Super agent Leigh Steinberg tweeted yesterday, "Just had one of the most bizarre endings to a set of productive discussions to bring a client to a new situation. Everything was set, few tweaks left, and the principal decision maker yanks the deal w no real explanation."
That communication described the dealings of Arizona State with SMU Head Football Coach June Jones. Jones who had been hugely successful at Hawaii and SMU and had NFL Head Coaching experience had been offered the Sun Devils job with Steinberg working out some small details when ASU pulled the plug on the offer. According to radio station Arizona Sports 620, "donor backlash" became a big concern for ASU and ultimately led to the decision that the offer needed to be rescinded.
Over the years I have probably hired over 50 head coaches and before making an offer, we were strongly committed to that individual and had analyzed all the implications of that hire. To me this is a case where the decision makers in Tempe were more interested in winning the press conference than finding the right person to lead the program. How much did the high profile hiring of Rich Rodriguez at U of A impact ASU's decision to change horses in mid-stream? Many leaders fall into a trap of trying to have a huge short-term benefit at the expense of a quality long-term solution.
Years ago I hired Jeff Capel to be our Head Basketball Coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. Jeff had only two years experience as an assistant basketball coach and was actually viewed as the junior assistant on staff. Yet I had tremendous confidence that he could relate to our players (he was a great player at Duke in the mid 90's), develop a philosophy that would promote winning on the court and in the community and basically solidify the foundation of our program. In the press conference naming Coach Capel, the President of the University Eugene Trani announced, "I want everyone to know that this is entirely Dr. Sander's decision." (hardly a resounding vote of confidence) Boosters approached and indicated they were not sure about this decision. However it was amazing when we quickly won the conference championship and moved onto the NCAA tournament, boosters were toasting Coach Capel and the president was on the court helping Jeff and the players cut down the nets.
The lesson for leaders is simple. Complete your due diligence and understand what you are trying to accomplish then have the confidence and courage to do what you know is correct. As a leader do not become so enamored with "winning the press conference" that you lose focus on the ultimate responsibility of long-term success.
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