Bulls AD Harlan About to Sign an Extension

[Bull Dozer]

I give Harlan a Solid B with reasonable chance to move to an A+ if he can get the IPF done in the very near future and get an OCS out of the perpetual "feasibility study" loop it's been in for years.   We're currently seeing the most public talk of an OCS we've ever seen and we're actually engaging the fan base as a whole about it as well.  This is groundbreaking for USF and how it handles an OCS.  We'll see what comes from it but it's refreshing to see.  

He doesn't get enough credit for Baseball getting turned around with Kingston and then what appears to be a great hand down hire to Mohl.   

Antigua was a bad miss but with Gregory the program appears to have direction for the first time in years and the recruiting appears to have a plan.  We should be competing for conference titles in a few years IMO.   

Harlan gave a guy he didn't hire enough slack to get our football program turned around when many other AD's would've cut bait already.  Then followed that up by making a great hire in Strong to keep the momentum moving forward.   

I don't know what else people are expecting but Harlan has done a good job so far and you can see the direction he's trying to take the athletics department.   We haven't had this kind of tangible direction since Selmon was around IMO.  

[Bausfkid]

1 hour ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Jury is still out on current MBB coach so we will see. But in general I am ok with his hiring decisions. The issue I have is with his personality. I have heard from a few of the whales that he can be disingenuous sometimes. As you mention Tampa is a tough place to fund raise...but too bad we need $ ASAP. ADs are turning more and more into college presidents as they have one specific purpose...get money. Does this man, in your opinion, have the personality to make this happen? I am saying no he does not but I am hopeful that yes he can. I can separate my personal opinion about the guy (I just don’t think he is likeable to the few times I have met him) if he gets $ results. 

I've met him twice for a total of about 15 minutes.  Seemed ok to me.  Hard for me to get a fix on his personality in that short of time.  Seems like lots of things associated with Athletics are going well and he's the boss, so he gets the credit.

[Triple B]

33 minutes ago, Bull Dozer said:

I don't know what else people are expecting but Harlan has done a good job so far and you can see the direction he's trying to take the athletics department. 

I'm theorizing that any real problems anyone has with MH are on a personal level ...... or a delusional level, ie he hasn't got us into a P5 yet.

[BDYZR]

13 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

That’s a pretty **** low benchmark though..,

Where do you think, as it relates to USF athletics, the bench mark should be? Maybe not a LRS, but certainly better that Woolard.

13 hours ago, Vinsanity8404 said:

Yeah he seems to be a really safe bet. Good hires for football in Taggart and Strong.. relatively weak schedules... 

Basketballs Antigua was a massive bust. The Jury is still out on Gregory, but he has all the signs of going in the right direction

I don't watch other sports... So my take is that he's a guy that isn't going to set us back, but there are other candidates who could do just as well. He seems sensible at least. It's a good move to re sign him

Not much reason for change.

[Mike Stuben]

To set the record correct factually. A couple mentioned Willie Taggart, he was hired by Doug Woolard. 

For personal opinion, I think this extension is a good thing for USF, not saying others are wrong, just where I stand. 

[Calibull]

1 hour ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Jury is still out on current MBB coach so we will see. But in general I am ok with his hiring decisions. The issue I have is with his personality. I have heard from a few of the whales that he can be disingenuous sometimes. As you mention Tampa is a tough place to fund raise...but too bad we need $ ASAP. ADs are turning more and more into college presidents as they have one specific purpose...get money. Does this man, in your opinion, have the personality to make this happen? I am saying no he does not but I am hopeful that yes he can. I can separate my personal opinion about the guy (I just don’t think he is likeable to the few times I have met him) if he gets $ results. 

No actually the jury isn't.  He has a proven track record and has been to just as many ncaa tournaments as a coach than we have as a school.  I don't see how the jury is still out.  COA wasn't really the first choice... he fell into the job after it was discovered the Manhattan coach lied about his 4 year degree.

[NewEnglandBull]

12 minutes ago, Calibull said:

No actually the jury isn't.  He has a proven track record and has been to just as many ncaa tournaments as a coach than we have as a school.  I don't see how the jury is still out.  COA wasn't really the first choice... he fell into the job after it was discovered the Manhattan coach lied about his 4 year degree.

Sorry I am not quiet ready to say the current basketball coach was a good hire. Not even close yet...Does he have the capability? Absolutely...15 win season next year and I would say we are on our way...but this team could also win 10 games next year. Time will tell. 

Edited April 20, 2018 by NewEnglandBull

[Bull Dozer]

1 hour ago, Triple B said:

I'm theorizing that any real problems anyone has with MH are on a personal level ...... or a delusional level, ie he hasn't got us into a P5 yet.

Some people aren't ready for us to be a big boy athletic department...   The way USF has run athletics before Harlan isn't normal and honestly wasn't sustainable for us to continue to grow.   If get into a P5 conference things will change even more.... 

[WWMJD]

2 hours ago, Calibull said:

No actually the jury isn't.  He has a proven track record and has been to just as many ncaa tournaments as a coach than we have as a school.  I don't see how the jury is still out.  COA wasn't really the first choice... he fell into the job after it was discovered the Manhattan coach lied about his 4 year degree.

Two catastrophic hires that were 100% in his wheelhouse, and the team is currently still in the basement under the third. I'm not saying they won't turn it around, or that this is a bad renewal, but I think it's insane to act like his basketball moves have been solid. You can want the guy renewed and still be honest about that...

[cophbulls]

Yeah, Harlan is fine, I may be wrong but I think he brought in Kingston as well? I'm totally fine with him sticking around, getting an extension and digging in here to continue to help propel the ENTIRE athletic department forward for USF. I realize that football is king here but if football stayed neutral and all other sports caught up to football in quality, I'd be totally cool with that. I don't think there has been many if any mistakes, no one here was complaining when Antigua was hired so I don't call that a mistake. I call that a bad hand.  If there are mistakes, allowing the departures of George Kiefer and Mark Kingston would stand out for me. I would also include the firing of Stan as a mistake but I don't think Harlen and company did that, I had heard that Stan was fired by the previous admin right before Harlen got there. However, again, I could be wrong there.