Details of Porter Moser's Firing

[tornado]

Moser was given an ultimatum, quit or be fired.
If he quit, he would forfeit all his pay, as it would be Moser breaking the contract.
If fired, he would have to be paid the rest of the 3 years on the contract. So, it wasn't too tough of a choice.

This article also details a lot of other bad stuff from Moser's viewpoint.

Such as...
"Moser said he was given no indication that he was in trouble throughout the season and was told there was no issue with redshirting a player."
"I went in there at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting lasted one minute," Moser said. "I was told we needed to make improvement in academics, recruiting and basketball, yet our academics went up from a 1.8 to a 2.6, and when I got here we had eight kids on academic probation and now we have zero. After this summer, we'll have 11 for 11 players who have graduated."
Moser said he then asked if he could make a phone call.

"They said no," Moser said. "I said, 'Can I tell my staff?' And they said they took the staff to another room. I couldn't even call my wife."

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2797510&searchName=katz_andy&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d2797510%26searchName%3dkatz_andy

This is an insider article, but I can give you the full text if you PM me, and give me your e mail address.

[Murph]

Didn't Mo say the same thing (they told me "your job is safe") when he was canned.

[Bravesfan]

Re: Details of Porter Moser's Firing

Moser was given an ultimatum, quit or be fired.
If he quit, he would forfeit all his pay, as it would be Moser breaking the contract.
If fired, he would have to be paid the rest of the 3 years on the contract. So, it wasn't too tough of a choice.

This article also details a lot of other bad stuff from Moser's viewpoint.

Such as...
"Moser said he was given no indication that he was in trouble throughout the season and was told there was no issue with redshirting a player."
"I went in there at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting lasted one minute," Moser said. "I was told we needed to make improvement in academics, recruiting and basketball, yet our academics went up from a 1.8 to a 2.6, and when I got here we had eight kids on academic probation and now we have zero. After this summer, we'll have 11 for 11 players who have graduated."
Moser said he then asked if he could make a phone call.

"They said no," Moser said. "I said, 'Can I tell my staff?' And they said they took the staff to another room. I couldn't even call my wife."

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2797510&searchName=katz_andy&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d2797510%26searchName%3dkatz_andy

This is an insider article, but I can give you the full text if you PM me, and give me your e mail address.

What a bushleague operation they seem to be running there! And just when it looked like they might make a run at the Valley upper division next year anyway.

I guess we can forget that now!

[BUBraves06]

That's rediculous and if word of this gets spread around, and I'm sure it will, it's going to be that much tougher for them to lure their No. 1 candidate there.

[cpacmel]

Re: Details of Porter Moser's Firing

What a bushleague operation they seem to be running there! And just when it looked like they might make a run at the Valley upper division next year anyway.

I guess we can forget that now!

This is Porter's account of how everything went down. Remember there are 2 sides to every story.

There are even errors in the above.

11 out of 11 players have graduated? I guess Zo Gordon doesn't count.

Also Porter never alludes to the fact that he had 3 years left on his deal.......because he never signed his contract
his first year. (thus making a 6 year contract a 7 year deal)

[Bravesfan]

Re: Details of Porter Moser's Firing

What a bushleague operation they seem to be running there! And just when it looked like they might make a run at the Valley upper division next year anyway.

I guess we can forget that now!

This is Porter's account of how everything went down. Remember there are 2 sides to every story.

There are even errors in the above.

11 out of 11 players have graduated? I guess Zo Gordon doesn't count.

Also Porter never alludes to the fact that he had 3 years left on his deal.......because he never signed his contract
his first year. (thus making a 6 year contract a 7 year deal)

Well, I think the part that bothers me the most is how they got rid of him. That and the fact that no one gives anyone time to rebuild a team anymore. I agree though, if they finished amongst the bottom half of the league again next year, then the time would have been right to let him go.

[cpacmel]

I don't know...4 years is alot of time to rebuild. 3 of his 4 years were under .500 and 3 of his 4 years ISU was in the play-in game.

I would also disagree with this statement that Porter made:

"Because there was no sense of urgency after this year, since I had three more years on my contract," Moser explained.

I talked with both Porter and Zenger in October. Zenger said "Porter needs alot of wins this season" and Moser said "I am not going to make excuses for the last few season, this year is on me."

If the story is true, and Zenger didn't allow Porter a phone call or the ability to notify his assistants....well that is wrong.

[dogsrus]

I don't know...4 years is alot of time to rebuild. 3 of his 4 years were under .500 and 3 of his 4 years ISU was in the play-in game.

I would also disagree with this statement that Porter made:

"Because there was no sense of urgency after this year, since I had three more years on my contract," Moser explained.

I talked with both Porter and Zenger in October. Zenger said "Porter needs alot of wins this season" and Moser said "I am not going to make excuses for the last few season, this year is on me."

If the story is true, and Zenger didn't allow Porter a phone call or the ability to notify his assistants....well that is wrong.

How is someone denied a phone call...if I was in the midst of getting canned and wanted to make a call I'd get my a$$ outta the chair and go make the and on the way out the door I'd say...I'll be back when I'm through.


Firings are tough....there RELLY is no easy way. You can try and be professional but just the nature of it can bring animopsity and a sense of someone "doing you wrong".....

[DannyCooksey]

Another misleading part of the story is Porter fearing his kids would find out from someone else.

I believe Porter's oldest kid is 6 years old. Unless Porter was gonna send his kid a text message while he was in kindergarten, I doubt he would have been able to contact him anyway.

Firings are never plesant and if Porter truly didn't see it coming, then he didn't pay attention to falling attendance and continuing anguish from fans over losses that simply should have never occured. He also must not have noticed the fallout from an inexcusable loss to a bad Indiana State team in St Louis by blowing a 12 point lead w/10 to play.

What a bushleague operation they seem to be running there! And just when it looked like they might make a run at the Valley upper division next year anyway.

I guess we can forget that now!

So.......do you know who the new coach is or something? Why is it not possible that they still have a strong year? I didn't know firing a guy is considered bushleague.

[dogsrus]

Danny..how much pressure do you think there will be on the new hire? It seems like almost everyone in RB nation thinks this team will/should win next year.

Its NEVER as easy as that as we all know.

Lets say the new coach is .500 and a playin team again. Will he be give ANY slack?

I'd almost think it would be better coming into a disaster and starting with lower expectations.

[DannyCooksey]

Danny..how much pressure do you think there will be on the new hire? It seems like almost everyone in RB nation thinks this team will/should win next year.

Its NEVER as easy as that as we all know.

Lets say the new coach is .500 and a playin team again. Will he be give ANY slack?

I'd almost think it would be better coming into a disaster and starting with lower expectations.

The expectations will be higher than normal for a first year coach provided the current roster remains intact. There is pressure to win at ISU. There always has been, except during the Perk years. You can be sure that a guy like Doug Collins is more than sick and f'in tired of the losing especially now that his name is on the court. I'm sure with his name more visible, he may be a little more 'supporive vocally'.

I would say there will be 4 years given at least for whoever the new coach is. His tenure will match Porter's at least I would assume so.

[Bravesfan]

So.......do you know who the new coach is or something? Why is it not possible that they still have a strong year? I didn't know firing a guy is considered bushleague.

No, the part about not allowing him a phone call, and the AD implying that he would still be around for another year is bushleague. And is there any guarantee that all of the players are going to stick around next year to play for a new coach? I hope you're right as far as you and your fellow Redbird fans are concerned, but I'm not sure everyone is going to stay.

[dogsrus]

Danny..how much pressure do you think there will be on the new hire? It seems like almost everyone in RB nation thinks this team will/should win next year.

Its NEVER as easy as that as we all know.

Lets say the new coach is .500 and a playin team again. Will he be give ANY slack?

I'd almost think it would be better coming into a disaster and starting with lower expectations.

The expectations will be higher than normal for a first year coach provided the current roster remains intact. There is pressure to win at ISU. There always has been, except during the Perk years. You can be sure that a guy like Doug Collins is more than sick and f'in tired of the losing especially now that his name is on the court. I'm sure with his name more visible, he may be a little more 'supporive vocally'.

I would say there will be 4 years given at least for whoever the new coach is. His tenure will match Porter's at least I would assume so.

Thanks....I was thinking fan wise as far as "pressure". I would hope for beter than .500 but its getting tougher and tougher to move up in this league.

Yeah lots leavin but it seems like more and more good ones coming in.

[cpacmel]

So.......do you know who the new coach is or something? Why is it not possible that they still have a strong year? I didn't know firing a guy is considered bushleague.

No, the part about not allowing him a phone call, and the AD implying that he would still be around for another year is bushleague.

Zenger never gave Moser a vote of confidence. He never implied that he would be around for another year.

I also doubt the notion that Porter was surprised by this:

"This decision didn???‚¬?„?t happen in a vacuum. If Coach (Moser) is surprised, then I would be surprised,???‚¬?? Zenger said.

[DannyCooksey]

So.......do you know who the new coach is or something? Why is it not possible that they still have a strong year? I didn't know firing a guy is considered bushleague.

No, the part about not allowing him a phone call, and the AD implying that he would still be around for another year is bushleague. And is there any guarantee that all of the players are going to stick around next year to play for a new coach? I hope you're right as far as you and your fellow Redbird fans are concerned, but I'm not sure everyone is going to stay.

Please. You mean to tell me if Porter pulled out his cell phone to call his wife Zenger would have wrestled it out of his hand? You are treating this as if he got arrested and wasn't allowed a phone call. C'mon.

I can tell you the meeting lasted about 2 minutes, after which time Porter could make the all the calls he wanted to make. This is really not a big deal and you are blowing it way out of proportion just as Porter has done.

There are no guarantees that the roster remains intact, just like it wasn't a guarantee that with Porter this team would have made a post-season appearance.