President Reeves - Time to Fire Tom Burman

[WyomingCoog]

Man... I'm starting to think you are President Reeves. lol

ha...you're gonna get me in trouble on here again!

I will say this tho....I do really want you to swing by and meet him, but mostly becuase of two things:

1) I know you'll really like him and you and your wife would have a great time!

2) You mentioned in your email that you work in the world of college athletics with your eyes on potentially coming back to work at UW one day. Having come from a long career in the professional sports industry myself, I understand the importance of networking and opportunity. If you have the chance to meet the president of a university in your line of work, at a school you have your eye on, you take it. Just my two cents

 

[laxwyo]

Got a response to my email:

Probably good you didn’t eviscerate Burman since you likely will be sitting next to him

 

[LanderPoke]

Burman has made some bad hires, no doubt. He has also made some good ones. I think hiring Craig Bohl essentially put UW football back on the map with JA. We've never had this kind of exposure. Sundance Wicks is looking like an awesome hire. Shyatt and Linder were good hires, both resulted in NCAA trips.

All that said, I do think it's time to move on. But let's let this play out. Let Burman retire, then take care of the football coach situation. I think President/General Reeves is the right guy to get us back on track, but it takes time. And if a miracle happens and the football team starts winning this year, then consider that. I don't think that is going to happen, but an interim coach isn't likely to increase those chances.

Curious why anyone thinks wicks us a good hire. He hasn’t done anything yet.

 

[doreno5]

Honestly, I appreciate the response. Hanging out in the wildcatter isn’t so much my style, though I genuinely appreciate the response.

I’d rather sit in the nosebleeds with rabid fans in the freezing cold. To me, Wyoming football isn't about sitting in the nice, fancy area eating good food. I can do that in Atlanta.

All I want is for us to be competiitve.

I hope you do take him up on his offer and convince him he needs to spend some time with the regular fans who live and die with brown and gold but who are not part of the good ol' boys "club" on game day.

 

[TheRealUW]

Curious why anyone thinks wicks us a good hire. He hasn’t done anything yet.

I agree with you.

I think a couple of things are at play. He is a Wyoming guy so people naturally are rooting for him to succeed. He is also very passionate and that gets people fired up.

But ultimately we are going to have to see some results on the court before I’m ready to call him a good hire. This season is pretty crucial.

 

[WyomingCoog]

I think a couple of things are at play. He is a Wyoming guy so people naturally are rooting for him to succeed. He is also very passionate and that gets people fired up.

This is a big part of it for sure, I'd also add that his guys seem to play hard, show up ready to work and leave it all on the court most nights. The other thing is that he gets a lot out of his players considering how many stars they had as recruits and their initial expectations. It feels like his teams punch above their weight class overall. So in this new conference with an increased budget.....I think the fans are excited, but he will definitely need to start winning championships soon or at least compete for them.

 

[MrTitleist]

We're closer with Sunny to hanging a banner than we are with Jay.. and Sunny's had to completely build a new team what.. two of his first years here?

 

[BigHorn]

Burman has made some bad hires, no doubt. He has also made some good ones. I think hiring Craig Bohl essentially put UW football back on the map with JA. We've never had this kind of exposure. Sundance Wicks is looking like an awesome hire. Shyatt and Linder were good hires, both resulted in NCAA trips.

All that said, I do think it's time to move on. But let's let this play out. Let Burman retire, then take care of the football coach situation. I think President/General Reeves is the right guy to get us back on track, but it takes time. And if a miracle happens and the football team starts winning this year, then consider that. I don't think that is going to happen, but an interim coach isn't likely to increase those chances.

I keep remembering Bohl early on saying, "if you stay you will be champions." How did that turn out? Bohl had dismal offenses even when he had maybe the best QB that Wyoming has ever had and he couldn't bring home a championship. He did have more success than some of the coaches before him, but considering everything that isn't saying a lot. Just attempting to take the Cowboy brown colored glasses off and look at the whole situation with objectivity.

 

[WyomingCoog]

I think President/General Reeves is the right guy to get us back on track, but it takes time.

100%

 

[Itsux2beaewe]

President Reeves has his work cut out for him. That is for sure.

I don't know the specifics of the UW bylaws, but even if Reeves had the authority to fire Burman/Sawvel without their approval, he would surely need the BoT's formal approval to cover the financial impacts that would be generated by their buyouts.

Not only that, but he would run the risk of putting himself on the bad side of the BoT. As we've seen before, the BoT and the good ole boys network will run you out of town in no time if you start rocking the boat more than they like.

If the BoT cant see there’s a problem, we have a really, really dumb Board of Trustees.

 

[Itsux2beaewe]

At one had, I felt a little sorry for Burman and Sawvel. But now, it is so obvious that they are hanging on (especially Sawvel) because they have contracts in place. They care more about money than delivering a quality product to UW. Or pride. On some levels, I understand it but I could not do it. So, any sympathy has turned to frustration and some anger. Sawvel must know without a iron clad contract...he'd be long gone. Two thoughts:
1) I think UW moves on even if either remains in place. Start the recruiting process right in front of the guys. Ask Burman to move his office to ready for the new AD. Let these guys know that its over but for the calendar rolling. Sawvel will never coach again...start the interview and ask him to participate.
2) While this is a little immature, I wish someone could have a shitty, plastic grade school trophy made to hand to Tom Burman as he leaves. Name it "The Jay Sawvel Excellence Award".

It’s business. And right now business isn’t being taken care of. Feelings cant enter the equation. I’ll guarantee you, if Burmans “work” were in a corporate America job, he would have been fired a long time ago. The BoT and Reeves need to take care of “business”.

 

[Itsux2beaewe]

We all know the money owed to Sawful for the next 2+ years is prohibitive.

I’m just wondering if anyone has calculated the lost revenue in less ticket sales, less concessions, less memorabilia, less donor contributions, less enrollment, and less big program interest in scheduling games?

Could making up for all of this lost revenue equal paying Sawful and paying a new AD and football coaching staff? Maybe it’s still too much but continual failure on the gridiron has to be equally draining on the coffers in Old Main.

More prohibitive than empathetic fans, and possibly a decline in attendance and ticket sales?