
 
I appreciated the UNC fan who engaged me in conversation this week and said [Redacted] was a top 5 worst hire ever...after some back and forth he stopped to clarify that he didnt mean in college basketball history, but instead in the history of the world and might even be #2 after Ken Lay
 
IMissRandolph said:
Wellman annihilated Wake Forest athletics. If you would have told me 20 years ago that anything/anyone could have completely shut down my interest in my alma mater's sports programs - I'd said you're crazy but Wellman managed to do so. I'd pay a local high school AD to come in and take a shot the AD role and roll the dice versus allowing Wellman to continue running the program into the ground.
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Could not agree more. Decades of my support and enthusiasm have been completely extinguished. Never thought Wake would allow such incompetency to go on for so long. The arrogance of Ron Wellman, and the incompetency of Nathan Hatch and the Board of Trustees in retaining a washed up athletic director is inexcusable. The money and the support that have been sacrificed to continue Wellman's tenure is unbelievable.
 
Deke 73 said:
Could not agree more. Decades of my support and enthusiasm have been completely extinguished. Never thought Wake would allow such incompetency to go on for so long. The arrogance of Ron Wellman, and the incompetency of Nathan Hatch and the Board of Trustees in retaining a washed up athletic director is inexcusable. The money and the support that have been sacrificed to continue Wellman's tenure is unbelievable.
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Well said. I loved Wake basketball. I feel like Wellman and the powers that be killed my best friend. I don't understand why people keep giving money to the people who killed my best friend.
 
PhDeac said:
Well said. I loved Wake basketball. I feel like Wellman and the powers that be killed my best friend. I don't understand why people keep giving money to the people who killed my best friend.
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exactly - stop giving money, buying season tickets or attending games

it may work?
 
I'm as upset about the situation as anyone. However I have a few disagreements. First, DM is not the problem. We were left with moron athletes and have a last second sophomore recruiting class now. I still have faith. Second, I'm glad that Hatch's #1 priority is not focusing on athletics. We're an academic school at heart. If you want to hate on him, hate on our academic ranking being stagnant.
 
This being my 19th tax season, being able to watch us play ball a couple of times a week gave me a nice break from work where I could just focus on the game and not work or thinking about all the work to do. I looked so forward to the games up until Ron Wellman hired Bzzzzz and the program quickly went into the dumpster, then slowly game days became something to dread, instead of look forward to. It's like I feel obligated to still watch, Wake is my team and if I try not to watch and pretend we aren't playing, all I do is wonder how the game is going. It really pisses me off that Hatch and Wellman or whoever is really responsible has taken that away from me and others. I don't expect us to be good every year, that's just the nature of things, but the fact the it's become apparent that from the top we're not even trying to be the best we can be is inexcusable.
 
deacdixieboy said:
Second, I'm glad that Hatch's #1 priority is not focusing on athletics. We're an academic school at heart. If you want to hate on him, hate on our academic ranking being stagnant.
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Straw Man. No one said Hatch's number one priority should be athletics. His number one priority should be seeing that Wake Forest is the best it can be in whatever experiences it offers ... science labs, music programs, counseling, athletics. His job is to see that those hired to run those programs are (a) competent and (b) have the resources to be successful. The way Hatch has screwed over athletics (and athletes) under the guise of having better academics is proof that he doesn't care about having successful athletics ... specifically in not providing academic programs relevant to the needs and aspirations of many scholarship athletes. And the way Hatch allowed Ron Wellman to disembowel Wake's most prominent program and thumb his nose repeatedly in the faces of supporters is further proof of Hatch's incompetence. And the Board of Trustees watches the ship sail with a faulty rudder.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
This being my 19th tax season, being able to watch us play ball a couple of times a week gave me a nice break from work where I could just focus on the game and not work or thinking about all the work to do. I looked so forward to the games up until Ron Wellman hired Bzzzzz and the program quickly went into the dumpster, then slowly game days became something to dread, instead of look forward to. It's like I feel obligated to still watch, Wake is my team and if I try not to watch and pretend we aren't playing, all I do is wonder how the game is going. It really pisses me off that Hatch and Wellman or whoever is really responsible has taken that away from me and others. I don't expect us to be good every year, that's just the nature of things, but the fact the it's become apparent that from the top we're not even trying to be the best we can be is inexcusable.
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Yep, that's me in a nutshell.
 
You are only as good as the product produced and for the past several years the FB/B'ball product has been a miserable failure. Wonder what Mr. Flow would think if his auto biz produced such a poor product?
 
Complacent Deac said:
exactly - stop giving money, buying season tickets or attending games

it may work?
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I wish it was this easy. Unfortunately, we aren't the ones that really make a difference. Here's the problem: I was at the Syracuse "game" a couple of weeks ago and managed to get tickets in the big money donor area from a family friend (who doesn't give a shit anymore.) There was an older gentleman (probably 80-90) sitting behind us that was obviously a bigtime donor. The entire game he complimented Manning and the Syracuse team and talked about how much he wanted to watch Syracuse play Duke or North Carolina on the television.

Our big money donors don't fucking get it. They are perfectly content with a once in a decade run to the round of 32 or mid level bowl game as long as our academics aren't "sacrificed" or as long as our kids stay out of trouble. It allows Wellman and Hatch to maintain this level of mediocrity. We either need Wellman and Hatch to go, or we wait 10-15 years for a new generation of big donors.

This process is more simple than the olds would like to think. We need harmony between academia and athletics. That's on Hatch. The first step that we need to take is to pour money into our academic support for the athletes. We sorely lack in this area now. We also need more academic exceptions. It's no coincidence that we are behind Duke, Stanford, etc. in recruiting. That all have more academic support infrastructure thus more academic exceptions because the academic support exists to keep the athletes up to speed. We handcuff ourselves in recruiting, especially in football.

It needs to be drilled into the academic faculty's heads that athletics serves as the marketing and money making arm of the university. When athletics thrive, so to academics. Hatch is problem 1A and Wellman is 1B.
 
AlphaDeac said:
Straw Man. No one said Hatch's number one priority should be athletics. His number one priority should be seeing that Wake Forest is the best it can be in whatever experiences it offers ... science labs, music programs, counseling, athletics. His job is to see that those hired to run those programs are (a) competent and (b) have the resources to be successful. The way Hatch has screwed over athletics (and athletes) under the guise of having better academics is proof that he doesn't care about having successful athletics ... specifically in not providing academic programs relevant to the needs and aspirations of many scholarship athletes. And the way Hatch allowed Ron Wellman to disembowel Wake's most prominent program and thumb his nose repeatedly in the faces of supporters is further proof of Hatch's incompetence. And the Board of Trustees watches the ship sail with a faulty rudder.
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Total conflict of interest, why would Hatch give a crap about Wake doing well in sports when we compete directly in all sports (except football) against his beloved Notre Dame.
 
Ayo said:
None of that was the reasoning for firing Gaudio. Wellman was direct in saying that it was the late-season on-court performance. Too often, athletic directors don't want to stand up and say why they are making a decision. They want to be everyone's best friend and don't want to appear to have blood on their hands.

If you're going to fire someone, just do it and say why.

Wellman did.

"The decision was based on the overall performance the past three years," Wellman said. "I looked at our February and March records and how the performances declined rather dramatically. We were 16-17 in February in those three years and in March 4-7, and 1-6 in postseason play, including the ACC tournament. In six of those losses, we were the higher-seeded team or better seeded in five of those losses. Yet the games weren't even close."

Wellman admits at some point he had to ask himself "can that be rectified or should we move in a different direction. I chose to move on."

Wellman said his role on the NCAA tournament men's basketball selection committee was the reason he waited until after the Final Four to call Gaudio into his office Wednesday and make the move.

"He was surprised," Wellman said. "He handled it exceptionally well. We had a 15-20 minute meeting. I answered all his questions. He was professional. He left, we shook hands, and he thanked me for the opportunity."

Wellman said there is a buyout in Gaudio's contract that he will honor. He also said he told the assistant coaches that they will have the opportunity to remain at Wake with the new coach and be given a legitimate interview. He said if they don't land a job on staff or somewhere else, they will be paid through Dec. 31, extending the contracts six months.

Wellman doesn't mess around. He tells it straight, unlike some athletic directors who talk out of both sides and don't give straight answers. He is respected for that by his peers. He stands there, dishes out his decision and then defends it without hiding. He isn't afraid to use the word "fired." Wellman also always has had a plan.

He will act quickly, not hire a search firm, and handle everything by himself.

"It has to be someone who can take over the program and reach the goals and objectives we have," Wellman said. "We're not out to win the press conference. I'm not saying we won't, but that's not the priority. I want someone for long-term success."
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if ronnie was worried about post season success he would have hired a coach with some. he hired [Redacted]. the quotes sound good to a fan that was frustrated with flaming out late and post season. he won that press conference and botched the hire and long term health of athletics at wake forest.

ronnie is all about ronnie. everything he has done beginning with firing gaudio has been for ronnie and his view of his legacy.
 
deaconson said:
if ronnie was worried about post season success he would have hired a coach with some. he hired [name redacted]. the quotes sound good to a fan that was frustrated with flaming out late and post season. he won that press conference and botched the hire and long term health of athletics at wake forest.

ronnie is all about ronnie. everything he has done beginning with firing gaudio has been for ronnie and his view of his legacy.
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Yeah, that was the thing. Wellman got up there and spouted off about the lack of post-season success and then hired a coach with hardly any postseason experience, much less success. Wellman had his eye on Bzzz for years for whatever reason and took an opportunity to bring him here. That alone should've gotten Wellman fired.
 
Complacent Deac said:
exactly - stop giving money, buying season tickets or attending games

it may work?
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I've turned down free tickets to games this season 4 times. I will not attend another Wake basketball game as long as Ron Wellman is the AD.
 
We might have better luck in bringing change by all Wake fans making a vow to not purchase any vehicles from Flow dealerships until Ron Wellman is gone.
 
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