The influence on hiring decisions made by chatrooms/internet

[Syntax]

Do chat rooms help influence who is hired for coaching positions?

- Some will say "Of course not. Anybody utilizing a chat room to help make a hiring decision should not be in a position to hire anyone."

Others will say "You can't ignore these chat rooms. Of course they are going to have some kind of effect."

The emergence of open-sourcing as a method of providing information has birthed converstaions such as these. I call it the "Wikipedia-effect." For those of you that don't know, Wikipedia is an open-sourced, online encyclopedia where anyone can submit an article on practicly anything. Although it is policed somewhat, there are obviously portions that remain on the site - some indefinately - that include intentional or unintentional false information.

But many treat these sites as the gospel. My questions is: are sites like SEOPS regarded in the same light by those that hire new coaches? Do some use it as a supplemental source of information to make decisions, even though there are obvious instances where posters have agendas?

What say you, SEOPS Nation?

[Syntax]

And just so you know, the title of this thread would have been better worded as "Chat rooms/internet influence on hiring decisions." The original title sounds weird, like the chat rooms are making the hiring decisions. My bad.

[alabama mike]

All I can say is if it does have an influence, we are all in sad shape.

[TrojanXplosion]

I doubt there is any influence at all. We can always have our own opinions but, in the end, it's always up to the big cheese.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Might actually hurt the person some

[carbon_dated]

You better take anything you've read on here with a grain of salt. Sea salt for that matter.

I know I've gotten bored with internet sports sites recently. I'd like to see this one add a few more colors and brighten it up a little bit. It'd getting a tad stale.

Anyway, I hope whoever reads this gets the job of their dreams before they croak - and get to retire before they're too old to enjoy their golden years.

[black76]

A public forum such as this can be very hazardous to folks....there are no rules to keep someone from completely fabricating things.Reading something you know to be false and yet it is right there for everyone to read is strange. It is as if the whole world is now a tabloid magazine and anything said is fair game. That is largely the reason I joined initially, to police the things I knew to be lies on here! As a former coach, I cannot imagine this kind of forum in my day. Not convinced that it affects hiring, surely those administrators are bright enough not to venture on this kind of playground.

[Frank Reagan]

I would think this site and sites like this are just forums for fans to vent. If any AD or administrator that takes a site like this for vision and direction, then they need to seriously consider why they hold their position and either took the job or ran for election in the first place.

Secondly, I think that any fan who seriously considers that this kind of site does or should sway hirings really needs a reality check. This board is a loose collection of fans that are just that, fans and nothing else more serious or important than just a fan.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Truth of the matter sites like this show how little alot of people realy know about athletics in general. Is good for a good laugh and every now and then you might, if lucky pick up something of value, but not very often. Stuff on here would not help someone get a coach job but at times it could actually hurt.

Now for this little information. Stuff that shows up on sites like this can and have caused problems for teams and coaches!

[briandixon]

I dont think it would effect coaches getting hired or fired....but I would think that anyone talking down on players and coaches could cause moral issues for the ones that pop on as a visitor to find out what fans have to say about them...thats why the fans should be careful what they say and stop putting players and coaches down...I am sure everyone and I know I have and I will appoligize now for it have put coaches and players down I have only attacked one coach because i felt sorry for the school...They just cant seem to get rolling...Any way thats what I have for this!

[Tigercannon71]

This and other websites like it are places for fans to get together and talk about their teams. If administration and schoolboards use it as a tool for hiring or firing their coaches then that would be riduculous.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Kids, parents, coaches and yes administrators do read this stuff and it has caused problems places at times. Now you can either put your head in the sand and say whatever you want but that is the truth.

[Doc Panther]

I'm not sure how much infleunce they have.....but I can tell you for sure at the high school and college levels that some coaches read them and get pi$$ed off by them.

[Tigercannon71]

I'm not sure how much infleunce they have.....but I can tell you for sure at the high school and college levels that some coaches read them and get pi$$ed off by them.

Thats funny. I can see Jim Tressel reading SEOPs getting mad at what someone writes. Really though why would a coach spend his time on here reading about himself. It seems to me a coach would have more important things to do like preparing his team for games, practice, and others more important things.

[Howard Cosell]

Do chat rooms help influence who is hired for coaching positions?

- Some will say "Of course not. Anybody utilizing a chat room to help make a hiring decision should not be in a position to hire anyone."

Others will say "You can't ignore these chat rooms. Of course they are going to have some kind of effect."

The emergence of open-sourcing as a method of providing information has birthed converstaions such as these. I call it the "Wikipedia-effect." For those of you that don't know, Wikipedia is an open-sourced, online encyclopedia where anyone can submit an article on practicly anything. Although it is policed somewhat, there are obviously portions that remain on the site - some indefinately - that include intentional or unintentional false information.

But many treat these sites as the gospel. My questions is: are sites like SEOPS regarded in the same light by those that hire new coaches? Do some use it as a supplemental source of information to make decisions, even though there are obvious instances where posters have agendas?

What say you, SEOPS Nation?

Well his room is mostly crowded with idiots. Parents and disgruntled “fans” live for this site. As long as Paladin, blizzardbag, and even a few of the mods spew athletic nonsense on here I don’t see how anyone could take it seriously

[Ground Buck]

I once knew a coach who fired assistant coaches for allegedly posting on this site. But he snapped and got himself fired a few years ago, so it seems he may not have been of sound mind. I also know some coaches post on here or have others post to get things stirred up a bit. But never heard of anyone getting hired because of it.

[FANOSPORTS]

Should have no influence on hiring/firing decisions at any level from the powers that be. If any true professionals let a rant, rave, opinion or idea affect a job decision of a coach in a sometimes thankless supplemental paying position that doesn't even begin to pay the bills @ the high school level unless you have a teaching, administrative or other outside job to go with it, then the selector has a problem. In the College and Pro level jobs this is a moot point and they could care less unless it starts affecting the mighty dollar (i.e. Greg Schiano to U. of Tennessee last year until big money donors and season ticket holders pressured them and tweeted, facebooked, called, etc. and said unh unh).

[wobycat]

I have seen some well known coaches on this site. They peek. Not sure if they influence.

[hannancoach]

The skewl Marm here at hannan watches this thang like a hulk. We hopes to drag Paladin out of retirement. Figure he could get us going in the new SEOAL.

[greygoose]

I have seen some well known coaches on this site. They peek. Not sure if they influence.

You are correct, one thing I've seen is that they'll peak at the upcoming opponent. Take a look at a thread and find out that a certain player is out for the game or for x amount of games. They'll use that go back and look at film to see where a certain player may have gotten hurt. As far as hiring, it's very doubtful at least in terms of assistants because typically it's just the head coaches that are mentioned on here. So at that point one would be talking school administrators looking around on sites to gain information on a coaching candidate.