Losing good staff

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Losing good staff

Post by jpswensen » January 8th, 2020, 10:37 pm

It seems as if USU is just a stepping stone for more than just coaching. I saw a twitter announcement today that KC Smurthwaite is leaving. I’m assuming it is for a promotion elsewhere.

That guy was so vocal on twitter and took time to respond to a lot of people. I can only assume he was as good or better with the behind the scenes development work. It is sad to see people who are killing it leave for greener pastures, rather than finding ways to promote and pay more within. Even if the next guy is just as good in the long run, it takes time to develop all the connections and relationships that the guy leaving has already put in place.

:(


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Re: Losing good staff

Post by GordoAggie » January 9th, 2020, 6:51 am

That guy was so vocal on twitter and took time to respond to a lot of people
You got that part right. The rest not so much.....
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by Aggie84025 » January 9th, 2020, 8:06 am

I did not know him personally, but from his twitter feed I got the impression he was kind of arrogant. I have never met him so I could be speaking blasphemy this was just my impression based on his social media posts.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by ProvoAggie » January 9th, 2020, 8:41 am

I worked with KC several times and he is an Aggie through and through. You may not always agree with everything he did on social media but he worked hard to make USU a better place which is something you can't always say about administrator's here.

He definitely didn't try to use this job as a stepping stone but SUU (where he got his undergrad) came after him hard. He pushed back quite a bit over the past few months but they finally made him an offer that he couldn't turn down. He's getting the chance to work in a top 2 admin position. Even with this being a serious promotion at another school he attended, the decision was a hard one. I know that once it was made, he spent the next few weeks reaching out to most of the donors that he worked with at USU personally to let them know.

KC is learning but in my interactions with him he never came across as arrogant. I really wish him luck and hope that someday he does come back to USU.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by garyismyhomeboy » January 9th, 2020, 8:42 am

In my few interactions with him as a minimal donor he was really personable and had passion for the school. I do remember once seeing him in a suit sweating badly while shoveling snow during christmas break around the arena before the game.

My friends are more involved than me and respected him but was REALLY high energy almost too much. I found it interesting they said athletics dissolved a few positions a few years ago and he was asked to take it all on. Wonder if that played a roll. Wish him the best.I'll get him some deodorant for shoveling.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by NVAggie » January 9th, 2020, 9:44 am

I enjoyed most interactions with KC. He bought me lunch and also dropped off some SWAG while rolling through town. He has done more to interact with me than any other person in the AD. I respect that.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by tipitup » January 9th, 2020, 9:50 am

when he worked with softball, he would talk to me about my daughter, he even remembered her when she hurt her knee in high school. nothing but respect for him. yes he came across as arrogant, but i think as garyismyhomeboy said i think it was more his high energy and we as a people, i think, have a hard time with high energy!!! good luck KC
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by ViAggie » January 9th, 2020, 1:12 pm

Sometimes you have to leave a position in order to move up... perhaps he will move up, then move back?
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by ususports » January 9th, 2020, 1:23 pm

Aggie84025 wrote:
January 9th, 2020, 8:06 am
I did not know him personally, but from his twitter feed I got the impression he was kind of arrogant. I have never met him so I could be speaking blasphemy this was just my impression based on his social media posts.
I would say blaming the customer when your promotions flop instead of accepting responsibility for the failure and doing things differently in the future (aka learning from your mistakes) could be classified as arrogant. However, I am sure there are some on here that might try to classify that behavior as humble.



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Re: Losing good staff

Post by bpd » January 9th, 2020, 2:57 pm

Aggie84025 wrote:
January 9th, 2020, 8:06 am
I did not know him personally, but from his twitter feed I got the impression he was kind of arrogant. I have never met him so I could be speaking blasphemy this was just my impression based on his social media posts.
This is how I feel. My advice to him would say spend less time on social media.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by dyedblue » January 9th, 2020, 11:00 pm


KC worked his guys out for Utah State. He tried a lot of fun new ways to engage fans and I thought he did really well. He was a bit corny. When he first started working for the AD, he met with a lot of Aggies. I admit I’m not a big donor, yet he called me up and drive to Ogden to have lunch and listened to some feedback I gave him. We laughed about how you couldn’t buy a Bahama Mama at Maverik Stadium. We crossed paths and chatted a few times at games and he always remembered things going on in my life. I know there are a lot of other fans that have similar experiences whether they were huge donors or rebound fans. I’ll miss having him around - even though Bovee wore off in him at the end. Some things are better left off social media, but I wish KC the best and would love to see him come back to USU at some point.


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Re: Losing good staff

Post by newhouse9 » January 10th, 2020, 1:46 am

KC has a tremendous opportunity to advance his career at SUU. I'm very excited about this move for him. He's a great Aggie and has done a lot for our athletics program. I've enjoyed working closely with him over the past years, and I'll miss his energy and passion for Utah State. He'll always be an Aggie, and I look forward to his return to Utah State, hopefully, some day.

Love and prayers KC!



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Re: Losing good staff

Post by Imakeitrain » January 10th, 2020, 5:46 am

Administrators are very overrated. Very replaceable. Literally anyone can fundraise. It's what I imagine a Kappa Delta would do if she were not able to marry rich ("fundraising" or "recruiting")

That's not to KC down. A lot of donors have good relationships with people in admin, and that could be very real. I'm only saying that administrators come and go. It sounds like a good opportunity for him.



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Re: Losing good staff

Post by stang » January 10th, 2020, 11:33 am

The business of college athletics is moving around to move up. The AD wasn’t going to fire someone else to create a higher job for him, nor were they going to pay him a significant amount more money to do what he’s been doing, so he left at a great opportunity. This happens all the time. It doesn’t make USU a “stepping stone,” it makes USU a college athletics department.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by Turtle » January 10th, 2020, 1:42 pm

I heard him talk about how he'd talked with a lot of the key players at USU and that he and them are planning on him coming back in a bigger role once he's got more experience at SUU.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by Yossarian » January 10th, 2020, 4:23 pm

If other people want your people, that means you have good people. It's when you have staff that nobody wants that you need to be worried. Penske recruited George Costanza hard.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by donlarson8 » January 10th, 2020, 7:04 pm

KC will leave some big shoes to fill. He was a huge part of the recent fundraising success, was innovative in his approach, put people first, worked harder than most, and was (is) an Aggie through and through. Even though I have never been and I probably never will be able to donate a significant amount of money, he treated me like a big-time donor and I consider him a friend. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in Logan after a while.
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by dyedblue » January 10th, 2020, 8:45 pm

We have been lucky to have both Jeremy Winn and KC.


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Re: Losing good staff-NOT SO FAST

Post by bullseye66 » January 13th, 2020, 2:33 pm

THIS IS THE BEST NEWS IN 2020! GO KC AND DON'T COME BACK. YOU WERE PEE POOR ON RELATIONS AND THE BIT ABOUT FORMER PLAYERS LIKING HIM IS A BIG STRETCH. -DING DONG AND CHOO CHOOO! KC GONE!!!

NOW MAYBE ATHLETICS CAN MOVER FORWARD with RELATIONSHIP REBUILDING AFTER WINN, COLEMAN BARNS AND KC SMURF ARE GONE!


GO AGGIES! ...remember the only this worse than a Ute is a cougar.
:rock: :cheers: :scotsman: :utah: :state:
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Re: Losing good staff-NOT SO FAST

Post by The Truth » January 13th, 2020, 4:38 pm

bullseye66 wrote:
January 13th, 2020, 2:33 pm
THIS IS THE BEST NEWS IN 2020! GO KC AND DON'T COME BACK. YOU WERE PEE POOR ON RELATIONS AND THE BIT ABOUT FORMER PLAYERS LIKING HIM IS A BIG STRETCH. -DING DONG AND CHOO CHOOO! KC GONE!!!

NOW MAYBE ATHLETICS CAN MOVER FORWARD with RELATIONSHIP REBUILDING AFTER WINN, COLEMAN BARNS AND KC SMURF ARE GONE!


GO AGGIES! ...remember the only this worse than a Ute is a cougar.
:rock: :cheers: :scotsman: :utah: :state:
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Re: Losing good staff

Post by TheAKAggie » January 13th, 2020, 5:10 pm

ProvoAggie wrote:I worked with KC several times and he is an Aggie through and through. You may not always agree with everything he did on social media but he worked hard to make USU a better place which is something you can't always say about administrator's here.

He definitely didn't try to use this job as a stepping stone but SUU (where he got his undergrad) came after him hard. He pushed back quite a bit over the past few months but they finally made him an offer that he couldn't turn down. He's getting the chance to work in a top 2 admin position. Even with this being a serious promotion at another school he attended, the decision was a hard one. I know that once it was made, he spent the next few weeks reaching out to most of the donors that he worked with at USU personally to let them know.

KC is learning but in my interactions with him he never came across as arrogant. I really wish him luck and hope that someday he does come back to USU.
Yep, big step up for him and I know he will come back if the opportunity presents itself.

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Re: Losing good staff-NOT SO FAST

Post by aggies22 » January 13th, 2020, 6:54 pm

bullseye66 wrote:
January 13th, 2020, 2:33 pm
THIS IS THE BEST NEWS IN 2020! GO KC AND DON'T COME BACK. YOU WERE PEE POOR ON RELATIONS AND THE BIT ABOUT FORMER PLAYERS LIKING HIM IS A BIG STRETCH. -DING DONG AND CHOO CHOOO! KC GONE!!!

NOW MAYBE ATHLETICS CAN MOVER FORWARD with RELATIONSHIP REBUILDING AFTER WINN, COLEMAN BARNS AND KC SMURF ARE GONE!


GO AGGIES! ...remember the only this worse than a Ute is a cougar.
:rock: :cheers: :scotsman: :utah: :state:

Wow! Tell us how you really feel my Aggie brother!



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Re: Losing good staff-NOT SO FAST

Post by rAggie » January 23rd, 2020, 11:32 pm

bullseye66 wrote:
January 13th, 2020, 2:33 pm
THIS IS THE BEST NEWS IN 2020! GO KC AND DON'T COME BACK. YOU WERE PEE POOR ON RELATIONS AND THE BIT ABOUT FORMER PLAYERS LIKING HIM IS A BIG STRETCH. -DING DONG AND CHOO CHOOO! KC GONE!!!

NOW MAYBE ATHLETICS CAN MOVER FORWARD with RELATIONSHIP REBUILDING AFTER WINN, COLEMAN BARNS AND KC SMURF ARE GONE!


GO AGGIES! ...remember the only this worse than a Ute is a cougar.
:rock: :cheers: :scotsman: :utah: :state:
You are insane.


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