Cowboys athletic director Mike Holder instead wound up with a Ford.
OSU faithful assumed having the Bank of BooneFDIC at their disposal would bring a splash hire, which would result in a tidal wave of success.
The hiring of Massachusetts coach Travis Ford barely creates a ripple, but the former Kentucky point guard could still be the right hire.
Cowboys fans need to readjust their thinking.
Having a mound of money doesn't guarantee hiring a big-name coach by cutting a big-time check.
Nor does it mean that should be your approach.
Sure, Holder wanted a big name. But far more important was finding a coach who felt like the right fit.
Plan A was Kansas coach Bill Self, a former OSU player and assistant coach.
Rather than throwing cash at Self's feet, Holder first needed to be certain Self wanted the job.
If Self's heart said yes, then Holder would open the vault.
Self opted to remain at KU and both sides insist no financial terms were discussed.
Holder used the right approach with Self. So why alter that approach for candidates further down your wish list?
Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon was said to be Plan B.
Holder was a one-man search committee, which meant he wanted no agents, no search firms and no Pump brothers.
Evidently, there was some outside interference surrounding Dixon's candidacy.
The name of Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie was whispered throughout the search. He makes $2.3 million guaranteed, with an annuity and perks that put him in the $3 million range annually.
Though OSU easily could have exceeded that healthy sum, there is no confirmation Holder and Gillispie ever had a meeting.
(Gillispie was in a similar position as his close friend and former boss, Self. Why leave Kansas or Kentucky for OSU?)
By offering a monster contract, Holder single-handedly could have skewed the national pay scale of collegiate coaching.
He realized this, which made finding a genuine candidate even more difficult.
Ford could be a bust, or he could be a bargain.
Having a wait-and-see attitude never hurts, no matter how big your wallet.
Holder will give Ford more time to prove himself than the two seasons previous coach Sean Sutton was given, and the reason is simple.
Holder hired Ford.
Holder didn't inherit him like he did Sutton, and there's a massive difference between the two.
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Holder had two choices on keeping Coach Sutton. He did what he thought was the right thing and stuck by his decision. He made a good hire hopefully great as long as they don't beat OU, maybe not great, time will tell. I hope OSU will return to national prominence again. Sure us OU fans maybe a little bit jealous of not having a donor with a bottomless wallet and bank account such as T. Boone, but it'd be nice seeing OSU go 12-1 in football and only have 2 losses in basketball (both to OU) each year. I hope AD Holder's decisions pay off for OSU next year and down the road. Good Luck OSU and Coach Ford. Any time you hire a new coach, it's a risk and gamble, just as it is to fire a coach that maybe should have had another year. Gundy was a good hire for a footbal coach, his teams were rigt close to some huge wins the past two years and the more he gets the right players and a team of coaches that can provide continuity, his teams will start to deliver a lot better seasons than 7-6, whether or not he was T. Boone's choice, the AD or University President's choice for a coach. Coach Ford will hopefully do the same. Coach Smith with the Wrestling program speaks for itself, even though a down year is not winning the NCAA Championships and sending a few graduating Senior's to the Olympic Trials or Olypmics. It would be nice to see all the Oklahoma Universities finish in the top of their respective Divisions in every sport.
Ken from Kingfisher. I have only played, coached and studied basketball for 50 years. Guess I will have to defer to your superior personnel evaluation. Please note that I did not bash Coach Ford. I wish him and our Pokes only the best. Maybe he can become accepted by Mr. Holder since he apparently made the choice single-handedly. Not my idea of how things should work, but hey, Coach Holder's teams did win a lot of golf championships. Go Pokes!
Hey, Robert from Tulsa. I was born and raised in Tulsa. Called it home until I was hired out of OSU to work out of state. Loved the town until about 10 years ago. I'll let you know when I am coming to visit the kinfolks and see a game or two so you can skip town and not have to see me.
I don't understand the comments about Holder. How is OSU embarrassed by this hire? After reading Ford's resume it is clearly a good hire. Being coached by Pitino for three years is like getting a phd in the sport.
If he wins I don't care who they attribute it to. Sean's teams never played above their ability(except the Kansas game) and frequently played below their ability. Sean should have had another year but the results would have been the same so why not start the process now. Ford, your on deck and the clock is already ticking.
Seems like a good hire at this point, (real early), but will have to wait and see if the talent currently there will win for him or not. If they do, will it be attributed to Sutton or will it all be on Ford. Only time, (and this blog) will tell.
Like any OSU fan, sure i wanted Bill Self, but i and most of my fellow fans, that i know, all knew he most likely would not take the job. And wether it was right or wrong to let Sean go, we still are doing nothing more than making it worse by not moving forward. I have done a lot of research on Ford, and i believe him to be the best fit we could get. Like it or not, we are on the road to being a Championship school, but we are not their yet. It would have taken obscene amounts of money to get a Callipari type. I love my Pokes, but i am not unrealistic. Good Hire and Go Pokes!
Wanted a Lamborghini and got a Ford - eeesshh. Wonder how long it took to think that one up? Seems to me like OSU got a good coach. I don' think even Bill Self would have led them to the level that some of their fans think they belong at. I bet Ford will take them to the NCAA on a pretty regular basis though.
Correction... UMass shared the conference title in 06-07 and he turned the program around after a multitude of losing and subpar seasons in 3 years. Lightning in a bottle... doesn't matter how we got him...
Holder did his homework on this hire. Ken from Kingfisher is precise. Ford is an excellent hire. Eventually the biggest problem with Ford will be keeping him.
I am not sure that Sean Sutton should not have been given another year after inheriting the train wreck of a situation he did. We will always wonder what might have been, but now we Poke boosters and fans need to focus on what will be. We now have a coach. He seems to have built up every program he has ever been a part of, whether as a player or as a coach. I believe he may be able to get the Pokes into high gear soon. He seems like the kind of guy who can fit in with the returning OSU squad. He will inherit quite a bit of talent. I hope he can get them firing on all cylinders. Go Coach! GO POKES!
What's funny is that these comments show that there are very, very few true basketball fans that read these stories. Ford is a solid hire. He has a very good reputation both as a player and a coach. Many of you can now return to "Access Hollywood" so you can have a minimalist knowledge of all things entertainment!
Only one NCAA appearance in 11 years concerns me. Maybe he was coaching at schools and within leagues that had a hard time getting the attention of the NCAA selection committee. However, he also didn't win a single conference championship which is playing against comparable talent. My guess is that like the automobile Ford will be good and dependable but not win the gold cup.
Ford is going to be a great hire for the Cowboys. He seems like the good-guy we expect to run our program in Stillwater. Don't judge the decision until you see the results in a year or two. OSU never wanted Gillespie because he wasn't the type of guy you want leading your program and players. The only opinion I consider on this hire is that of the coaches in Div. 1 basketball. They think he's an incredible coach and talent.
Spray all the perfume you want Mr. Rhode, but this deal has stunk from the start. Mr. Holder has proven to be a person that cannot be trusted. If your concluding comments are correct then he is more short-sighted than even I had thought. The attitude of "not invented here" or, in this case, "not hired by me" is suicide in the business world. That in itself blows a lot of people's opinion that Mr. Holder is a shrewd business man. In my opinion he was a great golf coach that worked the good ole boy network to the hilt...and there is really nothing wrong with that. But it doesn't work at the level to which he has ascended. A good example of the Peter Principle at work. I just hope someone above him, and that should not be Mr. Pickens, smells the coffee and gets a qualified AD in place sooner rather than later.
Oh get over yourself Roy. I love it when people critcize others when there is absolutely no way they could come close to doing the job. I hope you can function in your day to day world with all of this embarrasment. Give me a break. Welcome coach Ford and good job coach Holder.
I don't think Holder embarrassed OSU. I think he spent the right amount of time scouting out the field after Self was out of the picture and made a great hire in Ford.
"Holder takes measured approach with his hire." This is code for they bet the farm on Bill Self, as Bill used OSU like a tool to get better benefits, and now Holder is scrambling to make a hire because his second and third choices told him no thanks. In the last two weeks, Holder has really embarrassed OSU...and I mean on a national level...not just locally.
Holder's hiring of Travis Ford is not a big splash... 04/17/2008 A week ago, Oklahoma State went fishing for Bill Self. Now, it has hooked Travis Ford. A splash, this isn't. The search for OSU's next men's basketball coach...
Ford has diverse resume 04/17/2008 STILLWATER — Author, actor, fixer-upper. It appears Oklahoma State has hired a man of many interests in basketball coach Travis Ford, who accepted an offer...
No call from Holder to UMass AD? 04/17/2008 Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder said late last week that when he found a suitable candidate his first call would be to the coach's athletic...
Ford worked his way up the coaching ladder 04/17/2008 Travis Ford was a Kentucky high school star. Little white guy who rarely missed a shot and never missed a free throw. Sort of a Bluegrass Keiton Page. Then...
Crossing paths... almost 04/17/2008 In a twist of fate, new Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford has been in a position to follow Sean Sutton once before. After growing up in Kentucky, Ford ended...
Who is Travis Ford? 04/17/2008 Who is Travis Ford? •Born: December 29, 1969 (38 years old), Madisonville, Ky. •High school: North Hopkins High School, Madisonville •College:...
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Leave a comment. Log in below or sign up (it's free).Editor's note: It is not our intent to offer comments on crime or fatality stories.
Hey, Robert from Tulsa. I was born and raised in Tulsa. Called it home until I was hired out of OSU to work out of state. Loved the town until about 10 years ago. I'll let you know when I am coming to visit the kinfolks and see a game or two so you can skip town and not have to see me.