FIRE JOHN P. HARDT

[MrTbone]

I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that Hardt has the potential to become the worst athletic director in the history of UR.

Now, you might ask why I would say that when I’ve been more complimentary of him in recent years. The key word is “potential”. Right now, I would not say he’s the worst and has done well in other non-MBB sports but like I’ve said in other posts, that can only do so much and ultimately MBB is what will define his tenure the most. My perception of him in this regard is decreasing and decreasing fast. Allowing this premature release thst Mooney will return only to have 2 utterly embarrassing collapses afterwards was an inflection point, and I think a defining point in his career here. Didn’t release the info himself, gave no explanation as to why. Just silence. Cowardly silence. If this continues the next 1-2 years to the point our basketball program may not recover from (we become the next La Salle) then I think he will go down as the worst AD ever.

I won’t list all the ADs but the recent ones:

Chuck Boone - brought us to the A10. Elevated our program.

Jim Miller - he may have had the dumbest decision ever with a 10 year contract extension, but it was in good faith and taking a gamble that he lost in.

Keith Gill - did nothing. Was not a net positive nor negative.

Hardt - seeing that our program has caught on fire and rather than trying to put out the fire with water, is pouring gasoline. He is making decisions now that are actively worsening the state of our basketball program and athletics for years to come. You also think about the fact he only got this job because his kids were friends with Queally’s kids and it raises questions about his credibility.

I get the ire for Hardt, but Gill was terrible. I think the fact that he did nothing was a bigger net negative than you realize. A lot of what you see in today's apathy around UR sports began under Gill and as I mentioned elsewhere, has become a lazy, entropic drift towards not caring a ton whether we are winning at athletics or just competing. He has to carry a substantial amount of that weight.

 

[Spider17]

I get the ire for Hardt, but Gill was terrible. I think the fact that he did nothing was a bigger net negative than you realize. A lot of what you see in today's apathy around UR sports began under Gill and as I mentioned elsewhere, has become a lazy, entropic drift towards not caring a ton whether we are winning at athletics or just competing. He has to carry a substantial amount of that weight.

Gill was bad but at this point, under Hardt’s leadership, is perpetuating this disaster even further. NIL era is all under Hardt and it has been terrible for us overall. Mooney’s whole recruiting and coaching philosophy does not work well with this era of college sports. We got lucky one year and gave an extension in 2023-2024 that clearly was not a good idea in hindsight. He then continues to double down keeping him as coach. Also, I’m not saying Hardt is the worst now. But if we continue this trend, in 1 or 2 years, he will be.

 

[97spiderfan]

I get the ire for Hardt, but Gill was terrible. I think the fact that he did nothing was a bigger net negative than you realize. A lot of what you see in today's apathy around UR sports began under Gill and as I mentioned elsewhere, has become a lazy, entropic drift towards not caring a ton whether we are winning at athletics or just competing. He has to carry a substantial amount of that weight.

Yes, it started under Gill and his personal virtual AD role. It is really tough to instill an atmosphere of high standards and accountability when you are rarely in the building yourself. But Hardt has been here for 8 years and he has had more than ample time to change some of the malaise and low standards for work quality and efforts, we still see on a regular basis. So, this is on him. Mooney is on him.

 

[MrTbone]

Gill was bad but at this point, under Hardt’s leadership, is perpetuating this disaster even further. NIL era is all under Hardt and it has been terrible for us overall. Mooney’s whole recruiting and coaching philosophy does not work well with this era of college sports. We got lucky one year and gave an extension in 2023-2024 that clearly was not a good idea in hindsight. He then continues to double down keeping him as coach. Also, I’m not saying Hardt is the worst now. But if we continue this trend, in 1 or 2 years, he will be.

I don't disagree. Hardt has botched everything with CM. VT and I have disagreed considerably on this, but we should have cut bait on CM after the 2018-2019 back-to-back disasters. The AD job is a low-expectations role at UR, and in my view, mostly administrative: you need to make sure your scholarship accounting is correct and that you graduate players. If you do those things well, little things like the quality of your social media grammar, or if you want to actually win anything meaningful, don't really matter.

 

[Section9_RowD]

Well, 15 years less 15 days was a game against Kansas in San Antonio…

I was there ... that kind of sucked too.

 

[Arachnid]

That game was the beginning of the end for my support for CM. I liked his coaching in the early years but it was like he hit a brick wall, proverbial Peter Principle. No adjustments whatsoever after half time. Set the tone for where we are today.

 

[*23*]

As I have stated in the past many a time, if Hardt and powers that be are in place when Mooney leaves, we are likely to be in pretty much the same spot for years post Mooney. Hardt will absolutely crap the bed on the next hire. LAX coach is all PQ we know. Roussell was lucky, Hardt got lucky. NCAA mens basketball will require a big boy hire, not Hardt.

Don't know the name yet, but seeing Bona fans afraid of this same type of scenario. They are going to miss on the hire.

This is probably better off under the we are doomed thread too. Please wake up and leave Hardt!