NSU hires U of A retread and should be retired Jim Livengood

[vegaspackfan]

This is a horrible hire. How long does this guy got. Does he actually care?

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/Jim-Livengood-to-be-named-UNLV-athletic-director-79540932.html

[thehowling]

Yeah, they were all set to hire Moos from Oregon when, money bags, Jim Rogers weighed in with his "suggestion" of Livengood. TERRIBLE hire for NSU! Probably a good thing for Nevada.

The one possible positive for the Webels is this: apparently Livengood was chosen because of a promise of BIG money for the athletic department from
Rogers...that is IF he comes through. He's reneged on them before.

[vegaspackfan]

I just read that Rogers has proclaimed that he has nothing to do with the hire. Nice denial!

[Pack Backer]

Could those of you in Vegas maybe explain why this is perceived as a poor hire, i.e. why this guy left Arizona?

[munnster]

According to most reports in the paper JL's contract wouldn't be renewed when it expired later this year. He jumped ship before he was let go.

[thehowling]

The perception is that Livengood left Arizona in worse shape than he found it. Arizona fans are mostly pleased to see him go. It has widely circulated that Livengood's name was first floated by big Arizona and UNLV booster Jim Rogers who then "backed off" to let the process take its course. Then, when it looked like former Oregon AD Moos was about to be the choice, Rogers weighed in with his money and pushed to get Livengood hired.

They are also concerned that Livengood is very likely to hire Arizona's OC, Dykes, as the Rebel's next head football coach. We all know how well the last "hot" OC hire worked out for them.

[vegaspackfan]

Some of the locals I talked to don't like this hire because the guy feels a lot like Hamrick in the send he was on his way out at the current school. Also... this guys is 64 years old and has made enough money to retire. Some of the locals were looking for a younger AD who would stick around for a while. Plus... this guy has baggage from U of A such as the hiring of Tim FLoyd etc. etc. etc. Jim Rogers brought this guy in and the new HC will be the U of A OC.

[justintime]

As many on this board know, though my undergrad was done at NMSU, my graduate degree is from Arizona.

the howling is correct that Cat fans are not sorry to see Livengood move on. The main knocks against him are the Mackovic debacle which set the football program back 10 years, and the way he handled the departure of Lute Olson, essentially going behind Lute's back to name Kevin Oneill the head coach, then trying to hire Tim Floyd as his replacement (hello, sanctions!). In both cases, the central issue is his bullheaded autonomy. He didn't listen to boosters, and most importantly, he didn't listen to Lute regarding how the transition should be handled. The latter is a mortal sin here in Tucson.

In JL's defense, I will say that revenues increased during his tenure, and the non-revenue sports are still very strong.