101 Comments
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Daniel P.'s avatar

Looks like another case of a PAC President making terrible decisions.

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E2148's avatar

Couldn’t have said it any better. These people just can’t help themselves. And fans and alumni are worse off for it.

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JoeDelaney's avatar

Schulz is more worried about that sweet consulting/director fee cash in retirement than his legacy or doing the right thing by anybody.

50/50 he already has a handshake deal with Huron.

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Brian M's avatar

Another case? Schulz was around for the previous poor "leadership" decisions by PAC12 presidents in 2021-23. He was part of the incompetence that caused the destruction of the PAC12, maybe even a leader of it given his anti-sports attitude.

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Bob_56's avatar

John, this is INCREDIBLE reporting. Everyone from WSU thanks you for exposing the BS that is going on behind the scenes at our beloved school. Without you, this truth may never have come to light, and for that you are the G.O.A.T 🐐

Thank you for always fighting for the little guys. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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TVO's avatar

This lack of a sense of urgency or situational awareness is consistent with the Pac 12 president group that cratered the conference...Sad.

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John Stone's avatar

They are tasked with a lot more than the athletic department and do not have the experience to engage in what is now a semi-pro business and not an education department. The issue is not working with the AD as a partner and micromanaging the overall process. He likely did not like being ordered what to do.

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Ben Johnson's avatar

gotta be an orchestrated agenda among the presidents, no way that's random.

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John-Henry Cottrell's avatar

Dickert was an emotional coach. No one can sustain that level of intense emotions for long. Wazzu needed to show support... and now its Schultz that failed.

Now this makes sense when Dickert said it wasn't an AD problem

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ESecPN's avatar

Merry Christmas to you John and all the sports fans on here.

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Kathy Witkowski's avatar

What we have here is a failure to communicate...

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Dan Ohlson's avatar

You saw the movie too, eh? A great line, indeed!

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Pat Mallahan's avatar

You are so right !!

The poor coach in the end was alot like Paul Newman towards the end of the film.

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Dwight Lilly's avatar

Sad indeed. Like I posted the other day, the fans bleed for the Cougs and the institution hasn't reciprocated. Incompetence? Personal indifference? Game playing?

Who hired Kirk and how long has he basically, been playing games and been insincere?

I support the former coach and feel bad that he and the program suffered under an institution that in reality, didn't care enough and could have.

I hope going forward that WSU doesn't drag down the rest of the newly formed PAC 12. When I see how badly Sacramento State wants in the conference and the investment they have committed, it makes me sick to learn what a dysfunctional institution WSU is. The state taxpayers and Coug fans deserve better.

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Ben Johnson's avatar

100%

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EA Flash's avatar

Saw the Wyoming game on TV. Didn't look like there were very many hometown fans there bleeding for WSU.

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Dawn Wells's avatar

I was there. Until the very freaking end.

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EA Flash's avatar

Good for you. But not many others were.

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Reno1441's avatar

I don't think there is going to be a lot of Christmas Cards being passed around the top echelons of WSU this year.

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Brian Beach's avatar

Outstanding reporting John. I wonder how deep this incompetence goes regarding Schulz? In my opinion he was completely duped by his fellow Pac12 presidents and is very culpable in the demise of the conference. The fact that he had to be forced to join the lawsuit against the conference tells you all you need to know. That was a no lose situation that has actually allowed WSU and OSU to keep their heads above water while they recover from his incompetent leadership. And now to find out that he was systematically crumbling his own athletic department and specifically the football program through lies, deceit,slow playing and just plain indifference to the wishes of the BOR is grounds for immediate dismissal IMO. Don’t wait for him to retire. He needs to go now before he does any more damage to athletics .

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Jim Burns's avatar

Agree completely. That's exactly what I took away from this great report!

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Ben Johnson's avatar

Needs to be helped out the door...can't have a Judas who can't be a team player.

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BackDoor's avatar

It's USC's fault.

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Jim Burns's avatar

100% There have been quite a few mis steps from many places and people along the way, but none of this happens if SC doesn't sabotage, lie and stab the entire Pac 12 in the back.

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ESecPN's avatar

Actually, it was Larry Scott’s fault.

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Andrew Manchester's avatar

Actually it was the schools that let him do what he did. My brother and I used to ask who is letting him get away with this stuff? Clearly nobody was scrutinizing him ....

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Linda Howlett's avatar

As a proud WSU grad and long-suffering Cougar fan, this just reinforces what I've seen over the past two years-plus -- a total lack of quality leadership at both the university and conference level. Not to trivialize academics, but athletics is also a big part of the college experience. To read that Schultz had to be prodded to joining the lawsuit is disheartening to say the least. When WSU hired Mike Leach, it was a package deal that included greatly increasing the budget for assistant coaches, improving facilities, etc. That started a trajectory that continued for many years, raising the profile of Cougar football and leading to winning seasons and bowl games. This recent information reveals an about-face and a lack of commitment to winning. I lament what NIL and the transfer portal have done to college football overall; the NCAA's total lack of control is largely to blame. The last 2 years the top quarterback in the transfer portal has come out of WSU. To ask the coaching staff that identified and developed these young men to take pay cuts, and to cut the assistant coaching salary budget those same 2 years is absurd. I have to believe the coaching staff saw the handwriting on the wall and understandably bolted for programs that are willing to support their coaches and athletes. The current trajectory of Cougar football leads to being a second-tier feeder program that finds and develops overlooked talent in places like Incarnate Word and Little Elm, Texas, only to see that talent depart for greener pastures. Continued cuts to budgets for coaches and facilities will hamper the ability to even be a feeder program. Very sad!

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Conor's avatar

Crazy to be told year after year, that you're doing your job extremely well and then be rewarded with less pay but expected to maintain loyalty. Contradicts the point of doing your job well.

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Chuck's avatar

Validates the maxim: Watch what they do, not what they say.

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Jon I.'s avatar

When I read about the assistant coach salary pool getting cut again and again, I understand why Dickert was disheartened. I’m not sure how much input Schultz had in those decisions, but he stuck with his belief that athletics needed to have a balanced budget until the regents told him otherwise. Why it took 6 weeks for AD McCoy to learn about it is horrible! The regents will need to find more than $2M to offset the loss in revenue from less lucrative media rights and declining ticket sales.

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Pat's avatar

Merry Christmas, John and to all your followers. Thanks for the Christmas Eve update. Sounds like the president, wanted to keep things “close to his vest”…then it all backfired. As a Beaver believer, my heart goes out to the true Cougs fans.

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Mike Johnson's avatar

Terrific reporting John! It’s stories like these that make a subscription so great. As a Husky fan, I sorry to see the struggles and dysfunction in Pullman. I want to see a strong WSU program for the sake of the rivalry and all my Coug frenemies.

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John Canzano's avatar

Thanks for being here.

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Steve Schwab's avatar

The President is always the smartest person in the room, right?

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Steve Watrous's avatar

I'm sorry but this only confirms my opinion of Shultz's incompetence and arrogance. Once again Canzano does a superb job of digging out the truth and exposing those who are to blame for what has happened to the PAC12 and OSU/WSU in particular. Larry Scott's lavish life style and fiscal irresponsibility, Kliavkoff being in over his head, Shultz and Chun being ring leaders in the botched media deal, and now Shultz's willful sabatoge of the football program have all been exposed thanks to John Canzano. Thank you John.

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Jim Burns's avatar

Thanks John for incredible research and reporting! Your dedication to get the truth out, always, is such a breath of fresh air. Even at times when I may not agree with you I know you are being honest and we're getting the information as you know it, through extensive research. Your ethics are beyond reproach which is not easy to find in today's media market!

Thank you again for all you do! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Now put down your pen and go spend the next few days with them, they're more important than we are!! 🙂

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John Canzano's avatar

Thank you Jim. Merry Christmas.

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