Press release, Warde Manuel statement on W Gymnastics assistant coach hire
Not the best look to drop the press release after the news blows up but here it is.
https://mgoblue.com/news/2019/1/12/womens-gymnastics-u-m-announces-faehn-to-coaching-staff.aspx
"The well-being and safety of our student-athletes is always our highest priority. Our current student-athletes had a prominent voice throughout this search process to provide their perspective. This included a meeting between me and the captains before a final decision was made.
"After our exhaustive due diligence, we felt comfortable that coach Faehn reported all information available to her regarding Larry Nassar and that she cooperated fully, including voluntarily participating in all investigations and offering testimony before Congress. Neither an internal investigation by USA Gymnastics or a criminal investigation by the FBI have assigned culpability or resulted in any charges against her."
January 13th, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
I get the sentiment, but you also could find yourself in trouble if, after an event like this, you changed your hiring metrics, and decided to go with the person who you feel has as flawless of character as possible. In doing so you have to make judgement calls that don't actually correspond to who is more qualified for this job or any other normal business criteria. "I thought he had better character" isn't going to get you anywhere during a court proceeding or investigation if the older lady with significantly more experience you didn't hire accuses the university of age and sex discrimination.
Let's take this situation for example. It would not surprise me if they had several candidates for the job, let's say 3 guys in their late 20's early 30's with an average of 2 years graduate assistant work, and 3-5 years as a head coach somewhere. Then we have Rhonda Faehn, a lady in her mid 40's but with an amazing career including 15 years as head coach at FSU with 3 national championships the last years, and as an executive with USA Gymnastics. Obviously she was involved in the scandal, and as an employer you want to stay as far away from that as possible. She applies for the job though.
The problem comes when your head coach knows her professionally and is unwilling to tell your in-house counsel that she is not the most qualified for the job, or that she believes that the way she handled the Nassar situation, and what she knows now, would make her a potential danger to the student athletes compared to the other coaching hires. Either way would have given the University a clear way out. Your head coach says something like "no, I can't say that, to me she tried, not the best, but she did tell her boss right away, and the FBI was made aware within a week, so she didn't necessarily know he didn't tell them right away, he said he would, and I really feel like she learned from this situation and would be more willing to bring concerns to all the authorities than these other hires". At this point your counsel talks to the AD because they are kind of in a bind. What's better for the students, and of course, do they want to have a potential for some sort of lawsuit? When congress thanks someone for being honest and elevating the issue at the time, during an investigation into the Nassar scandal (when she testified to them), She's sort of cleared in a court of public opinion, so if you decide to go with the young man with a fifth of her experience, watch out! Still, not a great look, so at this point they decide to hire her at arms length, as a consultant, and with an air tight employment contract that stipulates everything she will do and the repercussions to her if she doesn't, and maybe stipulates that she can't use this job simply as a landing pad, but has to commit to working with the students for a longer period. I don't know if any of this is how it happened, but that may be why Michigan came to this decision.
It's also possible the university just examined all the facts, realized we are all human, that this lady learned from the situation more so than the other applicants who haven't ever been in the situation, and as result posed less of a risk to the student athletes for any future incident. I have no idea, but If I were coming into the fallout of this situation at work, I would be expecting something like one of these two scenarios.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
So because she fired the guy after he fucked up we should trust her judgment when she hires someone else? Makes sense.
There is no need to hire anyone associated with the Nassar mess, doing so is idiotic. Typically Nobody gives a shit about college gymnastics, but now the focus of even causal fans is directed at our team in a very bad way. All the gymnastics titles in the land aren’t worth shit compared to the negative press here (assuming there is no moral issue). Firing Bev and hiring a monkey to coach gymnastics would be better for the school.
January 12th, 2019 at 10:06 PM ^
January 12th, 2019 at 8:09 PM ^
Here you are spouting more whataboutism nonsense. Seriously what is your obsession with defending this shitty hire? I mean we all love Michigan try loving it like an adult and not a child.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
Nobody's besmirching Plocki; they're questioning the hire. Plocki, for any number or reasons, may have wanted the hire to take place. It was Manuel's job to say no, that Michigan was not going anywhere near the taint.
If there were complaints by injured athletes about her handling of the Nassar case, that should be enough to say sorry, not now. She delayed reporting it and was thus another reason why the pain continued. Why we would want to place ourselves anywhere near this ugly is puzzling in the extreme.
The fact the Plocki and others have spent decades building up the program is all the more reason for cool heads to protect it from dumb moves like this. Now Plocki, who may well be a wonderful person, IS associated with the scandal, exactly the reason why you don't make such a hire.
This is a mistake we seen made over and over in college and pro sports--people say but 's/he's a great coach.' Either the institution, its rep, and student safety take precedence or we're sunk.
Anyone who has followed this scandal closely knows that gymnastics is rife with abuse; some of it has already touched Michigan, and you would assume that meant that even more care would be taken. This connects Michigan with the biggest case of mass rape in U.S. history. Down the road in EL they are smiling to themselves.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
She had a staffer who fucked a student and now hired someone with Nassar stink. She should be thinking about retiring.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
The only one on a high horse is you. Besmirching the name of Bev Plocki? STFU. It’s not about someone’s legacy it’s about doing the right thing. And the right thing was not to hire this assistant in the first place. And the right thing now is to let the assistant go and say “sorry, we fucked up.”
January 12th, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
January 12th, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
This reeks of something from DB. Department gets caught by the media and issues a statement after the fact.
I wonder what Anne Maxim thinks of the hire. She's a sophomore gymnast who transferred from MSU to Michigan in the offseason.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
Maybe she likes the fact that UofM hired a person who reported the allegation to her superior and then followed through by reporting Nassar to the FBI. Her “crime” is reporting the allegation one week after hearing about it instead of 24-48 hours. Considering how long Simon and MSU tried to cover this shit up, I am willing to forgive this lady for 5 extra days.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
This has been a turbulent offseason for this program. Assistant coach Scott Vetere was fired after being arrested for having sex with an 18 year old gymnast in a parked car.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:34 PM ^
arrested for oral sex with an adult?
January 12th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
They were in public hence the arrest. Michigan banned him for the inappropriate relationship
January 12th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
ah, gotcha. No brainer to can the guy but I wasn't sure why he was arrested. thanks for the explanation.
January 12th, 2019 at 8:12 PM ^
You weren't aware that public sex is illegal?
January 12th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
As it turns out, sex in public is illegal.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Shit, I should be in the federal Max penitentiary then...
/s
January 12th, 2019 at 4:40 PM ^
So maybe hiring someone who showed moral courage by REPORTING THE ASSHOLE TO THE FBI is exactly what the program needs.
Bev made this hire. Warde is backing her when the easy thing to do would have been to not approve the hiring and avoid the public outcry from UofM fans that are worried the Spartans in their lives are going to give them shit about this. Reporting something 5 days late is not the same AT ALL as allowing Nassar free reign for decades.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't know what you're getting so angry for, I'm not the one saying fire Warde or even criticizing the hire.
Just a bad look the AD releases this after it's known by the media.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
And our standard should not be so low as "the worst sexual abuse scandal in NCAA history."
January 12th, 2019 at 4:54 PM ^
You are delusional. She waited a while fucking week. 3x the allowable period in the states with the lax mandatory reporting laws. What for? There’s not a legitimate reason to do so. You don’t praise someone for doing the bare minimum. Nassar could have assaulted several more people in that time. She should not be employed for the safety of our students.
And fuck you for thinking people are upset about this because of their MSU friends. What in the actual fuck.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:00 PM ^
Hi Bev,
99% of Michigan sports fans don’t care about your sport. All we ask is that you don’t embarrass the university. You’ve managed to hire people who did that that up twice in the recent past. Please leave the university.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
Aly Raisman's not and I feel like she gets more of a say than any of us yahoos.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
Justifying her failures by saying MSU and Simon did it worse is the type of response I'd expect by MSU. She waited a full week to report sexual abuse. I don't that person around our student-athletes.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
Except Flaehn and USAG never said anything to MSU for over a year while Nassar was still "treating" athletes.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:39 PM ^
Do we know this?
I’m sure nobody at MSU would never admit to being warned. That would be a pretty significant ethical fail because it allows for more victims.
What happened when the FBI was informed? Did the investigation lead to nothing?
January 12th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
Denhollander has been demanding investigations into why the FBI did nothing for a while now.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
They have the teeth right? Somebody in that office had to have an epic fail.
January 13th, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
The FBI isn't going to give them anything, especially if it makes them look responsible/guilty.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
Great decision by Mr. Manuel. It's important not to give into the mob mentality among some segments of society.
It's amazing how many enlightened people want to fire others when they have given no example of themselves doing the right thing when it conflicted with their self interests.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
This is a pretty good take right now. Anybody commenting about firing him and all that should make sure they have done their homework. I have not yet, and cannot comment yet. It would be flat wrong to allow guilt by association to be the societal threshold. If she did not do anything wrong she should not be treated like she has.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
Would you be okay with Harbaugh hiring Mike McQueary? Because it's the same thing here
January 12th, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
No, I wouldn’t. I just have not done my own reading/research on the issue to determine if that is a good comparable.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
Understood. Here's a good place to start:
January 12th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Thanks.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
McQueary was an eye witness.
January 12th, 2019 at 9:33 PM ^
I don't recall Mike McQueary making sure Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier reported to the police or the FBI. Nor did this woman witness the act. I think the fact that it went to the FBI within a week of her reporting is much different than the McQueary case.
January 12th, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
She was told directly by Raisman and Nichols of what Nassar had done to them. She told Penny, and together they took a week to get their stories straight before contacting the Indianapolis authorities She never notified MSU as Nassar's employer of the abuse allegations. That is a flagrant dereliction of duty. Regardless of whether she is in the clear legally, she should in no way, shape or form be associated with Michigan gymnastics.
January 13th, 2019 at 11:37 AM ^
I've lived in State College since coming here for grad school in '85. (Yeesh...) One of the considerations in the McQueary case is that MM was in a power-vulnerable position himself as a graduate assistant. Legally a mandated reporter, but also one of the lowest people in the institutional hierarchy. (I'm not including the victims, who weren't PSU employees or, obviously, adults.) He went to Paterno who told him that he (JP) would take it from there. For all that JVP talked about honor, he never quite understood that he wasn't actually the sole arbiter of that fine quality. What he said, went--and God help the person (or reporter--remember, it wasn't a local journalist who broke it) who suggested otherwise.
MM has since won a whistleblower lawsuit against PSU--as I believe he should have.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
But we know she did something wrong so your comment is irrelevant
January 12th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Nobody's getting FIRED; they're getting HIRED. You don't have to prove anyone's guilt or innocence, only to conclude that hiring them might not be good for the university or its reputation.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
So because it’s hard to do the right thing when it interferes with your own self interest - though I would argue that living in a world where we do the right thing in a timely manner is in everyone’s self interest - we shouldn’t hold people accountable when they fail to do so? That makes absolutely no fucking sense. People are calling for be to be fired not because it’s a fad or cool thing to do. People are doing so because she has proven that she cannot do the right thing for vulnerable people in a timely and appropriate manner she she is in a position of authority.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
I can’t understand why this hire was worth the noise. Regardless of her skill set, a pass and no thanks would have made more sense.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
She built Florida into a dynasty, winning national titles her final 3 seasons there before heading to USA Gymnastics. Very well could be our next head coach when Bev retires.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
It’s gymnastics, nobody gives a shit. Except when it’s supporting people who helped a rapist.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:26 PM ^
Simply not true. Go look at the ratings it does. ESPN has increased their coverage of the NCAA Championships for that reason and the postseason format was just restructured to be more exciting for TV purposes.
January 12th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Collegiate gymnastics consists of people who are either too old, or not good enough for international competition. The best athletes generally skip the NCAA, making it more like a club sport than varsity.
My daughter is/was in the team USA development program.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
She will be let go in a month or 2 after the dust settles
January 12th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
If it's all about brand image, this is assinine. Fire yourself. What have you done.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
Makes me long for the days of Hackett’s tact.
We aren’t quite at DB levels of bad, but similar to “no FBI charges were filed”, that’s not the greatest measuring stick