Leading the Big East into the... past?

John Marinatto just "met" the media as commissioner-elect on a teleconference this morning. Rutgers president Richard McCormick, as chair of the Big East's presidents group, made the official announcement and he proudly highlighted how similar Marinatto's resume is to that of Mike Tranghese, the man he replaces.

Marinatto is a Providence College graduate, like Tranghese he was a Providence College SID, and he then became athletic director there in 1987. He served in that capacity until 2001, when the school administration tried to move him into a fundraising position. He balked and resigned. In 2002, Marinatto joined the Big East as an associate commissioner, in 2005 he was promoted to Senior Associate Commissioner and Mike Tranghese, who so incredibly kept the league together after the ACC's raid, said Marinatto sat alongside him at nearly all the consequential meetings he's had, be they on TV contracts or BCS status.

So was it any surprise that Marinatto opened with the promise, "You cannot know where you're going unless you truly know, understand and appreciate where you've been?" He said one of his first main thrusts will be in "putting more emphasis on educating people about where we were and how we got to where we are... You really need to understand and appreciate the history and the evolution when you sit at the table (and make decisions)."

Marinatto was apparently the unanimous choice of the search committee and McCormick said he proved himself "a visionary leader for 21st century intercollegiate athletics in the United States." Well, the Big East absolutely needs a creative thinker. There is no BCS league with fewer football schools (the league has eight) or more basketball schools (there are 16) and that plays in the sorts of diverse markets the Big East does. There's no question the Big East has enjoyed unparalleled success recently: The league's last three Big East BCS teams won their bowl games, including West Virginia this past January, after they'd lost their seemingly assured spot in the national title game and their coach. Seven basketball teams went to the NCAA Tourney and there's talk that at least eight will go this March. But from what Marinatto told us today, his visions don't include anything that would represent a departure from business as it's been.

Marinatto said the top priority of his administration will be to solidify the Big East's bowl rotation. He wouldn't elaborate on any of the specific vision he laid out for the presidents, and when I asked if his unanimous selection gave him a mandate to seek something concrete, like perhaps a ninth football team, he said, "There was no specific item like that that we talked about through the process or that I advanced as being one of our immediate priorities."

Okay, well, the way I see it, there are several key questions that will be on Marinatto's agenda when he takes over for Tranghese on July 1. Here's his take on them as of this morning:

Notre Dame's partial membership: In 1994, Notre Dame had the Big East over its knee, and it could get away with joining the league while still keeping its football schedule and TV money for itself. Notre Dame today, though, is not the Notre Dame of then. There was one commissioner candidate who openly told the search committee he'd tell the Irish, "You're either in, or you're out." That was NOT Marinatto. "This is another item where Michael and I are on the same page," Marinatto said. He commended the "partner" Notre Dame's been "over the last five years, since the whole rebuilding and reconstituting" of the league has taken place, and he said "their football independence is very important to them." So don't expect any ultimatums.

Balancing the football schedule: With eight teams, it's four road games and three home games for some teams and the flip for other. The football coaches have occasionally talked about the benefit of a ninth team, one that would give everyone an equal four home and four road split, but there, Marinatto said, "we're going to be status quo...Right now, I don't think there's any immediate plan to expand."

Splitting the league between the basketball-only schools and the football schools: That, Marinatto insisted, is not anything ever actually discussed within "the confines of the (Big East) table." He called it "more or less speculation on blogs" and said the prospect wasn't one he believed he'd be addressing.

Mike Tranghese talked about how his own elevation 18 years ago enabled the league membership to see him in a different light, and that his expectation is the same for Marinatto. He spoke extremely highly of Marinatto's potential and the leadership to come. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

Comments

[Jimbo]

Let's face facts. If you care about Big East Football, this guy was a TERRIBLE choice.

[rutgersguy]

I have to say, I’m not thrilled with this hire. I was hoping for Kevin Weiberg the ex-Big 12 commish, some new outside blood. The hire sorta reeks of nepotism, while not in the literal sense but in the Providence College lineage sense. What’s with the Providence College family tree and why are the Big East offices located there rather than NYC?. Is the heart of the Big East really in Rhode Island?

I don’t know anything about this guy but if he’s anything like Tranghese, I’m not sure how much a “visionary leader of the 21st century” he will be. Sorry Dr. McCormick. Judging from his title you’d think he was riding co-pilot with Tranghese when the ACC raid went down, so he bares responsibility as well. Unfortunately, I see more “stuck in the mud” leadership rather than “visionary.” Visionary leadership would have us being the predator rather than the prey, I mean the ACC still has had trouble winning a BCS game. If we had our strong teams with a couple of theirs stability would have reined instead of the precarious position we have now. I will say though that Rutgers football may not have blossomed as it did in those conditions, so it could have been a blessing in disguise for us, at least temporarily. People like to praise Tranghese for holding the league together and keeping it viable and I agree with that. One problem is that it should have never happened in the first place. Say someone isn’t paying attention and suddenly knocks over a glass and it shatters into pieces. Now say that same person skillfully gathers all the pieces, glues them all back together, and the glass is usable again. Great job. One thing though, if you had been paying attention it would never have happened and you can still see all the cracks and it still may break apart again. That’s how I see the Big East as it stands now. Marinatto talks about knowing the past and where we’ve been etc…Everyone knows our past and what’s happened as well. What we need is some fresh new perspective. I’m not sure this guy is going to bring it. I mentioned in another post elsewhere that most likely we’re gonna be status quo. We won’t see any “visionary” proposals.

Some of my thought with regards to some stuff you brought up.

Notre Dame – I like that ballsy response by the interviewee that they’re either in or out. It had to be an outsider like Weiberg who would’ve had enough guts to say it. Personally, I can live with ND having their football independence and keeping their money, but it has to come at a price higher than what they’re paying now. Right now they agreed to 3 games against Big East teams at “neutral” sites on our end with them probably getting a big part of the gate. That’s not nearly enough. They should have to play 5-6 Big East games a year in home/home series with no neutral sites. If they wanna play say 3 specific Big East teams every year and rotate the leftover games through the Big East, that’s fine too. In my opinion that would be more amenable and fair, if they don’t like it let them go. Some think we need them for bowl tie-ins. Thank god we have those international and birmingham bowls, where would we be if not for ND, lol. This year a 7-5 ND might actually snatch away our Gator bowl. There are so many bowls and so many slots, what are these bowls gonna do? They have no choice but to include Big East teams. We don’t need ND. Would the bowl prefer the 4th,5th, 6th, etc… team from whatever conference rather than the 2nd from the Big East. How did the Gator bowls attendance do last year with the Big 12/ACC matchup? It’s just good business to include us. We don’t have to make it all or nothing for ND but we have to push for way more than what we’ve got right now.

Expansion - Let me preface this by saying it’s not the ideal alternative but it’s the most realistic. I think the football schools should seriously consider breaking off and expanding by 2 teams to ten. Unfortunately, we’re not gonna have the pie in the sky eastern conference where BC, Penn State or Maryland are going to break off and join the eastern schools of the Big East, so forget that. So I’d say they should add Memphis and East Carolina. I’m not enthused by either choice but like I said it’s not ideal just realistic. Neither school will be bring any academic accolades to the conference either. Memphis does bring an elite basketball program with Calipari, an okay football program and possibly access to the Liberty bowl. East Carolina as we’ve seen can be a strong up and coming football program and has a very rabid fan base that I think will travel to bowls. I add 2 teams to 10 rather than 1 to 9 because I think basketball conference tourneys at the end of the season are facilitated by 10 teams instead of 9. It’s not the ideal/best consortium but at least finally we’ll have all the ships sailing in the same direction.

[Bubba]

Here is what the Big East needs to do to fix the football scheduling problem: bring back Temple as a football-only school again. I know they still sorta suck but is is the easiest answer. Army and Navy said no. It would be too messy to get another Conference USA school because they have nowhere to put their other sports.

Bringing back Temple gives everyone an 8th Big East game and increases the television inventory. Right now, there are only 3 conference games available for TV each week. Having 9 members makes 4 conference games available for TV instead. Much better. This would increase the Big East's visibility, which is a problem.

Having said this, Temple would be under very strict rules. They would have attendance requirements, scheduling guidelines, and things of that sort. It would also be well known that they are on a football-only contract and can be kicked out again after a certain number of years if they mess up. Something must be done.