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Will Ron Wellman Apologize?

As Wrangor correctly say, not only won't Wellman apologize, he'll let [Redacted] res-sign, pay him and thank him for helping us "right the ship".
 
+1 to Palmetto's post. Our AD needs an overhaul with a heavy infusion of effective and optimistic leadership. If RW can make a stellar hire here AND manage to stay out of the new coach's way, we may be OK. His interference (aka management) during the bzzdaster has been unforgivable -- from trashing Dino and former players, to selecting bzz's assistants (albeit maybe no one wanted to continue with him), to handling post-game pressers, to censoring fans via radio broadcasts and Facebook posts, to his "oh Heavens yes" bullshit. This has been Wellman's strong-handed and brutal attempt to make a square peg fit in a round hole while suggesting the entire world -- except him -- is egregiously wrong about the ill-fitting shape of said peg. Desperate man. He needs to retire.
 
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No and he shouldn't. The guy isn't a war criminal, just a bad coach. Firing someone who is incompetent is a necessity. Publicly apologizing for hiring or supporting him in the first place is rubbing it in his face with a rolling pin. That would be unhelpful and unprofessional.
 
ManhassetDeac said:
I don't need an apology or for Wellman to admit his mistake. That means absolutely nothing to me as a fan. Just make a great hire and turn this program around.
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Hard to disagree.

Question - disregarding for the moment the personal unhappiness some of us (including me) have about what has been allowed to happen to the basketball program, does anyone have actual financial numbers for how well overall the athletic program has been doing? I have no idea, and it might be interesting and certainly relevant in any conversation about the AD to know those for the last two or three years.
 
Makes me chuckle that many of the same posters who criticize big donors for looking the other way while their ego is stroked are the ones who demand that Wellman satisfy their own ego by apologizing when Bzz is fired
 
Palmettodeac said:
... Just as we needed a new head football coach with a new attitude and passion, we need a new AD that will bring our athletic department out of the small-time feel that pervades the entire operation to a professional organization that more effectively develops the WF brand, supports the needs of our student athletes, and provides the resources for our coaches and players to succeed at the highest level possible.
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This is probably obvious to 90%+ of Wake business school graduates. Sadly and incredibly, the Wake leadership is clueless...
 
Palmettodeac said:
I don't think so. Ron had a gut feeling that turned out to be wrong, perhaps based on the beat down administered by Air Force, personal familiarity, NBA press clippings or otherwise. He won't, and probably shouldn't apologize for that, and that doesn't bother me.

If fired (the occurrence of which I am still not certain), Bz will receive his utmost thanks and a "mission accomplished" banner for restoring the culture of the program and setting the foundation for future success the "Wake Forest way".

What does bother me is how the hiring was handled and spun after the fact. His thinly-veiled shots at Dino and past players with the culture references were unprofessional. His decision to make Bz rehire the existing staff with whom he had no prior working relationship (which, admittedly, Bz did not have to accept) was admirable in some respects, but inept in any reasonable estimation. Then, his approach to those fans who voiced their displeasure was based on unreasonable denial at first, but then became dictatorial and heavy-handed in an effort to drown out all dissent, all of which was perceived as insulting and led it the "mass alienation" of many fans. For those missteps, he does owe the fan base an apology. Sadly, though, I do not believe that it will be forthcoming, and Ron Wellman will be nothing more than a man that continues to read, and believe, his press clippings from the previous decade and carry an inflated sense of self-worth. Just as we needed a new head football coach with a new attitude and passion, we need a new AD that will bring our athletic department out of the small-time feel that pervades the entire operation to a professional organization that more effectively develops the WF brand, supports the needs of our student athletes, and provides the resources for our coaches and players to succeed at the highest level possible.
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Great post and I agree. Wellman has some accomplishments to his credit, but on balance the Wake AD has been amateur hour for some time now and we need new leadership across the board.
 
inspectah said:
Great post and I agree. Wellman has some accomplishments to his credit, but on balance the Wake AD has been amateur hour for some time now and we need new leadership across the board.
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And we're gonna get it. Mike Buddie has already taken over a lot of the responsibilities that Wellman held close just a few years ago. He's a smart guy, knows what he's doing, and will turn the ship around.

Just have patience. Things are going to get better.
 
Palmettodeac said:
As I said, I do not think that any apology will be forthcoming. And, to be clear, I do not think that he will be replaced other than on his own terms.
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I can do without the apology as long as he hires a good coach this time around. But what are the chances of that?
 
FreeStateDeac said:
It takes a big person to admit a mistake.

It takes an even bigger person to apologize for the mistake.

Ron Wellman's hiring of [Redacted] was not just a mistake. It was an inexcusable mistake.

If Ron Wellman had hired a formerly successful big-time coach who just could not recapture the magic (think a Tubby Smith), I would be more than willing to grant him total slack at this point. If he had hired the Hot Young Mid-Major Coach of the time, but who just could not make it at the next level, I would also give him complete slack.

Bz was neither. He was a demonstrably awful choice at the time, someone with absolutely no credentials that made him suitable to build and sustain a winning Wake program in the ACC. What's worse, that was blindingly obvious to the entire basketball world and the Wake fan/alumni/donor base at the time and ever since. Wellman then compounded his mistake several times over with his repeated condescending remarks and attempts to censor dissent (e.g., closing down the call-in portion of the coaches show).

The Bz hire wrecked Wake's flagship athletic program, one that has given the Wake community pride for decades. Now it is a joke and thousands of fans who used to buy season tickets and loyally attend games have washed their hands of the entire mess. The Joel is a morgue.

In the corporate world, epic mismanagement of your most important product gets the CEO fired. Period. Wellman won't be fired. Apparently when it comes to the Athletic Director's performance, accountability is not part of the Wake management culture.

At this point, firing Bz is inevitable. Wellman has no choice. The real question is whether he will man up and apologize for this epochal -- and entirely preventable -- disastrous hire.

I hope two things happen: Ron does make a sincere apology and then he makes a superb hire. He showed with the Clawson hire he is capable of doing so. I would really like to see Ron Wellman do both so he can retire with all Wake fans and alumni singing his praises and this awful period of division and recrimination caused by the Bzz hire can be put in the past for good and the process of restoring pride in Wake basketball can begin at full speed.
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Well stated.

I think he talks about the "problems" Bz or anyone would have faced at the time. He'll commend Bz for some things but state that the bottom line is winning and we haven't done that. He will say that the staff has put us into position to win and that we are poised for greatness.

Biggest hire in Wake history coming up. More important than the Grobe hire, which was pretty damn big.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
And we're gonna get it. Mike Buddie has already taken over a lot of the responsibilities that Wellman held close just a few years ago. He's a smart guy, knows what he's doing, and will turn the ship around.

Just have patience. Things are going to get better.
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That makes no sense. How can we trust a guy to turn the ship around who has been manning the navigation while the captain has steered us into the iceberg? Any reasonable person with any amount of close influence would have ensured that Bzz was fired after last season, if not the season before. Nuke the entire department.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
That makes no sense. How can we trust a guy to turn the ship around who has been manning the navigation while the captain has steered us into the iceberg? Any reasonable person with any amount of close influence would have ensured that Bzz was fired after last season, if not the season before. Nuke the entire department.
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I have no clue into the Buddie/Wellman dynamic but in general subordinates can only do so much to influence their boss and mitigate anything negative that their boss is doing, if they want to keep their jobs. Buddie could be the next great AD or a flop as an AD but the overall direction of the athletic department is a reflection on Wellman only for the most part.
 
Was Buddie in his position in 2010?
 
When was Ron's last public comment/support for Bz? I'm curious as to the date and nature of the comments as contrasted to what we will hopefully hear later this month.
 
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