Great reporting, John. It's just one thing after another with Barnes. Clearly, he's a huge part of the problem and needs to be the next one to go. Barnes should have NOTHING to do with hiring OSU's next football coach.
To cancel a Dam Nation membership, a monthly recurring charge, one sends an email. There is no formal cancelation link on the DN site. After sending email, crickets. Four days later, recurring fee taken from credit card. No biggie but I then demanded an acknowledgment email that cancelation request had been received, which was received. Will see next month if fee taken again. Annoying. Grandson is a senior so my support is high but ticked at the shenanigans at the adults in DN.
Kind of the same experience I had - when Kyle was in charge, if I had a question or wanted to change my donation, I just emailed him off the website and he always got back to me. Couldn't even get a response from Blueprint. Get Kyle back NOW.
Thank you John for helping right the Oregon State athletics ship.
Without your reporting none of this movement would have occurred. There are Beaver fans still upset about a misstep towards our fanbase decades ago... This should shut that door for good. You helped right a mess that had the possiblity of sinking the entire ship.
I agree with that sentiment! Not every sports writer would put his butt on the line and criticize the management structures of the teams he / she follows. That takes some stones. And it shows a lot of integrity
When was that exactly? Way too much money has been flowing into and distorting college sports for a very long time. I admire John Wooden but he didn't make the dynasty on his own. If you want pure sports head down to whatever Division III is called these days. No scholarships. Just sports.
Thank you for a well researched and well presented review of this awkward (at best) situation.
It is apparent that neither Blueprint Sports nor Brent Blaylock had Oregon State’s best interest in mind. More likely they had their personal self-serving interests in mind. You cannot blame Blueprint Sports, as maximizing their income is their business model and goal. But Brent Blaylock? What was his personal interest? Do we really want to know why he wanted to shortchange Oregon State for the benefit of Blueprint Sports?
In situations like this, it is common for there to be an unseen benefit accruing to an interested party. I am not saying this was happening, but it is hard to rationalize such a one sided, poorly constructed deal without assuming someone was receiving an undisclosed benefit.
Good riddance to both Blueprint and Blaylock being gone. Barnes’ complicity tarnishes his reputation and may weaken his influence in future negotiations. All around, a bad look at a public institution. Especially one that is facing so many other struggles.
Couldn't agree more and said so the first I learned of the deal. 50% for Blueprint?! What donor would send their money to the collective when it was managed for the benefit of an unrelated company? I understand some overhead, maybe 10%, but certainly not 50%. When I make donations to a charity I always check their efficiency in advance to make sure most of what I donate goes to who I want to benefit. Blueprint was clearly scalping way too much of the funds it collected which would ultimately reduce those donations
Blaylock’s role in all of this seems really shady. Was there going to be some sort of personal benefit for him, especially since he had dealings with Blueprint in the past? Just seems really odd.
This has the feel of something that could lead to Barnes’ ouster. Clearly it is a mess, and a costly one. I have no strong feelings about Barnes one way or the other- he’s accomplished a lot. But this is a high-stakes fumble precisely at a time when mistakes cannot be made.
If OSU wants to be a player in this new era of college sports, and most notably college football, it is going to have to professionalize the administrative infrastructure- the front office. Athletics administration needs to be modeled on a professional team blueprint a-la an NFL or MLB front office. And that administration needs to be staffed by individuals who have the resume chops to fit that model. They have to be predators, not prey.
Barnes along with Teresa Gould have been formidable and should be credited for hiring the right legal team to do battle in the courts. Now President Murthy must decide what her vision is for athletics. The sleepy, small-town days are over. If Athletics is to thrive at OSU, administration of it must have the demonstrated instincts and experience to meet the moment.
The athletics front office organizational chart should be torn down, redesigned and rebuilt. Whether Barnes should continue to sit in its top spot isn’t for me to say. But whoever that person is needs to be equipped to handle professional college sports because that’s what it’s become.
This is well researched and clearly explained work, John--many thanks for this. All of it comes down to simple math and the comparison of deals isn't hard to distinguish the preferable path that should have been chosen. The way this has gone down raises strong doubts about competence and integrity--and it never should have. At least part of the root system that fostered this mess is getting a well deserved exit. We have to continue to clean this mess up, including an invitation to Bjornstadt for a return in a key role toward rebuilding an honest fundraising effort. Whether Barnes likes it or not.
Hey Beav fans.. time to stay together. Demand new athletic leadership but competency is a necessity. Programs have come back from worse and the right hires are the one commonality.
Careerism is undefeated in NCAA administration. Everyone is always working on their next job or consulting/advisor gig. Keep an eye on Blueprint's advisor roster.
Wasn't Blaylock also just named to the committee formed to vet new head coaching candidates? Who will replace him? Will there be any additional fallout there?
Pat Casey should be on that committee, we need his championship blueprint clarity. He will recognize a coach who has it when he witnesses it in the interview. His understanding of that championship culture and process would prove invaluable.
Yes, Id actually give him the GM role of the athletic department. He can be temp AD and hire as he sees fit the new AD. The president may be out of her element here. Let her run the actual school.
Casey does know how to build a Championship in an otherwise success starved community. That is a rare commodity in Corvallis. What about one of the Reynolds boys. They also know success when they see it. Harold has stayed close to the community
While I hold the Reynolds boys close to my heart (Harold taught me the double-play pivot from the second base side and Donny was one of our assistant coaches when I played for Jack Riley (OSU Baseball), I do not believe they are needed on the coaching interview, but do believe Harold would serve well as a fund raising ambassador for the Dam Nation collective. Donny as you know was a standout running back for the Ducks, and his loyalties lie there, although he does believe strongly in holding the PAC-12 together.
Indiana was a perpetual loser until they conducted a consciousness search for a new coach that in 2 years turned the program totally around…..that’s what the Beavers need a good coach (not one recycled from Mich State) to turn our program around. OSU has great athletes, but inadequate leadership.
....and that leadership needs to extend to the Athletic Department as well inasmuch as the success of collegiate athletic teams on the field these days is predicated as much on the expertise of corporate types cobbling deals together in the NILverse as the skills and abilities of the athletes themselves.
I’m always amazed by the incompetence of leadership that doesn’t pay attention to finer details, and their subordinates who don’t convey those details because they’re distracted by the shiny object.
This isn’t an Oregon State problem alone, by the way. ADs across the country are going to need to learn—quickly, I might add—that you need people who can run the department like a true business and stop treating it as a cost center
From my admittedly limited purview: Seems to me Bjornstad is the only good guy here and I give him props for standing up for what is right. Not gonna throw shade at AD Barnes because I know its a very difficult job under the best of circumstances - and these circumstances are not good. At all. Beaver Nation deserves better and I hope it is in their future.
Kyle is a good guy. I e-mailed OSU's athletic department about 10-years ago, complaining about the loud music, intoxicated fans, fans that stand the entire game, and so on about why I no longer have season tickets (I live in Eug). He responded w/ free two club seat tickets and a parking pass for a non-conference game. He followed up with me the following week. Club seats are def the way to go. Yes, you pay 'extra' but for me, it's absolutely worth forking out the $$. Fans on that side are well-behaved, they don't stand the entire game (they do for big plays), and finally (as of the Fresno State game), they still play music but it's not nearly as loud as it used to be. I hope that with new leadership in the athletic department, Kyle will find his way back to Oregon State. He's a true Beaver Believer :)
TA Suzie. I am a 3rd gen Oregon alumni and die-hard Duck fan. I am sickened by the collapse of the PAC12 and the history it represents. I want only the best for OSU and WAZZU.
Thank you! Beavs don't have the unlimited buffet checking account that OR does, making it very difficult for lesser schools like OSU and WSU to land AND keep decent players. The demise of the Pac-12 for more $$, NIL, the transfer portal, I used to love watching all college sports. Not so much anymore. I'll tune into the Beavs but they have a long way to go to be competitive in football. They are no longer student-athletes, they're paid/professional athletes. Period. Curious to know if there's data out there that shows the graduation rate of these overly-paid 'students'. I mean, why bother going to the bookstore or enrolling in classes...just my two cents...
Barnes said he had a much better deal? Did he spend a few minutes doing the math? Time for a change at the AD level after many obvious and serious mis-steps.
Great reporting, John. It's just one thing after another with Barnes. Clearly, he's a huge part of the problem and needs to be the next one to go. Barnes should have NOTHING to do with hiring OSU's next football coach.
Thank you. A lot of moving pieces on this one.
To cancel a Dam Nation membership, a monthly recurring charge, one sends an email. There is no formal cancelation link on the DN site. After sending email, crickets. Four days later, recurring fee taken from credit card. No biggie but I then demanded an acknowledgment email that cancelation request had been received, which was received. Will see next month if fee taken again. Annoying. Grandson is a senior so my support is high but ticked at the shenanigans at the adults in DN.
Kind of the same experience I had - when Kyle was in charge, if I had a question or wanted to change my donation, I just emailed him off the website and he always got back to me. Couldn't even get a response from Blueprint. Get Kyle back NOW.
Call your card company and dispute the charges. They should be able to take care of this for you.
I put a block on my credit card for any further Dam Nation charges.
Thank you John for helping right the Oregon State athletics ship.
Without your reporting none of this movement would have occurred. There are Beaver fans still upset about a misstep towards our fanbase decades ago... This should shut that door for good. You helped right a mess that had the possiblity of sinking the entire ship.
Beaver Nation is indebted to you.
I agree with that sentiment! Not every sports writer would put his butt on the line and criticize the management structures of the teams he / she follows. That takes some stones. And it shows a lot of integrity
A strong Amen to this, Brian.
Thank you John for what you do!
I so wish that sports could just be about sports.
This.
When was that exactly? Way too much money has been flowing into and distorting college sports for a very long time. I admire John Wooden but he didn't make the dynasty on his own. If you want pure sports head down to whatever Division III is called these days. No scholarships. Just sports.
I don't think all of this comes to light which forces needed change without your reporting John. Journalism at it's best. Well done.
Thank you for a well researched and well presented review of this awkward (at best) situation.
It is apparent that neither Blueprint Sports nor Brent Blaylock had Oregon State’s best interest in mind. More likely they had their personal self-serving interests in mind. You cannot blame Blueprint Sports, as maximizing their income is their business model and goal. But Brent Blaylock? What was his personal interest? Do we really want to know why he wanted to shortchange Oregon State for the benefit of Blueprint Sports?
In situations like this, it is common for there to be an unseen benefit accruing to an interested party. I am not saying this was happening, but it is hard to rationalize such a one sided, poorly constructed deal without assuming someone was receiving an undisclosed benefit.
Good riddance to both Blueprint and Blaylock being gone. Barnes’ complicity tarnishes his reputation and may weaken his influence in future negotiations. All around, a bad look at a public institution. Especially one that is facing so many other struggles.
Couldn't agree more and said so the first I learned of the deal. 50% for Blueprint?! What donor would send their money to the collective when it was managed for the benefit of an unrelated company? I understand some overhead, maybe 10%, but certainly not 50%. When I make donations to a charity I always check their efficiency in advance to make sure most of what I donate goes to who I want to benefit. Blueprint was clearly scalping way too much of the funds it collected which would ultimately reduce those donations
Blaylock’s role in all of this seems really shady. Was there going to be some sort of personal benefit for him, especially since he had dealings with Blueprint in the past? Just seems really odd.
100% spot on.
This has the feel of something that could lead to Barnes’ ouster. Clearly it is a mess, and a costly one. I have no strong feelings about Barnes one way or the other- he’s accomplished a lot. But this is a high-stakes fumble precisely at a time when mistakes cannot be made.
If OSU wants to be a player in this new era of college sports, and most notably college football, it is going to have to professionalize the administrative infrastructure- the front office. Athletics administration needs to be modeled on a professional team blueprint a-la an NFL or MLB front office. And that administration needs to be staffed by individuals who have the resume chops to fit that model. They have to be predators, not prey.
Barnes along with Teresa Gould have been formidable and should be credited for hiring the right legal team to do battle in the courts. Now President Murthy must decide what her vision is for athletics. The sleepy, small-town days are over. If Athletics is to thrive at OSU, administration of it must have the demonstrated instincts and experience to meet the moment.
The athletics front office organizational chart should be torn down, redesigned and rebuilt. Whether Barnes should continue to sit in its top spot isn’t for me to say. But whoever that person is needs to be equipped to handle professional college sports because that’s what it’s become.
This is well researched and clearly explained work, John--many thanks for this. All of it comes down to simple math and the comparison of deals isn't hard to distinguish the preferable path that should have been chosen. The way this has gone down raises strong doubts about competence and integrity--and it never should have. At least part of the root system that fostered this mess is getting a well deserved exit. We have to continue to clean this mess up, including an invitation to Bjornstadt for a return in a key role toward rebuilding an honest fundraising effort. Whether Barnes likes it or not.
1000%
Hey Beav fans.. time to stay together. Demand new athletic leadership but competency is a necessity. Programs have come back from worse and the right hires are the one commonality.
Scott Barnes needs to go as well.
Blaylock is a start.
Barnes needs to go. This debacle is simply one of too many Fusterclucks on his watch. Where does the buck stop?
WeavTheBeav
Careerism is undefeated in NCAA administration. Everyone is always working on their next job or consulting/advisor gig. Keep an eye on Blueprint's advisor roster.
Wasn't Blaylock also just named to the committee formed to vet new head coaching candidates? Who will replace him? Will there be any additional fallout there?
Pat Casey should be on that committee, we need his championship blueprint clarity. He will recognize a coach who has it when he witnesses it in the interview. His understanding of that championship culture and process would prove invaluable.
I say Pat should be the Interim Athletic Director...
Yes, Id actually give him the GM role of the athletic department. He can be temp AD and hire as he sees fit the new AD. The president may be out of her element here. Let her run the actual school.
We could only hope and that he does it so well, he'd like to be the permanent AD
Casey does know how to build a Championship in an otherwise success starved community. That is a rare commodity in Corvallis. What about one of the Reynolds boys. They also know success when they see it. Harold has stayed close to the community
While I hold the Reynolds boys close to my heart (Harold taught me the double-play pivot from the second base side and Donny was one of our assistant coaches when I played for Jack Riley (OSU Baseball), I do not believe they are needed on the coaching interview, but do believe Harold would serve well as a fund raising ambassador for the Dam Nation collective. Donny as you know was a standout running back for the Ducks, and his loyalties lie there, although he does believe strongly in holding the PAC-12 together.
Pat Casey is very much needed on that interview, and in my opinion should lead the thing.
Indiana was a perpetual loser until they conducted a consciousness search for a new coach that in 2 years turned the program totally around…..that’s what the Beavers need a good coach (not one recycled from Mich State) to turn our program around. OSU has great athletes, but inadequate leadership.
I love that recycling comment. Spot on!
....and that leadership needs to extend to the Athletic Department as well inasmuch as the success of collegiate athletic teams on the field these days is predicated as much on the expertise of corporate types cobbling deals together in the NILverse as the skills and abilities of the athletes themselves.
Totally agree.
I’m always amazed by the incompetence of leadership that doesn’t pay attention to finer details, and their subordinates who don’t convey those details because they’re distracted by the shiny object.
This isn’t an Oregon State problem alone, by the way. ADs across the country are going to need to learn—quickly, I might add—that you need people who can run the department like a true business and stop treating it as a cost center
From my admittedly limited purview: Seems to me Bjornstad is the only good guy here and I give him props for standing up for what is right. Not gonna throw shade at AD Barnes because I know its a very difficult job under the best of circumstances - and these circumstances are not good. At all. Beaver Nation deserves better and I hope it is in their future.
Kyle is a good guy. I e-mailed OSU's athletic department about 10-years ago, complaining about the loud music, intoxicated fans, fans that stand the entire game, and so on about why I no longer have season tickets (I live in Eug). He responded w/ free two club seat tickets and a parking pass for a non-conference game. He followed up with me the following week. Club seats are def the way to go. Yes, you pay 'extra' but for me, it's absolutely worth forking out the $$. Fans on that side are well-behaved, they don't stand the entire game (they do for big plays), and finally (as of the Fresno State game), they still play music but it's not nearly as loud as it used to be. I hope that with new leadership in the athletic department, Kyle will find his way back to Oregon State. He's a true Beaver Believer :)
TA Suzie. I am a 3rd gen Oregon alumni and die-hard Duck fan. I am sickened by the collapse of the PAC12 and the history it represents. I want only the best for OSU and WAZZU.
Thank you! Beavs don't have the unlimited buffet checking account that OR does, making it very difficult for lesser schools like OSU and WSU to land AND keep decent players. The demise of the Pac-12 for more $$, NIL, the transfer portal, I used to love watching all college sports. Not so much anymore. I'll tune into the Beavs but they have a long way to go to be competitive in football. They are no longer student-athletes, they're paid/professional athletes. Period. Curious to know if there's data out there that shows the graduation rate of these overly-paid 'students'. I mean, why bother going to the bookstore or enrolling in classes...just my two cents...
100%
Barnes said he had a much better deal? Did he spend a few minutes doing the math? Time for a change at the AD level after many obvious and serious mis-steps.
A much better deal for WHOM and WHY? That is the question.
This is a good starting point for the Beavs. I hope they can get this right and start moving forward.