Is Hardt an even bigger problem than Mooney?

[PhillySpider]

To me the answer is a clear yes. He doesn't want to hold Mooney accountable because he doesn't want to hold himself accountable OR be held accountable by anyone else either. So its all just "woe is me" for poor little 'ol Richmond. UGHHH! Its his job to hold people accountable unless its not their fault because its HIS fault! At some point, failing to hold people accountable to a standard makes you at fault for not meeting the standard. We have long ago crossed that line!!

Consider this statement from the AD at Oklahoma whose coach (Porter Moser) was uncertain to return and where they are also pledging to up their NIL next year.

"It's on coach Moser to make sure that our team's performance continues to meet and exceed our resources for the program," Denny said in a statement. "He's done that and I'm confident he will continue to. But an underdog spirit will only take us so far. It's my job to ensure that our resources match our expectations. We haven't held up our end of that bargain. From NIL to staffing and beyond, we're going to fix that."

Note especially the last three sentences! The AD takes responsibility for the fact NIL (and beyond) hasn't measured up!

If Hardt were bring back Mooney AND saying its because performance meets resources and resources don't measure and we should hold him (Hardt) accountable for that, I'd disagree about the performance measure but I'd sure feel a hell of lot better about our chances to emerge from the abyss if SOMEONE was taking accountability. Has there been one word uttered by anyone about accountability for the crash and burn of our once proud program? No there has not. Not one single word. Just the woe is me BS that I am so freaking tired of it makes me sick.

 

[Spider17]

The problem I have with Hardt now is that he exudes zero leadership qualities.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that Hardt would move on from Mooney if he had the choice, but his hands are tied either from PQ or the school not wanting to buy out the contract.

To your last point and what I’ve been saying. what is stopping him from sending an AD release like Pitt or Oklahoma did about the disappointment this season was and how it’s not up to our standards. He doesn’t even have to mean what he says. ChatGPT can write it for him too. Just send out something that at least pretends to give the illusion to fans that he thinks these results are unacceptable.

Instead we have gotten nothing.

The longer this goes on, the more I’m going to agree with 23 that Hardt is just a figure head at the AD position that just does whatever Queally tells him to do. So I wouldn’t say Hardt himself is the problem. The problem is we have an athletic director that can’t make decisions regarding our athletic department.

 

[vt4700]

It is really bad that he hasn't sent anything out yet.

 

[*23*]

He won't. Paul said just ignore the noise. They dont matter.

 

[ur79&peanuts]

Let’s face it Basketball and Football fans, PQ’s goal from day one with Richmond Sports was to have a National Championship Lacrosse Program at UR and we are knocking on the doorstep this year to accomplish it. Robins Stadium was built for Lacrosse, not football as we thought for a few years when we left City Stadium? Agree or disagree

 

[Eight Legger]

I'm willing to entertain the thought, and admittedly it is awesome to see us on the cusp of winning a natty in lacrosse. But not if it has come at the expense of the basketball program and the control of our athletic department. I still refuse to believe that these guys are as stupid as they are making themselves seem, but I can't figure out their endgame with basketball.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

I think the PQ thing is being somewhat overblown. yes, he has a voice in the program given the NIL nature of things, but in 2024 when Hardt stupidly gave that extension, I think that was Hardt just staying the course, consistent with his own timeline/retirement plans and refusal to rock the boat. Just one more thing he would never have to worry about for 5 years on his way to another nap.

And now we're stuck because the school doesn't fire coaches, much less those with $4.5m+ left on their contracts. It's a perfect storm of an inept AD and a mediocre coach being codependent upon one another.

 

[fan2011]

I think the PQ thing is being somewhat overblown. yes, he has a voice in the program given the NIL nature of things, but in 2024 when Hardt stupidly gave that extension, I think that was Hardt just staying the course, consistent with his own timeline/retirement plans and refusal to rock the boat. Just one more thing he would never have to worry about for 5 years on his way to another nap.

And now we're stuck because the school doesn't fire coaches, much less those with $4.5m+ left on their contracts. It's a perfect storm of an inept AD and a mediocre coach being codependent upon one another.

We just don't know what the situation is with PQ and the athletic department. The decisions don't make sense, hard to understand what is going on.

 

[Spiderp31]

Isn’t basketball a revenue sport? I am starting to wonder what our revenue sports are here. Lacrosse, basketball and football I would think. But only one sport seems to be winning at any level. The rest of the sports don’t win enough or draw any attention.

 

[PalmTreeSpidUR]

I'm willing to entertain the thought, and admittedly it is awesome to see us on the cusp of winning a natty in lacrosse. But not if it has come at the expense of the basketball program and the control of our athletic department. I still refuse to believe that these guys are as stupid as they are making themselves seem, but I can't figure out their endgame with basketball.

"not if it has come at the expense of the basketball program."

EXACTLY.

 

[SpiderRick]

"We'll just find new fans"

 

[Eight Legger]

I can't say this enough times: If Hardt did not include a ridiculously low buyout on the two-year extension he gave Mooney in 2024, it was malpractice and he should be fired for it -- especially if that is now the reason that we are using to justify keeping Mooney.

Mooney still had three years remaining on his contract at the time of the extension. There was no urgency to extend him further, no one else was going to hire him and he didn't want to leave. Hardt had ALL the leverage. The extension should have come with a tiny buyout or none at all.

And if Mooney objected to those terms, fine -- no extension! Coach the next three remaining years and let's see what happens.

But under NO circumstances should we be allowed to claim poverty or act like our hands are now tied by a buyout for the remaining two years if we tied our own hands in the process.

 

[*23*]

Agree completely EL. I f forced to bet, would lay my money on Mooney actually having received a generous buyout package. Either Hardt was afraid to push a contract across the table with a low buyout, or he did and got the serious stink eye from Paul and Chris and quickly amended it.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Yes. A real AD would have fired Mooney and Huesman into the sun years ago. Instead we get BS PR spin from a bunch of assholes collecting paychecks who couldn’t care less about the overall health of our flagship sports. The nerds have won, it’s time to take their lunch money.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Let’s face it Basketball and Football fans, PQ’s goal from day one with Richmond Sports was to have a National Championship Lacrosse Program at UR and we are knocking on the doorstep this year to accomplish it. Robins Stadium was built for Lacrosse, not football as we thought for a few years when we left City Stadium? Agree or disagree

I was actually thinking about this the other day. Our facility is nicer than most P5 programs when it comes to lax. Get recruits in for UVA or another big P5 school and then mention Lax is the only game in town on campus and now all of a sudden it’s a destination school.

I don’t think this was built for lax in mind, but I do think this facility gives us a huge advantage in lax.

If i’m a high school recruit and I visit for UVA - UR lax game at the Rob, it’s easy to picture yourself coming here at that point.

 

[Fatherspider]

Let’s face it Basketball and Football fans, PQ’s goal from day one with Richmond Sports was to have a National Championship Lacrosse Program at UR and we are knocking on the doorstep this year to accomplish it. Robins Stadium was built for Lacrosse, not football as we thought for a few years when we left City Stadium? Agree or disagree

I was thinking this. Could PQ’s love of lacrosse and desire for UR to be a “lacrosse school” cause him to sabotage the basketball program to lower its importance level? I mean it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibilities as weird as it seems. I know many lacrosse nuts.

 

[Spider17]

We should absolutely be supporting a national championship caliber lacrosse program at our school. Should not be at the expense of our basketball programs but there’s no indication that is the case. We should strive for top level lacrosse AND basketball.

 

[Fatherspider]

We should absolutely be supporting a national championship caliber lacrosse program at our school. Should not be at the expense of our basketball programs but there’s no indication that is the case. We should strive for top level lacrosse AND basketball.

I agree but Not holding the Men’s basketball coach accountable for his miserable performance is an indication to me. They dont care about the success or failure of the basketball team. I bet if the lacrosse coach had been 6-12 the past two seasons he would have been escorted off campus by security. I bet his leash isn't 21 years with 1 tourney appearance in the past 14.

 

[Spider17]

I agree but Not holding the Men’s basketball coach accountable for his miserable performance is an indication to me. They dont care about the success or failure of the basketball team. I bet if the lacrosse coach had been 6-12 the past two seasons he would have been escorted off campus by security. I bet his leash isn't 21 years with 1 tourney appearance in the past 14.

To us and I think anyone who objectively assesses this program, holding accountable at this point would be firing him. I can’t argue with that. For our admin, I have no idea what “accountable” means. At least, based on speculation, we’re going to heavily fund the program next year so the school is putting their money where their mouth is. They’re just spending it on the wrong thing (NIL instead of buying out Mooney’s contract) in my opinion.

I read somewhere that teams are finding it harder to fire coaches in this NIL era because they would have to a) pay the coach being fired buyout b) the new coach salary c) NIL/schools funded revenue for players..

 

[Urmite]

We should absolutely be supporting a national championship caliber lacrosse program at our school. Should not be at the expense of our basketball programs but there’s no indication that is the case. We should strive for top level lacrosse AND basketball.

My question is, does LAX and Men’s basketball have the same NIL on average per player?