Rapid Reaction to the sudden resignation of Rutgers Athletic Director Pat Hobbs

[Music] so funny story for you here yesterday Thursday I was on the train on the way home and I was you know just trying to I guess be entertaining on Twitter and I I like to think that I'm pretty tapped into the fan base because I at the at the heart of it I am a old fan at this point right I've been a fan for Ruckers 40 years I'm an Alum I obviously cover Rucker Sports I have a daily podcast I'm I'm a sicko right with everybody else and so I had a poll I put out on Twitter and it reads the most superstitious reason why Ruckers could have a losing season and you know here we are Friday afternoon and this is now a rapid reaction podcast to the abrupt immediate announcement that Pat hobb's Long Time athletic director at Ruckers has resigned suddenly some details have come out from the reporting from Brian fansa of nj.com that is health related and this poll all of a sudden which is still live by the way coming to you a little bit about an hour after the news broke I already was on wrsu uh they asked me to come on and give some some thoughts on the air live and now doing this rapid reaction and my reasons uh for the superstitious uh tweet was the football Gods ordained it trendy sleeper bad Cara are you screw appears again are you can't have nice things unsurprisingly are you screw appears again and are you can't have nice things are neck and neck right around 40% each and I did not expect that tweet to be relevant I was trying to give people a laugh and keep the Good Vibes going and here we go Pat Hobbs announcing his resignation from ruter want to site Brian fona for his reporting just G to read a couple quotes he has so I don't Mis misinterpret or or mispe so this is from Brian F story on nj.com and this is in regard to an email that Pat Hobs has sent it was obtained by NJ Advanced media this is what he explained to the department via email quote earlier this morning I shared with Ruckers University president Jonathan Holloway that I am departing my position as athletic director at Ruckers University I truly believe we are writing the greatest chapter in Rucker's history and I'm confident that you will continue to do so it's been an honor and a privilege to serve with you I look forward to enjoying all of your success this season and in the years ahead in a letter sent to Holloway this is unquote obtained by NJ Advanced media hob explained the reasoning for his decision quote after meeting with my cardiac team this week and having just been apprised of the results of my latest round of testing it is clear that I cannot continue to serve as athletic director given the requirements of the position I recognize this is not the ideal timeline to depart however other factors need to take precedence unquote so quite the Friday news dump first of all best wishes to Pat Hobs hope that he whatever health issues he is dealing with that he makes it full recovery and all Ruckers fans owe him a debt of gratitude for what he has done over these nine years he inherited a disaster ruter going into the Big 10 ill equipped from a facility standpoint from an infrastructure standpoint from an administrative standpoint from a coaching standpoint from a recruiting standpoint did I mention facilities I can't remember if I did or not again this is a rapid reaction I'm not editing this this is just off the cuff and Pad Hobbs did a very good job he wasn't perfect but where Ruckers is today they're in a much better place Ruckers athletic department than they were when he got here in 2015 and that is the ultimate judge of how anyone does an any job in any position and it is undoubtedly clear that Pat Hobs has put ruter Athletics in a much better position now that he is suddenly departing from when he arrived soon after that Thanksgiving Massacre when Kyle flood and Julie Herman were both terminated on the same day that Sunday still remember it like yesterday and that was my first year covering ruers for on the banks and I've told this story many times but the bottom line is in terms of facilities ruter there's still work to be done he was obviously working on the rack Renovations uh shano has talked in recent days about the practice facility or the the renovation or the the new practice facility for football I should say uh and you know we've been hearing there was a master plan coming we we don't we never got that uh you know in terms of where ruter is facility wise though the APC obviously the rodkin center weight rooms there's there's been a lot of facilities work that's been done and Ruckers is in a far better position because of it and that is a big part of what he's done hiring Steve pel to turn around men's basketball is another I mean as an athletic director right your job is to hire the right coaches and hiring Steve pel where ruers was number 279 in kenpom the year before Hobbs and Pico arrived to now going into the most anticipated season arguably in program history simply because I think the 75 76 season people had hopes but and that was a great team but also the day and age with social media and the way the news cycle is I think even if people thought that that team almost 50 years ago was going to be a final four team there wasn't the machine that goes into it in terms of PR and all that so I think that qualifies this is the most anticipated season uh probably ever in program history uh and that very much is in part because Steve pel is entering his ninth year as the head coach and what Hobs and pel built together uh is remarkable because refers was a laughing Stock Program in college basketball for years and years and years so commend him for that he made a lot of good coaching hires across the athletic department you could talk about retaining good coaches that were there before him obviously Scott cadell Mar civico two that come to mind Brian bre got a final four um in terms of some of the highers I mean I know it's not a revenue sport but Justin price rowing made him a National Power you have he's also retained Miche O'Neal again rapid reaction I'm not going to be perfect in this Jim Mel's been a good hire you have now going into the spring hired Melissa Layman Steve Owens he's made some good hires but none better and none close than see p of course Greg shano coming that story's been long documented and don't need to get into it in terms of the logistics of that hire but shano obviously has football back and that is a huge thing for the entire athletic department and for all tense and purposes publicly shano and Hobs all said the right things and football is in a far better place and shano now going into the most anticipated football season in quite some time so from a timing standpoint do I think that this is going to hurt or impact football or men's basketball this season no I don't uh it is a tumultuous time in college sports with nil as well as the NCA ruling potentially the following school year the 22 million allocated to student athletes could go into effect we don't know for sure looking that that way so in terms of long-term planning in terms of staying on top of Trends the immediacy of this departure hurts and going into a school year it it's not good um again pad Hobs stating and being reported as such that Health setting health reasons for leaving we wish him the best and we thank him for his service where ruter Athletics is in the Big 10 now from when he started far better place you can't argue that that's indisputable and it wasn't a perfect tenure you know there was issue with um softball Kristen Butler still the coach also a PO hops hire but there was a little bit of a controversy there and then also the swimming and Diving coach from a few years ago and and ruter lost a lawsuit with the termination of that coach that was a stain and you know there was there was also a story at one point about the controller and there was it was not a perfect tenure there's been a lot of controversy or I guess I would say unrest among on some in terms of how Hobbs approached nil the changes in the last couple years uh some felt slow to adjust slow to embrace it I do think and I've said in the past I think New Jersey in terms of the state the laws ruter all the red tape that there is they took a cautious approach right and Hobs is a lawyer so I think that it was fair to be critical I think but it's also unfair to not look at it from both sides and listen you could always argue I mean Ruckers could be in a better spot n wise than they are and I think that's what so critical about this next hire is getting someone to really put ruter in a better position with nil but ruter has done some things they've hired nil manager they have a lot of nil uh for uh forum is probably the wrong word but outlets for student athletes to work on that I've been critical of Hobs with nil you know he made a statement last fall uh about St athletes and you know nil not being a priority for them I thought that that was Ill advised and uh out of touch uh but at the same time I thought he did ultimately move Ruckers forward in the niil space and they're not where they need to be but listen fundraising has been a problem for ruers for years and years years and years and years in every aspect and from a rund perspective they're in a much better spot under Hobbs and the athletic department I mean hob is the most successful fundraiser in athletics history so fair to be critical of nil but overall I think ruter as a whole has an nil problem just in terms of donors and other aspects but having a perfect tenure is not a prerequisite turning things around supporting student athletes academically Ruckers Athletics is doing better than they ever have hob has made that a priority so he did a lot of things really well and it's sad to see him go especially in the circumstances of health reasons and you know that you know he was no one was more excited going into this year than Pat Hobbs in regard to where the athletic department is and specifically football and men's basketball and it's it's unfortunate and it can never be easy as a Ruckers fan I mean now we we thought we were so stable i' I've cited for a while about the administration Jonathan Holloway Board of Governors Hobbs the coaches there's alignment there so this this hire this replacement is going to be so crucial it's probably an understatement and they're going to have to get it right Holloway announcing that the search will start as soon as possible Ryan pasari long time uh Chief of Staff right underneath Pat Hobs is going to take over as the inter and he's been at Ruckers a long time he understands Ruckers so that's a good decision there and uh there's going to be a lot more to digest there's going to be a lot more to unpack just in terms of the impact of this moving forward uh what it means for Ruckers Athletics how they're going to adjust potential candidates need time to unpack that all but at the end of the day we're all going into what we hope is a special year for Ruckers Athletics and for whatever reason it is and obviously Health it's a it's a terrible reason uh you don't want to have this type of news happen and you don't want your leader the athletic department to leave uh you know abruptly so the timing is is is not good but we're Ruckers fans and we've been through a lot and we have intestinal fortitude so don't let this throw you off I think the hope now is that all the coaches soon athletes get the support they deserve and hopefully they find an a replacement that's going to be able to take where Hobs got it and move this athletic department even forward more forward and that's that's got to be the hope now but every rers fan owes Pat Hobs a Deb of gratitude and a thank you for what he's done and it's sad to see him go especially with the state of what we're about to go into so it's never easy being a Ruckers fan this is certainly this is a shock to everyone um this was not leaked prior to this was not out there and uh just have to wish Hobs well and you have to believe I I've been on record saying this the first decade of ruers in the Big 10 was just a very small part in the grand scheme of things and I really believe this next decade you're going to see Ruckers have much greater success and when they do you would be remiss to not acknowledge and thank Pat Hobs for the part that he played in that and I really think that's going to become a reality so thank you to Pat Hobbs we wish you well in your next phase and in your recovery your health journey and I'm sure we'll see him around at Rucker games and he will be well thought of by many forever for what he did for Ruckers Athletics and now the future is now we're going into a critical year football and basketball and now we're looking for an ad so it's uh it's I I I warned you I said it was gonna be a roller coaster and here we are the ride has begun for the 2024 2025 school year we're all strapped in as my favorite K uh kid show personally Bluey the father always says strap in kids it's time to strap in it's going to be a wild year and this just is the you know ramps it up faster and sooner than anyone anticipated so we'll have plenty to track in terms of the replacement for Hobs but I hope everyone has a great weekend and just I think you know we all need to be grateful and the the old way of panicking and worrying you know this is Ruckers This is family to us we bleed and sweat Ruckers and we've gotten through a lot over the years the older you are the more you got through if you're younger welcome to the party and we'll get through this too there's still a lot to look forward to the future is going to be critical to continue the forward path and that's why this replacement higher is going to be so important PL dig just there but I'll end my ramble my rants my rapid reaction by saying thank you to Pat Hobs thank you for everything we wish you the best and get well soon thank you for everything [Music] [Music]