Lansing Contract Situation

[SycamoreStateofMind]

This quote kind of hits at one of my fears with this impending coaching search.

We know Lansing and Clinkscales have had discussions on a contract extension - and per some rumors floating around, he turned those opportunities down last year and ISU turned them down this year. My guess is Lansing was going to get a raise as part of the negotiated extension, but I don't know that. Not a large one, but something to show good faith.

IF Curtis killed the latest round of talks between Lansing and Clinkscales, my fear is she did so because she did not want to give Lansing the raise - and as a result, the next hire will not be paid well enough to attract the kind of candidate this job seems to need.

I think GL & IState had atleast verbally agreed on a contract extension - COVID happened and the contract offer changed - Lansing asked for what was originally offered and they pulled the carpet out from under him on it... My understanding or distant interpretation of what went down.

Then sometime not too long ago - Clink made it clear to Lansing that he wasn’t going to coach his way into a new contract that they were going in separate ways unless he made the NCAA tournament. That was the only way he was coming back.

Thus - the self preservation campaign. If I’m going down then you’re going down with me... You know the University will still be here - Lansing he will have to find another job. His earnings while good by most of our standards are shit compared to most coaches - lucky for him he lived in one of the most affordable places to live in the United States. When he leaves - he will uhhh have to find another job. It won’t hurt to say - look everyone loved me I got screwed. Even if you don’t believe that to be true - 99% of the people with a platform believe it and have put it on public record.

 

[TreeTop]

When he’s gone I expect you to be on here regularly over the next 3 to 20 years when we suck. I’m going to need you to continue to be lead cheerleader through those difficult seasons. You’ve proved to us over the last two years to be very resilient - you’re in the extremely minority of people who want Lansing gone and you’re the ring leader. So when he’s gone - I expect you will be happy and be here to keep things positive right?! Because I’m sure once you pull back the Lansing hate curtain you’re actually a positive person that likes most people - surely it’s only Lansing that you have such hate toward.

THIS.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

IF Curtis killed the latest round of talks between Lansing and Clinkscales, my fear is she did so because she did not want to give Lansing the raise - and as a result, the next hire will not be paid well enough to attract the kind of candidate this job seems to need.

The rumor is President Curtis was not happy with Greg and The Athletic article where he was frank about the budget situation and program limitations. Thus, she nixed the rumored extension offered by Clink. That does seem to fit in with Golden's quote about the Indiana State administration not being happy in hearing about it. We know that isn't Clink because I've personally attended donor events where he stated the basketball budget wasn't acceptable.

If that is the case, it does not sound like President Curtis has thick enough skin for her position. As I mentioned, that response is a tell tale sign at a lack of leadership. Knowing the buck stops with her, I can't help but believe the rumors are true at this point. She's lucky I'm not super wealthy and on the board of trustees because I would be voting against her renewal. I'm beginning to think the search firm we hired for our Presidential search wasn't very good, especially hearing feedback from multiple people that attended those interviews and spoke with the candidates.

Indiana State deserves better.

 

[tennessee]

I think GL & IState had atleast verbally agreed on a contract extension - COVID happened and the contract offer changed - Lansing asked for what was originally offered and they pulled the carpet out from under him on it... My understanding or distant interpretation of what went down.

Then sometime not too long ago - Clink made it clear to Lansing that he wasn’t going to coach his way into a new contract that they were going in separate ways unless he made the NCAA tournament. That was the only way he was coming back.

Thus - the self preservation campaign. If I’m going down then you’re going down with me... You know the University will still be here - Lansing he will have to find another job. His earnings while good by most of our standards are shit compared to most coaches - lucky for him he lived in one of the most affordable places to live in the United States. When he leaves - he will uhhh have to find another job. It won’t hurt to say - look everyone loved me I got screwed. Even if you don’t believe that to be true - 99% of the people with a platform believe it and have put it on public record.

Got it. If COVID is the excuse, then that would also lead me to believe it's a bad sign regarding the next hire.

As has been said ad-nauseum, right now is probably the worst possible time to try something like this. I understand moving on from Lansing. He appears to have plateaued to a degree. But if the plan is to replace him with someone cheaper - which would be hard to do given where his salary falls in the MVC - you can't couple that with only the second season players get a free transfer.

In the past you might have been able to get away with cutting costs. Now you'll have a cheap coach and a gutted roster.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Got it. If COVID is the excuse, then that would also lead me to believe it's a bad sign regarding the next hire.

As has been said ad-nauseum, right now is probably the worst possible time to try something like this. I understand moving on from Lansing. He appears to have plateaud to a degree. But if the plan is to replace him with someone cheaper - which would be hard to do given where his salary falls in the MVC - you can't couple that with only the second season players get a free transfer.

In the past you might have been able to get away with cutting costs. Now you'll have a cheap coach and a gutted roster.

Yep - you're on the right track. I think back when all of the Lansing extension talk was going on behind closed doors COVID was a timing excuse rather than a financial excuse at that time... I think it delayed things to the point that the water got muddy for a number of reasons.

That being said - COVID is a financial excuse going forward. I don't think anyone really knew back in April/May how long and what the actual impact of COVID would be on athletic programs/budgets. But I would think it will have a profound negative impact on athletic budgets - especially mid major programs. So it would be silly to ignore it and it would be silly to think Indiana State (or any other program for that matter) would just be in a position to shift some money or find it on a tree (no pun intended) and all the sudden up our Hoops budget. It's not even fair to think that any program could do that given what has happened the past year.

 

[tennessee]

The rumor is President Curtis was not happy with Greg and The Athletic article where he was frank about the budget situation and program limitations. Thus, she nixed the rumored extension offered by Clink. That does seem to fit in with Golden's quote about the Indiana State administration not being happy in hearing about it. We know that isn't Clink because I've personally attended donor events where he stated the basketball budget wasn't acceptable.

If that is the case, it does not sound like President Curtis has thick enough skin for her position. As I mentioned, that response is a tell tale sign at a lack of leadership. Knowing the buck stops with her, I can't help but believe the rumors are true at this point. She's lucky I'm not super wealthy and on the board of trustees because I would be voting against her renewal. I'm beginning to think the search firm we hired for our Presidential search wasn't very good, especially hearing feedback from multiple people that attended those interviews and spoke with the candidates.

Indiana State deserves better.

Reading The Athletic piece for the first time now. And, yeah, candid is an understatement.

 

[Hooper]

The rumor is President Curtis was not happy with Greg and The Athletic article where he was frank about the budget situation and program limitations. Thus, she nixed the rumored extension offered by Clink. That does seem to fit in with Golden's quote about the Indiana State administration not being happy in hearing about it. We know that isn't Clink because I've personally attended donor events where he stated the basketball budget wasn't acceptable.

If that is the case, it does not sound like President Curtis has thick enough skin for her position. As I mentioned, that response is a tell tale sign at a lack of leadership. Knowing the buck stops with her, I can't help but believe the rumors are true at this point. She's lucky I'm not super wealthy and on the board of trustees because I would be voting against her renewal. I'm beginning to think the search firm we hired for our Presidential search wasn't very good, especially hearing feedback from multiple people that attended those interviews and spoke with the candidates.

Indiana State deserves better.

All the time and money spent (I'm guessing six-figures in consulting costs) on searching for a new President and the recommendations ended up being: "Promote your own Provost (Licari) or take the Provost from a D-2 school in rural Missouri." And lo and behold shortly after being passed over Licari is now a D-1 President himself elsewhere.

 

[4Q_iu]

All the time and money spent (I'm guessing six-figures in consulting costs) on searching for a new President and the recommendations ended up being: "Promote your own Provost (Licari) or take the Provost from a D-2 school in rural Missouri." And lo and behold shortly after being passed over Licari is now a D-1 President himself elsewhere.

Licari was Provost for what, 18 months when Bradley retired? Was he the only finalist? Was he ready to be a Univ President after 18 months of serving as Provost?

 

[Hooper]

Licari was Provost for what, 18 months when Bradley retired? Was he the only finalist? Was he ready to be a Univ President after 18 months of serving as Provost?

Apparently yes because 18-24 months later he became a University President himself. And yes, the finalists were he and Dr. Curtis.

 

[4Q_iu]

Apparently yes because 18-24 months later he became a University President himself. And yes, the finalists were he and Dr. Curtis.

I'd have to look at a calendar again but from their respective CVs

Licari joins ISU as Provost Summer 2015, he was hired as Austin Peay's President in Dec 2020 - correct?

Curtis spent ~6 years as Provost at Central Missouri (Go Mules!) and was hired as ISU's President in Jan 2018...

I don't work in University Admin but is 5-6 years the norm for Provosts prior to hiring as a Univ Pres?

If the BoT is unhappy w/ Dr Curtis, I doubt she'll be back... The last President I recall having "problems" was Dr Benjamin -- IIRC, he battled annually with a different group, though i think folks I know at ISU then agreed with his battles or certainly weren't ready to run him out of town.

 

[sycamore tuff]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1367323509307760641

https://twitter.com/x/status/1367323970362437635

Perhaps they are tired of hearing about it and will do something to make it a non issue going forward.

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Perhaps they are tired of hearing about it and will do something to make it a non issue going forward.

One could only hope.

In the Licari debate, he was who I had hoped we would hire back when it was down to him and Curtis. I don't remember how exactly, but he had connections to UNI and then obviously worked here, so he had to have been familiar with the landscape of MVC athletics. Instead we hire some old woman from some D2 or whatever the heck the college she came from is. Nevertheless she's been nothing short of a disappointment.

 

[Gotta Hav]

Has anyone else noticed that Lansing's record since 2015, when Clinkscales became AD is 86-92?

If you're in charge of performance, and you have to report to be people above you, how do justify keeping that low performing employee on?

 

[4Q_iu]

Has anyone else noticed that Lansing's record since 2015, when Clinkscales became AD is 86-92?

If you're in charge of performance, and you have to report to be people above you, how do justify keeping that low performing employee on?

Agree... Just LOOK at how Lansing stacks up to ISU peers???

Women's Basketball -- Hall 21-56 (.273)
Football -- Mallory 12-22 (.353)
Women's Soccer -- Hanley 23-42-9 (.372)
Men's Basketball -- Lansing 86-92 (.483)
Baseball -- Hannahs 177-125 (.586)


REALLY makes one wonder WHAT Clinkscales is tracking...


Great Analysis "Mr. Cartman"

 

[Sycamorefan96]

You might want to ask the old dingbat Curtis what she is tracking instead. It sounds like she is the bigger problem here.

 

[4Q_iu]

You might want to ask the old dingbat Curtis what she is tracking instead. It sounds like she is the bigger problem here.

Odds are she's had to balance the mission of the university (education, enlightenment, research, public service) with the ancillary/periphery (athletics, community relations)

 

[CoachShipp]

Reading The Athletic piece for the first time now. And, yeah, candid is an understatement.

Can you give us some insights to what Lansing said in the article that would be so offensive or factually dubious?

 

[tennessee]

Can you give us some insights to what Lansing said in the article that would be so offensive or factually dubious?

I wouldn’t say anything was factually incorrect- just not something you usually say about your boss or your employer.

Some days, head basketball coach Greg Lansing walks into the Indiana State coaches’ office at the Hulman Center and sees feces.

“I’ve seen raccoon shit, bat shit and mouse turds,” he says, sitting in the same office the day before the Sycamores’ Jan. 25 game against Bradley.

What he’s saying, somewhat indelicately, is that the 47-year-old Hulman Center is very much under construction. The dust is so bad, the team wet-mops the floor before every game and practice. Lansing said he’s brought recruits in and had them wear hardhats. The $50 million renovation is supposed to be finished in time for the start of next season. “Progress, they tell me,” he says sarcastically. It can’t come quickly enough.

“One day, the arena people threw down some of these mice-killing things where they stick to ‘em,” Lansing says. “I come over one morning, there’s like five mice in these things, so I took ‘em and put ‘em in the hallway.”

There also is this issue, and it’s not a small one: Lansing used to have a rolling five-year contract, but athletic director Sherard Clinkscales, who is in his fourth year, stopped it when he arrived. As a result, next season will be the final year of his contract. It’s not a comfortable place to be in for Lansing.

“If they had the money, they would have bought me out three years ago,” Lansing said. “Now, he (Clinkscales) is finding out how tough the job is and what you’re up against. We’ve had success and we’re going to be good again. We’re starting two freshmen and a sophomore and have another freshman getting minutes off the bench.

“Hopefully this year or next year, I can get an extension because everybody is using that against us in recruiting. I wasn’t happy about it (the cessation of the five-year rolling contract), but we weren’t winning enough for me to bitch about i

 

[pbutler218]

Does anyone even know for sure Lansing won't be back? I recall Clinkscales saying it wouldn't be discussed until AFTER the season. I'm not one to speculate just because some want-to-be sports reporter said it. WHO WAS HIS SOURCE?

 

[TreeTop]

No one knows for sure.