The decision to fire Ron (the only coach to have successive winning seasons at Duquesne) looks pretty bad right now for anyone evaluating Amodio's tenure, and will get worse until Ferry actually starts to win at Duquesne.  Ferry has to start to win next year, period! No excuses! 

I just hope DU's administration can finally get it right with this hire, and does not do something stupid ahead of hiring the new guy (like give Ferry a contract extension). 

Last edited by CLK (6/12/2015 8:17 am)

Grammy, I too used to strike out at columns like Starkey's but after stepping back the better question would be what reason is there for him to visit the campus? Last year most of our games either coincided with the Penguins or Pitt. Being that he currently works for a radio station that is the voice of Pitt Athletics were would he be. That still does not diminish him from having a opinion and or insight into what is going on.

duqkurt wrote:

Don't know why people complain about writers (DK, Starkey, Dunlap) with narratives like this. It is the truth. If Dougherty wants to change the narrative, talk to the press.

In past posts, I've tried to say why I complain about writers with narratives like this - not because I disagree - but I won't go into it again since no one really agrees with my comments. 

I will say that Dunlap is just plain unprofessaional to be kind and DK needs to stop qualifiying any of the few articles he writes about DU by saying that he went to Duquesne - everyone knows, few care and no one assumes he needs to say that before being critical.  Regardless, that doesn't mean I think they are wrong about what they have to say.
 

Good point, Dome.  You would think insight is obtained from the source of the problem-people on the campus.  He obviously did not do this as his column is void of any such reference.  In my opinion, Starkey does nothing more than give affirmation to those who like to wallow in smug self-indulgence over the fact that Amodio didn't do the job they wanted, or for that matter, what he was hired to do. I repeat-I don't care one iota about Greg Amodio-never did and never will.  My point about "professionals" like Starkey is that he gives opinions now after the fact and not while the events are reality.  When have any of you supporters of Starkey's opinion ever seen him opine as to Amodio or the Duquesne athletic director mess before now?  It suits his purposes and his punchline that "...he fired a winning coach..."  That is why I still think he is a hypocrite--I am entitled to my opinion.  And as PA Supreme Court Justice Michaelangelo Musmanno opined "I shall dissent until the cows come home again."    

Last edited by grammudder (6/12/2015 10:36 am)

A voice of reason and knowledge to Amodio leaving and what the expectations of a new hire are:
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Dejan Kovacevic (or any other member of the Pittsburgh media) ushered former Duquesne University athletic director, Greg Amodio, to his flight to Hartford International with a smear-job hot take on his misguiding of the department to college sports hell. In fact, you almost had to expect it considering his greatest failing on the job was his inability to control the school’s perception which haunts him on his way out the door.Despite the slam job, it’s difficult for me to reconcile a couple of facts that mark Amodio’s tenure for those watching closely with broader perception.
While Duquesne men’s basketball never got over the hump under Ron Everhart and hasn’t gotten off the mat under Jim Ferry, the rest of the Dukes’ offerings are more competitive than they’ve ever been. They’re routinely competing for and winning championships in the cross country, lacrosse, and volleyball seasons. If men’s hoops is the flagship, women’s basketball is the second and it has developed into a top 60 program and one of the most consistently solid in the nation. Meanwhile, football has moved up in the world and in just a handful of years of awarding scholarships began sharing Northeast Conference titles and nearly stealing a road game against Buffalo.
That said, he was running his course at Duquesne and the logic used to dismiss Everhart could have easily been turned around on him. The athletic department plateaued to where teams were good but not getting over the hump often enough. That includes women’s basketball and football. While Amodio cultivated relationships with a number of new large donors, his customer service record feel short of the expectations of many fans. A deep rift divided Duquesne’s base into two factions, those who supported Amodio and those who danced in the street Tuesday night when the news of his pending departure broke. This isn’t healthy for a school with the limited support of Duquesne.When I first heard that Amodio had moved to Quinnipiac University to fill the same position, I initially thought he took a lateral move to avoid being side stepped in the coming years. While he conceivably would have had his job for another year or two,  it’s hard to envision him escaping the chopping block when the replacement for the man who hired him, President Charles Dougherty, had the reigns. It seemed like a move to salvage his career, but though the Connecticut school plays in the much lower MAAC conference compared to Duquesne’s Atlantic 10, the Wildcats own a considerably larger athletic department. Where Duquesne spends $17 million a year, Quinnipiac spends just under $24 million. He may have even gotten a promotion.So how does a supposed incompetent boob achieve some success in almost every sport, including for a time in men’s basketball, and earn a promotion to an aggressive, rising athletic department?Simple — he hasn’t controlled the story and he hasn’t grown the brand to match the proportional gains of the department. The problem is that the entire brand was tied to men’s basketball. He could have done a better job spreading the burden around by showcasing the successes in other sports and trying to more aggressively grow their standing. Duquesne was the best performing program in Pittsburgh for women’s basketball until Pitt hired former Dukes coach Suzie McConnell-Serio away heading into the 2013-14 season. An opportunity was missed to enhance the school’s brand through a secondary sport and take pressure off men’s basketball. He could have showcased success even if it wasn’t the way success was initially drawn up.So that takes us to the present where a lame duck president is deciding who to hire as athletic director for the final year of his tenure and into the next era of Duquesne University.
It almost feels like the next person to take the job is set up for failure or at the very least a tougher evaluation for their second annual review.Contrary to popular belief, the Duquesne administration has stepped up some modest support for sports to where the department has nearly doubled over the last decade. With limited return on their investment, it remains to be seen how much longer they will maintain even that level. We’ve already seen slight year over year reductions in spending on men’s basketball and while it’s not an unmanageable drop, they have failed to keep pace with the rest of the league dropping from 4th in the conference in men’s basketball spending the year they transitioned from Everhart to Ferry to 9th this past year.
The market for athletic directors is a cloudy one because, generally speaking, they lead from the conference table not the sidelines. It’s hard to identify them, because they’re not the names you immediately associate with a school. There are a few names that Duquesne could consider.(Omitted intentionally)

Last edited by grammudder (6/12/2015 10:57 am)

Grammudder, you need to cite the source of the article you posted.

I'll stay on record that neither Kovacevic nor any other reporter has committed a "hatchet job" on Greg Amodio. As I said elsewhere, this is the End of an Error.

Continuing to hammer away at reporters who are trying to do their job -- apparently with no help from the University -- does nothing but distract everyone from what is really needed right now. And it's the same thing Duquesne has needed for 10 years. Leadership. From Dougherty and/or his predecessor, from the new AD, and from Jimmy Ferry.

So please, Grammy, stop with the smear campaign on the press. You are no better right now than any press agent or publicist I have ever come across. There's no need to sell the Amodio agenda any more. To paraphrase the Otter, "Face it, you <expletive deleted> up! You trusted him!" Now he's wrecked your basketball program and it's time to get it fixed. Without him.

E.D.  Steve DiMicelli is my source. I posted his opinion piece verbatim from yuku board except for three people he discussed as possibles for the AD job.  Quit putting me in bed with the former AD.  Quit saying I have an agenda for him.  Nothing could be further than the truth.  My comments about Starkey's column/op/ed piece were well deserved.  Compare what he wrote as a journalist to what Steve did--Steve based his opinion on facts.  Starkey based his opinion on opinion. I repeat that Steve's article was a voice of reason and backed up with knowledge and facts-Starkey's wasn't.  If that is a smear campaign, then bar me from posting and delete me as a contributor.  I've already been deleted more than once on this board.  Trust me, I won't lose any sleep.  But, I'll still take the free beer you promised when you are in town.

I believe it is time to look forward and not back.  Amodio is gone.  Like him or hate him Amodio failed at his primary responsibility of elevating mens basketball to a championship level.  He was a lightning rod of negativity in the press (be it deserved or undeserved) over the way he and Dougherty handled the firing of Ron and the proclamation of Ferry as the next level coach.  The only thing reverse the opinion of those in the press is for Ferry to prove that Amodio made the right decision, and take the Dukes to the NCAA (the so called hump Ron could not get over). 

Amodio and Dougherty are leaving.  This is a new start, and hopefully a time for healing in the DU basketball community.  The most important thing for DU fans right now if for the University to make the best possible hires, and for Ferry to win, or be replace with someone who can.

Last edited by CLK (6/12/2015 1:08 pm)

I sure hope not CLK - I am trying to stay positive as you said and with that, I am going to go forward thinking that they will not grant him an extension.  Though they should wait for the new President to find an AD, I really do hope they will wait for the next AD to be the one to find a new coach - if this one continues his losing ways for the next year.

Put you in bed with him? A little overdone, no?

I hope you asked Steve before posting his thoughts. He's protected by the same copyright laws as everyone.

Tell me what in Starkey's column is inaccurate. I would really like to know.

I didn't read the article. It was clear that Grammy didn't write it. So anything I said wasn't directed to the article.

rogabee wrote:

duq81 wrote:

Here's a question that I haven't seen discussed. What happens if Ferry gets us back to being a winner, but it's basically the same level as Ron had us at? Do we take a "not making that mistake again" attitude, and push for them to keep "a winning coach"? Or do we say, "next level", and kick him to the curb?  I actually think this is the situation we're going to find ourselves in.
 

I'd want to see HOW it is being done - the process - as much as the results.  If I see that the process can get future results of NCAAs, count me potentially in.  If not, I'll bail the way I did on RE.  It's the process as much as the results that I want to see in those cases. 

He has to prove he can coach (teach his team to play defense) and win first before worrying about that.  It was originally reported that Ferry signed a 7 year contract.  http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7798543/duquesne-dukes-name-jim-ferry-new-head-coach  and unless DU does something really stupid like giving him a contract extension now (heard rumors about this) he has 4 years left on his contract.  I do not think DU can afford to eat more than one year of his salary so that leaves three years to prove he deserves an extension in my opinion.  If I am the new AD, Ferry must win next season (beat Robbert Morris, and all cup cakes on schedule, and no first round out in the A10 tourney) and go to some minor tourney, build on that the following year with more wins (no steps back, beat RMU, and beat or be in the game with Pitt, and make a run in the A10 tourney) another tourney possibly an NIT bid, and playing for a league championship in three years and NCAA.  This scenario can be tweaked a little, but unless we are going to lower the goal of getting to the NCAA this type of turn around must occur or DU needs to make a change.