Harlan

[Utes 69]

Harlan should be next to go.

Utah should not be the third best team in the state of Utah in BB or Football!

[Tony (admin)]

Third worst.

[Uteanooga]

I don’t remember ever before seeing an AD issue an apology for comments. He may want to focus more on working “behind the curtain.” It would be a lot safer for him.

[Rick]

That was the point I was trying to make a few days ago. Someone on here said that basketball sucked because we are totally focused on football which is somehow our ticket to the Big 10. Well, our football team has gone 12-13 over the past two seasons so even they are failing. So Harlan is failing across the board in almost all men’s sports besides skiing. I do feel that basketball is also a coaching issue which is grossly apparent when you actually watch our team over the past 3 years. It is just getting exposed more in the Big 12 because the teams are so much better than the Pac 12. When I watched last night’s game I was shocked at the difference in quality of players on each team. It was staggering. So, I would say Harlan first, Smith next or fire them both and get the 2 for 1 discount!

[Utah]

I’m gonna be devil’s advocate here.

Outside of basketball and football, Utah sports are doing great. Our women’s sports are all top 25, skiing is elite, etc. Outside of the two major sports, he is doing great. Let’s look at football and basketball:

1 – Football. This is not Harlan’s anything. Football is 100% on Whitt. We’ve paid him. We’ve paid his coaches. We’ve given him free reign to give fans the middle finger and do whatever he wants. We’ve paid his QB. We’ve paid his successor. Whatever issues football does or does not have, falls at Whitt’s feet. I can’t blame Harlan for football. We all collectively decided (and the donor’s call the real shots here) that Whitt was our god and he could do what he wanted. Football is on all of us. This is why you don’t give leaders free reign. Once you take away accountability, they slack off. It’s human nature. Anyone that requires no accountability isn’t going to be as successful.

2 – Basketball. Harlan didn’t pay Larry Krystkowiak. He inherited him. And we got rid of Larry one year too early, money wise, for good reason. And when Larry was fired, it was late in the game, because Harlan had to rally the troops and get the money together to fire Larry.

That meant most of the good HC candidates were gone. Smith was a terrible hire. I think everyone knew that at the time and anyone who was excited for the hire was either a Smith family member or just happy we screwed over an instate school. Smith wasn’t that great at USU and to think he was going to excel here…I dunno.

I’m not sure Harlan has done anything that should be getting this “fire Harlan” crowd. Football is not his call; he can’t do anything about that, and even when Whitt goes away, Scalley is the next guy. He has no control over that. You can’t blame Harlan for anything football related.

Which leaves basketball. I think Smith gets fired after this year. His buyout will just be around 2 million. You give Harlan a shot to hire someone with plenty of time to interview, vet, etc.

Honestly? I think most of the “Fire Harlan” guys are guys who got their panties in a twist over his postgame comments. For those people: No one cares. Not a soul has thought about it since two days after it happened other than BYU fans and Utah fans who desperately want to be better than BYU fans. Don’t worry about it. No one else has.

[Rick]

So Harlan is a boss with no power and you think that is a good thing? Or that he has zero responsibility?

[pedro]

No offense, but I disagree with almost all of this. From my perspective….

1-Utah sports are doing good (except for the two biggies), but how much of that was him? Gymnastic almost tanked, but under the threats of lawsuits, he finally took action. Men’s baseball has tanked under him. Women’s BB\Gym was already at the top of their game. He literally made safe hires when needed, but otherwise has done nothing.

2-Football. This is 100% on Harlan. Harlan had a chance to grow our NIL early. Instead he opted for gimmicks (free trucks for the year) instead of cash. I know people say it’s not up to the school. BS. Particularly the AD. He needs to steer that and motivate donors. Instead he taxed the “poor” (season ticket holders). As far as moving forward, it was HE who agreed to make Scalley the HC in waiting. It was HE who reinstated that status after taking it away. I’m supportive of it, FWIW, but let’s not pretend he didn’t have anything to do with it.

3-Basketball. Others have covered this pretty well. He had a chance to hire big, he took what he saw as the safe out. Smith did well at UT St and to be honest, I actually don’t blame him for this hire. But why not go big when the money is there, and it was?

As far as my desire to want him fired (I do), it has nothing to do with his post game comments (which I have never seen BTW). It’s been clear to me from very early on, his goal was to come in, raise revenue for his resumes’ sake, and bolt. He doesn’t care about Utah (the school, the state or the culture), he doesn’t understand NIL AND he can’t relate to the fans, the players or the coaches. He is Taylor’s yes man and Taylor is just as incompetent in this area.

My two cents, flame away.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m not sure I follow your logic. Larry Krystowiak was fired on 16 March 2021, almost immediately after the Utes were eliminated from the PAC tournament by USC on 11 March 2021 and well, well before most teams in need of a HC had even started a search for a replacement. At the time of his dismissal, Krystkowiak was the highest paid coach in the Pac-12 and the 13th-highest-paid coach in the country at a salary of $3.76 million, minus a pandemic-year reduction of nearly $200,000. His contract included a buyout clause of $6.5 million that the university paid in order for him to go away.

On 27 March 2021, or just 11 days later, Harlan hired Craig Smith from Utah State. So, in fact, what Harlan did is not wait until the last minute to fire Coach K, but jump the gun and hit the “Easy Button” on the Smith hire. I sincerely doubt that Harlan, and by way of inference, Utah, seriously looked at another candidate for the position. I heard some rumors at the time, that Utah was also interested in Pope at BYU, but those were just rumors. Sometimes, this is what happens when people, like water, follow the path of least resistance. Smith was nearby, seemed like a good coach, was cheap compared to Coach K, so what was not to like?

You ever heard the phrase “sounds like deja vu all over again?” That’s the way I feel about the MBB. I’ve gone back and read some Tribune and Deseret articles about the MBB during the 20-21 season, and they might as well be describing this year’s edition. All the ingredients are there, lackadaisical play, fan apathy, failure to be competitive in away games, etc..

[Rick]

I can provide a little more context. The Smith hire was basically a done deal when Harlan fired Coach K. All had been done behind the scenes. When the firing was announced, three coaches reached out expressing interest through agents or other connections to Utah athletics – Alex Jensen, Porter Moser and Randy Bennett. Harlan had no interest in any of them because he’d already found his guy.

Jensen was forced upon him by critical alumni and members of the board of trustees. He held a half-assed interview with Alex that basically offended Alex. Many of you will remember that Jensen acknowledged an interview in the press and then he politely said that he declined to pursue the job further. There is more to this, but I am not at liberty to share.

The bottom line is that Harlan absolutely bungled the search. I don’t mean this to be anti Coach Smith who was certainly considered an up and comer at the time; but Harlan focused on Smith without spreading a wider net.

[The Miami Ute]

Rick, thanks for the analysis and insights. Any sports fan could have put two and two together when that hire was consummated so quickly. Too bad about Randy Bennett because that guy’s been a winner at Saint Mary’s forever. He was actually near the top of my list as far as candidates go, with number 1 being the impossible dream of Mark Few

[Utes 69]

mine are twisted for sure, and it is not from the comments made. Whitt is for a problem, Harlan is his Boss!

[Author]

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