AD

[Pgmado]

The AD probably realizes, as he should, that this turn of events has created a pivotal point in time for the Valpo brand.  The departing players have given a resounding vote of no confidence in the coach and the direction of the program (Bakari said as much), but one has to consider how this will affect the current commits. I would not be at all surprised to learn that one or more of the commits decided to decommit.

So if the AD is thinking at all about his legacy, what would he do now? By firing Lottich, he would show that he recognizes the seriousness of the problem rather than being in denial by claiming that he's never surprised when players leave the program. Yes, players leave the program every year but not the players who contribute most of the significant scoring of the entire team. This situation is different and not recognizing that reflects a significant flaw of judgement. A flippant explanation implies that one's  head is in the sand or somewhere else.

Does the AD consider the consequences of doing nothing? Does he consider what the ongoing effect of doing nothing will have on the Valpo brand, recruiting, attendance, and revenue? Or his legacy of being at the helm of a sinking ship and powerless to undo the damage?

Just sayin'

Lottich kept playing Bakari when he was playing so bad he should have been relegated to the practice team.   If anything Bakari should be grateful to Lottich for sticking with him through long slumps and never giving up on him, yet he still decided to leave.   We should not value anything Bakari has to say as he clearly is not a high character guy.  His constant whining on the court backs up my argument.   I am fine with using quotes from Freeman/Golder to analyze the program and the coach, but not Bakari.

Coach sticks with you and defends you when you are playing bad even after the fans have given up on you.... How do you respond.... Transfer.   Come on.....   

So I shouldn't ask Bakari to do a USH episode?

[wh]

The AD probably realizes, as he should, that this turn of events has created a pivotal point in time for the Valpo brand.  The departing players have given a resounding vote of no confidence in the coach and the direction of the program (Bakari said as much), but one has to consider how this will affect the current commits. I would not be at all surprised to learn that one or more of the commits decided to decommit.

So if the AD is thinking at all about his legacy, what would he do now? By firing Lottich, he would show that he recognizes the seriousness of the problem rather than being in denial by claiming that he's never surprised when players leave the program. Yes, players leave the program every year but not the players who contribute most of the significant scoring of the entire team. This situation is different and not recognizing that reflects a significant flaw of judgement. A flippant explanation implies that one's  head is in the sand or somewhere else.

Does the AD consider the consequences of doing nothing? Does he consider what the ongoing effect of doing nothing will have on the Valpo brand, recruiting, attendance, and revenue? Or his legacy of being at the helm of a sinking ship and powerless to undo the damage?

Just sayin'

Lottich kept playing Bakari when he was playing so bad he should have been relegated to the practice team.   If anything Bakari should be grateful to Lottich for sticking with him through long slumps and never giving up on him, yet he still decided to leave.   We should not value anything Bakari has to say as he clearly is not a high character guy.  His constant whining on the court backs up my argument.   I am fine with using quotes from Freeman/Golder to analyze the program and the coach, but not Bakari.

Coach sticks with you and defends you when you are playing bad even after the fans have given up on you.... How do you respond.... Transfer.   Come on.....   

If we had a 'best post' award, this just won in a landslide.

[FieldGoodie05]

The AD probably realizes, as he should, that this turn of events has created a pivotal point in time for the Valpo brand.  The departing players have given a resounding vote of no confidence in the coach and the direction of the program (Bakari said as much), but one has to consider how this will affect the current commits. I would not be at all surprised to learn that one or more of the commits decided to decommit.

So if the AD is thinking at all about his legacy, what would he do now? By firing Lottich, he would show that he recognizes the seriousness of the problem rather than being in denial by claiming that he's never surprised when players leave the program. Yes, players leave the program every year but not the players who contribute most of the significant scoring of the entire team. This situation is different and not recognizing that reflects a significant flaw of judgement. A flippant explanation implies that one's  head is in the sand or somewhere else.

Does the AD consider the consequences of doing nothing? Does he consider what the ongoing effect of doing nothing will have on the Valpo brand, recruiting, attendance, and revenue? Or his legacy of being at the helm of a sinking ship and powerless to undo the damage?

Just sayin'

Lottich kept playing Bakari when he was playing so bad he should have been relegated to the practice team.   If anything Bakari should be grateful to Lottich for sticking with him through long slumps and never giving up on him, yet he still decided to leave.   We should not value anything Bakari has to say as he clearly is not a high character guy.  His constant whining on the court backs up my argument.   I am fine with using quotes from Freeman/Golder to analyze the program and the coach, but not Bakari.

Coach sticks with you and defends you when you are playing bad even after the fans have given up on you.... How do you respond.... Transfer.   Come on.....   

So I shouldn't ask Bakari to do a USH episode?

Hahahaha, not if you want me to listen (not saying that's important).  He's a poor mans Brandon Wood....of the back stabbing variety.  Some people are just bad at hiding their self-importance from onlookers.

[GoldenCrusader87]

I'd actually listen. Especially if he was honest. Paul, have you reached out to Golder, Freeman, Smits, and/or Bakari about doing a cast? Or .... any of the others from the past couple years?

[VU2014]

I'd actually listen. Especially if he was honest. Paul, have you reached out to Golder, Freeman, Smits, and/or Bakari about doing a cast? Or .... any of the others from the past couple years?

Skara would be the most interesting one of all but the chances of getting the full truth would be slim.

[JD24]

Lanie Callaghan.

How was this tweet even found? It appears to be something short of a trending topic.

Some familiar "likes" on the tweet though.

[VU2014]

I'm not trying to make it sound like this is a majority opinion about MLB but here is another isolated statement from a senior VU golfer that I found interesting.

It's been a few years now since I was a student on campus but I always got the sense MLB was well liked and respected by most athletes. He very well could be and I'd suspect he is but I just find these cases to be interesting because I'd love to get a student athletes honest opinions on things. FWIW, this senior golfer has been a critic of Lottich on twitter.

https://twitter.com/llt123/status/1095885371399913477?s=21
https://twitter.com/wittmann7/status/1095918076485402624?s=21

[GoldenCrusader87]

And another one bites the dust. Sarolla ... out. Bet he was wishing he'd of given Mileek more of an opportunity right about now .... cuz he's gonna need him!

[VUGrad1314]

And that assumes Mileek doesn't say adios as well.

[FieldGoodie05]

And that assumes Mileek doesn't say adios as well.

If Mileek does then that's on Mileek....he sucks at D1.

[GoldenCrusader87]

You'd think if a lot of his buds who graduated with him from Merrillville are on Drake's team and Drake saw potential in him, he'd go. I see potential. Just don't know if it'll blossom in time or not.

[VUalum]

Recent grad and I thought a copy of an email I sent after graduation to Mr LaBarbera may shed some light on the SA perspective:

I have many positives and many negatives in this email that I try to speak as open and honestly as possible to give you constructive feedback on the Athletic Department. Some of these things are simply observations, some are opinions, and others are just perceptions of the student athletes.

My time at Valpo with the ____ program was some of the best and formative years of my life. I loved being a part of those organizations due to the people leading them. Their care and passion to develop young people was inspiring and a big reason why I want to continue coaching.

The first negative I wanted to address: Sports medicine. I know you have received complaints in the past 4 years on this issues and from the student athlete point of view, nothing has been done to improve this situation. To put it bluntly, the sports medicine department is fairly incompetent by measures of success in the sports medicine industry.  The amount of repeat injuries (I can name 7 off the top of my head in the past 12 months) sustained by athletes (especially females), complaints of their attitudes toward actually doing the bare minimum to help their athletes, and conservative measures taken that hinder a players return to play has hurt the athletes within your department. They do very little in terms of adhearing to your departments philosophy of being champions and going above and beyond to serve student athletes. If you want more specific examples or stories of their lack of benefit to the student athlete, let me know. The culture cultivated by your head trainer of your entire sports medicine department is one of laziness, selfish behavior and not doing the most to help their athletes.

To build off that, I think our strength and conditioning department is a joke in terms of structure, staffing and overall benefit to the student athlete. I have visited and interviewed at Division 3 universities that have a better structure and workflow than ours. It's not just about staffing or facilities. It's about the lack of benefit for our student athletes in using our staff or our facilities. Many of your teams have stopped using Bob and started hire/using their own S/C professionals. I think giving Bob more support so that he is not the leader of 20 teams could make him more effective at his job and in turn help reduce injuries in our athletes. Developing a type of GA or internship program would go a LONG way in helping develop more sport specific programs and deliver them in a practical way. I understand those still cost $ but I think it is an aspect of the athletic department that would help take it to the next level.

   I understand that there are things I just discussed that are out of your hands. I know your hands are tied on a lot of issues that you get flack for. I get that, when others may not. But the following things are under your control.

There is a sense of a lack of transparency in the case of the student athletes. We have complaints or concerns that go unanswered by you or administrators and that in turn starts rumors within the athletes about what is or is not true. I think you need to develop some type of email or meeting that would allow ALL student athletes access to the work you are doing. The one example I can think of is the turf. I was in the Athletic advisory board meeting where it was stated by you that the turf was a University budgeted project and is scheduled for this coming summer. That piece of information was misconstrued vastly over the past 3 years within the athlete population and they grew frustrated because they kept hearing it would be done "soon" and it never did. So having some system of communication with Student Athletes may help the growing discord and discontent with the work that you do but may not be well known.

There is also a lack of presence at certain events or within certain teams. While you may stop in for 5 minutes at certain athletic matches/games, I think part of being a figure within our athletic department is being seen and knowing you care about each team. I know you've been to games and just stand in the press box, but none of the girls or fans knew you were there and then your attendance is almost futile becuase they dont "feel" your support.

I hope I didn't overstep myself on giving you my feedback but I hope you know this email comes from a love for my university and passion to help it move forward.

And then here is his VERY political response wrapped up with a futule "GO VALPO":

Thank you for your note and for sharing your observations and opinions on your experiences here at Valpo.  It is important for me as the Athletics Director and for the Department overall to get feedback from student-athletes.  That feedback helps shape decisions that will hopefully lead to an improved student-athlete experience.

It is encouraging to know that the time you spent with _____ added to your Valpo Experience.  It is exciting news that you will be pursuing a career in coaching and that you have already made the first step down that career path.  College sports needs more quality people as coaches.

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into being a successful student and athlete.  You were an outstanding representative of Valpo on the ____ and we are proud to have you as part of the Valpo Athletics family.  All the best in your future endeavors.  If I can ever be of any help to you please do not hesitate in contacting me.

All the best.  GO VALPO!

Mark L


It was a frustrating response to say the least, which is why I share. He just feels to be "all talk" with little push. He definitely has his hands tied from a funding point of view but the student athletes simply dont feel his support for themselves or their teams. This has nothing to do with his character as I believe he is a great person but average AD.

[NativeCheesehead]

Wow.

If this letter is an accurate representation of the department we have a really big problem on our hands.

Hell, maybe just replacing the AD is the answer. Lottich may not even be the biggest issue.

[FieldGoodie05]

Recent grad and I thought a copy of an email I sent after graduation to Mr LaBarbera may shed some light on the SA perspective:

I have many positives and many negatives in this email that I try to speak as open and honestly as possible to give you constructive feedback on the Athletic Department. Some of these things are simply observations, some are opinions, and others are just perceptions of the student athletes.

My time at Valpo with the ____ program was some of the best and formative years of my life. I loved being a part of those organizations due to the people leading them. Their care and passion to develop young people was inspiring and a big reason why I want to continue coaching.

The first negative I wanted to address: Sports medicine. I know you have received complaints in the past 4 years on this issues and from the student athlete point of view, nothing has been done to improve this situation. To put it bluntly, the sports medicine department is fairly incompetent by measures of success in the sports medicine industry.  The amount of repeat injuries (I can name 7 off the top of my head in the past 12 months) sustained by athletes (especially females), complaints of their attitudes toward actually doing the bare minimum to help their athletes, and conservative measures taken that hinder a players return to play has hurt the athletes within your department. They do very little in terms of adhearing to your departments philosophy of being champions and going above and beyond to serve student athletes. If you want more specific examples or stories of their lack of benefit to the student athlete, let me know. The culture cultivated by your head trainer of your entire sports medicine department is one of laziness, selfish behavior and not doing the most to help their athletes.

To build off that, I think our strength and conditioning department is a joke in terms of structure, staffing and overall benefit to the student athlete. I have visited and interviewed at Division 3 universities that have a better structure and workflow than ours. It's not just about staffing or facilities. It's about the lack of benefit for our student athletes in using our staff or our facilities. Many of your teams have stopped using Bob and started hire/using their own S/C professionals. I think giving Bob more support so that he is not the leader of 20 teams could make him more effective at his job and in turn help reduce injuries in our athletes. Developing a type of GA or internship program would go a LONG way in helping develop more sport specific programs and deliver them in a practical way. I understand those still cost $ but I think it is an aspect of the athletic department that would help take it to the next level.

   I understand that there are things I just discussed that are out of your hands. I know your hands are tied on a lot of issues that you get flack for. I get that, when others may not. But the following things are under your control.

There is a sense of a lack of transparency in the case of the student athletes. We have complaints or concerns that go unanswered by you or administrators and that in turn starts rumors within the athletes about what is or is not true. I think you need to develop some type of email or meeting that would allow ALL student athletes access to the work you are doing. The one example I can think of is the turf. I was in the Athletic advisory board meeting where it was stated by you that the turf was a University budgeted project and is scheduled for this coming summer. That piece of information was misconstrued vastly over the past 3 years within the athlete population and they grew frustrated because they kept hearing it would be done "soon" and it never did. So having some system of communication with Student Athletes may help the growing discord and discontent with the work that you do but may not be well known.

There is also a lack of presence at certain events or within certain teams. While you may stop in for 5 minutes at certain athletic matches/games, I think part of being a figure within our athletic department is being seen and knowing you care about each team. I know you've been to games and just stand in the press box, but none of the girls or fans knew you were there and then your attendance is almost futile becuase they dont "feel" your support.

I hope I didn't overstep myself on giving you my feedback but I hope you know this email comes from a love for my university and passion to help it move forward.

And then here is his VERY political response wrapped up with a futule "GO VALPO":

Thank you for your note and for sharing your observations and opinions on your experiences here at Valpo.  It is important for me as the Athletics Director and for the Department overall to get feedback from student-athletes.  That feedback helps shape decisions that will hopefully lead to an improved student-athlete experience.

It is encouraging to know that the time you spent with _____ added to your Valpo Experience.  It is exciting news that you will be pursuing a career in coaching and that you have already made the first step down that career path.  College sports needs more quality people as coaches.

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into being a successful student and athlete.  You were an outstanding representative of Valpo on the ____ and we are proud to have you as part of the Valpo Athletics family.  All the best in your future endeavors.  If I can ever be of any help to you please do not hesitate in contacting me.

All the best.  GO VALPO!

Mark L


It was a frustrating response to say the least, which is why I share. He just feels to be "all talk" with little push. He definitely has his hands tied from a funding point of view but the student athletes simply dont feel his support for themselves or their teams. This has nothing to do with his character as I believe he is a great person but average AD.

HE OWES YOU NOTHING BY REPLY VIA EMAIL OR WRITTEN LETTER.  Your expectation in a heart felt reply was YOUR mistake, not his.  I assume you are still somewhat inexperienced in the business world, but he did a fine job replying to this type of email.  He can't engage emotions, only facts.

I'd have issues with him telling you his real feelings in a very public way such as in writing...

[FieldGoodie05]

Wow.

If this letter is an accurate representation of the department we have a really big problem on our hands.

Hell, maybe just replacing the AD is the answer. Lottich may not even be the biggest issue.

How would you have replied?

[bbtds]

I believe two players have made very big mistakes in transferring. Those two players are Javon and Jay. Since Golder hasn't actually transferred yet and is exploring his options I won't include him unless he does officially transfer. I really believe they are bailing on an opportunity that would have been good for them.

[GoldenCrusader87]

Thank you for sharing the letter. I get that he's gotta be professional and can't engage in emotions via email and such. But I still commend you for sending the letter.

[valpofb16]

I love Bobby B but let's just say I've seen a lot of high school s and c trainers more qualified. Also he was a body builder , way different training than athletics

The Dale C lack of firing was absolutely uncalled for, I heard they were buddies and if not for a 60+ loss to Butler he would have lasted all 4 seasons, I think had we won 3 games that year hed still be there

He was gifted , I mean gifted the Drew sons and now reality has set in.

Mark should step down, hire a younger less expensive go getter and invest additional money in other sports (swimming, tennis, etc.)

I'm honestly tired of watching incompetence being allowed and paid quite generously

Also whoever blamed a former Division 1 college athletic GRADUATES tweet on hormones behind a username is hilarious, not to mention she was a part of 2016 softball conf champ, she has every right to voice her opinion

[NativeCheesehead]

"I'm honestly tired of watching incompetence being allowed and paid quite generously"

Best not to turn on CSpan.

[JD24]

Recent grad and I thought a copy of an email I sent after graduation to Mr LaBarbera ......It was a frustrating response to say the least, which is why I share. He just feels to be "all talk" with little push. He definitely has his hands tied from a funding point of view but the student athletes simply dont feel his support for themselves or their teams. This has nothing to do with his character as I believe he is a great person but average AD.

Think about this. Your letter and his answer ended up on a message board. Why should you or anyone else be surprised at the answer you got?

[may know]

Mark's response was fine and more than you'd usually get from an AD.

[Valpo89]

The athletic training situation is what surprises me. Sounds like letting Rod Moore "retire" was a mistake.