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Air Force’s Mueh talks about 2009 extension to Reynolds’ contract
February 10th, 2012, 4:48 am · 9 Comments · posted by david ramsey
After the 2008-2009 Air Force basketball season, athletic director Hans Mueh offered a contract extension to coach Jeff Reynolds. The extension pushed Reynolds’ contract through August 2014. The extension was offered after Reynolds and the Falcons had finished 0-16 in Mountain West play. The extension would eventually mean the academy would pay Reynolds an approximate $800,000 buyout.
(Just in case you’ve been living in a cave somewhere, Reynolds was fired by Air Force on Wednesday after losing 47 of his last 56 Mountain West games.)
A few minutes after announcing Reynolds was gone, Mueh talked about the extension. I want to make clear that this was a respectful conversation with Mueh. He was animated at times, but it wasn’t a contentious discussion.
“That’s unfair,” Mueh said when I asked about the extension. “That’s hindsight. I truly believed at the time that Jeff would be the guy to mold himself into the right person to lead this program.”
Mueh said he follows a motto in his life and in his career.
“Never look back,” he said.
“It’s behind me,” he said of the extension. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”
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Everybody gets an extension! The cronyism is beyond incestuous. And they wonder why USAFA doesn’t matter to most Colorado Springs residents. Wasting $800,000 on Reynolds ensures the department cannot afford to dismiss any one else.
What kind of idiot would “donate” to this type of organization? I look back, learn from my mistakes, and see that there is a lot of stupid arrogance. No soup for you!
David,
There was nothing “unfair” about that question. Perhaps not asked in the right venue or questionable timing given the fact that the just concluded press conference concerned Reynolds firing, but if Mueh brought it up it was fair game.
There is nothing wrong with moving on either. But accountability for one’s actions and decisions is something we all must live with. An $800,000 mistake that he and his athletic department has to “live with”.
Mueh’s biggest “issue” in my opinion is not making the mistake, but admitting he made a mistake. Sure it’s in the past, but admit you screwed up royally on this Hans! There is a fine line between confidence and blatant arrogance.
Reynold’s extension was a mistake on par with losing Chris Mooney without a buyout. Mueh is now 68 years old…time for him to retire.
Mueh has one major accomplishment to his credit – getting Non-profit status.
Good question and glad you asked it. In my opinion, it will go down as one of the worst decisions in AF Bball history. There was really NO REASON to have extended his contract, NONE. The fact that he thought Jeff would be the “go to guy” after the season they had just shows you he has NO IDEA WHAT HE IS DOING. Getting rid of Reynolds is a good start, now lets make the next step and get rid of Mueh – I don’t believe he can choose a good replacement and will, most likely, screw this up too.
We who have witnessed Dr. Mueh on several occassions un the past five years, even as recently as last year, tell AFA fans, ” JR is doing a good job.” DR. MUEH has been living in an alternate universe!
The AD has proven several blunders ,IMO all are related to his living in a bubble and relying on his chemistry historical background, verses what other brilliant people do….surround yourself with clear and intelligent sports minds. My specific heartburn with Mueh is he delays too long after making his blunders to correct them. Everyone in the room knows what needs done, but the good Doctor of Chemistry! I am not holding my breath that even his next choice will be handled with anymore wisdom than the Reynolds Era. Therefore, unless Gen. Mike Gould has the final collaborrative say, we will be doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Gen. Gould shall now be where the buck stops as he is without a doubt engaged and connected to everything Mueh is exercising! The facts that surround Mueh’s historical blunders with Ardie, Baseball, and JR tells you he couldn’t pick a horse in a single field sprint. I am going to measure his next choice for MBB by Mueh’s process. If he uses his typical lazy approach, AF BB is doomed. If he exercises the proper due diligence with a field of a dozen high potential candidates and goes through a three round interview process…then I will be confident that Gould and Mueh have together selected a Winner HC for Mens BB. DR. MUEH, has his own contract coming up for renewal, Gen. Gould has some decisions to make as well. The way I see it, Calhoun is the only visible success Mueh can place on his dismal resume the past 7 years. Sure Bzdelik came, but he wasn’t about to stay at AF everyone knew that but Mueh. Yes, the Superintendent Gen. Mike Gould has his hands full with any renewed contract for the Doctor. Name me another Higher Education Institution who would consider Dr. Mueh to Direct Athletics? I’m listening…
All we can hope for is Han’s retirement. Hans, please leave now and avoid the embarassment later.
Unfair? Are you kidding me? I’ll tell you what’s unfair…that Mueh has been allowed to stay in the AD position despite countless instances of incompetence. That’s unfair to the cadet-athletes, the fans, the coaches, and even the candidates that could potentially replace him as AD.
Dave – thanks for raising the issue. The question needed to be asked; Hans needs to be held accountable for that terrible decision. From my perspective, you don’t hire a grown man to do a job with an expectation that he will mold himself into the person needed to do the job. General Gould would do AFA a service by leading the search for a new coach himself and asking Hans to step down this spring. I think last night’s game showed that a national search will be required (or at least a drive up to Denver to put a contract in front of AJK). Further, during last night’s game I was thinking that if Jacob Burtschi(sp?) decides to hang up his European basketball career he could bring some energy as an assistant coach.
To be honest, I don’t think AJ has enough experience yet. And yes, Dr Mueh needs to reflect and then retire. A 2-year contract extension for someone who’s a little “iffy” would have been better if you decide to extend at all. It’s just a sad deal because firing the coach in the middle of the season makes the situation even worse, I think. By the way, anyone see any “high fives” or “big smiles” or players that appeared to be “having fun” either during the game or after the loss to Boise State the other night? My guess is that the few players who got their way are going to have to look in the mirror in order to find out who is truly responsible for their demise! This would be a great time to let some of the other players show what they’re made of!