Dec. 22, 2015
Quick Slant is an array of brief insights and occasionally opinionated overviews of collegiate athletics in general and the Vanderbilt Commodores in particular.
How appealing is employment with Vanderbilt Athletics? Judging from the huge stack of resumes from those applying to be our Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue Generation it must be really appealing. For us long-time Commodores it can be easy to underestimate the appeal of working at Vanderbilt and living in the booming city of Nashville.
Receptionist desks are packed with goodies and the pace around McGugin Center has dramatically slowed as students are home for the holidays. It’s rare when there isn’t a hum in the hallways as Type-A personalities scurry to cram as much into each day as possible. It’s a very welcome change of pace, even if it is temporary.
The inside scoop has been around for ages, long enough for folks to know that the whispered buzz is wrong as much as it’s right. Triple the percentages when the topic is head coaches and the sources are the chatty big donors. A month ago common knowledge had it that LSU’s Les Miles was going to have his contract bought out for $9 million. Ya, right. The other day the chancellor of Texas A & M called it a ‘fairy tale’ that he was considering buying out his football coach’s contract for $20 million. Big donors love saying that they know what is going to happen and media types buy it. But how long does it take to understand there is a big difference between the private musings of an athletic director or school president and what will actually occur? Responsible college administrators are not going to buy out a ball coach for ridiculous money and those big donors who fans assume will pony up the cash aren’t going to blow THEIR own money on a buyout.