Sean Sutton asked to resign

[metro]

Wow...no one has posted about Sean Sutton being asked to resign as OSU's basketball coach? I'm an OU guy but I still figured someone would have posted something by now.

[CuatrodeMayo]

He was not "asked to resign", he was fired. He got the shaft.

[masonsmomma]

I totally agree, he got the shaft and that's why I'm not talking about it as much as I would like. Mike Holder made the wrong choice, and now it's really hurting OSU. If you really think OSU is going to get Bill Self, I really doubt it. It's really sad about Sean and I know many people agree with me. He could have had a really great year next year, but now we will never know.

[Dustbowl]

I totally agree, he got the shaft and that's why I'm not talking about it as much as I would like. Mike Holder made the wrong choice, and now it's really hurting OSU. If you really think OSU is going to get Bill Self, I really doubt it. It's really sad about Sean and I know many people agree with me. He could have had a really great year next year, but now we will never know.

Got the shaft? probably. T. Boone has Holder in knee pads. T. Boone might be the worst thing to happen to that school.

[TStheThird]

It is a good thing that Sean is gone. Those that don't understand that are not close to the situation and do not have good info.

[soonerfan21]

Maybe I'm a little naive (?) but how did son Sutton get the "shaft" when the job was handed to him on a silver platter? I don't know of many Division I coaches that get their positions that way. Granted, he only had 2 years to get the program going and that may not have been fair.

[Intrepid]

T. Boone might be the worst thing to happen to that school.

It's funny that you say that. My bro-in-law, whose family are either OSU alumni, fans and/or donors, was telling me just a week or so ago that the T. Boone thing was one of the worse things to happen to the University.

He said that there were a lot of donors (big and small) vehemently opposed to the Gundy hire, and subsequent contract extension (after a 6-6 season), but that they are kinda a small voice right now due to T. Boone's louder than loud $$$. Now that Holder has done this, after only 2 "true" seasons, they are even more upset. I honestly don't think that donors/fans should drive the program (see OU and the John Blake debacle as an example), but I do believe they should have some input.

Being an OU fan, I really don't care about OSU. But, with I do believe that Sutton should have been given at least 1 more season. Apparently Holder is considering the season Sean took over for Eddie as his first true season, which is unfair IMO.

[Intrepid]

Granted, he only had 2 years to get the program going and that may not have been fair.

And there lies the reason he got the shaft.

[bigjkt405]

It is a good thing that Sean is gone. Those that don't understand that are not close to the situation and do not have good info.

Very good point TS..... if only most people knew the shape of the basketball program, then they wouldn't be so quick to judge. Plus this is coming from the same fanbase that was fine with a football coach being let go after 1 season....

[CuatrodeMayo]

It's funny that you say that. My bro-in-law, whose family are either OSU alumni, fans and/or donors, was telling me just a week or so ago that the T. Boone thing was one of the worse things to happen to the University.

I have been on the OSU campus 6 years (extened plan) and remember what it was like before Schimdly/Pickens hijacked the university. What you family said is so true it hurts.

[TStheThird]

Birdwell hired Gundy.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Your point?

[TStheThird]

Point is that everyone acts like Gundy was put in place by Holder. Not true. People also like to compare OSU football to OSU basketball. They wonder why Gundy has a job and Sean was let go. Newsflash... four years ago we were at the pennacle of college basketball, now we are at the bottom of the dump. Sean had higher expectations. He let things get in the way of his pursuit of coaching basketball. He was let go and it is for the best. For him and for OSU.

[soonerfan21]

I would like to float a question out there - If Sean's last name was Smith - would he have been hired as head coach for the program? That is what I have a problem with in that you don't hire a coach at the Division I level because he was the head coach's son.

[mecarr]

I've heard from a lot of people that are close with OSU Athletics and they said that if Sutton were to get fired it would not be about his winning record but would be about his off the court behavior. They said he has an alcohol problem.

[FritterGirl]

I've heard from a lot of people that are close with OSU Athletics and they said that if Sutton were to get fired it would not be about his winning record but would be about his off the court behavior. They said he has an alcohol problem.

At this point, this allegation is nothing more than rumor and speculation spread bt callers on local sports radio. And until some actual facts of the situation come out, who's really to say?


If, as you say, there is a deeper problem, then Holder should have said something like "I've spoken with Coach Sutton and he agrees there are some issues that need to be dealt with." Instead he made it very clear that Sutton did not meet the expectations required for the program - meaning his record and administration of the program - which, leads people to assume it had to do with the recrod.

When asked about what these expectations were for the program, Holder outright refused to say what those expectations were/are, when it can reasonably be assumed that those same expectations would apply to any coach coming in.

That whole press conference smelled of something really, really rotten...more BS than at the Stockyards on auction day.

[Intrepid]

Point is that everyone acts like Gundy was put in place by Holder. Not true. People also like to compare OSU football to OSU basketball. They wonder why Gundy has a job and Sean was let go. Newsflash... four years ago we were at the pennacle of college basketball, now we are at the bottom of the dump. Sean had higher expectations. He let things get in the way of his pursuit of coaching basketball. He was let go and it is for the best. For him and for OSU.

I dont think anyone here has made that assertion. THe point that is being made is that ever since T. Boone started spreading his $$$ around, things have gone downhill, whether it be coincidental or the actual cause.

I do not say that as a Sooner fan. I say that as someone who has family that used to be a big donor and is somewhat close to the University and other donors.

[soonerfan21]

Excerpt from today's DOK:

Mike Holder was plugging right along as the nation's most successful golf coach until three years ago when his billionaire best friend threw him under the bus — or, as it were, into the OSU athletic director's chair.

"They were looking for a new AD and I said, ‘Well, you got the perfect guy for the job,' ” OSU alumnus and oil magnate T. Boone Pickens said. "They said, ‘Who?' I said, ‘Well, Holder.' It was so obvious to me that you had a guy who could do everything you want to have done.”

Pickens' word and wallet carried a lot of weight.
"(Former OSU President David) Schmidly said ‘We've got to go through a search process.' I said, ‘If you already know who the best man is, why waste money?' But that's what they wanted to do. As far as I was concerned, it was a sham. I was going to make a major gift, and I told them, ‘I'm not making a gift unless I have somebody I'm comfortable with as the AD.'”
Pickens made a record-breaking $165 million donation to the athletic department less than four months after Holder got the job.


I laughed out loud at Pickens' use of the phrase "it was a sham" referring to the strings attached to his gift. While I'm no dummy and understand that large donors do have influence at universities, give me a freakin' break.

At least don't say that in an interview

[CuatrodeMayo]

Pickens is why Gundy was made head coach. It has nothing to do with Birdwell.

[Pete]

Birdwell quit because he was not allowed to do his job as AD and conduct a search for a new football coach. It wasn't that he wasn't going to consider Gundy, he was basically told Gundy was the guy so don't bother looking.

And then later Pickens was quoted in the paper saying if Miles hadn't left on his own, he was actively looking into buying out his contract. Said he knew Les wasn't going to be loyal long-term and therefore he was anxious for him to move on so somebody who was loyal could take over. Clearly, he was trying to slot Gundy in for quite a while


And I don't think it's a coincidence the president of the university took what could only be described as a lateral move (U. of New Mexico) only a few years after being hired and announcing all types of ambitious plans.

Then, Burns Hargis is seen getting of Boone's private jet and you knew what was to come.


So, Gundy, Holder, Hargis were all the people Pickens wanted in place. Sean was never one of his guys so he didn't have the necessary support. From the very beginning, people in the know started rumbling about Sean not lasting long.