A few of us had a chance to talk with Rhoades for about half an hour this afternoon on the one-year anniversary of his starting at Mizzou. Here are the highlights:
Opening statement: "It really is amazing to me that it's been one year. Most of the days have flown by extremely quick and then some of the days have probably been a little bit longer than what I would have liked."
"Drinking water through a firehose, that's what it really feels like...still so much more to do but I certainly like where we're headed."
"We certainly had some challenges this year. Things that certainly I didn't anticipate. I thought candidly that was one of my strengths, but there are some things that happened that you can't anticipate. From that, I think there's also great opportunity."
"One year later now, fast forward, I'm probably more excited. As you get to know the people and you get to hire some of your own people, the prospects I think are unbelievable for us."
Says they're "assembling a great team yet. We're not finished yet."
Reflects on some of the positives. Specifically mentions J'Den Cox: "He's everything that you want a student-athlete to be." Talks about wrestling, swimming, women's hoops, volleyball, soccer, women's golf and gymnastics.
On Odom: "The hiring of Barry Odom has excited people. The way Barry in just a short time has connected with people out in the community and the fact that he's a True Son, but he's also his own man and has made his own decisions and put together what I think...is a staff that's coached in ten national championship games. That really speaks well to the future."
Football, men's hoops, "None of us sit there and are satisfied with that (record) but the great news is we've proven we can win in both of those sports, both of those programs and that's our expectation going forward."
On the biggest challenge: "I don't think anything surprises you. The fact that you had to deal with a boycott, the fact that you had to deal with a major NCAA investigation...within your first six months, your first year...I think all of that collectively, trying to get out and establish relationships in the community, taking time to connect with your donors, your fans your alums, I think all of that, it's been a real challenge to balance it...Maybe some not as great as I would have liked." Says they've done a good job connecting in CoMo, KC and STL, but other areas of the state they haven't visited and met as many people as they'd have liked.
On what he'd do differently in regard to last November: "What happened in November wasn't just about our football team. There were certainly the issues on campus which filtered down to our football team. Maybe if anything as I think back, did I candidly need to have a better understanding of what was going on on campus and how some of those things were handled and how they might filter down to our football program? When you have 20 minutes to react, I think you do the best that you can but I also think since that event, I think we've done a lot of great things and that's where our focus has been is how do we move forward, how do we make sure that we create an environment just within our athletics program where that never happens again?"
Says donations have been positive since November. Says they're up since Jan 1 vs same time frame last year. On recruiting he says it's forced them to have conversations about the climate on campus "and I think that's been good." Says he doesn't know of any situation where an athlete has decided not to come to Mizzou because of those events.
On specifics of how new policies will prevent another such event, he said they're stressing that coaches connect with athletes outside of the game, X's and O's, etc. Adding player personnel like Will Franklin who can identify with students has helped. Says they've brought people in to talk about diversity, "inclusive excellence," started a board with a rep from every team to talk about what they're doing well and what needs to improve.
Opening statement: "It really is amazing to me that it's been one year. Most of the days have flown by extremely quick and then some of the days have probably been a little bit longer than what I would have liked."
"Drinking water through a firehose, that's what it really feels like...still so much more to do but I certainly like where we're headed."
"We certainly had some challenges this year. Things that certainly I didn't anticipate. I thought candidly that was one of my strengths, but there are some things that happened that you can't anticipate. From that, I think there's also great opportunity."
"One year later now, fast forward, I'm probably more excited. As you get to know the people and you get to hire some of your own people, the prospects I think are unbelievable for us."
Says they're "assembling a great team yet. We're not finished yet."
Reflects on some of the positives. Specifically mentions J'Den Cox: "He's everything that you want a student-athlete to be." Talks about wrestling, swimming, women's hoops, volleyball, soccer, women's golf and gymnastics.
On Odom: "The hiring of Barry Odom has excited people. The way Barry in just a short time has connected with people out in the community and the fact that he's a True Son, but he's also his own man and has made his own decisions and put together what I think...is a staff that's coached in ten national championship games. That really speaks well to the future."
Football, men's hoops, "None of us sit there and are satisfied with that (record) but the great news is we've proven we can win in both of those sports, both of those programs and that's our expectation going forward."
On the biggest challenge: "I don't think anything surprises you. The fact that you had to deal with a boycott, the fact that you had to deal with a major NCAA investigation...within your first six months, your first year...I think all of that collectively, trying to get out and establish relationships in the community, taking time to connect with your donors, your fans your alums, I think all of that, it's been a real challenge to balance it...Maybe some not as great as I would have liked." Says they've done a good job connecting in CoMo, KC and STL, but other areas of the state they haven't visited and met as many people as they'd have liked.
On what he'd do differently in regard to last November: "What happened in November wasn't just about our football team. There were certainly the issues on campus which filtered down to our football team. Maybe if anything as I think back, did I candidly need to have a better understanding of what was going on on campus and how some of those things were handled and how they might filter down to our football program? When you have 20 minutes to react, I think you do the best that you can but I also think since that event, I think we've done a lot of great things and that's where our focus has been is how do we move forward, how do we make sure that we create an environment just within our athletics program where that never happens again?"
Says donations have been positive since November. Says they're up since Jan 1 vs same time frame last year. On recruiting he says it's forced them to have conversations about the climate on campus "and I think that's been good." Says he doesn't know of any situation where an athlete has decided not to come to Mizzou because of those events.
On specifics of how new policies will prevent another such event, he said they're stressing that coaches connect with athletes outside of the game, X's and O's, etc. Adding player personnel like Will Franklin who can identify with students has helped. Says they've brought people in to talk about diversity, "inclusive excellence," started a board with a rep from every team to talk about what they're doing well and what needs to improve.
