Does anyone know exactly what the process is for hiring a new AD? Is there a search committee? Who has the final say on who is hired? Can we be confident in the process? I see some really good names mentioned on this message board but haven't heard anything from the administration. I'm thinking with the regular season of college football being pretty much over now might be a good time to hire.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert in the process at Baylor or most universities but my experience is it typically takes a month or two before one is announced, just from my casual following of other schools and my memory of how long it has taken us to announce one, the past couple of times.

Who knows? North Texas just lost and replaced their head football coach in like three days and it takes us weeks to soft fire our ****bag AD and a month plus to get a new one in place.

There is zero urgency in any aspect of our athletic department these days, and it shows. We're being lapped by virtually every one of our peers -- and many who weren't even peers until recently.

PapaBear2458 said:

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Can we be confident in the process?

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You serious, Clark?

Look at the bright spot. A year from now we can add Okie St to the list of schools that have lapped BU. Although that might give Linda the warm fuzzies

I am still dumbfounded by Linda and Baylor's coverup of the Trigg/Family and Coach situation with Mack back at the ASU game. Total dumpster fire... nothing to see here. It took the affairs to get Mack out.

By the way, I noticed Trigg had on white sleeves for the UH game.

IowaBear said:

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Look at the bright spot. A year from now we can add Okie St to the list of schools that have lapped BU. Although that might give Linda the warm fuzzies

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Nothing will be more depressing than getting passed by SMU and Houston, which has already happened. The day Rice passes us up, I give up for good.

bear2be2 said:

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Who knows? North Texas just lost and replaced their head football coach in like three days and it takes us weeks to soft fire our ****bag AD and a month plus to get a new one in place.

There is zero urgency in any aspect of our athletic department these days, and it shows. We're being lapped by virtually every one of our peers -- and many who weren't even peers until recently.

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With one exception I have never seen it take a really short time to replace an AD like it does typically with a HC. Although now those moves don't seem to be fast. They appear fast because they are announced after the final game but now most openings exist for a month or two in the new world of mid season firings.

The one exception I mentioned above. The turnaround from firing Ellis to promoting Stanton was either simultaneously announced or announced within 24 hours. I will not characterize the quality of that move. It was a long time ago.

True Grit said:

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I am still dumbfounded by Linda and Baylor's coverup of the Trigg/Family and Coach situation with Mack back at the ASU game. Total dumpster fire... nothing to see here. It took the affairs to get Mack out.

By the way, I noticed Trigg had on white sleeves for the UH game.

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Did he have on a green jersey?

Quote:

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Can we be confident in the process?

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If there's one question you should never ask about most universities, it is this one.

PartyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Who knows? North Texas just lost and replaced their head football coach in like three days and it takes us weeks to soft fire our ****bag AD and a month plus to get a new one in place.

There is zero urgency in any aspect of our athletic department these days, and it shows. We're being lapped by virtually every one of our peers -- and many who weren't even peers until recently.

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With one exception I have never seen it take a really short time to replace an AD like it does typically with a HC. Although now those moves don't seem to be fast. They appear fast because they are announced after the final game but now most openings exist for a month or two in the new world of mid season firings.

The one exception I mentioned above. The turnaround from firing Ellis to promoting Stanton was either simultaneously announced or announced within 24 hours. I will not characterize the quality of that move. It was a long time ago.

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The Mack Rhoades-Michael Trigg incident happened Sept. 20. There is no possible way to try to paint our handling of our AD position as anything but a mess.

It took an Outkick the Coverage report a month after the fact to bring to light what were obvious issues internally, and another three weeks after that to resolve the Mack Rhoades problem -- apparently in a way that left us paying a large buyout.

This whole thing has been cluster**** after cluster****.

bear2be2 said:

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PartyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Who knows? North Texas just lost and replaced their head football coach in like three days and it takes us weeks to soft fire our ****bag AD and a month plus to get a new one in place.

There is zero urgency in any aspect of our athletic department these days, and it shows. We're being lapped by virtually every one of our peers -- and many who weren't even peers until recently.

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With one exception I have never seen it take a really short time to replace an AD like it does typically with a HC. Although now those moves don't seem to be fast. They appear fast because they are announced after the final game but now most openings exist for a month or two in the new world of mid season firings.

The one exception I mentioned above. The turnaround from firing Ellis to promoting Stanton was either simultaneously announced or announced within 24 hours. I will not characterize the quality of that move. It was a long time ago.

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The Mack Rhoades-Michael Trigg incident happened Sept. 20. There is no possible way to try to paint our handling of our AD position as anything but a mess.

It took an Outkick the Coverage report a month after the fact to bring to light what were obvious issues internally, and another three weeks after that to resolve the Mack Rhoades problem -- apparently in a way that left us paying a large buyout.

This whole thing has been cluster**** after cluster****.

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Our burying of that incident also showed that Linda and the BoR have no sense of urgency regarding the football program. Dragging our feet on that is part of why we are going to recycle Sleepy Dave for 2026.

Of course, it may also just be that we don't have the money to do anything because no one trusts our current leadership with large amounts of their hard-earned money. I wouldn't blame anyone for having that attitude.

2026

Look, Linda was the obligatory female DEI hire installed as university president one year after the Pepper Hamilton report. There''s nothing on her resume that indicates she has the necessary mindset or skillset to leader an institution like Baylor through a changing environment. It is what it is.

True Grit said:

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I am still dumbfounded by Linda and Baylor's coverup of the Trigg/Family and Coach situation with Mack back at the ASU game. Total dumpster fire... nothing to see here. It took the affairs to get Mack out.

By the way, I noticed Trigg had on white sleeves for the UH game.

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Maybe it has to get so bad (another scandal) for the school to actually do a full house clean-up. Meaning, all board members removed. No $3M AD salaries (can't imagine what we are paying the 2 interim ADs)....

Baylor administration acts like and looks like the Federal Govt - - Bloated and inefficient....

bear2be2 said:

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PartyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Who knows? North Texas just lost and replaced their head football coach in like three days and it takes us weeks to soft fire our ****bag AD and a month plus to get a new one in place.

There is zero urgency in any aspect of our athletic department these days, and it shows. We're being lapped by virtually every one of our peers -- and many who weren't even peers until recently.

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With one exception I have never seen it take a really short time to replace an AD like it does typically with a HC. Although now those moves don't seem to be fast. They appear fast because they are announced after the final game but now most openings exist for a month or two in the new world of mid season firings.

The one exception I mentioned above. The turnaround from firing Ellis to promoting Stanton was either simultaneously announced or announced within 24 hours. I will not characterize the quality of that move. It was a long time ago.

---

The Mack Rhoades-Michael Trigg incident happened Sept. 20. There is no possible way to try to paint our handling of our AD position as anything but a mess.

It took an Outkick the Coverage report a month after the fact to bring to light what were obvious issues internally, and another three weeks after that to resolve the Mack Rhoades problem -- apparently in a way that left us paying a large buyout.

This whole thing has been cluster**** after cluster****.

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The question I was answering was when can we expect an announcement as per the OP. I was answering that based on our previous recent searches and just my casual paying attention to other schools when they have had an opening.

Realitybites said:

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Look, Linda was the obligatory female DEI hire installed as university president one year after the Pepper Hamilton report. There''s nothing on her resume that indicates she has the necessary mindset or skillset to leader an institution like Baylor through a changing environment. It is what it is.

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Looking back does provide some clarity here. Linda was hired by our BoR during an apoplectic fit attempting to pacify the #metoo lynch mobs that had them running scared. "We are not an institution of football." Ok. The last few years have been chock full of DEI Jesus. Ok. Now, do we expect Linda and the self-perpetuating BoR who hired her and has been working with her to all of a sudden become extremely serious about having an elite football program? Of course not. Read her letter from a few weeks ago. It's just not that important to Baylor. And maybe that's ok. But it is what it is, and don't expect it to change. There's a reason we are historically a little over .500 and under .500 since running off Briles.

IowaBear said:

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Look at the bright spot. A year from now we can add Okie St to the list of schools that have lapped BU. Although that might give Linda the warm fuzzies

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She's proving daily the uselessness of her Okie Light degrees.

BluesBear said:

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True Grit said:

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I am still dumbfounded by Linda and Baylor's coverup of the Trigg/Family and Coach situation with Mack back at the ASU game. Total dumpster fire... nothing to see here. It took the affairs to get Mack out.

By the way, I noticed Trigg had on white sleeves for the UH game.

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Maybe it has to get so bad (another scandal) for the school to actually do a full house clean-up. Meaning, all board members removed. No $3M AD salaries (can't imagine what we are paying the 2 interim ADs)....

Baylor administration acts like and looks like the Federal Govt - - Bloated and inefficient....

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why do you think the tuition is what it is. We are a green version of TCU and SMU where only trust fund kids can attend and a few who are willing to go into massive debt. It is just sad.

Meanwhile, AD search & announcement... Crickets chirping.

Can't we just promote Dave? I mean Dave's initials are A and D. This would allow us to keep our awesome recruiting class that is ranked just above Desoto High.

Bearwhiz said:

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BluesBear said:

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True Grit said:

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I am still dumbfounded by Linda and Baylor's coverup of the Trigg/Family and Coach situation with Mack back at the ASU game. Total dumpster fire... nothing to see here. It took the affairs to get Mack out.

By the way, I noticed Trigg had on white sleeves for the UH game.

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Maybe it has to get so bad (another scandal) for the school to actually do a full house clean-up. Meaning, all board members removed. No $3M AD salaries (can't imagine what we are paying the 2 interim ADs)....

Baylor administration acts like and looks like the Federal Govt - - Bloated and inefficient....

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why do you think the tuition is what it is. We are a green version of TCU and SMU where only trust fund kids can attend and a few who are willing to go into massive debt. It is just sad.

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Sorry but that's not true. A majority of kids at BU are on at least some student loans - it's been that way for decades now.

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To BluesBear:

Prospective college students want to buy into a Culture: one that mirrors their goals, aspirations, and values. Successful athletics has been and will be a major selling point in that overall pitch for Baylor...as long as we're actually successful.

But successful athletics isn't the only area Baylor *has* to strive to be elite in either...they have to meet modern students where they are, so to speak, while providing them with a respectable degree. Keeping that training moving ain't cheap, and it requires a whole lot of folks working in concert.

Where are they at on the academic side with that? I've seen consistent slip over the last decade in subjective rankings. Maybe the new ROI factors are playing into it.

Anecdotally, I've been to several senior award type deals over the last few years and the very top students go ivy or elite niche (ex. Harvard, MIT, Stanford, U Chicago), occasionally they go Texas on full ride.

The rest of the top 5 is either Texas (more limited scholly), Bu on very significant scholarship, or A&M on significant scholarship. Occasional Smu or good out of state mixed in (Tulane, flagship SEC)

This has been the pattern I've seen at several of these. So it seems like they're doing ok picking up top end kids, the business model seems to dictate they have to pick up a decent chunk of "mediocre" willing to pay as well.

Quinton said:

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Where are they at on the academic side with that? I've seen consistent slip over the last decade in subjective rankings. Maybe the new ROI factors are playing into it.

Anecdotally, I've been to several senior award type deals over the last few years and the very top students go ivy or elite niche (ex. Harvard, MIT, Stanford, U Chicago), occasionally they go Texas on full ride.

The rest of the top 5 is either Texas (more limited scholly), Bu on very significant scholarship, or A&M on significant scholarship. Occasional Smu or good out of state mixed in (Tulane, flagship SECs, Notre)

This has been the pattern I've seen at several of these. So it seems like they're doing ok picking up top end kids, the business model seems to dictate they have to pick up a decent chunk of "mediocre" willing to pay as well.

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It varies from program to program - some are excelling but others maybe not so much.

The Elephant in the Room is of course the development of AI...beyond just its ubiquitous adoption by undergrads and incoming high schoolers affecting the educational process itself, the ultimate outcomes on our labor markets/workforces are still unclear.

For all of us on this board, Football's struggles are front and center, but honestly there is a lot of other stuff on Linda's plate that is of equal importance for the University.

That's why I find the hate directed towards her to be silly. Sure, some criticism over our athletics is definitely warranted, but she's in the Big Chair during what is potentially the biggest era of change in the history of the American university system.

I don't think she's perfect, but so many of the people hating on her on social media & message boards would instantly wilt under the pressure of her role.

There is a ton of movement no doubt. Demographic change is also going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

I guess my concern is Bu niche is still not quite well differentiated enough between the solid but unspectacular privates. Would have hoped they could take that next step to put some significant distance between them and some of the other peers. Just hasn't seemed to happen.

I have noticed the endowment has finally really started to ramp up in the last 5+. The returns seemed to be lagging in the first half of this bull mkt post 08/09 GFC but have really been a leader over the last half decade. Good first step.

Quinton said:

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There is a ton of movement no doubt. Demographic change is also going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

I guess my concern is Bu niche is still not quite well differentiated enough between the solid but unspectacular privates. Would have hoped they could take that next step to put some significant distance between them and some of the other peers. Just hasn't seemed to happen.

I have noticed the endowment has finally really started to ramp up in the last 5+. The returns seemed to be lagging in the first half of this bull mkt post 08/09 GFC but have really been a leader over the last half decade. Good first step.

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yeah the development team at Baylor is elite - they're growing the endowment both in securing big gifts but also with very shrewd stewardship of the monies they've already got.

I think Baylor has a better value prop than you might think in that it openly supports spirituality in ways that SMU, TCU, UH, Rice etc do not, while still providing a great degree and great professional networks in law, medicine and business as well as our other STEM programs. We have some relatively unknown gems too, like one of the best Philosophy grad schools in the country.

Honestly, it's the School of Education that has the toughest battle IMO...our degree is very expensive compared to any state school especially the smaller ones, so even if the educations are not 1:1 comparable ours is a difficult sell to students who need to take out a lot of loans.

I don't know what the answer is there...although my attempt at solving that puzzle would be becoming a focal point for the Homeschool movement by providing course work and degrees dedicated to being a homeschooler for your family as well as producing elite 'tutors' who can support homeschool networks by providing advanced courses for AP credit etc.

Today, Sic'em 365 Live… David Smoak stated "AD could be finished by weeks end". Hmmm, just an FYI make of it what you will.