Thoughts on Ford

I just got an email from a friend, who is a UMass fan, asking me why I haven't written a column ripping Travis Ford for how he left. Another person on facebook invited me to join a group comparing Ford to Nick Saban.

I'm not writing that column or joining the group because I have a hard time blaming him. Travis Ford gets an F in public relations, but an A in business.

I'll work backwards. It easy for fans to ignore money. The thought is he makes a huge amount of money already, how much does he need? And I get that to a point. But Ford has three children. What if someday one of them needs experimental surgery that isn't covered by health insurance? Or one of them wants to go to med school? What if he just wants to to be in a position to provide for them and make sure they're comfortable for the rest of their lives? Most people dream of being rich. Hard to begrudge someone a chance to fulfill that.

On top of that he left to go to a school that could be an elite job. Oklahoma State can win a national championship. It's not Kansas or North Carolina, but its not that far off. Ford will have to do a great job to make that happen, but the resources are in place.

I know most UMass people don't begrudge him that, although from some of the emails I've gotten, some people clearly do. 

But from the moment Travis Ford was hired, this day was an inevitability. He's Kentucky-born and bred and he's seen college basketball at the highest level as a player. That was a recipe for a short stint from the beginning.

Ford's biggest mistake was his handling of the job rumors starting with his statement about the LSU job:

"I would like make clear that I do not want to be considered for the head job at
LSU," Ford said Tuesday night. "There has been a lot misinformation circulating
about me and the job at LSU. I feel that it is necessary to state that I do not
want to be considered for the job. "

Which basically translates to "I'm not going to LSU, stop bothering me about it."

The statement showed two things: 1. He wasn't ruling out everybody, just LSU. 2. He has no idea how to make a public statement.

Compare what Ford said to Oliver Purnell's statement on the same LSU job:

"I am flattered that I would be mentioned in connection with a
prominent national program," Purnell said. "But I have long-range goals
for this Clemson program. We just announced a contract extension three
weeks ago and I am happy here."

Purnell's statement respects LSU while at the same time disconnecting himself from the opening.

Ford loves hyperbole even more than he loves 3-point shooters. During his time at UMass, every opponent he faced could have given the 1987 Lakers a run for their money, if you listen to his quotes. Even Dowling, their exhibition game opponent two years ago, was picked to be the best team in their league if you believed Ford and could be one of the best teams in Division II.

So when I heard Ford talk about his commitment to UMass at the banquet, just hours after flirting with Providence, I rolled my eyes a bit. We joked that would be fine until OK State hired Billy Gillespie, Kentucky hired John Pelphrey and Arkansas came calling for Ford. 

Turns out my theory had far too many steps. But the idea was on the money.

Because I'm a member of the media, you'll take (perhaps rightly so) what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. But Ford should have talked with the media on his way out. I'm saying that not only because it would have been the professional thing to do and would have made my stories better, but it would have helped him. 

Ford could have earned himself some measure of goodwill by saying stating when he made his statements, he meant them and that he actually thought he'd be at UMass until this incredible ($9 million dollar) offer came along.

But throughout his career, whenever he knew the topic of conversation would be a difficult one, he was very good at dodging the media and not returning phone calls. In this case he looks like he snuck out the back door.

That move will hurt his friend and assistant coach Tim Maloney as he pursues the UMass job because fans and boosters will hold his affiliation with Travis against him instead of treating it like an asset.

But despite that, he made a decision for his career and his family that's hard to argue with. Coaching is a rough gig. If Ford has stayed next year someone gets hurt, someone flunks out and someone underperforms, people start complaining. Another bad year after that and he's on the hot seat at the risk of getting canned.

Dan Dakich went back to Bowling Green out of loyalty instead of taking the West Virginia job and a few years later  he got fired, while the guy who did go to WVU, John Beilein, got hired at Michigan.

Ford could have handled the situation better, but he made a decision its hard to fault.

...six days til Lost returns... 

According to sources

According to sources at UMass, Travis Ford will meet with his players shortly to inform them that he is accepting the job offer from Oklahoma State. An official announcement could follow.

The deal with the buyout

According to UMass athletic director John McCutcheon, Ford's new contract was agreed upon, but not signed yet. So the buyout from Ford's old contract, which is $200,000, would be applicable, assuming Ford departs.

The ball is in Ford's court now

Facts as of 3:35:

Ford is in Amherst not Oklahoma right now.

He hasn't met with his team yet.

Things I believe to be fact, but can't prove:

Ford met with OSU representatives in an airport.

He's got an offer from Oklahoma State.

Thing that puzzles me:

I'm surprised OSU isn't aiming at bigger names. Kevin Stallings or even Sean Millier.

My guess:

I can't imagine that Ford won't take the job. It's better than LSU and much better than Providence. You can win a national championship at OSU and they can pay him lots of money. But I've been wrong before.

Ford to Oklahoma State all but done

Sources all over are confirming this. More later.

Oklahoma State

The rumors started about 24 hours ago about Oklahoma State being interested in Travis Ford, but they didn't pass the reliability test enough to report them yet.

But there appears to be some fire to this smoke. This is from Andy Katz's Daily Word:

"There were rumblings of UMass' Travis Ford about the OSU job and it
appears that there's mutual interest between the Cowboys and Ford after
the UMass coach flirted with Providence last week."

I've heard rumors about an airport meeting between Ford and OSU, so this doesn't appear to be going away soon.

...8 days til Lost returns...

White smoke

I have it on pretty good authority that Ford has turned Providence down. I'm leaving for the banquet. More when I get there.

...20 minutes til I blog again... 

Greetings from...

My couch. Still no press conference scheduled. I guess UMass fans should take that as a good thing, although that doesn't mean there's no press conference coming tomorrow.

Everything I've heard right now says UMass has comeback with a counteroffer to Providences. I've heard several variations of how much and they all sound like guesses. It's more than I make and less than OK State is offering Bill Self. I feel confident in the accuracy of that statement. Other than that, both sides seem hunkered down.

I hope they prepared a lot of food for the banquet because I'm guessing it's going to be far more attended than normal, even if its just from media people, who are notorious for eating a lot.

To the folks at UMasshoops.com, I don't drink coffee and I would have certainly posted before leaving for Rhode Island.

I know the NCAA has rules about live-blogging from games, can you live blog from a banquet?

...2.5 hours til the banquet... 

Good morning

As of right now there's been no press conference scheduled at Providence so things remain unclear at least for now. I wonder if the athletic department is getting a lot of late requests for tickets to tonight's end-of-season banquet. There is the potential there for great theater.

I have to believe Ford will have publicly made a decision by then. It would be hard to him to go to the banquet without an answer. I wonder if he takes the Providence job if he'll go to the banquet at all. For one thing he might be being introduced as the head Friar (abbott?) at the time.

Check back here later, I'll be posting if I'm not driving to Providence for a press conference.

 ...7.5 hours til the banquet...

Ford to Providence?

The Providence Journal reported this afternoon that Ford and his wife Heather toured the Dunkin Donuts Center and that Ford met with athletic director Bob Driscoll to talk deal.

UMass will likely try to come back with a counter offer, but things could move quickly now.

More later...