Housewright cited for aggravated DUI

[coloradocat]

This could easily be the beginning of the end for Vigen. Thats just the world we live in.

I mean this isn't exactly Penn State. Its college assistance coaches at the FCS level getting cited for DUIs. Is it bad? Yes. Should Vigen hold his coaches to a higher standard by making them suffer the consequences? Yes. Should Vigen be let go? No.

With Garza’s most recent DUI I was shocked when he wasn’t let go immediately but understood the legal process needed to play out. In my opinion he should have been let go by the University immediately once the legal end was finalized (if it has been). I’ve truly enjoyed Housewright and what he’s brought to MSU football the past few years. He made a mistake, a stupid one, and we’ve all made them and moved on. But, two coaches with DUI’s in 6 months? It’s absolutely unacceptable for this to be swept under the rug and I truly hope that Coach Vigen addresses this publicly somehow. The players and fans deserve that in my opinion.I’m as big of an MSU football fan and supporter as you’ll meet, but what kind of message is being sent here?!? Seriously, say what you want, but I put this at Vigens feet. These actions may not be his doing, but they could definitely be his un-doing! Vigen is ultimately responsible for setting the tone of the football program, how he approaches this situation could ultimately break him. The optics on this are terrible for MSU and the scrutiny that will be closely following is going to be deserved.

Do all public employees deserve to lose their job for a DUI. Professors, the custodian staff, etc. My guess is they have to treat these coaches the same as they would others on campus. They are more in the public eye, but still under a contract.

Of course not. And they shouldn't. but they arent the public face of the university...they dont make the crazy high salaries that an OC makes, and they weren't driving an MSU issued vehicle.

No way an addict professor should get fired for this. No way Garza or House should be on the sidelines next fall.

"Crazy high salaries". Maybe at FBS schools but certainly not at the FCS level.

Relative to professors, custodians, support staff at MSU. MSU is known for how poorly it pays most staff. I dont recall exactly how much Housewright makes, but I'm reasonably sure its 20-30x what MSU pays adjuncts. At the salty old age of 33.

"I don't know how much Housewright makes but I'm reasonable sure I can make up a number to fit my narrative."

[luckyirishguy25]

This could easily be the beginning of the end for Vigen. Thats just the world we live in.

I mean this isn't exactly Penn State. Its college assistance coaches at the FCS level getting cited for DUIs. Is it bad? Yes. Should Vigen hold his coaches to a higher standard by making them suffer the consequences? Yes. Should Vigen be let go? No.

With Garza’s most recent DUI I was shocked when he wasn’t let go immediately but understood the legal process needed to play out. In my opinion he should have been let go by the University immediately once the legal end was finalized (if it has been). I’ve truly enjoyed Housewright and what he’s brought to MSU football the past few years. He made a mistake, a stupid one, and we’ve all made them and moved on. But, two coaches with DUI’s in 6 months? It’s absolutely unacceptable for this to be swept under the rug and I truly hope that Coach Vigen addresses this publicly somehow. The players and fans deserve that in my opinion.I’m as big of an MSU football fan and supporter as you’ll meet, but what kind of message is being sent here?!? Seriously, say what you want, but I put this at Vigens feet. These actions may not be his doing, but they could definitely be his un-doing! Vigen is ultimately responsible for setting the tone of the football program, how he approaches this situation could ultimately break him. The optics on this are terrible for MSU and the scrutiny that will be closely following is going to be deserved.

Do all public employees deserve to lose their job for a DUI. Professors, the custodian staff, etc. My guess is they have to treat these coaches the same as they would others on campus. They are more in the public eye, but still under a contract.

Of course not. And they shouldn't. but they arent the public face of the university...they dont make the crazy high salaries that an OC makes, and they weren't driving an MSU issued vehicle.

No way an addict professor should get fired for this. No way Garza or House should be on the sidelines next fall.

"Crazy high salaries". Maybe at FBS schools but certainly not at the FCS level.

Relative to professors, custodians, support staff at MSU. MSU is known for how poorly it pays most staff. I dont recall exactly how much Housewright makes, but I'm reasonably sure its 20-30x what MSU pays adjuncts. At the salty old age of 33.

"I don't know how much Housewright makes but I'm reasonable sure I can make up a number to fit my narrative."

From a quick bit of research, looks like they make about the same 70k a year. I imagine Housewright had more perks and bonuses though.

[catatac]

I think that Housewright and Garza (has his case been resolved yet?) should in fact be fired if they are found guilty of DUI. However, I also think that a knee-jerk reaction of an immediate termination isn't a wise move, and that they should be given the same opportunity that any of the rest of us would want, to be able to go through the legal process to be able to tell our sides of the story and potentially be cleared of the charges.

It does seem like Coach Vigen needs to come out and make a very strong public statement about his expectations for the people associated with his program.

P.S. When will people around here learn to stop feeding the trolls?

I agree on need to wait for outcomes instead of rushing to fire. But, I also don't think firing is the only option. MSU actively promotes drinking at fundraisers and it is a big part of game day with many on here pushing for in stadium sales. They made mistakes, but guarantee many on here have done the same but not gotten caught. Housewright's wreck makes it more severe, but unpaid suspension would be sufficient in my opinion.

100 percent agree with MSU01 here, pretty crazy how quick people make assumptions and jump to conclusions here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “lawyer up and beat the charges”, and all is good here guy. But, I don’t think the school even can fire him until there’s a legal ruling. Same with WMG, and many of us are wondering if there was a conviction there or not yet? Agree though, this seems to be a problem and Vigen needs to address it one way or the other.

There is zero risk from firing a coach for crashing an MSU vehicle & leaving the scene of the accident. The DUI is completely superfluous.

Not sure I agree that getting into an accident and leaving the scene is an automatic firing for any MSU employee? Maybe it’s in the contract, not sure. At any rate, has he admitted to that?

[imacat]

There have been several posts about the precedent set when Garza was charged with his DUI.

We have no idea what has gone on “behind the scenes”
with Garza. We may be jumping to an incorrect conclusion on the ramifications being lenient. Us fans would like to know but it is up to the university (and Garza) to determine how much information to make public.

[kennethnoisewater]

I think that Housewright and Garza (has his case been resolved yet?) should in fact be fired if they are found guilty of DUI. However, I also think that a knee-jerk reaction of an immediate termination isn't a wise move, and that they should be given the same opportunity that any of the rest of us would want, to be able to go through the legal process to be able to tell our sides of the story and potentially be cleared of the charges.

It does seem like Coach Vigen needs to come out and make a very strong public statement about his expectations for the people associated with his program.

P.S. When will people around here learn to stop feeding the trolls?

I agree on need to wait for outcomes instead of rushing to fire. But, I also don't think firing is the only option. MSU actively promotes drinking at fundraisers and it is a big part of game day with many on here pushing for in stadium sales. They made mistakes, but guarantee many on here have done the same but not gotten caught. Housewright's wreck makes it more severe, but unpaid suspension would be sufficient in my opinion.

100 percent agree with MSU01 here, pretty crazy how quick people make assumptions and jump to conclusions here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “lawyer up and beat the charges”, and all is good here guy. But, I don’t think the school even can fire him until there’s a legal ruling. Same with WMG, and many of us are wondering if there was a conviction there or not yet? Agree though, this seems to be a problem and Vigen needs to address it one way or the other.

There is zero risk from firing a coach for crashing an MSU vehicle & leaving the scene of the accident. The DUI is completely superfluous.

Not sure I agree that getting into an accident and leaving the scene is an automatic firing for any MSU employee? Maybe it’s in the contract, not sure. At any rate, has he admitted to that?

I don't think it warrants "automatic firing" either, but I don't think that was his point. Seems like he was saying that firing would be justified under these circumstances, regardless of the outcome of the legal process. It gets dicey any time you terminate a contract with somebody. Contracts are generally written to say something like "the employment of said employee is based on the assumption of regular, satisfactory, and faithful service to the employer", and may have other language to include conduct and care for property. Given the assumption of innocence until proven guilty, an alleged or charged crime does not necessarily violate a contract. But careless destruction of property MAY violate a contract. None of us know the exact language of the coaching contract(s) and none of us know all the details of the incident. I'd personally like for MSU to be able to terminate any public-facing employee for actions detrimental to the appearance of the university and the athletic department, but doing that could land them in a world of trouble, as has happened in this very department. MSU may not be able to fire him, but there are certainly ways to penalize him and not violate a contract. At the very least I'd hope there are stiff penalties for things like this, although we may never know what these are.

[Rich K]

I'm going to try and milk this a little bit for a "bright side".

I think I remember something about a bonus pool of money that Vigen has available for his assistant coaches. Since the DC and the OC have, in my estimate, both eliminated themselves from that bonus pool, and they would in normal circumstances both be given a significant portion of that pool, the pool for other assistant coaches is much more attractive. All assistant coaches that remain out of trouble with the law are likely to get a bigger bonus this year! That's a great way to attract good assistants!

[allcat]

This could easily be the beginning of the end for Vigen. Thats just the world we live in.

I mean this isn't exactly Penn State. Its college assistance coaches at the FCS level getting cited for DUIs. Is it bad? Yes. Should Vigen hold his coaches to a higher standard by making them suffer the consequences? Yes. Should Vigen be let go? No.

With Garza’s most recent DUI I was shocked when he wasn’t let go immediately but understood the legal process needed to play out. In my opinion he should have been let go by the University immediately once the legal end was finalized (if it has been). I’ve truly enjoyed Housewright and what he’s brought to MSU football the past few years. He made a mistake, a stupid one, and we’ve all made them and moved on. But, two coaches with DUI’s in 6 months? It’s absolutely unacceptable for this to be swept under the rug and I truly hope that Coach Vigen addresses this publicly somehow. The players and fans deserve that in my opinion.I’m as big of an MSU football fan and supporter as you’ll meet, but what kind of message is being sent here?!? Seriously, say what you want, but I put this at Vigens feet. These actions may not be his doing, but they could definitely be his un-doing! Vigen is ultimately responsible for setting the tone of the football program, how he approaches this situation could ultimately break him. The optics on this are terrible for MSU and the scrutiny that will be closely following is going to be deserved.

Do all public employees deserve to lose their job for a DUI. Professors, the custodian staff, etc. My guess is they have to treat these coaches the same as they would others on campus. They are more in the public eye, but still under a contract.

Of course not. And they shouldn't. but they arent the public face of the university...they dont make the crazy high salaries that an OC makes, and they weren't driving an MSU issued vehicle.

No way an addict professor should get fired for this. No way Garza or House should be on the sidelines next fall.

"Crazy high salaries". Maybe at FBS schools but certainly not at the FCS level.

Relative to professors, custodians, support staff at MSU. MSU is known for how poorly it pays most staff. I dont recall exactly how much Housewright makes, but I'm reasonably sure its 20-30x what MSU pays adjuncts. At the salty old age of 33.

I would bet against that.

[BelligerentBobcat]

This could easily be the beginning of the end for Vigen. Thats just the world we live in.

I mean this isn't exactly Penn State. Its college assistance coaches at the FCS level getting cited for DUIs. Is it bad? Yes. Should Vigen hold his coaches to a higher standard by making them suffer the consequences? Yes. Should Vigen be let go? No.

With Garza’s most recent DUI I was shocked when he wasn’t let go immediately but understood the legal process needed to play out. In my opinion he should have been let go by the University immediately once the legal end was finalized (if it has been). I’ve truly enjoyed Housewright and what he’s brought to MSU football the past few years. He made a mistake, a stupid one, and we’ve all made them and moved on. But, two coaches with DUI’s in 6 months? It’s absolutely unacceptable for this to be swept under the rug and I truly hope that Coach Vigen addresses this publicly somehow. The players and fans deserve that in my opinion.I’m as big of an MSU football fan and supporter as you’ll meet, but what kind of message is being sent here?!? Seriously, say what you want, but I put this at Vigens feet. These actions may not be his doing, but they could definitely be his un-doing! Vigen is ultimately responsible for setting the tone of the football program, how he approaches this situation could ultimately break him. The optics on this are terrible for MSU and the scrutiny that will be closely following is going to be deserved.

Do all public employees deserve to lose their job for a DUI. Professors, the custodian staff, etc. My guess is they have to treat these coaches the same as they would others on campus. They are more in the public eye, but still under a contract.

Of course not. And they shouldn't. but they arent the public face of the university...they dont make the crazy high salaries that an OC makes, and they weren't driving an MSU issued vehicle.

No way an addict professor should get fired for this. No way Garza or House should be on the sidelines next fall.

"Crazy high salaries". Maybe at FBS schools but certainly not at the FCS level.

Relative to professors, custodians, support staff at MSU. MSU is known for how poorly it pays most staff. I dont recall exactly how much Housewright makes, but I'm reasonably sure its 20-30x what MSU pays adjuncts. At the salty old age of 33.

You think adjuncts are getting paid $3-5k annually? Wow!

[Bobcat4Ever]

Adjuncts scaled to full time would be perhaps 40k. $40,000 x 25 (midpt) = $1,000,000. That’s a number that’s probably 14x Housewright’s annual pay.

Continued employment may depend on what the staff was told post-Garza. Vigen could have put down a zero-tolerance policy. Failure to do as directed or insubordination can get you fired at MSU or most anywhere.

[Cledus]

From a quick bit of research, looks like they make about the same 70k a year. I imagine Housewright had more perks and bonuses though.

Good points about perks. Being given a car to drive is worth AT LEAST $500 per month, probably more. I'd bet the cash value of all his benefits (including salary) is well into six figures. This is one way organizations can get around salary and wage limits imposed by oversight authorities.

[tetoncat]

Adjunct professor 95380, adjunct instructor 54 596, assuming 40 hour weeks. Are these coaches working only 40 hours. A lot of good numbers on zippia.com

[BobMarshall]

Jeezus H. Christ...I was all for letting WMG go when he got busted. I still don't believe he should still be on the staff. But this is beyond phucking ridiculous. Not sure exactly what aggravated DUI means, but it can't be good. If he is indeed guilty, he needs to gone ASAP. I'm all for letting WMG take a hike too.

Need to let both of them go. There are other good coordinators out there. DUI isnt viewed as a “everyone pretty much gets one in Montana” anymore. This could have been a lot worse thank god it wasnt. With media/social media following every detail of football programs these days i dont think it’s worth the backlash. Its better to clean it up and move on.

[TomCat88]

Three choices:
Fire and hire coaches with previous duis
Fire and hire coaches w/o previous duis but the potential to get one
Keep existing dui’d coaches that will be gone in a year or two

[84CatGrad]

If this was a friz coach we'd all be screaming for his head instead of saying let the legal process play out. I think Housewright should be fired. Vigen needs to make a strong statement for the good of the program.

[catatac]

I think that Housewright and Garza (has his case been resolved yet?) should in fact be fired if they are found guilty of DUI. However, I also think that a knee-jerk reaction of an immediate termination isn't a wise move, and that they should be given the same opportunity that any of the rest of us would want, to be able to go through the legal process to be able to tell our sides of the story and potentially be cleared of the charges.

It does seem like Coach Vigen needs to come out and make a very strong public statement about his expectations for the people associated with his program.

P.S. When will people around here learn to stop feeding the trolls?

I agree on need to wait for outcomes instead of rushing to fire. But, I also don't think firing is the only option. MSU actively promotes drinking at fundraisers and it is a big part of game day with many on here pushing for in stadium sales. They made mistakes, but guarantee many on here have done the same but not gotten caught. Housewright's wreck makes it more severe, but unpaid suspension would be sufficient in my opinion.

100 percent agree with MSU01 here, pretty crazy how quick people make assumptions and jump to conclusions here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “lawyer up and beat the charges”, and all is good here guy. But, I don’t think the school even can fire him until there’s a legal ruling. Same with WMG, and many of us are wondering if there was a conviction there or not yet? Agree though, this seems to be a problem and Vigen needs to address it one way or the other.

There is zero risk from firing a coach for crashing an MSU vehicle & leaving the scene of the accident. The DUI is completely superfluous.

Not sure I agree that getting into an accident and leaving the scene is an automatic firing for any MSU employee? Maybe it’s in the contract, not sure. At any rate, has he admitted to that?

I don't think it warrants "automatic firing" either, but I don't think that was his point. Seems like he was saying that firing would be justified under these circumstances, regardless of the outcome of the legal process. It gets dicey any time you terminate a contract with somebody. Contracts are generally written to say something like "the employment of said employee is based on the assumption of regular, satisfactory, and faithful service to the employer", and may have other language to include conduct and care for property. Given the assumption of innocence until proven guilty, an alleged or charged crime does not necessarily violate a contract. But careless destruction of property MAY violate a contract. None of us know the exact language of the coaching contract(s) and none of us know all the details of the incident. I'd personally like for MSU to be able to terminate any public-facing employee for actions detrimental to the appearance of the university and the athletic department, but doing that could land them in a world of trouble, as has happened in this very department. MSU may not be able to fire him, but there are certainly ways to penalize him and not violate a contract. At the very least I'd hope there are stiff penalties for things like this, although we may never know what these are.

Good points, ya I now see I didn’t exactly argue the point he was making. I agree with all this.

[TomCat88]

If this was a friz coach we'd all be screaming for his head instead of saying let the legal process play out. I think Housewright should be fired. Vigen needs to make a strong statement for the good of the program.

Cuz, like, it matters dude.

Actually Cat fans would be rooting for the Griz coach not to be fired, which is probably what a lot of Griz fans are doing.

[tetoncat]

If this was a friz coach we'd all be screaming for his head instead of saying let the legal process play out. I think Housewright should be fired. Vigen needs to make a strong statement for the good of the program.

Nope I would make fun of them. But they have to follow rules they would for all employees. Still seems like you have to be convicted or have more evidence than all of us have seen

[Hi-Line Bobcat]

I don’t know if anybody has said this or not, but what if the policy is set by the AD? I ate lunch at the canary yesterday and a former coach was in there, won’t say his name, and he said when Fields was the AD he told all coaches in a huge group meeting if they got a DUI they were gone. Zero tolerance policy. It got me thinking, what if all of this isn’t Vigen’s decision like so many think. Maybe it’s a policy set by the AD, which makes more sense to me, and Vigen actually doesn’t have any authority regarding legal matters. Just a thought.

[Hi-Line Bobcat]

Having said that, how can you fire someone until it’s actually finalized legally? Seems like if you fire someone because of what the report is, you could jump the gun and open yourself up to a huge legal battle if the said employee doesn’t even get a dui. Due process is what this country is founded on. Too many judge judies in this world, who read a headline and have all the answers.

[94VegasCat]

Reading both of your previous posts HiLine, I think we can assume that Costello is more of an AD than Fields could’ve dreamed of being. That’s my assumption anyway. I think the optics of this whole situation are truly ugly. If Housewright gets terminated and acquitted, MSU will be in the Mike Kramer boat ride all over again. Do I know what’s the best case scenario…..nope. But I do truly believe in innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Not what we can only ponder on BN.