MrsSmith Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Other than a few negative implications toward ORU, this is a nice article about Sean. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/osusportsextra/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Glad to see Sean doing well.....Nice pic of Mr. and Mrs. Sutton....TheEagleman can't help himself but have to say that Sean really outkicked his coverage there..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I think it was time for a change for ALL parties involved. Here's hoping Sean and Scott are both able to enjoy success again in college basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 10 - 22 in league play their last two seasons (including a dead last finish and not making the conf tourney), player defections, poor recruiting classes, but somehow they managed to come out the victims. With ORU's next victory they will exceed the D1 win total from last season. I won't be holding my breath that the TW publishes a story that the firing was justified and ORU is once again headed in the right direction when it comes to men's basketball. For the record, glad both are doing well and landed on their feet. My issue was the lack of critical press from the local media about what was happening with ORU basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 2 hours ago, ORUalum said: 10 - 22 in league play their last two seasons (including a dead last finish and not making the conf tourney), player defections, poor recruiting classes, but somehow they managed to come out the victims. With ORU's next victory they will exceed the D1 win total from last season. I won't be holding my breath that the TW publishes a story that the firing was justified and ORU is once again headed in the right direction when it comes to men's basketball. For the record, glad both are doing well and landed on their feet. My issue was the lack of critical press from the local media about what was happening with ORU basketball. The change was justified; the actual firing was completely botched. There's your headline to the story: "Did the Ends Justify the Means in ORU Coaching Change?" And the answer, of course, is that the jury is still out. Preliminary returns appear to indicate that Paul Mills is a capable coach and an effective leader, but until the big wins come and the attendance improves, it's premature to declare victory on the hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUParentLurker Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Maybe I never heard the firing story. Did they send him a breakup text or something? What is the right way to fire a coach? It seems like ORU doesn't do a whole lot of coach firing so the AD is just a little rusty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 enjoy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUParentLurker Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 The biggest issue appears to be the administration not anticipating the social media backlash. The reality is very few people know the whole story from both sides. I do find it funny that some long time ORU backers are siting a firing from 30 years ago as the potential "lesson learned and forgotten". Handling these things today is a 1000% harder than it was back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingMaaaan Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Answer your phone and this is a non-issue. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 10 hours ago, WingMaaaan said: Answer your phone and this is a non-issue. This is what I have always thought. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 On 1/17/2018 at 11:32 AM, WingMaaaan said: Answer your phone tell the guy your firing to his face first (no matter what) and this is a non-issue. Fixed ^^^ I don't care if Mike Carter and Billy Wilson have to get in a car and drive around South Tulsa looking for him to do it - just do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU GRAD Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Exactly OT. As for the old news, that was yesterday. Get over it and move on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 On 1/17/2018 at 11:05 AM, ORUParentLurker said: I do find it funny that some long time ORU backers are siting a firing from 30 years ago as the potential "lesson learned and forgotten". Handling these things today is a 1000% harder than it was back then. Then you obviously have no idea about how Ken Haye's poorly-executed firing in 1983 crippled the basketball program in the eyes of season ticket holders, sponsors, and media alike (sound familiar?) resulting just five years later in ORU dropping down to NAIA level and almost giving up intercollegiate athletics altogether. Word of advice: if you're going to take pot-shots at posts re: ORU's checkered past when it comes to dismissing coaches, you might at least do a little research first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingMaaaan Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 4 hours ago, Old Titan said: Fixed ^^^ I don't care if Mike Carter and Billy Wilson have to get in a car and drive around South Tulsa looking for him to do it - just do it. Sure you can makes excuses all day long. The bottom line is he was expecting the call and should have been professional enough to take what he knew was coming. I expect that much from Scott. I don’t expect much, at all, from the missionary Wilson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 They should have fired him as soon as the decision was made. He can TRY to 'negotiate' his own exit at the meeting, but that meeting ends with Sutton knowing that he has been terminated. You don't have a series of talks and just trust the person being fired (or the loyal OSU local media) plays along and helps you manage the ensuing PR hit. It's pretty amazing that anyone in a position of authority at ORU thought they would. The fact that information travels so fast these days kind of supports the point that ORU should have had their ducks in a row before approaching Sutton. If those loyal to the Suttons want to start floating accusations of 'recruiting difficulties' and a 'no tattoo policy', then so be it--looks petty on their part, but the bumbling manner in which this was handled gave those stories life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 17 hours ago, Old Titan said: Fixed ^^^ I don't care if Mike Carter and Billy Wilson have to get in a car and drive around South Tulsa looking for him to do it - just do it. It's my understanding that they did discuss it with him face to face. He knew he would be fired. He should've answered his phone, but he probably left it off on purpose. I don't blame the ORU administration for that. I don't think the firing was ever going to go over well in the local media, too many people liked Scott Sutton. They could've handled the false rumors that Sutton put out better by having a press conference sooner. The one who looks bad to me in this whole deal is Scott Sutton. I've never met Sutton, but I can't help but get a bad impression of him from the way he trashed ORU and took no responsibility for how bad things had gotten with the team. However, with that said, I am sure that he was upset about being fired and probably wanted some revenge. He is probably not a bad person. He just didn't handle being fired very well (who would?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I think several of you are missing my point (which in my business means I must be doing a poor job of making my point). I'm not saying whether Scott deserved to be treated more or less fairly, or respectfully, or whatever. I'm saying that ORU bungled the firing from a public relations standpoint. HOW they did it made Scott and Sean sympathetic characters and made ORU look callous and hypocritical, and it's darn near impossible to put that genie back in the bottle when it comes to public opinion. Insert the proper cliche'... 1. They lost the press conference 2. They dropped the ball 3. They screwed the pooch 4. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory 5. PERCEPTION IS REALITY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I just don't think that in the Tulsa media environment that ORU would've ever been able to fire Scott Sutton without having a backlash, no matter how skillfully they executed the PR. I readily admit that ORU could've handled the PR side of things better. However, ORU firing their well-liked, well-respected, media savvy basketball coach was never going to play well with public perception, PR maneuvers aside. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.