DON’T GET ME STARTED admits that I felt joy when I heard the News that Danny White will be leaving for the A.D. job at the University of Central Florida.
Art Wander
From the moment he arrived White has done little to really elevate the University at Buffalo Athletic program the way Wade Manuel did when that talented person held the job at UB. Manuel was determined to compete against some of the big teams in the nation. Ohio State, Penn State, George, Missouri, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Auburn. Those nationally noted teams played against U.B.
Manuel was an outstanding sports administrator that brought credit to the school and to the community. He is now the Athletic Director at Connecticut.
In comes White. In comes the new name of the school – State University of New York at Buffalo. WOW. I don’t hear anybody identifying the school with that monicker. It has been – and always will be – U.B. or the Bulls of U.B. That certainly was not a good move to identify the school.
He fired a very successful – very popular – and a productive Western New Yorker, Reggie Witherspoon following a successful basketball season. He brought in a former Duke player, Bobby Hurley to coach the team. How long did he last? About a year or so? Word had it he was not enamored with the front office where White was admiring his name plate.
Then the U.B. football program was making a name for itself in the MAC under Coach Jeff Quinn. In fact Quinn led the team to an 8-5 record in 2013 and going to the Idaho Potato Bowl game, though they lost that one. James Stark, Brandon Oliver, Khalil Mack were drafted by the National Football League.
Did White go after a coach like Gill (who formerly had the UB job) or a Division 1 coach? What kind of a search did he make? He named Lance Leipold as head football coach. Immediately all of Western New York yelled, WHO???????????
Leipold’s credentials? Before taking the UB job, Leipold spent 8 seasons as coach of Division III University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Maybe White liked the long name of the school. In any event Leipold had some succcess there but it still was Division III. The Bulls languish in the .500 mode in Conference and overall play in his first season with a couple games left. It’s evident there will be no bowl game.
I feel that the school owes it to Leipold to have him continue. Then again with White heading to Florida the new U.B. Athletic Director will have a say as to who will be the coach in football and basketball.
It’s likely that little reference will be given to White as he follows the exit sign on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: Art Wander, Bobby Hurley, Bulls, Central Florida University, Danny White, Reggie Witherspoon, Satish K. Tripathi, University at Buffalo
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