Dawg83 Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Lot of smoke this morning that this is about to happen. Several of the major news publications have picked up on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Just read about this. Some State people seem to be cheering this on. I would say be careful of what you wish for. Understand that he missed on a couple of hires but in fairness to him, at the time Cannizzaro , McCray-Penson-Moorhead were hired, they seemed to be good solid hires. Hard to predict the future. Leach, Purcell, Lemonis, Jans seem to be good fits although it is still early on two of them obviously. I personally like Cohen and hope he stays. Not sure why he would want to walk in to the dumpster fire that is Auburn these days. Strickland jumping ship to Florida has been a disaster for him. I am sure he may wish he was still at State. The grass may not always be greener some where else even if there is more green in your wallet. In any case we will see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSTSatchmo Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Other than more money for him and more funds available at the school, I don’t get the connection. I know that he worked “with” the Auburn athletic department to navigate the NIL when it first came out, so maybe there is a connection somewhere. I also know some boosters blamed him (his wife more accurately) for losing Shafer. Who knows. It seems to have come out of “left field” though. Pun intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 I’m gonna take the opposite stance on this one, B4. I don’t think Cohen is a terrible AD but do think he leaves a lot to be desired. I think State has lost a lot of buzz as an athletic department in the last six years. Until some recent staff changes, marketing was in a really bad spot. I don’t think Cohen is a great fundraiser or possesses many of the qualities you need in the NIL era. Frankly, I have felt like baseball was being prioritized over the other sports for years. Just in terms of general effort and attention to detail with various things, not necessarily just monetary investment. While it’s great to have a good baseball program, it’s too much of a niche sport to be overly emphasizing it over football and basketball. In terms of his hires, I don’t think it’s a great look that it’s taken him multiple attempts to get it right with certain sports, and the jury is still out on many of those hires (Leach included in some ways). I do think Chris Jans was a strong hire but he hasn’t coached a game here yet so we shall see. Purcell has never been a head coach period so the jury is really out there. I just feel like State can do better and that their ceiling with Cohen is/was always going to be limited. Now if he is indeed leaving, you need to nail the next hire or you could absolutely be worse than you are under Cohen. But it’s been frustrating to see State’s major sports kinda treading water in many ways while conference and in-state rivals are doing a lot more to elevate themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 11 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said: Other than more money for him and more funds available at the school, I don’t get the connection. I know that he worked “with” the Auburn athletic department to navigate the NIL when it first came out, so maybe there is a connection somewhere. I also know some boosters blamed him (his wife more accurately) for losing Shafer. Who knows. It seems to have come out of “left field” though. Pun intended. I am with you on this, I’m not totally sure what the draw is for Auburn here. To a lesser extent it reminds me a little bit of A&M hiring away Bjork from OM. If the internet fanbase is any indication, there don’t appear to be many State fans losing sleep over the idea of Cohen leaving. He was not all that popular as an AD. Not reviled, but definitely not someone that people were crazy about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebmus Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 Jon Sokoloff on Twitter: "SOURCE: Auburn has hired #MississippiState Athletic Director John Cohen to be the school’s new AD. The deal is done." / Twitter Supposedly a "done deal". Cohen has done fine (not great, certainly not bad) at MSU, I would have guessed Auburn went after a bigger name/more experience/etc. We'll see how that plays out. 83, I was pretty surprised (and thankful) A&M took Bjork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Color me surprised. I did not realize there was so much angst towards Cohen among the State faithful. If this is the case, then I wish him well. The only saving grace here is Dr. Mark Keenum. I trust him to make a good hire for the AD position. At least all the sports are in stable, good shape right now. The new AD, IMO will be coming in to a good situation with the athletic department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 (edited) Assuming this is a done deal, I’m sure you’ll hear various names thrown around in the coming weeks. My preference would be a sitting P5 AD but not sure that happens. John Currie at Wake Forest (formerly at Tennessee and Kansas State) is already being mentioned by some. I expect Jared Benko to get a serious look. Current AD at Georgia Southern but worked at State for four years and has been at several different SEC schools. I think he would be a solid hire if things end up going that direction. Edited October 30, 2022 by Dawg83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insideradvantage Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Bye Cohen. What an asshole. But as an OM guy, I guess we'd be better off if he stuck around. Oh well. Can't win them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebmus Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Any chance MSU hires Bjork? I have a feeling he'll be available in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Ha Good one Reb. Wonder what his buyout at A&M is? The SEC AD circle jerk is a bit comical seeing these guys jump from one school to another. Ironically, it seems each AD had been progressively worse at their new school while bringing home more dough. I hesitate to say that they are actually doing anything to earn it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 (edited) Time will tell on what Cohen does at Auburn, but frankly the more I think about it, the less it makes sense from an Auburn standpoint. I just don’t at all see Cohen as a game changing hire for them. He definitely hasn’t been that for State. Stricklin has underwhelmed a little at Florida. His fate is very much tied to his most recent football and men’s basketball hires. If Napier and Golden don’t work out, Stricklin probably is shown the door. Byrne, for my money, is probably the best AD State has had in the modern era. He’s seemingly done a good job at Bama, they are way better at basketball and baseball than they were when he arrived. But his biggest test will clearly be replacing Saban whenever the time comes. Edited October 30, 2022 by Dawg83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 I would agree that Byrne is an excellent AD. He was not afraid to think outside the box. I am not sure if it what was him or Stricklin that changed the seating in the Hump. That was horrible and killed what used to be a very difficult arena to play in you were the visiting team. Why Auburn went after Cohen is a head scratcher though I think he has done a better job than some other State people. Our secondary sports are doing well these days and I think he does deserve some credit there. I have read that he and his wife were the reason that Schaefer left. I had never heard anything related to that over the last 2 1/2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 Schaefer leaving has always been the source of much speculation. I honestly don’t know what the real reason was. But regardless, Cohen made a terrible hire to replace Vic. Women’s basketball basketball was red hot at State and Cohen was unable to keep it going. That’s just one of many gripes I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Agree 100% there about WBB. Do think the new hire is going to be a good one. But the damage has been done.Although, I will give Doug Novak a lot of credit for keeping the program from going into a complete dumpster fire last year. What he did was amazing considering the circumstances. I know Schaefer stated reason was to be closer his aging parents (who live in Austin) and COVID was rampant at the time. That certainly masked any other darker reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 It is kinda fascinating that Cohen just hired two basketball coaches and is leaving before either one coaches a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pancho Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 He wants out bad and evidently has found someone very desperate to take him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maroontide06 Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 (edited) 7 hours ago, pancho said: He wants out bad and evidently has found someone very desperate to take him. What’s completely odd about this is Wikipedia had him as Auburn’s AD yesterday and I guess someone re-edited it today and put him back as Mississippi State’s AD. Did someone put the cart before the horse? Edited October 31, 2022 by maroontide06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pancho Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 some serious late negotiating is going on. I think he is in fact going there. just ironing out a few issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 1 hour ago, pancho said: some serious late negotiating is going on. I think he is in fact going there. just ironing out a few issues. I don’t know how State could in good conscience take him back at this point. It would be a slap in the face to the fan base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldogs4 Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 If somehow his deal with Auburn crashes and burns, then no doubt he needs to still resign at State. His credibility is completely gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrickCity Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 On 10/29/2022 at 11:48 AM, Dawg83 said: Lot of smoke this morning that this is about to happen. Several of the major news publications have picked up on this. This is a good thread for anyone wondering about the rumors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg83 Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 It’s a done deal per Ross Dellenger with SI, who would know. Official announcement from Auburn should be coming soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSTSatchmo Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Will he fire Harsin day one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSTSatchmo Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 I guess Cohen was waiting on Auburn to fire Harsin before he signed. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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