Knowlton is a train wreck! Cal sports are awful right now. He is in over his head. I’m a call fan for over 40 years . Don’t care if he is a good fundraiser, he isn’t putting fans in the seats and the fan morale is at an all time low. Most of the major income revenue sports are awful. We are near the bottom in every sport. How did this guy get any type of extension? Wow…
To be fair, Knowlton should have never been hired in the first place. He did not have the resume to be an AD at a Power 5 school. The folks that should get fired are teh ones responsible for Jim's hiring.
And not sure I have an issue with the FTX sponsorship. Even Major League Baseball as outfitted the umps with FTX badges....
Additionally, Cal Athletics should have an investment committee -- shame on them if they don't -- who should have reviewed/approved of the risky investment.
I do recognize that there is a distinction to be drawn between whether we should be in business with a company for moral reasons vs. whether we should be in business with a company because it's the best move financially. This probably was the best move financially, because I doubt we had better options, but boy is it gross looking to take money from a company based in a field that is one gigantic confidence scheme.
FTX is also one of the only players in the crypto space that's making gains/acquisitions during the broader sectoral collapse, so I'm also not so concerned about that particular aspect.
I would suspect there’s a stock refresh going on over the summer but supply chain issues haven’t helped that case and Cal gear isn’t exactly high on the profit asset list.
I hope Larry Scott is squirming in his seat right about now.
I have to read more on the McKeever situation, but there are just a lot of red flags from him, and I’m not sure it’s in time to fix anything to fire him. I hate how many crappy situations we just happen to fall in.
I'll simply add a quibble...not sure taking FTX money (yes hopefully instantly converted to USD from crypto) is such an offense of any major sort. If so, then Mercedes is can be accused of the same as FTX is a major sponsor of F1...but like I said, be sure to cash the check. Hindsight is perfect in these matters, so I'd give Cal a pass on this one.
FTX is on every major league umpire's sleeve. I would not criticize Cal for taking the sponsorship after all the COO is a Cal grad. The last one Kabam, was acquired and the acquirer canceled the deal. And I agree that FTX is likely not going to fail, both propping up other crypto entities or buying them out. It also would be nice to see other sponsorships/NIL deals emerging from the tech and finance worlds, both are well represented in the Bay Area.
Can't say I was too impressed with how the department handled COVID rules around the football team last year either. We had an outbreak that forced us to essentially forfeit a game (I know we didn't literally forfeit to Arizona, but with so many players out we may as well have). That loss turned out to mean no bowl game.
Unavoidable? Maybe. But a lot of folks within the program seemed to feel like they didn't have good support or clear communication on what the rules should be.
You're right, we're only getting one side of the story regarding the McKeever situation. I lean towards the 'kids are too soft/sensitive today' side of this issue. This sounds exactly like tough love coaching to me. You don't make olympians by being nice.
And I seriously doubt that any official complaints were ignored or dismissed, it's more likely the parents just didn't get the answer they wanted. I've encountered many 'sports parents' in my youth coaching career, and they can be oblivious to reality, and will advocate for their child, even if they know their child is lying. NINETEEN complaints in THIRTY years doesn't move the needle for me.
The main question should be what are we owed as alumni/fans/the public as far as disclosure from the department when these allegations surface. It's possible that some of what comes out might be embarrassing to the university, but could also be embarrassing for the athletes or parents, and would raise privacy concerns. I personally would like to hear every thought that passes through Knowlton's head in every matter, but short of that, I'd like him to be as open as the most open AD in college sports (are there any?).
There's a wide gap between playing nice and Communist bloc style Olympic youth abuse, and I'd like Cal to be somewhere a little closer to the former than the latter.
Good piece, Nick. Knowlton's a don't rock the boat kind of AD. He'll keep things status quo if things are going well, but he really doesn't have much experience with crisis management or a good track record in making some of the high leverage decisions, like the revenue sport coaching hires. My sense is that Christ and Knowlton are more likely to follow the lead of the other schools rather than maneuver much on their own, which is a concern.
I have the same concerns as you. I don’t see Cal athletics as a whole being sustainable. Football realignment is just further destabilizing. I don’t see a clear plan heading forward, near-term or long-term.
I have had a bit of interaction with Knowlton by email. He carefully worded a response to my suggestion which showed a degree of thoughtfulness. Now he has an opportunity to step up and enhance the luster of Cal football, or at least secure its future. I certainly wasn't aware of the problems with the non-revenue sports until recently. For a guy making almost a million bucks a year he has to execute in the near term here.
I've emailed him as well and received a personalized response. Apparently he took objection to me stating that he has been a failure on multiple fronts: women's soccer coach, COVID, Fox. At that time, the McKeever situation had not come up. So, I resent my initial email and added the Mckeever situation in bold. He hasn't responded.
He needs to go, simple. Once the McKeever "investigation" is complete she will be gone as well. If not, who is she going to coach? Hell her team already walked out on her days after the publication of the story! She should do the right thing and resign. If she is that great of a coach some team will pick her up. Knowlton, no one will ever hire him as an AD, this is the last job he will ever have. Unfortunately he will be able to get off the sinking ship before it goes to the bottom of the Bay. Christ should fire his ass for cause, she has plenty to choose from!!
My issue with the state of Cal sports is that I believe it is impacting Cal's academic rankings. My son is a junior in high school and looking at colleges right now. At his high school (Orange County, CA) there is almost no buzz about Cal. Everyone is applying to UCLA but no one is even interested in Cal. I partially attribute this to 2 things. 1) How bad the City of Berkeley has gotten in terms of social life. 2) how bad the main revenue sports (football and basketball) have gotten. That's why UCLA has surpassed Cal in academic rankings. I'm sure UCLA took some of the kids that would have gone to Cal. More kids are even going to Boise St and Gonzaga than Cal. These 2 schools weren't even on my radar when I was applying to colleges (90's) but due to the success of Boise St. football and Gonzaga basketball, kids are now excited to go to these school. One student I know had great GPA, captain of water polo team, jazz soloist and chose Gonzaga (he did get scholarship money), but still, 20 years ago, Cal would have been a no brainer.
I have also emailed him and had the opposite experience. In his email to me, while personalized, demonstrated a lack of concern about the state of athletics (a very everything is fine, just need more time tone) and a basic lack of understanding about what I said (I told him I was boycotting and he replied that he looked forward to seeing me at future events). He seems like a decent enough guy on the surface (handling of the McKeever fiasco notwithstanding) but he's clearly in way over his head and needs to go.
Either McKeever acted within Cal expectations as coach, and as a result shouldn't have been suspended, or she acted inappropriately and Cal failed to hold her accountable until the athletes and media forced their hand. So either Cal weakly succumbed to external pressure or didn't act on a pressing issue that had built over years. Even if McKeever did nothing wrong it's a deeply concerning datapoint for Knowlton's tenure.
I'll respectfully disagree with the thrust of your comment. I'll also say that being routinely dismissive is not a good look, nor is it wanted in a leader. Knowlton is protecting McKeever with a dismissive attitude. He may also be protecting his rear flank, possibly because he doesn't know how to deal with the charges against McKeever.
It isn't whining brats that I'm worried about. It's athletes who say that they're injured and not getting better and are met with a dismissive attitude by McKeever and Knowlton. The alleged mindset of McKeever and Knowlton is something to worry about. This isn't armed conflict or even hand-to-hand combat, it's athletics.
There is a line between being an a$$hole and being an unreasonable a$$hole. I want one to lead a team; the other I want to have no part in a team at Cal, or anywhere else for that matter.
Oh look, another “those kids today” boomer who “paid his way through” when such a thing could be done on a part-time/summer job with no family help or loans.
I don’t know your age, but you’re either a boomer or you’ve been brainwashed by their propaganda.
Enjoying that house you bought for 30k that’s now worth 950k and rents out for $4,000/month? No generation before or after boomers has been able to do that. And that’s just one of the structural advantages they had. Everything was laid out for them. Boomers didn’t add a rung to any ladder, they had 70 virgins to carry them up a gold plated escalator.
Boomers priced subsequent generations out of life and then pulled the allegorical ladder up behind them.
There are actually valid points on both sides (minus the woke thing...I don't quite understand how that plays here). I am an Xgen. I recently left academics after making Full Professor. There were a lot of reasons (esp. the crap salary) but I saw a major change in the students, esp. post COVID. There have always been floaters in college, but I noticed a big change in attitude from the students: when I started most bad students took ownership for being crappy (which I could respect)...more recently the crap students blame the professors for their own failures. The Socratic Method is dead because putting a student on the spot is viewed as threatening. Being honest about course difficulty (e.g. telling them that a certain percentage will fail) is almost a guaranteed complaint to upper admin. Not saying all students are this way (and it is less of a problem at the better schools), but America needs to have a real conversation with students about taking responsibility for their own academic success. College will has always and will always be what YOU make of it. The best professors and coaches are just guides that hopefully challenge you to become better; sometimes this requires a kick in the ass.
Somehow Knowlton has gotten worse since this was written.
Knowlton is a train wreck! Cal sports are awful right now. He is in over his head. I’m a call fan for over 40 years . Don’t care if he is a good fundraiser, he isn’t putting fans in the seats and the fan morale is at an all time low. Most of the major income revenue sports are awful. We are near the bottom in every sport. How did this guy get any type of extension? Wow…
If Knowlton was capable of “doing better” he would have already done it (see U$C, ucla as examples of “doing better.”).
Obviously, sadly, Cal’s fate is dependent upon those who are clearly beyond their level of competence to deal with 2022 College Football Athletics.
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, a lonely Bear Nation turns its eyes to you.
To be fair, Knowlton should have never been hired in the first place. He did not have the resume to be an AD at a Power 5 school. The folks that should get fired are teh ones responsible for Jim's hiring.
And not sure I have an issue with the FTX sponsorship. Even Major League Baseball as outfitted the umps with FTX badges....
Additionally, Cal Athletics should have an investment committee -- shame on them if they don't -- who should have reviewed/approved of the risky investment.
I do recognize that there is a distinction to be drawn between whether we should be in business with a company for moral reasons vs. whether we should be in business with a company because it's the best move financially. This probably was the best move financially, because I doubt we had better options, but boy is it gross looking to take money from a company based in a field that is one gigantic confidence scheme.
FTX is also one of the only players in the crypto space that's making gains/acquisitions during the broader sectoral collapse, so I'm also not so concerned about that particular aspect.
Also, does anyone know what’s going on with the Jerseys? I looked on Fanatics and I can’t find or buy any. Are they making New Jersey’s?
I would suspect there’s a stock refresh going on over the summer but supply chain issues haven’t helped that case and Cal gear isn’t exactly high on the profit asset list.
Ah I see. I thought it had something to do with the under armour deal, but that makes sense too.
Are we still under that?
I hope Larry Scott is squirming in his seat right about now.
I have to read more on the McKeever situation, but there are just a lot of red flags from him, and I’m not sure it’s in time to fix anything to fire him. I hate how many crappy situations we just happen to fall in.
I'll simply add a quibble...not sure taking FTX money (yes hopefully instantly converted to USD from crypto) is such an offense of any major sort. If so, then Mercedes is can be accused of the same as FTX is a major sponsor of F1...but like I said, be sure to cash the check. Hindsight is perfect in these matters, so I'd give Cal a pass on this one.
FTX is on every major league umpire's sleeve. I would not criticize Cal for taking the sponsorship after all the COO is a Cal grad. The last one Kabam, was acquired and the acquirer canceled the deal. And I agree that FTX is likely not going to fail, both propping up other crypto entities or buying them out. It also would be nice to see other sponsorships/NIL deals emerging from the tech and finance worlds, both are well represented in the Bay Area.
Larry Scott is available :)
Hah. Sandy Barbour is also available, but I'd actually feel 500% better with Sandy at the helm at this time.
Can't say I was too impressed with how the department handled COVID rules around the football team last year either. We had an outbreak that forced us to essentially forfeit a game (I know we didn't literally forfeit to Arizona, but with so many players out we may as well have). That loss turned out to mean no bowl game.
Unavoidable? Maybe. But a lot of folks within the program seemed to feel like they didn't have good support or clear communication on what the rules should be.
You're right, we're only getting one side of the story regarding the McKeever situation. I lean towards the 'kids are too soft/sensitive today' side of this issue. This sounds exactly like tough love coaching to me. You don't make olympians by being nice.
And I seriously doubt that any official complaints were ignored or dismissed, it's more likely the parents just didn't get the answer they wanted. I've encountered many 'sports parents' in my youth coaching career, and they can be oblivious to reality, and will advocate for their child, even if they know their child is lying. NINETEEN complaints in THIRTY years doesn't move the needle for me.
The main question should be what are we owed as alumni/fans/the public as far as disclosure from the department when these allegations surface. It's possible that some of what comes out might be embarrassing to the university, but could also be embarrassing for the athletes or parents, and would raise privacy concerns. I personally would like to hear every thought that passes through Knowlton's head in every matter, but short of that, I'd like him to be as open as the most open AD in college sports (are there any?).
There's a wide gap between playing nice and Communist bloc style Olympic youth abuse, and I'd like Cal to be somewhere a little closer to the former than the latter.
Good piece, Nick. Knowlton's a don't rock the boat kind of AD. He'll keep things status quo if things are going well, but he really doesn't have much experience with crisis management or a good track record in making some of the high leverage decisions, like the revenue sport coaching hires. My sense is that Christ and Knowlton are more likely to follow the lead of the other schools rather than maneuver much on their own, which is a concern.
I have the same concerns as you. I don’t see Cal athletics as a whole being sustainable. Football realignment is just further destabilizing. I don’t see a clear plan heading forward, near-term or long-term.
Admin at Berkeley has not been leading in any sort of sense for a long time, sadly
Painful to review, but on point. Thanks Nick, for your take on this mess.
Go Bears!
Beat Somebody!!
I have had a bit of interaction with Knowlton by email. He carefully worded a response to my suggestion which showed a degree of thoughtfulness. Now he has an opportunity to step up and enhance the luster of Cal football, or at least secure its future. I certainly wasn't aware of the problems with the non-revenue sports until recently. For a guy making almost a million bucks a year he has to execute in the near term here.
I've emailed him as well and received a personalized response. Apparently he took objection to me stating that he has been a failure on multiple fronts: women's soccer coach, COVID, Fox. At that time, the McKeever situation had not come up. So, I resent my initial email and added the Mckeever situation in bold. He hasn't responded.
He needs to go, simple. Once the McKeever "investigation" is complete she will be gone as well. If not, who is she going to coach? Hell her team already walked out on her days after the publication of the story! She should do the right thing and resign. If she is that great of a coach some team will pick her up. Knowlton, no one will ever hire him as an AD, this is the last job he will ever have. Unfortunately he will be able to get off the sinking ship before it goes to the bottom of the Bay. Christ should fire his ass for cause, she has plenty to choose from!!
My issue with the state of Cal sports is that I believe it is impacting Cal's academic rankings. My son is a junior in high school and looking at colleges right now. At his high school (Orange County, CA) there is almost no buzz about Cal. Everyone is applying to UCLA but no one is even interested in Cal. I partially attribute this to 2 things. 1) How bad the City of Berkeley has gotten in terms of social life. 2) how bad the main revenue sports (football and basketball) have gotten. That's why UCLA has surpassed Cal in academic rankings. I'm sure UCLA took some of the kids that would have gone to Cal. More kids are even going to Boise St and Gonzaga than Cal. These 2 schools weren't even on my radar when I was applying to colleges (90's) but due to the success of Boise St. football and Gonzaga basketball, kids are now excited to go to these school. One student I know had great GPA, captain of water polo team, jazz soloist and chose Gonzaga (he did get scholarship money), but still, 20 years ago, Cal would have been a no brainer.
I have also emailed him and had the opposite experience. In his email to me, while personalized, demonstrated a lack of concern about the state of athletics (a very everything is fine, just need more time tone) and a basic lack of understanding about what I said (I told him I was boycotting and he replied that he looked forward to seeing me at future events). He seems like a decent enough guy on the surface (handling of the McKeever fiasco notwithstanding) but he's clearly in way over his head and needs to go.
Either McKeever acted within Cal expectations as coach, and as a result shouldn't have been suspended, or she acted inappropriately and Cal failed to hold her accountable until the athletes and media forced their hand. So either Cal weakly succumbed to external pressure or didn't act on a pressing issue that had built over years. Even if McKeever did nothing wrong it's a deeply concerning datapoint for Knowlton's tenure.
Stipulated: Jim Knowlton is a USMA alum.
I'll respectfully disagree with the thrust of your comment. I'll also say that being routinely dismissive is not a good look, nor is it wanted in a leader. Knowlton is protecting McKeever with a dismissive attitude. He may also be protecting his rear flank, possibly because he doesn't know how to deal with the charges against McKeever.
It isn't whining brats that I'm worried about. It's athletes who say that they're injured and not getting better and are met with a dismissive attitude by McKeever and Knowlton. The alleged mindset of McKeever and Knowlton is something to worry about. This isn't armed conflict or even hand-to-hand combat, it's athletics.
There is a line between being an a$$hole and being an unreasonable a$$hole. I want one to lead a team; the other I want to have no part in a team at Cal, or anywhere else for that matter.
Can you describe in a paragraph the ways that this athletic department has been 'woke', because I'm struggling to fill up a sentence.
Oh look, another “those kids today” boomer who “paid his way through” when such a thing could be done on a part-time/summer job with no family help or loans.
I don’t know your age, but you’re either a boomer or you’ve been brainwashed by their propaganda.
Enjoying that house you bought for 30k that’s now worth 950k and rents out for $4,000/month? No generation before or after boomers has been able to do that. And that’s just one of the structural advantages they had. Everything was laid out for them. Boomers didn’t add a rung to any ladder, they had 70 virgins to carry them up a gold plated escalator.
Boomers priced subsequent generations out of life and then pulled the allegorical ladder up behind them.
There are actually valid points on both sides (minus the woke thing...I don't quite understand how that plays here). I am an Xgen. I recently left academics after making Full Professor. There were a lot of reasons (esp. the crap salary) but I saw a major change in the students, esp. post COVID. There have always been floaters in college, but I noticed a big change in attitude from the students: when I started most bad students took ownership for being crappy (which I could respect)...more recently the crap students blame the professors for their own failures. The Socratic Method is dead because putting a student on the spot is viewed as threatening. Being honest about course difficulty (e.g. telling them that a certain percentage will fail) is almost a guaranteed complaint to upper admin. Not saying all students are this way (and it is less of a problem at the better schools), but America needs to have a real conversation with students about taking responsibility for their own academic success. College will has always and will always be what YOU make of it. The best professors and coaches are just guides that hopefully challenge you to become better; sometimes this requires a kick in the ass.