http://mississippistate.2...NOTHER-FORWARD-4517514/1
Bulldog Backer finds a gem. Things are batshit crazy up there at up north school of mississippi -
What is going on at Ole Miss? What is wrong at Ole Miss? Why do people need to be worried?
1. Over the past year and a half, Chancellor Jones has received a large volume of letters and personal visits from alumni and major donors voicing concerns about the Athletic department generally and Athletic Director Pete Boone specifically. The vast majority of major donors have told Chancellor Jones they are postponing or canceling planned athletic donations/pledges until there is significant change in the Athletic Department. Chancellor Jones replied to some of the letters and visitors to the effect that he had heard many criticisms and that he would make inquiry into the matter and act in the best interests of Ole Miss. Since that time, there have been no changes. Pete Boone’s contract was extended and Ole Miss athletics (UMAA) has lost millions in donations. During this same period, all major Ole Miss sports programs have continued to consistently decline.
2. Following the last Cotton Bowl appearance, Coach Houston Nutt was a candidate
for the head coaching position at the University of Kansas. During negotiations between Coach Nutt, Chancellor Jones and Pete Boone, it was agreed that David Saunders would be hired and placed on the football staff and a General Studies major would be added to the available academic programs within a short period of time. It took 6 to 8 months for Pete Boone to hire David Saunders. At the time hiring, Pete Boone offered David Saunders a salary 75% below what he typically made for similar work in hopes that David Saunders could not afford to accept the position and so Pete Boone could say he made the job offer as promised. Coach Saunders had previously passed on multiple employment opportunities knowing that Ole Miss was going to offer a position. After the late and low-ball job offer and after having turned down several other offers, Coach Saunders took the job. After one year, Coach Saunders left Ole Miss for another position because Pete Boone did not do the right thing and adjust the salary to a reasonable level. It is widely accepted that Coach Saunders is one of the best in the country at the position for which he was hired at Ole Miss. Thanks to the efforts of Coach Saunders during his short tenure, every recruit signed but one enrolled at Ole Miss eligible to play. As for the General Studies Program, that program is still not in place and Chancellor Jones has recently informed a group that recently met with him that he could not add the program. He stated further that it is the decision of the faculty senate to add the program and that to add the program would require raising $1.5 million to add the physical education major. So why would the Chancellor make a promise to Coach Nutt 2 years ago knowing he could/would not keep the promise? Further, where is all the ESPN money taken from athletics and given to academics? Should not some of this money been spent to add the academic program promised to Coach Nutt?
3. Upon information and belief, UMAA recently announced to donors it was shutting down the car dealers leasing program where donors lease a car and donate it’s use to Ole Miss in return for a tax donation. Obviously, UMAA must believe that these donors will give more money if UMAA shuts down this program. However, donors lease and donate cars to UMAA rather than giving money partly because they do not trust UMAA or Pete Boone in the proper use of these funds
4. Why did a major Ole Miss donor have to consider/suggest litigation against UMAA and The University in order to reinstate contractual privileges earned in return for donations such as away game travel with the team?
5. Upon information and belief, UMAA representative Allen Green recently went to Memphis to visit a major donor. During the visit, the donor indicated his displeasure with the removal of Colonel Rebel as the on-field official mascot and further stated the donor would not be donating any more money. Green told the donor that everyone should get over that because before it is all said and done, they would be getting rid of Ole Miss and Rebels and that eventually the school would be known only as The University of Mississippi Black Bears. Has the administration not previously commented publicly during the mascot selection process that Ole Miss would always be known as the Rebels? Why then would an employee of UMAA make this statement to an alumnus?
6. The Quarterback Club (QB), a non-profit group dedicating funds raised solely to football, has historically provided many of the things needed by the football team and staff that Pete Boone refused to provide. The QB club is being forced by the university, due to Institution Of Higher Learning (IHL) rules, to hand over control of the organization to UMAA/Pete Boone. This was done to the Bullpen Club and that club has lost significant membership and donations since the change. It is feared that the same fate will befall the QB Club because members will not continue to donate if they know UMAA/Pete Boone can gain control over the money and withhold funds from the program designed to benefit from the club. The members simply do not trust UMAA/Pete Boone to operate the club as it has been successfully operated for many years. The football program will suffer as the baseball team has suffered after the Bullpen Club was taken over by UMAA.
7. Upon information and belief, Pete Boone’s son Taylor Boone works out regularly in the IPF and has a full access pass to all sporting events such as football, basketball and baseball. In addition, he has been known to entertain clients on the sidelines. Taylor Boone is frequently seen on the sidelines in Vaught Hemingway and courtside in Tad Smith. Taylor Boone is not a former Ole Miss athlete or staff member.
8. Upon information and belief, Pete Boone attempted to force Ole Miss’s starting
linebacker D.T. Shackelford to have his recent knee surgery in Jackson, Mississippi when he and his family who are from Alabama, wanted the surgery done in Birmingham, Alabama by nationally known sports orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andrews. There is also a strong rumor that Pete Boone told the parents that the surgery would not be totally paid by Ole Miss or it’s insurance carrier if the surgery were not done in Jackson. However, Pete Boone realized he could be criticized for his conduct, and changed his mind about agreeing in having the surgery done by Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, AL.
9. Where is the ESPN money Ole Miss received? No one at Ole Miss in a position to know will respond to requests for specific information or answer questions about how much of the money was diverted to academics.
10. It is rumored that UMAA representative Danny White continues to include ticket
sale proceeds in the daily donation reports posted on the Spirit message board for the John Vaught Society fund raising program.
11. It is rumored that Pete Boone will not allow the OM football program to put in a
training table like all major college football programs have available to feed their players as many times per day as allowed by the NCAA in order to be sure the players are getting the proper nutrition required when they are going through rigorous workouts.
12. It is widely rumored that OM Athletic Director Pete Boone signed an employment contract with the head basketball coach containing no buyout clause.
13. It is rumored that Ole Miss had to pay ex offensive coordinator Dave Rader an
extra year of salary after his termination. Was this payment the result of the athletic director not realizing that the Rader contract required notice by a date certain that Rader was to be released or payment for another year would be required?
14. It is rumored that one of the most famous former athlete families/major donors at
at Ole Miss has stated to the Chancellor that they will not donate to athletics until Pete Boone is removed as athletic director. Why is Pete Boone still the athletic director at Ole Miss?
15. It is rumored that Pete Boone signed a contract with Nike that only pays Ole Miss
$75K per year for its image while other schools are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. It is also rumored that Pete gets some nice annual all expense paid trips to the Far East courtesy of Nike.
16. Upon information and belief, Chancellor Jones inferred in so many words to multiple major donors and others to the effect that he would not extend Pete Boone’s contract but the did so at the last minute. Maybe the rumor is true that Robert Khayat is still in charge and calling the shots. Following a recent meeting between Chancellor Jones and several donors wherein concerns about the direction of Ole Miss athletics administration and UMAA were discussed, upon leaving the Chancellor’s office, the donors just happened to observe former Chancellor Khayat walking into the Chancellor’s office. Coincidence? I doubt it. As they say around Ole miss these days, “gone but not gone” another former retired employee still on the payroll.
17. Upon information and belief, former Chancellor Khayat told at least two major
donors that Pete Boone was the biggest hiring problem he had at Ole Miss and that he needed to be fired. However, Khayat stated he was going to let the new chancellor handle that issue.
18. It is rumored that a good deal of money was spent for a firm to conduct a
national search for a successor to Chancellor Khayat at a time when Khayat was telling friends he had the new chancellor lined up and it was going to be Dr. Dan Jones, the man Khayat hired to be the current Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
19. What was the problem with the TeleSouth contract with Ole Miss? Upon
information and belief, and following exposure of the contract provisions, Ole Miss had the contract amended in it’s favor. How many millions did the contract cost Ole Miss in the interim?
20. Who was in charge of the baseball stadium expansion/renovation and where was
Pete Boone during this period? Upon information and belief, the estimate was
underestimated by several million or by as much as 30% or more. The last minute increase in the new estimate from approximately $12 million to $19 million required cuts in planned upgrades as a direct result. How did the architect miss the estimate by this much and who was responsible for the estimated increased costs as a result of the error? Did the architect still receive payment for the unacceptable margin of error?
21. There is a definite perception that Pete Boone is viewed by the Ole Miss coaches as more of an adversary than an advocate.
22. Why did Pete Boone and the administration try harder to block a former great Ole
Miss football player from enrollment instead of trying to help him get into school and have the opportunity to get a quality education and become a productive citizen and ambassador for Ole Miss?
23. Why is Pete Boone not more involved in travel with the coaches and staff for
fundraising like other athletic directors in the major conferences?
24. Why did Pete Boone not address sooner the critical need for a better basketball
facility when the current facility had been an issue for many years? Why did it take an embarrassment on national television to spur Pete Boone to take notice?
25. Why is there not more disclosure and transparency about the athletic budget
and expenditures in light of rampant rumors about millions of dollars earned by athletics being moved to academics?
26. Why does it appear to many observers that Pete Boone and UMAA employees
like Danny White have done their best to alienate major donors causing these donors to suspend payments on current pledges donations and refuse to make new pledges?
27. It has been reported that Danny White, head of UMAA, told a room full of major
donors that if they did not want to help with the new fundraising campaign that is set to roll out, because of concerns about the administration, that UMAA would do it without them. Following this statement, several major donors got up and walked out of the meeting after telling Danny White they would not give another dime to Ole Miss until Pete Boone is gone along with a shake up in UMAA.
28. Why hasn’t more attention been given women’s athletics at Ole Miss? It appears
Women’s athletics have not been given the tools and resources needed to compete for championships.
29. Why did Pete Boone not send the band to South Carolina several years ago when
Ole Miss was ranked 4th in the nation and playing a Thursday night game on ESPN? Did he want to make sure we had as little support as possible?
30. Why is Pete Boone worried about how many cheeseburgers athletes are eating
when traveling to an away game? Why not worry more that the athletes are well-fed and ready to play?
31. Why does it appear that Pete Boone has not spent time working with any NCAA
committee and thus build a strong network of influence to help Ole Miss?
Larry Templeton did this at MSU and has gained much favor from the SEC and the NCAA.
32. Where is the Football Meeting Room that it is rumored several major donors
Donated money to UMAA to build? Why has this facility improvement not been built or even started.
33. The question must be asked, what CEO or company officer in any major
company would still have their job if they had the results Pete Boone has produced?
34. Upon information and belief, Chancellor Jones addressed a faculty senate
meeting several months ago and stated that athletics played too big a role at Ole Miss and that was going to change. If this is so, he must have missed the news about Ole Miss being ranked 11th out of 12 members in the SEC in all major sports. Is he aiming for dead last? Is it possible to put any less emphasis on Ole Miss athletics?
35. Considering the tight budget claimed by Pete Boone and the administration,
why do Pete Boone, Taylor Boone, John Hartwell, Blake Barnes and wives travel to New York in December at University expense to attend the College Football Hall of Fame Banquet?
36. If money is so tight, why is it cost efficient to send Michael Thompson, John
Hartwell, Danny White and Lynette Johnson to the SEC meeting in Destin, Florida?
37. Did the University pay for the deep sea fishing trip in Destin taken by John
Hartwell and Lynette Johnson at the recent SEC meetings?
This list could go on and on with like entries. The obvious conclusion here is that the Ole Miss Athletic director needs to be replaced along with a shake-up within UMAA as well. Until these things happen, there will be no change in the reduced giving Ole Miss is experiencing at this time. In fact, giving could fall further and further. Of course, these necessary changes may not occur while the University continues to be managed through a former chancellor and his hand picked puppet.
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