Gragg background

[Medill '03]

I don’t know anything about Gragg personally. And I don’t think I’ve learned anything about him since he’s come to NU. I don’t expect you to trust an anonymous online source. But I’ll share anyway.

I talked to an administrator who held a similar position to Gragg at one of his conference rivals, earlier in his career. He said it was common knowledge that Gragg was in over his head. And he said that at Tulsa, before NU hired him, Gragg was about to be fired.

I want Gragg to succeed, obviously. But I was taken aback that a senior administrator would so openly warn me that NU hired someone who couldn’t handle his smaller jobs.

Time will tell if this person was right. So far I can’t say I’ve seen anything that stands out or even makes an impression. I have no idea what he may be thinking about Collins. With no media coverage thanks to the collapse of local media it’s all speculation.

 

[NUChicago]

wow, pretty damming stuff. If he is in over his head it will be exposed quickly with the state of basketball, new football stadium, and questions surrounding football.

 

[CatManTrue]

Wow. Well, his hire seemed impressive at first on paper… but so far, he’s had zero presence on the two key revenue sports.

Is anyone surprised that we didn’t land an ace AD after the Polisky debacle?

 

[NUChicago]

Wow. Well, his hire seemed impressive at first on paper… but so far, he’s had zero presence on the two key revenue sports.

Is anyone surprised that we didn’t land an ace AD after the Polisky debacle?

I think you are on to something, it was a bad situation. We had some pretty interesting candidates reported such as Desiree Reed-Francois and Pat Chun.

 

[CatManTrue]

I think you are on to something, it was a bad situation. We had some pretty interesting candidates reported such as Desiree Reed-Francois and Pat Chun.

Even Pat Chun likely would have been a bad hire. Check this drama out:

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports...lared-a-civil-matter-by-pullman-police/?amp=1

 

[Medill '03]

Even Pat Chun likely would have been a bad hire. Check this drama out:

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports...lared-a-civil-matter-by-pullman-police/?amp=1

DRF just fired her basketball coach.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I don’t know anything about Gragg personally. And I don’t think I’ve learned anything about him since he’s come to NU. I don’t expect you to trust an anonymous online source. But I’ll share anyway.

I talked to an administrator who held a similar position to Gragg at one of his conference rivals, earlier in his career. He said it was common knowledge that Gragg was in over his head. And he said that at Tulsa, before NU hired him, Gragg was about to be fired.

I want Gragg to succeed, obviously. But I was taken aback that a senior administrator would so openly warn me that NU hired someone who couldn’t handle his smaller jobs.

Time will tell if this person was right. So far I can’t say I’ve seen anything that stands out or even makes an impression. I have no idea what he may be thinking about Collins. With no media coverage thanks to the collapse of local media it’s all speculation.

Wow! Scary feedback.

 

[NUChicago]

I would love to know the backstory of his hiring. We know Polisky resigned mid May and the search started again. Then Gragg was hired the first week of June. It would be interesting to know how other candidates (if any) were sourced or the process they followed. My thought is they had their candidate all along in Polisky, and the others dropped out when they knew this was an exercise in futility. This whole fiasco made Morty look foolish.

 

[Figrating]

So far I can’t say I’ve seen anything that stands out or even makes an impression.

Coulda stopped at "anything" - guy has been invisible.

 

[ParisCat_rivals]

Nina King would have been a great hire. She was one of the 4 finalists, protege of Kevin White at Duke and ND, would have checked the DEI boxes for those who care about such things. Alas, she was promoted by Duke during the Polisky-Gragg interregnum.

 

[NUChicago]

Nina King would have been a great hire. She was one of the 4 finalists, protege of Kevin White at Duke and ND, would have checked the DEI boxes for those who care about such things. Alas, she was promoted by Duke during the Polisky-Gragg interregnum.

She was a really interesting candidate, and would have been great. It is so frustrating to hear these names and see where we landed.

 

[NJcatsfan_rivals139741]

I don’t know anything about Gragg personally. And I don’t think I’ve learned anything about him since he’s come to NU. I don’t expect you to trust an anonymous online source. But I’ll share anyway.

I talked to an administrator who held a similar position to Gragg at one of his conference rivals, earlier in his career. He said it was common knowledge that Gragg was in over his head. And he said that at Tulsa, before NU hired him, Gragg was about to be fired.

I want Gragg to succeed, obviously. But I was taken aback that a senior administrator would so openly warn me that NU hired someone who couldn’t handle his smaller jobs.

Time will tell if this person was right. So far I can’t say I’ve seen anything that stands out or even makes an impression. I have no idea what he may be thinking about Collins. With no media coverage thanks to the collapse of local media it’s all speculation.

This is concerning

 

[Curdog7]

Wow. Well, his hire seemed impressive at first on paper… but so far, he’s had zero presence on the two key revenue sports.

Is anyone surprised that we didn’t land an ace AD after the Polisky debacle?

The Polisky fiasco didn’t change the attractiveness of the job. People will forget the whole Polisky thing soon enough (most probably have already). NU AD is still a plumb job (one of the plumbest). Pays extremely well, it’s in a very attractive location (especially if you have a family), and the stakes are much lower than at other places.

if NU panicked and hired a dude because he was available and wasn’t a white male, then they compounded their initial mistake.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

The Polisky fiasco didn’t change the attractiveness of the job. People will forget the whole Polisky thing soon enough (most probably have already). NU AD is still a plumb job (one of the plumbest). Pays extremely well, it’s in a very attractive location (especially if you have a family), and the stakes are much lower than at other places.

if NU panicked and hired a dude because he was available and wasn’t a white male, then they compounded their initial mistake.

I think you mean plum but perhaps it was accurate, because plumb is from the Latin word for Lead (Pb) and he seems to be weighing us down. He doesn't seem to be doing anything

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Please don't tell me that "some people" are going to blame the new AD for Collins' mistakes next year.

Its the players! Its admissions! Its lack of a fanbase! Its poor advertising! Its the new Athletic Director!

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Please don't tell me that "some people" are going to blame the new AD for Collins' mistakes next year.

Its the players! Its admissions! Its lack of a fanbase! Its poor advertising! Its the new Athletic Director!

No it is CCC’s fault we hired Cragg, our Admissions policy is antiquated, our fans are empty seats, and we have no strategy to bring in fans. Did I get that right?

 

[techtim72]

Live by hiring decisions based on equity and not equality, die by same. Was Gragg a good hire? Let's hope so.

 

[NUCat320]

Even Pat Chun likely would have been a bad hire. Check this drama out:

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports...lared-a-civil-matter-by-pullman-police/?amp=1

I’m not sure the story reads as a negative.

Sounds like the anti-science city councilmen enlisted his daughter to stalk Chun and make false accusations on Facebook (the party at Chin’s house followed local regulations.). Sounds likes the stalking and posting made Chun angry, and he canceled his insurance policies with that city councilman, also a Wassu professor, who likely got Chun’s business due to those things.

Sounds like there was an argument, and it was over. But then, three weeks later, when Wassu’s anti-science football coach was fired for missing his vax deadline, the city councilman decided to press charges, but he did by going directly to a police officer who had already commented on his social media posts, and who should have recused himself. (But didn’t, because Chun didn’t do anything wrong, and any other officer would have said, “wait, you’re pressing charges over an argument and, wait, you enlisted your daughter to post social media videos of his private party?”)

Chun is fine. And Pullman, and eastern Washington in general, is less so. He would have been a great hire.

(The city council member lost his re-election two days after the story came out, a month after it happened, and two weeks after he contacted police. Idiot. I just emailed him that I’m happy he lost.)

 

[mountaindrew]

No it is CCC’s fault we hired Cragg, our Admissions policy is antiquated, our fans are empty seats, and we have no strategy to bring in fans. Did I get that right?

Don't leave out the organ in Alice Millar is out of tune. Also obviously CCC's fault.

 

[CatManTrue]

I’m not sure the story reads as a negative.

Sounds like the anti-science city councilmen enlisted his daughter to stalk Chun and make false accusations on Facebook (the party at Chin’s house followed local regulations.). Sounds likes the stalking and posting made Chun angry, and he canceled his insurance policies with that city councilman, also a Wassu professor, who likely got Chun’s business due to those things.

Sounds like there was an argument, and it was over. But then, three weeks later, when Wassu’s anti-science football coach was fired for missing his vax deadline, the city councilman decided to press charges, but he did by going directly to a police officer who had already commented on his social media posts, and who should have recused himself. (But didn’t, because Chun didn’t do anything wrong, and any other officer would have said, “wait, you’re pressing charges over an argument and, wait, you enlisted your daughter to post social media videos of his private party?”)

Chun is fine. And Pullman, and eastern Washington in general, is less so. He would have been a great hire.

(The city council member lost his re-election two days after the story came out, a month after it happened, and two weeks after he contacted police. Idiot. I just emailed him that I’m happy he lost.)

I’m more of the opinion that I would want our AD to be emotionally mature enough to not get into those types of situations. Chun should have reported it to the authorities if he felt threatened, and cancelled his insurance policies on the DL.

Despite his shortcomings, Jimmy P never made any negative headlines and kept a very positive public persona. He just did his job satisfactorily and waited for his conference president opportunity.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Hey. F*ck you. I doubt you’ve gotten every job in your life because of your own unique talents. In fact, I’m sure you haven’t.

Derrick Gragg graduated from Lee High School, Huntsville, AL, where 77% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. This is more impoverished than Alabama, on average. WORSE than the worst! He’s a ******* black kid who graduated from ******* Robert E. Lee High School.

He used his athletic skills to, I surmise, become the first in his family to attend college. He took advantage and graduated from Vanderbilt.

His entire professional career has been dedicated to division one athletes, first working directly with students at Vandy, then in compliance at Missouri and Michigan, then a stretch as an associate AD at Arkansas (I can’t figure out which role), then his AD slots at EMU and Tulsa.

I am 100% in favor of a guy like Gragg over a guy like Polisky, a sports marketing guy who has no understanding of the Northwestern athlete experience.

I have no idea if Gragg is a good AD. But f*ck you.

If NU had done this right, the Wazzu guy would have been the best hire. And he was interested. But the Wazzu guy (speculating) and the Duke woman (?? I think — my memory is limited) also knew that they had been granted Rooney Rule token interviews, and that the ex-Chicago Wolves marketing guy was the choice.

By all accounts, Polisky’s decision to treat NU like a place that needs a ticket department was a good one, but it sure looks like the decisions related to the W-R pricing and ticket structure were catastrophic. (I’ve never seen the Wilson club, but it seems only cheerleaders and pervs have.)

NU completely botched the hiring of Polisky when they pretended there was a search. There wasn’t. It was Dr. Jim’s guy.

I just wish the guy that was plan L had the stones to can Collins. But, alas.

Bottom line is no one here knows if Cragg is a good or bad hire. Time will tell. I still think he might be having a plate of Pasta back in Glenview by the time of the tip off of the second half of Cats BBall games. Maybe he is in a secret spot smoozing boosters after the sponsor ceremony each first half.

 

[NUChicago]

This is conce

Bottom line is no one here knows if Cragg is a good or bad hire. Time will tell. I still think he might be having a plate of Pasta back in Glenview by the time of the tip off of the second half of Cats BBall games. Maybe he is in a secret spot smoozing boosters after the sponsor ceremony each first half.

Not many boosters in the Wilson club so perhaps no opportunity.

 

[NUCat320]

Bottom line is no one here knows if Cragg is a good or bad hire. Time will tell. I still think he might be having a plate of Pasta back in Glenview by the time of the tip off of the second half of Cats BBall games. Maybe he is in a secret spot smoozing boosters after the sponsor ceremony each first half.

Bottom line is anybody willing to say that Gragg is underqualified and got a job because he’s black is an assh*le, and deserves to be called on it. We can only solve the problem by acknowledging it first.

Can you imagine if techtim got his job because he’s a white guy? Chances are, it played a way bigger part than he’d ever acknowledge.

 

[GatoLouco]

Bottom line is anybody willing to say that Gragg is underqualified and got a job because he’s black is an assh*le, and deserves to be called on it. We can only solve the problem by acknowledging it first.

It's early, but, like many others, I am not feeling great about the hire.

But that is 100% the point.

 

[NUCat320]

It's early, but, like many others, I am not feeling great about the hire.

But that is 100% the point.

Yup, it’s fine to say ‘I think this guy is a bad hire because I think Tulsa’s athletic department sucks.’

It is not fine to say ‘Gragg probably got the job because he’s black.’

Perhaps you see a difference?

 

[GatoLouco]

Yup, it’s fine to say ‘I think this guy is a bad hire because I think Tulsa’s athletic department sucks.’

It is not fine to say ‘Gragg probably got the job because he’s black.’

Perhaps you see a difference?

I do.

Folks have a choice of believing Gragg got the job because he is black, or despite being black.

One of those is being a condescending prick.

 

[loyolacat]

Maybe I am missing something here but why is AD Gragg being attacked here? all I see is some rumor mil stuff about his past.. ..someone said,,,someone said, that someone said. and I know a guy......Can someone give specific examples of misques from his past or his present here at NU ?

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I do.

Folks have a choice of believing Gragg got the job because he is black, or despite being black.

One of those is being a condescending prick.

I'm confused.
Who is arguing what?

(Not a fan of the use of obscenity with an asterisk in it. Thats beneath most of us. Too disrespectful and degrades the dialog.)

I saw Gragg as a recent basketball game, fairly close by. I was surprised because I didn't know he was black. (that seems like progress) But I was also surprised by his low energy and that fact made me go "Hmm, that guys our new AD?"

At Northwestern, especially in the current environment, the color of his skin would be a net positive in his hiring. Not taking sides, just stating a fact. Doesn't mean Gragg's unqualified or incompetent or any of the stuff that is being thrown out there. But the original poster is entitled to put those rumors out there if thats what somebody told him, just like I mention things that people told me about Chris Collins.

He will be evaluated on his performance. Hopefully, he is excellent.

 

[GatoLouco]

Maybe I am missing something here but why is AD Gragg being attacked here? all I see is some rumor mil stuff about his past.. ..someone said,,,someone said, that someone said. and I know a guy......Can someone give specific examples of misques from his past or his present here at NU ?

I think it's based on radio silence. It makes people nervous.

It makes me nervous.

Take the CC situation:

1) It requires either firing him or
2) Making it unequivocal he is still the coach - I personally might not like it but understand there is a lot more at play than just the results
3) You can be an introvert and all that. It does not require a lot of effort to type, or have someone type, a statement. Don't even have to leave your office for that
4) What you have right now is just limbo. If CC is retained it would help him and everyone making it known. If he is not retained, each day that passes feels more like we are just wasting time not looking for the right replacement

 

[Sec_112]

I'm with LoyolaCat. The criticism Gragg is starting to take here is garbage ... especially with LESS THAN ONE YEAR ON THE JOB. Maybe it's that his style is a 180 difference from Phillips.

Are people really going to bad mouth him for being low key? It's a style. It's not anything that matters for the actual productivity of the job. If he can raise money, awareness and support in quiet, private meeting, I don't care. The coaches should be the face of the programs anyhow instead of an administrator who needs to be seen on the field and hang with the guys in the locker room.

And if you already have a problem with Gragg and never had a problem with do-nothing Mark Murphy, you're probably not looking at this with the most objectivity. There's a reason Phillips had the ability to do so much. The athletic department was practically a blank slate for a modern, collegiate athletic department. Bad facilities. No changes in four years. Bad fundraising. When Gragg launched the campaign to renovate Ryan Field, he immediately did more than Murphy.

Phillips did a nice job. He brought NU's athletic business to a modern reality. For now, all Gragg needs to do is:

1) Renovate Ryan Field - started
2) Shape up basketball - good luck with that
3) Tweak the department to stay in the ballpark of the rest of the B10.

I'm not some huge fan of Gragg. I have my questions also. But he's starting to get a reputation out here that I'll generously say is people going out of their way to go after him.

 

[NJCat]

Take the CC situation:

1) It requires either firing him or
2) Making it unequivocal he is still the coach -

Why? I haven't seen any media speculation that he is on the hot seat, just some grumbling on this goofy Board. I see no reason Gragg should comment unless someone asks him to comment, and to this point I haven't read anything which needs a reply.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

I don't care if he has green skin and a horn growing out of his forehead.

After the Polisky misfire (sic), the University went into damage control mode. To me, it's the University's decision on whether to add a Diversity hire. There is an extremely long list of Diversity candidates, so I wasn't/am not worried about that factor. RE: Gragg specifically:

1) He seems to be invisible. Perhaps this is even ok. Just because he's got a different touch than Dr. Jim, it doesn't mean better or worse. Perhaps it means he won't let mediocre coaches get complacent with extra long/expensive contract extensions. We don't KNOW what he's done behind the scenes. Perhaps he had a lot of damage control to effect, post-Polisky. Perhaps he was engaged with Pat Ryan on the football facility renovation. I'd like a guy with more of a public face, but I can live with it if he gets other stuff done
2) I'm not impressed with him as a speaker. Not his diction or grammar, he just doesn't seem to know what he's talking about, re NU Athletics. Now, admittedly, I cannot specify any particular malaprops, because I hear him so rarely, but he's pretty cringe when he speaks. This is another issue that is perhaps unimportant, so long as he doesn't turn off donors, recruits or job candidates.
3) He's been around long enough, he needs to make his mark. Most of us think that means "fire CCC" or "fire O'Neill", but it isn't limited to that. He's been dropped right into the world in which the revenue sports (FB, MBB) are turned on their head because of portal/NIL. Nominally, the AD cannot affect either; however, he simply must. If he does nothing, we fail. The rest of the job he can figure out as he goes along.

 

[NUChicago]

I'm with LoyolaCat. The criticism Gragg is starting to take here is garbage ... especially with LESS THAN ONE YEAR ON THE JOB. Maybe it's that his style is a 180 difference from Phillips.

Are people really going to bad mouth him for being low key? It's a style. It's not anything that matters for the actual productivity of the job. If he can raise money, awareness and support in quiet, private meeting, I don't care. The coaches should be the face of the programs anyhow instead of an administrator who needs to be seen on the field and hang with the guys in the locker room.

And if you already have a problem with Gragg and never had a problem with do-nothing Mark Murphy, you're probably not looking at this with the most objectivity. There's a reason Phillips had the ability to do so much. The athletic department was practically a blank slate for a modern, collegiate athletic department. Bad facilities. No changes in four years. Bad fundraising. When Gragg launched the campaign to renovate Ryan Field, he immediately did more than Murphy.

Phillips did a nice job. He brought NU's athletic business to a modern reality. For now, all Gragg needs to do is:

1) Renovate Ryan Field - started
2) Shape up basketball - good luck with that
3) Tweak the department to stay in the ballpark of the rest of the B10.

I'm not some huge fan of Gragg. I have my questions also. But he's starting to get a reputation out here that I'll generously say is people going out of their way to go after him.

You are right, Murphy was pretty uninspiring and I saw HS athletic departments run better than NU.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Why? I haven't seen any media speculation that he is on the hot seat, just some grumbling on this goofy Board. I see no reason Gragg should comment unless someone asks him to comment, and to this point I haven't read anything which needs a reply.

Anybody who takes a realistic look at our basketball program understands that things are not going well and automatically asks whether Collins needs to go.

Nobody outside of NU cares about our basketball program.

Presumably the Northwestern Athletic Director does.

 

[GatoLouco]

Why? I haven't seen any media speculation that he is on the hot seat, just some grumbling on this goofy Board. I see no reason Gragg should comment unless someone asks him to comment, and to this point I haven't read anything which needs a reply.

Just because you have not seen it doesn't mean there isn't:

https://www.si.com/college/2022/01/31/ncaa-basketball-hot-seat-coaches-best-big-men

https://www.si.com/college/2022/01/07/mailbag-coaches-on-hot-seat-chris-mack-collins

https://watchstadium.com/these-college-basketball-coaches-are-on-the-hot-seat-11-03-2021/

https://www.insidenu.com/2020/2/6/2...ig-ten-coaching-fired-vic-law-bryant-mcintosh

https://www.sports-teller.com/3-big-ten-basketball-coaches-hot-seat-2021-2022/

https://balldurham.com/2022/03/11/duke-basketball-coaching-tree-hot-seat/

I'm leaving twitter out of this. Not because it is not as, or more, important than traditional media outlets, but because it requires more time than I want to spend on this.

If you're looking for a lot of national coverage on CC, not happening. No one cares about NU. That's the sad reality.

If an AD does not think something is shaky in the basketball program, I am worried. If an AD thinks otherwise, but still sees no reason to be transparent with fans, I am worried.

Good luck ever having an engaged fan base with silence. Chicago's B1G team won't cut it.

 

[PURPLECAT88]

I don't care if he has green skin and a horn growing out of his forehead.

Completely disagree. If he had green skin and a horn growing out of his forehead, I would care a lot. I would want him to get some medical care right away. I would like some of our best researchers to get involved to figure out what the Hell was going on. This sounds like a a life-threatening situation. It does not speak well of you that you wouldn't care.

 

[GOUNUII]

Bottom line is anybody willing to say that Gragg is underqualified and got a job because he’s black is an assh*le, and deserves to be called on it. We can only solve the problem by acknowledging it first.

Can you imagine if techtim got his job because he’s a white guy? Chances are, it played a way bigger part than he’d ever acknowledge.

I still don't understand why it's perfectly fine to say - as you state here - you got the job because you're white. But it's a grave sin to say someone got their job because they're black. We all know it happens - both ways - all the time.

I don't know anything about Mr. Gragg except his published bio. Which doesn't tell me everything I would need to know for making a top of the food chain hire. Hopefully, he will be a spectacular success...as measured by the financial, social, academic and competitive success of NU's athletic programs. I agree it's too early to tell one way or the other.

But what I do know is that when the position became open after Polisky exited it was never going to be filled by a white male. That was common knowledge. Which as a practical matter is a terrible thing to do to all candidates, but especially to Mr. Gragg.

GOUNUII

 

[CatManTrue]

I still don't understand why it's perfectly fine to say - as you state here - you got the job because you're white. But it's a grave sin to say someone got their job because they're black. We all know it happens - both ways - all the time.

I don't know anything about Mr. Gragg except his published bio. Which doesn't tell me everything I would need to know for making a top of the food chain hire. Hopefully, he will be a spectacular success...as measured by the financial, social, academic and competitive success of NU's athletic programs. I agree it's too early to tell one way or the other.

But what I do know is that when the position became open after Polisky exited it was never going to be filled by a white male. That was common knowledge. Which as a practical matter is a terrible thing to do to all candidates, but especially to Mr. Gragg.

GOUNUII

Kind of what’s going on with the supreme court, huh?

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

I still don't understand why it's perfectly fine to say - as you state here - you got the job because you're white. But it's a grave sin to say someone got their job because they're black. We all know it happens - both ways - all the time.

I don't know anything about Mr. Gragg except his published bio. Which doesn't tell me everything I would need to know for making a top of the food chain hire. Hopefully, he will be a spectacular success...as measured by the financial, social, academic and competitive success of NU's athletic programs. I agree it's too early to tell one way or the other.

But what I do know is that when the position became open after Polisky exited it was never going to be filled by a white male. That was common knowledge. Which as a practical matter is a terrible thing to do to all candidates, but especially to Mr. Gragg.

GOUNUII

Large organizations of all types have Diversity goals. Nothing wrong with it. The recent SCOTUS nomination is a good example. The fact that they stepped in dog crap with the Polisky hire then knee-jerked into a Diversity hire is a problem. But that, in an of itself, can be an extremely short term problem - Polisky embarrassment, followed by knee-jerk. Gragg has already put most of it behind us simply by not being a public ***-clown.

re @GatoLouco comment about silence, he doesn't have much of a choice right now. Guy has a new president coming in, a FB coach demi-god that shat the bed on a DC hire and won't change it, and a grossly overpaid one-hit wonder BBall coach that Gragg doesn't have the budget to buy-out. What would you have him say to break the silence? Fact is, Collins isn't going anywhere for at least a year, maybe the entire contract. No doubt we have squandered the Tourney/facility momentum, but that is absolutely not Gragg's fault, nor could have have done much about it, to date.

I am not a cheerleader for Gragg. I feel he is a definite drop-off from Dr. Jim. But he's our guy, for a while, at least.

 

[GatoLouco]

What would you have him say to break the silence?

Chris Collins is our coach for 2022/23