5 Open Questions for Ted Gregory '74

Ted Gregory

Ted Gregory, a great Lion All Ivy player in the early 70's, was the head of the search committee charged to aide Athletic Director Dianne Murphy hire a new head football coach in late 2011.

Gregory had some experience in executive search for Wall Street firms, but none in hiring head football coaches. 

And Gregory is a very, very close friend and devotee of Bill Campbell. 

Perhaps that should have set off some alarm bells right there.

But let's let Mr. Gregory speak for himself if he so chooses. 

Also any member of the Football Committee who participated in the search process is welcome to comment as well:


1) Did you make it clear to Dianne Murphy or anyone else in the administration that you had no experience in coaching searches? Did you make it a priority to fill your team with people who did?


2) How did Dianne Murphy present Pete Mangurian's name to the search committee? Was there any explicit or implied pressure to put his name at the top of the pile? 


3) What vetting, if any, did your team perform on Mangurian during the hiring process?

(this question has a few subsets)

-Was the reason for his 2010 firing by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers discussed or looked into? 

For example:

"Mangurian's hard-nosed, old-school coaching style came across as abrasive and didn't mesh well with the players and some of the other coaches on the staff. The Buccaneers are believed to be looking for more positive, energetic coaches in the mold of Morris, wide receivers coach Eric Yarber, quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, secondary coach Jimmy Lake, etc.

Mangurian, who joined Raheem Morris' staff in 2009, went through two difficult years in Tampa Bay. In 2009, the offensive line play was sub-par, largely due a switch to a zone blocking scheme that former offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski implemented before he was fired. The unit underachieved and Mangurian's personality rubbed his offensive linemen the wrong way and didn't help."

See the full report here.

-Were his run-ins with NY Giant, (and later NY Jet), Jumbo Elliott and Brian Williams known to the committe?

For example:

"There are times when a coach and a player get into an argument and normally it is no big deal. But when center Brian Williams and offensive line coach Pete Mangurian got into a heated argument that almost came to blows at the Giants' final practice this morning, it was more than the usual flare-up.

As their voices carried throughout the practice facility, players and coaches turned their heads to see who was doing all the yelling. Coach Dan Reeves had to walk away from the drill he was watching to help calm things down.

What is startling about Williams's outburst is that he is a seven-year veteran and normally one of the more reserved and professional players on the team. In fact, this has been one of his best seasons, and he was mentioned as a potential Pro Bowl candidate. But Mangurian's brusque style has irked Williams and other members of the line at times during the season, especially left tackle Jumbo Elliott, with whom Mangurian has had a cool relationship."

Full report here  from the NY Times AND here from the Daily News. 

Also this: 

" After some of the things Mangurian allegedly said to Elliott the last three years, Jumbo 

probably has learned to let almost anything roll off his back. During the final game of the '93 

season, in excruciating back pain, Elliott says Mangurian challenged his desire and toughness. 

It was something Elliott would never forget. Or forgive. A few weeks ago, when Elliott heard 

Magurian and Giants defensive line coach Earl Leggett had a brief shoving match during 

practice, Jumbo cracked, 'I hope Leggett kicked his butt."


Full report here from the Daily News. And the incident with coach Leggett was documented here.

-Were you aware and did you look into Mangurian's public issues with Atlanta OL Travis Claridge? (Claridge tragically died in 2006). Claridge's benching and the controversy surrounding the reasons for it were a big story in Atlanta. And the Augusta Chronicle openly noted the decline in the team's play and QB Chris Chandler's anger over the decline in protection after the move. 

From the Chronicle piece:

"Coincidence or not, the Falcons were 6-4 when Claridge started, 1-5 when he sat. The fluctuating line caused quarterback Chris Chandler to plea for Mangurian and Reeves to settle on a starting five and stick with it. Chandler, who was released in February as the only quarterback to lead Atlanta to the Super Bowl, only needed to point at his lack of protection - an NFL-high 66 sacks allowed and a staggering ratio of one every 8.35 passing plays - as evidence."

-Based on the massive amount of documented stories about Mangurian's reputation for demanding slimmed down offensive linemen, was there concern about this? Was this something you were even aware of? This is something that has been documented throughout his career with very little evidence of it succeeding at anything other than angering star players. 

4) Why were excellent candidates like Holy Cross Head Coach Tom Gilmore and Johns Hopkins Head Coach Jim Margraff, both well-respected former CU assistants, not even interviewed? Who were the people who ultimately were interviewed in person other than Mangurian?

5) At any time did ANYONE on the search committee object to or at least strongly question choosing Mangurian and if so, who overruled him and why?

I realize we'll probably never get the answers to these questions from Gregory or anyone else. But they are important to ask. And I think they prove that a proper vetting process was never conducted and that's why we have been left with such a disastrous head coach at a program that so richly deserved so much better.