Says he's focused on meeting with everyone in the athletic department, says there are 200 people and he expects to be done meeting with everyone individually some time this summer.
Says the No. 2 in his department (formerly held by Doug Gillen) is a key hire. Hunter Yurichek (sp?) got the AD job at Houston. He'll have someone in this weekend to look to fill the No. 2 spot (doesn't say who).
Said he wants to implement a "pro model" for the Mizzou AD. Says after hiring a No. 2, organizational structure will be the key. "I've been transparent with our staff. There's gonna be changes."
Rhoades says it's not about one individual. "This is always going to be about what gives us the best chance to win."
Rhoades says after personnel, facilities are next. Mentions softball stadium and end zone expansion for football. Says he will put together a five-year plan.
Rhoades says developing relationships on campus is very important. Rhoades says he has appointments being set to meet with the top 25 donors, "but it goes beyond the top 25 donors….We need everybody."
Asked about his last six weeks, Rhoades says "It's been a lot of Red Bull." Says he has focused most of his time from 8 to 5 on Houston. "I probably cheated Houston out on some hours."
Rhoades said he was "fairly engaged" but wasn't comfortable trying to split time between two jobs the last few weeks.
Rhoades says Alden, Loftin, Wolfe did a great job on the Pinkel extension and that was all happening as he was getting the job. "I had nothing to do in terms of the actual terms, but absolutely in the loop in terms of what they were."
Rhoades says he is not a micromanager. "If I have to be, that is probably not good for that person."
"I have patience for some things. I'm not patient for others." Rhoades says one of his strengths is developing relationships. "I think the love for our student athletes is a strength of mine."
Rhoades says the No. 2 AD doesn't have to be someone he's worked with before. "Preferably, I think you'd always like to hire somebody you know. Most importantly is gonna be fit."
Asked about priorities, Rhoades says not necessarily one thing. "I knew that men's basketball didn't have a good year. I also know that Kim Anderson is a heck of a person and a heck of a coach."
Rhoades on how to increase attendance (specifically basketball): "Win games…People want to be associated with a winning program."
On his discussions with Alden: "I have big shoes to fill…There were some things that Mike wrapped up and worked hard to do that. Coach Pinkel's contract was one of those. We talked about some staffing areas and things that he was thinking about for the future and he was wanting to share those with me."
Rhoades on his first day in the office: "I felt like it was the first day of school." Said his wife took a picture of him leaving the house at 6 am
Says "There's a plan for every day."'
On basketball: "I never want to point a finger at anybody, but we all realize that what Kim inherited wasn't a perfect situation. It just wasn't…Why is number one and then really, two, is how do you attack that? How do you fix it and what can I do to be helpful. Kim is more than capable of getting this corrected, but I want him to know that I'm going to be in the trenches with him, sleeves rolled up, and we're going to do this together."
"I'm not interested in building a winning team. But I'm very interested in building a winning program…There's no reason we can't do that here. It's been done before."
Asked about a timetable, Rhoades dodges the question other than to say "I can tell you this, it's not ten years."
Rhoades says he will meet with Tim Jamieson the second week of May. "We'll sit down and talk about the program and him as it relates in terms of his future. It is, it's a unique situation that you have a coach that his last year of the contract. They've played really, really well up to this point in time and we'll have that conversation…No decision has been reached or formulated in my mind."
On adding men's tennis: "I love men's tennis, but it's probably not a priority of mine." Says once he feels comfortable that the 20 teams all have a chance to win, he'll consider adding others. "If we add a sport, it's so that we can compete right away."
On Jamieson's situation: "They had a great reason to do what they did. I'm sure they did. I just don't know that there's a lot of head coaches working their last year with one year left on their contract."
Rhoades says he met with Gary Pinkel this morning and the south end zone project was "a small part of our discussion."
Rhoades said over the next month, they'll do research and talk to other schools about the south end zone and see what others have done.
Rhoades says no reason to expand. "Let's make sure we sell out every home game and then we'll look at it"
Rhoades says SEC has helped Mizzou's brand tremendously "and we've got to continue to capitalize on that."
Rhoades says he would echo Alden's concerns about coaching salaries. "There has to be an end game. Can we really sustain this model?"
Rhoades says for every athlete who says he doesn't have money to eat, there's a student athlete "who's had an unbelievable experience."
"There's no patience anymore…and hey, maybe I'm a part of that problem."
"I've got great patience if I feel we've got the right person and we're doing it the right way. If not, I probably don't have much patience."
On playing Kansas: "We would certainly like to play them again. I think the people that really are impacted by it most are our student athletes, our coaches and our fans. They're the biggest losers in all of this."
Rhoades says his contract is not finalized. "There are no issues whatsoever. The ball's in my court. I need to respond back. Life's been a little crazy the last few weeks…That will take care of itself."
Rhoades said the master plan unveiled a few years ago is there as a guideline, but things will be adjusted and things change.
Rhoades says baseball facilities certainly something that needs to be addressed.
On putting his stamp on the program: "I don't worry about that. I'm not sitting here thinking about how can I put my stamp on the program? I'm thinking about how can I come in here and be a great leader for this program and put a staff together that will help us become a great program?…I'm not sitting here thinking about putting my stamp on the program…All I'm worried about is this program, making sure that it has room for growth and we maximize that growth…Why not Missouri? Why can't Missouri be the best athletics program in the country? Why can't it be? I haven't heard a good answer yet."
Says the No. 2 in his department (formerly held by Doug Gillen) is a key hire. Hunter Yurichek (sp?) got the AD job at Houston. He'll have someone in this weekend to look to fill the No. 2 spot (doesn't say who).
Said he wants to implement a "pro model" for the Mizzou AD. Says after hiring a No. 2, organizational structure will be the key. "I've been transparent with our staff. There's gonna be changes."
Rhoades says it's not about one individual. "This is always going to be about what gives us the best chance to win."
Rhoades says after personnel, facilities are next. Mentions softball stadium and end zone expansion for football. Says he will put together a five-year plan.
Rhoades says developing relationships on campus is very important. Rhoades says he has appointments being set to meet with the top 25 donors, "but it goes beyond the top 25 donors….We need everybody."
Asked about his last six weeks, Rhoades says "It's been a lot of Red Bull." Says he has focused most of his time from 8 to 5 on Houston. "I probably cheated Houston out on some hours."
Rhoades said he was "fairly engaged" but wasn't comfortable trying to split time between two jobs the last few weeks.
Rhoades says Alden, Loftin, Wolfe did a great job on the Pinkel extension and that was all happening as he was getting the job. "I had nothing to do in terms of the actual terms, but absolutely in the loop in terms of what they were."
Rhoades says he is not a micromanager. "If I have to be, that is probably not good for that person."
"I have patience for some things. I'm not patient for others." Rhoades says one of his strengths is developing relationships. "I think the love for our student athletes is a strength of mine."
Rhoades says the No. 2 AD doesn't have to be someone he's worked with before. "Preferably, I think you'd always like to hire somebody you know. Most importantly is gonna be fit."
Asked about priorities, Rhoades says not necessarily one thing. "I knew that men's basketball didn't have a good year. I also know that Kim Anderson is a heck of a person and a heck of a coach."
Rhoades on how to increase attendance (specifically basketball): "Win games…People want to be associated with a winning program."
On his discussions with Alden: "I have big shoes to fill…There were some things that Mike wrapped up and worked hard to do that. Coach Pinkel's contract was one of those. We talked about some staffing areas and things that he was thinking about for the future and he was wanting to share those with me."
Rhoades on his first day in the office: "I felt like it was the first day of school." Said his wife took a picture of him leaving the house at 6 am
Says "There's a plan for every day."'
On basketball: "I never want to point a finger at anybody, but we all realize that what Kim inherited wasn't a perfect situation. It just wasn't…Why is number one and then really, two, is how do you attack that? How do you fix it and what can I do to be helpful. Kim is more than capable of getting this corrected, but I want him to know that I'm going to be in the trenches with him, sleeves rolled up, and we're going to do this together."
"I'm not interested in building a winning team. But I'm very interested in building a winning program…There's no reason we can't do that here. It's been done before."
Asked about a timetable, Rhoades dodges the question other than to say "I can tell you this, it's not ten years."
Rhoades says he will meet with Tim Jamieson the second week of May. "We'll sit down and talk about the program and him as it relates in terms of his future. It is, it's a unique situation that you have a coach that his last year of the contract. They've played really, really well up to this point in time and we'll have that conversation…No decision has been reached or formulated in my mind."
On adding men's tennis: "I love men's tennis, but it's probably not a priority of mine." Says once he feels comfortable that the 20 teams all have a chance to win, he'll consider adding others. "If we add a sport, it's so that we can compete right away."
On Jamieson's situation: "They had a great reason to do what they did. I'm sure they did. I just don't know that there's a lot of head coaches working their last year with one year left on their contract."
Rhoades says he met with Gary Pinkel this morning and the south end zone project was "a small part of our discussion."
Rhoades said over the next month, they'll do research and talk to other schools about the south end zone and see what others have done.
Rhoades says no reason to expand. "Let's make sure we sell out every home game and then we'll look at it"
Rhoades says SEC has helped Mizzou's brand tremendously "and we've got to continue to capitalize on that."
Rhoades says he would echo Alden's concerns about coaching salaries. "There has to be an end game. Can we really sustain this model?"
Rhoades says for every athlete who says he doesn't have money to eat, there's a student athlete "who's had an unbelievable experience."
"There's no patience anymore…and hey, maybe I'm a part of that problem."
"I've got great patience if I feel we've got the right person and we're doing it the right way. If not, I probably don't have much patience."
On playing Kansas: "We would certainly like to play them again. I think the people that really are impacted by it most are our student athletes, our coaches and our fans. They're the biggest losers in all of this."
Rhoades says his contract is not finalized. "There are no issues whatsoever. The ball's in my court. I need to respond back. Life's been a little crazy the last few weeks…That will take care of itself."
Rhoades said the master plan unveiled a few years ago is there as a guideline, but things will be adjusted and things change.
Rhoades says baseball facilities certainly something that needs to be addressed.
On putting his stamp on the program: "I don't worry about that. I'm not sitting here thinking about how can I put my stamp on the program? I'm thinking about how can I come in here and be a great leader for this program and put a staff together that will help us become a great program?…I'm not sitting here thinking about putting my stamp on the program…All I'm worried about is this program, making sure that it has room for growth and we maximize that growth…Why not Missouri? Why can't Missouri be the best athletics program in the country? Why can't it be? I haven't heard a good answer yet."
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