Welcome Coach Ford & Thanks KSU

Nice to meet & greet with Coach Ford....now hit the ground running, and get it done... and hopefully we'll have little outside distractions or interference.

Actually, we may just have some such distractions as a reason why we have Geno Ford....seems there was something beneath the surface at Kent State that may have helped Geno Ford look to Bradley.

Read this...it's all based on comments and factual events...and much of it is what the Kent State Athletic Director himself says that may be a bit that helps clarify some of the other facts...

Just this morning an article appears in the local press at Kent State making it sound like the current AD there is a bit miffed and bothered that Ford left so "suddenly" or that he even wanted to leave at all and not give Kent State the chance to negotiate and keep him there.

Read the comments and you decide.......

Geno Ford was not brought to Kent State by the current AD..but was hired by former AD Laing Kennedy..in April of 2008 to replace Jim Christian who had just been hired away from Kent State and Christian went to TCU to be their head basketball coach.

In his first year at Kent State, 2008-2009, Geno went 19-15, then 24-10 the next year - pretty worthy of praise I'd say -- and the guy who hired him, Laing Kennedy was more than happy and had lots of great things to say about Geno.....but just try to find some praise coming from the current administration or AD -- it's pretty non-existent...

Then, after being Geno's boss for two years, the Kent State AD Laing Kennedy, in the spring of 2010 - almost precisely ONE year ago...Laing Kennedy said he was going to step down and retire. But before he did -- he happily and PROUDLY negotiated a two year contract extension for Geno Ford that took his original contract that was through 2013 and extended it all the way out to 2015 - at a considerably boosted salary of approx $300K per year. It was obvious Laing knew how to treat and keep Geno who was otherwise, at that time, being named as possible successor (in 2010) to the head coaching spot at Marshall.

Then -- Kennedy retired after 16 years as AD and Joel Nielsen was hired as the NEW Athletic Director at Kent State in March of 2010 - taking over active full time duty in June of 2010 -- just less than one year ago.
At that time...Nielsen left his position at South Dakota State to take the spot at Kent State...but was not that familiar or close to Geno Ford.

Basketball had been Kent State's most successful sport -- and the local writers knew that and sounded off loudly that Kent State basketball needed to be KEPT as the premier sport!! They needed the new AD to come out strongly and support the basketball program.
This writer even points out that Kent State is the butt of jokes except for the basketball program!!
Basketball, he argues, needs to be "the face of the institution"!
http://is.gd/YVatFr

And, at that very time....Kent State football had been mediocre for years...with the previous several seasons being...
0-11, 2-9, 1-10, 6-5, 3-8, 5-7, 5-6, 1-10, 6-6, 3-9, 4-8, 5-7...
Only ONE winning season (6-5) since 1987 and only TWO winning seasons since 1977!!
Seriously -- look at those W-L records -- Kent State football was the pits!

But what was the very first proclamation made by new AD Nielsen???
"Football is going to be a priority,” the Golden Flashes’ new athletic director insisted"
http://is.gd/CdwkUZ

I suspect initially Geno Ford had no problem with that -- maybe a little worry - but a strong football program couldn't hurt his basketball program. However, gradually Geno began to feel like basketball was Kent State football's poor sister....

Gradually these kinds of comments came out...
"The message was clear and concise. If any coaches of other sports had needs or problems that required Nielsen’s attention, they would just have to wait a little while for help. For now, the department’s focus was firmly set on turning around a football program"

Keep in mind -- Geno Ford turned Kent State right back in the right direction and won 24 games in 2010-2011...also winning the MAC Coach of the Year again for the 2nd consecutive year!!
...And just maybe he was thinking his basketball program shouldn't be treated like a pot on the back burner...

Although Ford was very gracious in thanking his institution and staff for the opportunity to coach at KSU -- I simply cannot find even one public comment made by Joel Nielsen about Geno Ford's great season and post-season awards!

Then Nielsen went out and spent tons hiring a new football coach and making more football promises right in the middle of the basketball season...
Kent State's commitment to football over basketball can be seen here where the AD seems to drool all over about the new football coach who starts at Kent State with a salary and contract that's likely better than what Ford sees his as...
http://is.gd/iiXO9Y

Then, late last week....Geno Ford went to his Athletic Director and asked for and received permission to speak with other universities..clearly he was thinking it might just be time to get out....
This was reported late Friday and the very first mention in or anywhere around Peoria was on the BradleyFans message board...right here...
http://is.gd/2klwaU

Note in that recordpub.com article ....the Athletic Director at Kent State chose NOT to speak at to the press and instead designated a spokesperson, an underling.....to say that Ford was indeed talking to other schools -- and the suggestion was that those schools were Bradley and Fresno State, and perhaps Dayton if Brian Gregory was leaving.

The article also chooses to bring this up about why Geno Ford might be inclined to look at his spot at Kent State and think of leaving...
"For years, KSU has talked about building a similar
practice facility for the Golden Flashes. But with
expected budget cuts in the coming year, there is no
reason to expect those hopes of becoming a reality
anytime soon."

...all while the AD was trumpeting his priorities and talking only about their miserable football program! If I were in Geno's shoes after what he had done in three seasons at Kent State -- I'd have been a little miffed and insulted.

Then between Saturday and Sunday....Ford spoke with people (reportedly) at both Fresno and Bradley then flew to Bradley to accept the position as new head coach at BU...

Obviously this was a whirlwind...but in order for it to happen, I strongly suspect Ford had to move fast...and in the interval...clearly he CLEARLY DID speak with his Athletic Director and told him what was going on....it says so in the article below...

But then the AD Joel Nielsen says this after the obvious hits him in the face, that his facilities and his salary/contract offer isn't even in the same galaxy as what Bradley is offering...
"Joel Nielsen found out he had lost his men’s basketball coach Sunday night via the Bradley University website.

The Kent State Athletics director said in a press conference Monday afternoon he never had a chance to counter-offer ..

“My final conversation with coach Ford was around 5:30 (Sunday) afternoon,”
The surprise at the announcement left Nielsen unable to offer a counter to Bradley’s proposal, which has been rumored to be around double Ford’s $300,000 salary at Kent State.
“We would have liked the opportunity to sit down with Geno and talk further about what we could do at Kent State,” he said. “We had every intention this week to sit down...."

So this sounds like he had "intentions" of sitting down and talking with Geno about sweetening the pot but it never got done....maybe he was just too busy working on football things?? Maybe Geno wondered if it was ever going to get done.

Maybe Geno realized his sport was being pushed to the back burner despite his success and popularity!

If you do a search for any kind of info on Geno Ford & Joel Nielsen -- you don't find much....which I find quite interesting....after a fine, banner year -- not ONE public comment anywhere in the press, on the Kent State web site, not in blogs or anywhere -- not one comment by Nielsen about Geno's fine accomplishments or any open congratulations!
I think it's obvious that KSU's new AD had little if any respect for or appreciation of all of Geno's accomplishments and performance.

Instead....Nielsen says publicly that he thinks he's shown enough commitment simply by citing the new contract negotiated more than a year earlier by his predecessor Laing Kennedy..
"“We are confident we showed our commitment to coach (Geno) Ford when we (renegotiated) his contract at the end of last season,” Nielsen said."

Hmmm..that sure doesn't sound like much of a current commitment -- in fact it sounds kinda cold and rude -- saying he will offer no current positive words or tone - just that what was said a year ago ought to be enough!! And remember, it really wasn't even Nielsen who said that a year ago it was the now retired, long time previous AD Kennedy!!

The writer of the 2nd article linked below says this...
"Ford’s contract does not give him the opportunity to add years based on his performance. So, while Christian would have been automatically extended by one year after leading his team to a Mid-American Conference title, Ford’s deal is still set to expire in 2014-15.

Typically, a coach does not lose a year off of his contract after hanging a banner...
But Kent State could go a long way in strengthening its commitment to Ford by adding a year to his current deal. Ford probably shouldn’t lose a year from his contract after everything his team accomplished in 2010-11."

So -- others definitely noticed that the time was right to focus on Geno Ford, to applaud him for his accomplishments at Kent State and to REWARD him with both WORDS and DEEDS....but Nielsen obviously just brushed it all of....

It looks like the AD's promise to talk down the road was just a bit too little, too late, and showed waning interest in the basketball program...it had to be a factor influencing Ford.

http://is.gd/c14yqW
http://is.gd/o3WIJR


Then check this....
Geno Ford's comment at BU was...
"I am excited about the support for our program and the resources we have to achieve at the highest levels,” Ford said. “The investments made in our program will give us a chance to achieve our maximum potential.”"

Kinda sounds like he was not happy with the lack of commitment at KSU and was making the distinct point that with no football at Bradley and with the kind of fan support Bradley gets from it's core group of fans, that this decision was apparently a no-brainer.
So even tho a couple other candidates did not see the BU spot as a good fit...Geno did...and in part we have the Kent State AD to thank for it....
http://tinyurl.com/69578m3