A few months ago we ran the following comments in this entry comparing Lee Fowler to Joe Alleva in light of the LSU Athletics Directorship:
Lee Fowler’s interest in other Athletics Director jobs have not been a secret since his arrival in Raleigh in September of 2000. In the seven-plus years of Fowler’s tenure, the man that likes to be referred to as “Coach†has expressed interest and interviewed for multiple jobs of all shapes and sizes.
As anyone who loves money and whose ego loves attention to the degree of Fowler, conventional wisdom holds that Fowler covets jobs at “big schools†with high profiles. Unfortunately for Fowler – and for the wonderful fans of NC State’s athletics teams – every single one of Fowler’s overtures with big institutions have been spurned, including public connections with Tennessee in 2003, Georgia in 2003 and his not-so-public interest in Ohio State in 2005. Since those openings almost a half a decade ago, SFN has learned that Fowler has flirted with lesser jobs (including one last year) that have also resulted in “no interest†from the institution(s).
(We haven’t even touched on Indiana’s recent decision to pass on Fowler for a local lawyer with no experience in college athletics after Fowler made at least IU’s list of “Final Five” (if not final three). We’ll deal with this topic in coming days.)
I just ran across the following comments at this link at ESPN:
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton: Chalk up the hat trick for Hamilton, who’s now fired the football coach, the basketball coach and the baseball coach since taking over as the Vols’ athletic director in 2003. Tennessee fans hope he hires as well in football as he did in basketball (Bruce Pearl).
Ahh yes…Bruce Pearl. The man that we could have hired for years had our AD taken control of the basketball program instead of letting it take control of him. Oh the irony that Mike Hamilton got the job Fowler wanted and then rubbed the hiring into his face by managing his department in a way that immediately elevated UT’s Basketball program FAR beyond the peak of where Fowler has taken NC State’s program in over a decade.
Can you imagine how much weight Lee Fowler could lose if he actually ran a department like the top Athletics Departments in the country? Poor guy would either be dead or would be Sally Struthers’ best friend on this side of the ocean.
Do you think that Fowler ever actually realizes that the difference in the way others manage their departments would be the reason why they get hired for jobs and he doesn’t?
