Wellman still in charge

DG3 said:

Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, Wellman's quote in that article are his strongest worded in almost a decade regarding our basketball program.

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Yeah, he actually admitted there's a problem.

Or the end date of something to do with Currie's contract with Texas.

It's folly to think Currie would take this job without the ability to impact next year's basketball team. May 1 is too late for that.

Another factor that could be in play is that besides the transition of power & getting familiar with the staff phase until May for Currie, his lower amount of AD duties right now could be beneficial to allow his full focus on a supremely important basketball hire versus having other AD duties to focus on as well.

TripleDeacon said:

May 2nd is an odd start date. It's not the first day of the month. It's not a Monday (it's a Thursday). It is the day after the last day of classes, but other than that it doesn't fit in the academic or athletic calendar.

I think it's notable that he didn't jump right back into collegiate athletics. He was fired by Tennessee on December 1, 2017 - maybe May 2, 2019 is one day after some period of time specified in his contractual settlement?

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May 1 is the start date, right?

May 2 is Wellman’s birthday though.

WRS said:

Seriously. If you have a CEO that has run a business you don’t just turn over the keys to someone else the next day even in the case of an encouraged departure.

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This

It's sad this has to be explained numerous times but remember dv7 was one of the founders of this board.

Guys, John is on the job right now. He's hanging out at Greylyn and met with the football team this morning before practice.

I've got no inside information, but have to believe that thedecision has already been made on Manning and that John is okay with it as the new AD. I'll also point out that it does the basketball program no favors to have a walking dead coach for a year with a new AD being forcedto wait a season to fire him. But, if the buyout is huge and we can't afford it, that may be the had we're dealt as a fanbase.

So don't read anything into the May 1 transition date other than it being a peaceful transfer of power.

DG3 said:

Because Wellman has been there for 27 years and still has strong relationships with most people in the department. He is sticking around to show Currie our procedures and practices. It's a transition of power which makes sense given that he is the most tenured AD in the country. Currie will soon make this his own. Relax.

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I hope it’s something like that, because the other explanations are indicative of institutional problems I’m not positive Currie can fix.

Say Hey Deac said:

Because a 60-day transition period is likely not a charade - they may actually need the time to handle the general transition within the Department. That doesn't mean, however, that they can't decide that Currie will hire the new coach.

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Then why not just come out and say that? The best case scenario seems to be that Wellman makes the hire and then publicly turns over the reins to Currie. If that happens, what was the point of a two week charade? Does that really save Wellman any face?

Again, I think y’all are right and that this is just an incompetent nonsensical rollout that ultimately won’t matter. But I think the nerves are warranted.

TripleDeacon said:

May 2nd is an odd start date. It's not the first day of the month. It's not a Monday (it's a Thursday). It is the day after the last day of classes, but other than that it doesn't fit in the academic or athletic calendar.

I think it's notable that he didn't jump right back into collegiate athletics. He was fired by Tennessee on December 1, 2017 - maybe May 2, 2019 is one day after some period of time specified in his contractual settlement?

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That would actually make some sense, and would explain why Wake would be careful to make clear that Wellman was still in charge.

RChildress107 said:

Then why not just come out and say that? The best case scenario seems to be that Wellman makes the hire and then publicly turns over the reins to Currie. If that happens, what was the point of a two week charade? Does that really save Wellman any face?

Again, I think y’all are right and that this is just an incompetent nonsensical rollout that ultimately won’t matter. But I think the nerves are warranted.

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I would think the two week charade would be more about Danny and the team than Wellman. Obviously none of the optics around this look good for Danny, but explicitly saying that Currie will be in charge of any hires between now and the official transition date pretty much confirms that Danny is out.

Contrary to popular opinion, at least what appears to be popular opinion on this board, I do not think that Wellman is either a bad man or a bad AD. I think he is a good man...that is, a man of integrity...and has been a tremendous AD. Whatever we may wish to think, recruiting and winning at WF is more difficult than recruiting and winning at any other school in the ACC. The successes under his tenure are truly remarkable. Sadly, however, his mistakes in discerning the best man to follow Prosser are going to be a serious mark against his record. That is regrettable; but the mistakes were his. The fact that his recent remarks are the most negative yet about the state of the basketball program reveals that basketball is driving this change at this point, but also it shows why Wellman has the support of the coaches who work for him. He does not criticize coaches until the time for change comes. If a coach is on the hot seat, I suspect he knows from private conversations but not from headlines. I think that RW has been willing to absorb criticism for the state of basketball, but has been unwilling to put heat on DM publicly. And that is a virtue. The change should have come earlier. In fact, the last 2 hires should not have been made. Lots of mistakes. But the refusal to criticize coaches in public is not one of them.

Colonel Angus said:

This

It's sad this has to be explained numerous times but remember dv7 was one of the founders of this board.

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This has apparently been in the works since November, the AD is more comparable to a senior VP, and there is no way it takes 60 days for a seasoned AD to learn the ropes of Wake Forest’s athletic department.

Has anyone thought that perhaps Manning will be permitted to resign as opposed to being released/relieved ?

IF his annual comp is in fact $1.7million, any buy-out provision won't be prohibitively expensive.

PhDeac said:

May 1 is the start date, right?

May 2 is Wellman’s birthday though.

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Everything I've read is that Wellman will retire as athletics director on May 1st. It may be nothing, it just seems odd that his last day on the job would be the first day of the month and not the last. I'm basically just trying to rationalize a transition period that extends beyond the time when a new coaching hire would be feasible, because I can't imagine that Currie wouldn't be involved, if not directly responsible, for the hire.

WFU Lurker said:

I would think the two week charade would be more about Danny and the team than Wellman. Obviously none of the optics around this look good for Danny, but explicitly saying that Currie will be in charge of any hires between now and the official transition date pretty much confirms that Danny is out.

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Fair enough. Which would also explain the scramble after the news broke if they wanted to announce after the season.

Ok, y’all have talked me off the ledge. Thanks.

I really don't find it odd that the AD is retiring on the last day of classes.

RChildress107 said:

Then why not just come out and say that? The best case scenario seems to be that Wellman makes the hire and then publicly turns over the reins to Currie. If that happens, what was the point of a two week charade? Does that really save Wellman any face?

Again, I think y’all are right and that this is just an incompetent nonsensical rollout that ultimately won’t matter. But I think the nerves are warranted.

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Only a guess, but in business messaging and transitions are often dictated by the contract. What we pay each of these guys and when, and in particular the negotiation of terms around Wellman's departure may all be at play. There may be some compelling or generous reason why we keep him on the books and in that position until May. Doesn't mean that in practice Currie is waiting until May to take charge. Again, just a guess..

Wellman was asked whether there was pressure on him and/or Currie about getting basketball settled.

“Sure,” he said. “It needs to be resolved. We need to do better, and I am confident that we will. One of our great coaches was sitting here today, Dave Odom. We need to get back to that level of success, and I’m convinced that we can.”

Funny, that level of success wasn't ok to the AD back then.

cashews39 said:

Only a guess, but in business messaging and transitions are often dictated by the contract. What we pay each of these guys and when, and in particular the negotiation of terms around Wellman's departure may all be at play. There may be some compelling or generous reason why we keep him on the books and in that position until May. Doesn't mean that in practice Currie is waiting until May to take charge. Again, just a guess..

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Yeah, like Wellman said he'd like to stay till the end of the school year after 27 years and the university said okay.

I like that the timing allows the BB team to finish their season and then gives Wellman the opportunity to release DM from his duties. In doing so, Ronnie will be seen as fully responsible for our series of regretful hires and he will be the one to absorb any negative impressions or animosities associated with the firing. Wellman will effectively close the door to his career AND to the clusterfxxx he made of Wake basketball. Then he will publicly pass the AD baton to Currie, who will usher in the new coach HE has chosen.