JimBob
02-10-2008, 11:13 AM
Cry double standard if Sutton is fired
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
2/10/2008
WHEN YOU cut through all the rhetoric, rumors and innuendo surrounding Sean Sutton's future as Oklahoma State's basketball coach, it comes down to one question:
Will a double-standard situation exist within OSU's athletic department shortly after the hoops season ends?
In other words, will athletic director Mike Holder treat Sutton differently than the way he has dealt with football coach Mike Gundy?
If Holder fires Sutton, the answer about the existence of a double standard at OSU will be an absolute and resounding yes.
Holder, of course, could instantly put a stop to the mounting speculation. All he needs to do is announce that he's made the same deal with Sutton that he made with Gundy -- he'll give him the life of the coach's five-year contract to demonstrate he can do the job.
But Holder isn't talking. The Cowboys' AD declined a request from the Tulsa World on Friday to discuss Sutton's job status.
Perhaps Holder believes the statement of support for Sutton that he gave last month was sufficient and he doesn't need to repeat himself.
Or maybe Holder doesn't want to add another coat of paint to that interesting corner he may have painted himself into 16 months ago when he strongly supported Gundy, who was struggling like Sutton is this season.
It is those words Holder spoke on Oct. 9, 2006, that will rightfully have Sutton's supporters screaming "double standard" if the Pokes' second-year hoops coach isn't treated the same as Gundy after he's earned that right.
"I'm realistic. I understand that (Gundy) came into this with no head-coaching experience," Holder said back in 2006. "A very difficult situation. He wasn't left with a stable filled with players. He's made mistakes, no question about it. But I'm proud of the fact that Mike Gundy is our football coach.
"I think five years from now, we'll sit down here and we'll have a pretty good idea of exactly what kind of football coach we've got."
Holder later decided he didn't need five years to judge Gundy. Last November, a few days after Gundy recorded his second consecutive 6-6 regular-season record with a third straight Bedlam Series loss to Oklahoma, Holder recommended that Gundy's contract be extended a year.
If an impartial arbitrator were to judge the performances by Gundy and Sutton, he undoubtedly would ask why Holder hasn't already said: "I think five years from now, we'll have a pretty good idea of exactly what kind of basketball coach we've got."
At similar points in their head-coaching careers, it's indisputable that Sutton has performed better than Gundy. But it hasn't prompted Holder to say he's "proud of the fact that Sean Sutton is our basketball coach."
Those who want Sutton fired after only his second season have started pointing to a drop in attendance this season. They conveniently forget to mention that OSU's football attendance has declined in each of Gundy's three seasons, from 46,805 the year before he took over to 40,024 this past season.
Holder's contention that Gundy wasn't left "a stable of players" isn't accurate. The stable was emptied when Gundy ran off some players he inherited from his predecessor, Les Miles.
Sutton's critics claim he's responsible for the players on this season's team because he helped recruit them when he was an assistant for his father, Eddie Sutton.
What? Gundy didn't help Miles recruit players when he was Cowboys' assistant? Sorry, Sutton critics, but you can't have it both ways.
Sean Sutton also booted some talented players when he replaced his father. And also like Gundy, the ones he told to take a hike were signed before he was the head coach.
There is no comparison to how Sean Sutton and Gundy performed their first season as head coaches. Sutton and his 22-13 record should be considered a smashing success when compared to Gundy's 4-7 start.
Gundy's supporters point to the Cowboys going to bowl games the past two seasons. But are minor-bowl bids any better than OSU's basketball team playing in the postseason NIT after Sean Sutton's first year?
Gundy didn't ask to be brought into this comparison with Sean Sutton. But his good friend, Holder, did it for him with those comments 16 months ago.
And the comparison game should include this: Sean Sutton has never, ever embarrassed OSU, not as a player, assistant or head coach. The same can't be said for Gundy.
Gundy made national headlines this past season with a childish tirade in a postgame press conference. While Holder publicly defended Gundy, sources confirmed that he privately lectured his football coach for his behavior and the backlash of negative attention it brought OSU.
OSU made national news a second time this past season when it dismissed a football player after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
Why was Gundy even allowed to recruit linebacker Chris Collins? After all, the charges against Collins were made public before the Cowboys signed him.
Would Sutton be allowed to recruit a player facing charges of sexual assault charges with a 12-year-old girl? Please. Holder strongly endorsed (pushed?) Sean Sutton's deci sion to run off some players the new coach inherited from his father, and none of them did anything remotely as heinous as sexually assaulting a child.
Sutton's second-season struggles continued Saturday with a loss at Kansas State. But OSU's record, 11-12 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, is due in large part to some well-documented circumstances that were beyond his control.
Just like Gundy, whose head-coaching record was 7-9 and 1-8 in his second season when Holder came to his defense, Sutton needs his AD to firmly say OSU won't judge him until after his fifth season.
A father's instincts took over last week when a frustrated Eddie Sutton went to the media to defend his son and to ask OSU's administration to publicly defend its basketball coach.
But Holder remained silent. His refusal to give Sean Sutton an endorsement similar in tone and commitment to what he gave Gundy during the football coach's second season already smacks of a double standard.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
2/10/2008
WHEN YOU cut through all the rhetoric, rumors and innuendo surrounding Sean Sutton's future as Oklahoma State's basketball coach, it comes down to one question:
Will a double-standard situation exist within OSU's athletic department shortly after the hoops season ends?
In other words, will athletic director Mike Holder treat Sutton differently than the way he has dealt with football coach Mike Gundy?
If Holder fires Sutton, the answer about the existence of a double standard at OSU will be an absolute and resounding yes.
Holder, of course, could instantly put a stop to the mounting speculation. All he needs to do is announce that he's made the same deal with Sutton that he made with Gundy -- he'll give him the life of the coach's five-year contract to demonstrate he can do the job.
But Holder isn't talking. The Cowboys' AD declined a request from the Tulsa World on Friday to discuss Sutton's job status.
Perhaps Holder believes the statement of support for Sutton that he gave last month was sufficient and he doesn't need to repeat himself.
Or maybe Holder doesn't want to add another coat of paint to that interesting corner he may have painted himself into 16 months ago when he strongly supported Gundy, who was struggling like Sutton is this season.
It is those words Holder spoke on Oct. 9, 2006, that will rightfully have Sutton's supporters screaming "double standard" if the Pokes' second-year hoops coach isn't treated the same as Gundy after he's earned that right.
"I'm realistic. I understand that (Gundy) came into this with no head-coaching experience," Holder said back in 2006. "A very difficult situation. He wasn't left with a stable filled with players. He's made mistakes, no question about it. But I'm proud of the fact that Mike Gundy is our football coach.
"I think five years from now, we'll sit down here and we'll have a pretty good idea of exactly what kind of football coach we've got."
Holder later decided he didn't need five years to judge Gundy. Last November, a few days after Gundy recorded his second consecutive 6-6 regular-season record with a third straight Bedlam Series loss to Oklahoma, Holder recommended that Gundy's contract be extended a year.
If an impartial arbitrator were to judge the performances by Gundy and Sutton, he undoubtedly would ask why Holder hasn't already said: "I think five years from now, we'll have a pretty good idea of exactly what kind of basketball coach we've got."
At similar points in their head-coaching careers, it's indisputable that Sutton has performed better than Gundy. But it hasn't prompted Holder to say he's "proud of the fact that Sean Sutton is our basketball coach."
Those who want Sutton fired after only his second season have started pointing to a drop in attendance this season. They conveniently forget to mention that OSU's football attendance has declined in each of Gundy's three seasons, from 46,805 the year before he took over to 40,024 this past season.
Holder's contention that Gundy wasn't left "a stable of players" isn't accurate. The stable was emptied when Gundy ran off some players he inherited from his predecessor, Les Miles.
Sutton's critics claim he's responsible for the players on this season's team because he helped recruit them when he was an assistant for his father, Eddie Sutton.
What? Gundy didn't help Miles recruit players when he was Cowboys' assistant? Sorry, Sutton critics, but you can't have it both ways.
Sean Sutton also booted some talented players when he replaced his father. And also like Gundy, the ones he told to take a hike were signed before he was the head coach.
There is no comparison to how Sean Sutton and Gundy performed their first season as head coaches. Sutton and his 22-13 record should be considered a smashing success when compared to Gundy's 4-7 start.
Gundy's supporters point to the Cowboys going to bowl games the past two seasons. But are minor-bowl bids any better than OSU's basketball team playing in the postseason NIT after Sean Sutton's first year?
Gundy didn't ask to be brought into this comparison with Sean Sutton. But his good friend, Holder, did it for him with those comments 16 months ago.
And the comparison game should include this: Sean Sutton has never, ever embarrassed OSU, not as a player, assistant or head coach. The same can't be said for Gundy.
Gundy made national headlines this past season with a childish tirade in a postgame press conference. While Holder publicly defended Gundy, sources confirmed that he privately lectured his football coach for his behavior and the backlash of negative attention it brought OSU.
OSU made national news a second time this past season when it dismissed a football player after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
Why was Gundy even allowed to recruit linebacker Chris Collins? After all, the charges against Collins were made public before the Cowboys signed him.
Would Sutton be allowed to recruit a player facing charges of sexual assault charges with a 12-year-old girl? Please. Holder strongly endorsed (pushed?) Sean Sutton's deci sion to run off some players the new coach inherited from his father, and none of them did anything remotely as heinous as sexually assaulting a child.
Sutton's second-season struggles continued Saturday with a loss at Kansas State. But OSU's record, 11-12 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, is due in large part to some well-documented circumstances that were beyond his control.
Just like Gundy, whose head-coaching record was 7-9 and 1-8 in his second season when Holder came to his defense, Sutton needs his AD to firmly say OSU won't judge him until after his fifth season.
A father's instincts took over last week when a frustrated Eddie Sutton went to the media to defend his son and to ask OSU's administration to publicly defend its basketball coach.
But Holder remained silent. His refusal to give Sean Sutton an endorsement similar in tone and commitment to what he gave Gundy during the football coach's second season already smacks of a double standard.