I think Cohen is the real problem.

[shoeless joe]

No one has answered my question. Did we interview Johnny for the WBB HC position, or did she choose to go with Vic to UT?

Supposedly she figured she would get it...don’t blame her...and was not happy when we went another direction

[Coach34]

Cohen interviewed her and passed her over. And here we are

[Todd4State]

The problem is Cohen had zero AD experience when he took our job. We basically have the Cohen as baseball coach at Northwestern State as AD right now relatively speaking. He has made mistakes with almost every hire even the ones he got right. And then you add in the poor marketing aspect. Basically we have a former alum playing around as AD and the fat cats in the AD are good with that because Cohen has no clue if they are good at their job or not. What we needed after Stricklin was someone from outside the MSU family to kick some people in the ass and push them a little bit and trim fat where needed. Instead we got the next branch in the LT tree of MSU athletic directors.

Byrne was so good because he had the vision to change things where necessary and wasn't afraid to rock the boat for the better of the AD.

Let's run down Cohen's hires a little closer:

BASEBALL

Cann- I'll give him a pass because it's hard to hire a coach in the fall in baseball. In hindsight he should have just made Henderson the interim and then did a proper search. Essentially that ended up happening anyway when Cann flamed out. The truth is Tulane passed on Cann because he had a history of having affairs. Cohen took a chance on him and got burned. Honestly, Cann would have been better served as either being a scout or a hitting coach in college. Cohen typically hires guys like Cann or Moorhead because when Cohen was the baseball coach he could be the bad cop and manage things and then let the Cann's and Butch Thompson's be the good cops. The thing is as an AD the role is completely different than being a baseball coach and now he doesn't have the reign to lead and manage the programs like he used to and thus people he has hired who would be better suited as assistants have too much control over their programs and we get what we see with Moorhead and McCray-Penson.

Lemonis- Good hire but mismanaged by Cohen because he made promises he couldn't keep and essentially killed our leverage with Schlossnagle. Bad management 101 right there. And even worse it put Lemonis in a bad spot because he didn't have the lofty credentials promised by Cohen.

FOOTBALL

Moorhead- I think Cohen's inexperience bit him in the ass because he got advice from former MSU AD's on who to hire and then came up with the "rising assistants only" BS. At least he fixed this with the next hire because pretty much every candidate I had heard mentioned had head coaching experience in D1. If he had hired Leach in 2018 and then brought in Minchew that season is completely different. And then 2019 was a waste and 2020 then became a rebuild.

Leach- I think he will be a good hire and sure it's TBA at this point but Leach is following the same pattern he has at Texas Tech and Wazzu. Cohen giving Arnett a big buyout was a good move that he deserves credit for- under previous AD's Arnett would probably be in Baton Rouge right now. I think our football program is moving in the right direction and by 2022-2023 we'll be very happy once our current freshmen become juniors and seniors.

BASKETBALL

McCray-Penson- An adjustment is understandable but it really shouldn't be this much of an adjustment. I'm not sure what to make of her yet and it is only year one but I'm not real encouraged at all by her. Seems like Joe Moorhead 2.0.

[preachermatt83]

Cohen interviewed her and passed her over. And here we are

We got who Nelle wanted.

[ShotgunDawg]

While I realize that hiring people is very difficult, it would be encouraging to see Cohen get the 1st hire correct at some point in time. It would show that he's learned something.

At this point, when literally every single 1st hire is bad, it's hard to figure out what Cohen's value is. I know he cares & he usually gives coaches the resources they need to be successful, but something appears really off his ability to find an adult that can control the room & run the business of whatever sport he is hiring for.

[TrapGame]

It's obvious Cohen was a mistake if for no other reason that he's the most hated AD since Templeton, and that's with traitor Stricklin in there.
People just don't like him. His own coach didn't like him. I'd love to have him as our baseball color guy. But AD was too much.

The first clue with Moorhead should have been James Franklin helping him pack and backing the moving van up to his front door at 5am. He couldn't wait to get that guy gone. Huge red flag.

[BiscuitEater]

Fact is Moorhead failed at a couple stops and was demoted and about to be fired. That was a total lack of research by Cohen.

Not anything I read. Going to need some links! Easy to say .. but need some proof!

[Jarius]

The first clue with Moorhead should have been James Franklin helping him pack and backing the moving van up to his front door at 5am. He couldn't wait to get that guy gone. Huge red flag.

I bet he wishes he could move his ass back in at this point.

[BiscuitEater]

Cohen is fine when he hires head coaches. He's the terrible when hiring assistants.

You do realize that both Nikki McCray-Penson and Cann hires totally blow up your argument!

Cann, an 'assistant' hire, proved in one year he was a great hire. Nothing in his past pointed to his 'issue.' He was an assistant with an 'edge,' and made great hires! He just went off the rails.

Meanwhile, Nikki McCray-Penson is a proven HC, with pedigree and track record! She won conference Coach of the Year in 2020.

[RougeDawg]

You do realize that both Nikki McCray-Penson and Cann hires totally blow up your argument!

Cann, an 'assistant' hire, proved in one year he was a great hire. Nothing in his past pointed to his 'issue.' He was an assistant with an 'edge,' and made great hires! He just went off the rails.

Meanwhile, Nikki McCray-Penson is a proven HC, with pedigree and track record! She won conference Coach of the Year in 2020.

Cann?s history was already checkered with his issues. LSU coaches and other personnel warned Johnny. Even media persons gave Cohen a warning. Many people close to LSU were surprised he was hired after telling JC everything about him.

Carry on the conversation.

[maroonmania]

The first clue with Moorhead should have been James Franklin helping him pack and backing the moving van up to his front door at 5am. He couldn't wait to get that guy gone. Huge red flag.

Not sure why Franklin would have been eager to get rid of Moorhead. Franklin's offense was very anemic before JM got there as the OC. Enough so that his job status was getting shaky.

[TrapGame]

Not sure why Franklin would have been eager to get rid of Moorhead. Franklin's offense was very anemic before JM got there as the OC. Enough so that his job status was getting shaky.

Moorhead's offense was shit at Penn State until Franklin put a leash on him as play caller. And having Saquon Barkley didn't hurt either.

[Dawgology]

He is

[ShotgunDawg]

For those that think Cohen hires for political reasons, remember that Leach is likely the most outward pro Trump head coach in America in any sport.

I don't think politics have anything to do with his decision making. I do think he's light on considering temperament and discipline

[Cooterpoot]

For those that think Cohen hires for political reasons, remember that Leach is likely the most outward pro Trump head coach in America in any sport.

I don't think politics have anything to do with his decision making. I do think he's light on considering temperament and discipline

Yeah, I don't see the politics. I just see a guy that sucks at hiring. He sure has hired a bunch of "players coaches" that seem to lack the maturity to bring discipline, focus, and team concepts. Weird considering he was a hard ass.

[preachermatt83]

For those that think Cohen hires for political reasons, remember that Leach is likely the most outward pro Trump head coach in America in any sport.

I don't think politics have anything to do with his decision making. I do think he's light on considering temperament and discipline

Cohen hired leach the same way Strick hired Howland. It wasn’t his call.

[Homedawg]

Cohen hired leach the same way Strick hired Howland. It wasn’t his call.

hahahahahahaha

[Jarius]

Cohen hired leach the same way Strick hired Howland. It wasn’t his call.

These are my favorite posts. If he isn’t hiring coaches then maybe we should start a thread about the men behind the curtain making the hires instead of Cohen. The idea that some rich guys that haven’t played sports past pee wee had to come in and tell our athletic director who coached and played at the highest of levels how to make a football hire that would not suck is hilarious. Any good hire we have ever had has not come from our actual AD according to some message board folks. It is hilarious that no one that claims other people made our good hires will ever step out and claim for the shitty hires we have made. Those are always on the AD and the know it all boosters have to step in and save the day with the wonderful hires.

[BuckyIsAB****]

We got who Nelle wanted.

I see that mentioned a lot on here, if it has any truth to it at all we got problems

[AROB44]

These are my favorite posts. If he isn?t hiring coaches then maybe we should start a thread about the men behind the curtain making the hires instead of Cohen. The idea that some rich guys that haven?t played sports past pee wee had to come in and tell our athletic director who coached and played at the highest of levels how to make a football hire that would not suck is hilarious. Any good hire we have ever had has not come from our actual AD according to some message board folks. It is hilarious that no one that claims other people made our good hires will ever step out and claim for the shitty hires we have made. Those are always on the AD and the know it all boosters have to step in and save the day with the wonderful hires.

Rep given!!