Tamboni to Penn State

[scoop85]

Once I learned that his wife was a PSU grad, and that she will apparently return to coaching field hockey there in some capacity, the entire picture crystallized.  Total speculation on my part, but I don't think he takes that job under different circumstances.

I wish him all the best, and if DeLuca is elevated to the top job I think we'll be just fine.

[Al DeFlorio]

In some ways not unlike the Tierney deal at Denver, where his son was apparently part of the package.

[Jim Hyla]

From Syracuse Post-Standard:

A source said that about 10 days ago Tambroni turned down the job at Penn State, as did another Central New York product, LaFayette native Lars Tiffany, the head coach at Brown. Tambroni then reacted to a report that he was a finalist for an opening at Maryland by saying he had been contacted by the school but did not agree to an interview.

That job went to John Tillman, the former Harvard head coach and ironically a Cornell alum. The source said Penn State, upon hearing the deal the Terps offered Tillman, went back to Tambroni with a substantially sweetened proposal.

It will be interesting to see what his wife does. She was never a great coach at CU and it must have been hard to not coach and stay in Ithaca.

I hope our two high profile coaching losses will turn some of those heads who think we can easily compete nationally in any sport. The same kind of pressures we have getting and keeping coaches are reflected in recruiting. Those who think Coach Schafer could easily get those blue chip recruits need to look at this. It makes you think about how fortunate we are to have him and some others as long time coaches.

I have to believe his wife was the deciding factor, but who am I to say. Obviously money was involved, but Maryland must have offered more. Maybe his wife, money, and the chance to build, while not being under the Baltimore gun, were just too much.

[mnagowski]

I hope our two high profile coaching losses will turn some of those heads who think we can easily compete nationally in any sport. The same kind of pressures we have getting and keeping coaches are reflected in recruiting.

Sadly, the same could be said about most top-performing faculty/staff at Cornell. I still was shocked when one of my favorite tenured professors bolted for an endowed chair at Michigan State.

[heykb]

Here's Tambroni's email blast to the lax mailing list:

To the Cornell Lacrosse community:

This was one of the more difficult emails I have written during my 10 years as Head Coach of Cornell.  I am writing, however, to inform you that I have recently accepted an offer to become the Head Coach of Penn State's lacrosse team.

I would like to thank Vice President Dr. Susan Murphy and Mr. Andy Noel for the opportunity to coach one of the greatest traditions in all of sport.  Dr. Murphy and Mr. Noel's leadership has been instrumental in the success of our program and their passion for Cornell Lacrosse has been undeniable.

I also wanted to thank you for embracing my family and me over the past 10 years. We did not know what to expect when we walked on campus 10 years ago but we will be leaving Cornell with the utmost respect and heartfelt love for the Cornell Lacrosse family. I will cherish every day of my tenure as head coach and could not have been more proud to walk the sidelines as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Lacrosse.   The Cornell Lacrosse family is a special group (one of a kind) and I am hopeful that my family and I will always be welcome.

We have given all that we could over the past ten years and have become life long Cornell fans. Cornell will be in GREAT hands when it names its next head coach and I am confident that Coach Ben DeLuca '98, who has had so much to do with our success, will be given that chance.  Ben has sacrificed a greater part of his adult life in an attempt to make Cornell a better place to play.

I wish you the best of luck and will always root alongside my wife and kids for Cornell. It was an incredible honor to be a small part in the great tradition of Cornell Lacrosse. I am confident that it will continue to grow stronger than ever.

From the bottom of our collective hearts (my wife Chelle and our 3 daughters Carissa, Madison and Ella) would like to say - THANK YOU!

Jeff

[ajh258]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty. A lot of our funding are wasted in the unnecessarily-bureaucratic nature of this institution, and the administration moves too slowly to correct these structural errors. I really hope someone wakes up in Day hall next semester and do something about this rather than just sitting behind a desk, answering phone calls from 9 to 4, and then taking home a $200k paycheck.

[mnagowski]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty.

It is an HR problem or an athletic policies problem?

A lot of our funding are wasted in the unnecessarily-bureaucratic nature of this institution, and the administration moves too slowly to correct these structural errors. I really hope someone wakes up in Day hall next semester and do something about this rather than just sitting behind a desk, answering phone calls from 9 to 4, and then taking home a $200k paycheck.

I'm not certain if there's a structural error in athletics funding. Cornell as an institution clearly does not want to devote the resources that the Big 10 or the ACC have pledged to athletics. That's why the Ivy League was created, after all. And frankly, I agree with these policies. I don't think Cornell gets all that much more out of having a Cornell-caliber lacrosse team as opposed to a UVa-caliber lacrosse team. To pay Tambroni half a million dollars a year (or Donahue a million dollars a year) would be a waste of money, in my opinion, relative to the faculty, student aid, or research support the University should be investing. Of course, if you would like to provide the multi-million dollar endowment to see Tramboni stay here, that's another story.

I don't disagree with you that there are some major structural errors with Cornell's administration. But it's a lot more complicated than it appears at first glance. Witness what happened last week -- the provost starts talking about moving AEM out of the Ag School to better not only business education on campus but also the Ag School's appeal to students interested in natural resources and the environment, and then boom! -- $25 MM to keep AEM in the Ag School.

I highly doubt anybody in Day Hall is making $200k a year just to answer phone calls. The senior administration really hustles.

[Rosey]

the provost starts talking about moving AEM out of the Ag School to better not only business education on campus but also the Ag School's appeal to students interested in natural resources and the environment

Off-topic, but I'm interested in this end of the story, because what you wrote doesn't make any sense to my mind without backing context.  Can you provide a link?  I was unable to find anything that didn't relate to the $25M donation.

[ajh258]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty.

It is an HR problem or an athletic policies problem?

Maybe it's an athletics HR problem? I saw a previous post where it mentioned that good professors also leave for more alluring jobs so it could be a systematic HR comp policy that's affection turnover rates. I don't have studies but better employment policies definitely helps retention.

A lot of our funding are wasted in the unnecessarily-bureaucratic nature of this institution, and the administration moves too slowly to correct these structural errors. I really hope someone wakes up in Day hall next semester and do something about this rather than just sitting behind a desk, answering phone calls from 9 to 4, and then taking home a $200k paycheck.

I'm not certain if there's a structural error in athletics funding. Cornell as an institution clearly does not want to devote the resources that the Big 10 or the ACC have pledged to athletics. That's why the Ivy League was created, after all. And frankly, I agree with these policies. I don't think Cornell gets all that much more out of having a Cornell-caliber lacrosse team as opposed to a UVa-caliber lacrosse team. To pay Tambroni half a million dollars a year (or Donahue a million dollars a year) would be a waste of money, in my opinion, relative to the faculty, student aid, or research support the University should be investing. Of course, if you would like to provide the multi-million dollar endowment to see Tramboni stay here, that's another story.

I don't disagree with you that there are some major structural errors with Cornell's administration. But it's a lot more complicated than it appears at first glance. Witness what happened last week -- the provost starts talking about moving AEM out of the Ag School to better not only business education on campus but also the Ag School's appeal to students interested in natural resources and the environment, and then boom! -- $25 MM to keep AEM in the Ag School.

I highly doubt anybody in Day Hall is making $200k a year just to answer phone calls. The senior administration really hustles.

I agree that spending too much on an athletics program does not make Cornell a better institution as a whole, but the sports fan in me that wants that reality. Quite frankly, we can just take Columbia's stance and focus completely on academics and ignore most of the athletics stuff - I guess it's a give and take situation where we have to chose one over the other. I was just trying to say that maybe we can cut some of the unnecessary structure to pay for a few good professors/coaches. A few more valuable faculty and coaches can go a long way for recruiting better students.

On the other hand, the example you cited about the AEM program has to do with alumni influence. Since people were educated in this somewhat segregated system before, they would want to keep it that way. The world is unfair and those would have more resources have more influence over decisions, so that is part of the risk that goes into making major structural changes.

Lastly, you're right about the $200k example, I was exaggerating. ::smashfreak:: I just wished people at Day had a bit more guts to make changes rather than sticking to the status quo. It's an oft observe shortfall of groups and bureaucracies.

[Rosey]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty.

A lot of the problem is one of the very things that many of us love about Cornell: Ithaca.  Unless Cornell is willing to fund the founding of 3 or 4 other tier B and C colleges in the immediate vicinity, top-notch faculty/coaches with, uh... shall we say "less-achieved" spouses will always have an easier time finding an ideal situation elsewhere.  No one flees from Cornell to Dartmouth: when they leave for a better offer, they go to cities.

[Jim Hyla]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty.

A lot of the problem is one of the very things that many of us love about Cornell: Ithaca.  Unless Cornell is willing to fund the founding of 3 or 4 other tier B and C colleges in the immediate vicinity, top-notch faculty/coaches with, uh... shall we say "less-achieved" spouses will always have an easier time finding an ideal situation elsewhere.  No one flees from Cornell to Dartmouth: when they leave for a better offer, they go to cities.

Happy Valley is a city?:-D

[mnagowski]

the provost starts talking about moving AEM out of the Ag School to better not only business education on campus but also the Ag School's appeal to students interested in natural resources and the environment

Off-topic, but I'm interested in this end of the story, because what you wrote doesn't make any sense to my mind without backing context.  Can you provide a link?  I was unable to find anything that didn't relate to the $25M donation.

http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2010/06/fuchs_and_skorton_did_not_want.shtml

[mnagowski]

As an ILRie, I see this as an HR problem. If we maintain our current policies, Cornell will merely be a funnel for other institutions who are willing to pay higher salaries for more achieved faculty.

A lot of the problem is one of the very things that many of us love about Cornell: Ithaca.  Unless Cornell is willing to fund the founding of 3 or 4 other tier B and C colleges in the immediate vicinity, top-notch faculty/coaches with, uh... shall we say "less-achieved" spouses will always have an easier time finding an ideal situation elsewhere.  No one flees from Cornell to Dartmouth: when they leave for a better offer, they go to cities.

The dual-career problem is a really good point. Sometimes I wish that Ithaca was a Madison or Charlottesville-sized city with better employment options that didn't revolve around the higher-education industry. Want to start a high-tech firm in Ithaca, Kyle?

[mnagowski]

Lastly, you're right about the $200k example, I was exaggerating. I just wished people at Day had a bit more guts to make changes rather than sticking to the status quo. It's an oft observe shortfall of groups and bureaucracies.

I think Day Hall would have the guts to make more changes if they controlled more of the money. Right now everything but Arts and Engineering is like a separate little financial fiefdom, and you get bizarre outcomes like the Hotel School hiring yet another professor of hospitality marketing while the Arts college continues to cut already bare-bones programs in theatre or foreign languages. The budget model Day Hall is proposing would hopefully change some of this.

[jtwcornell91]

It's interesting that he said the Maryland program did not match the Cornell program in his mind, but can he truly say the Penn State program does?
Follow the money.  It's really a shame that a school like Cornell can't pay more than Penn State.  Who's endowment is bigger?

Maybe Cornell thinks there are more appropriate things to spend endowment return on than a coach's salary?