Walter Offutt

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Reggie Redbird

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He doesn’t work for the department so why does he care if fans are engaged? I don’t care if he does the best job or the worst job in the world because the idea that someone under the age of 80 needs to read Jim Benson twice a week to know what’s going on with ISU just isn’t true. If he does such a poor job and isn’t Wyatt Wheeler, then being blocked shouldn’t matter. Those who are blocked spend more time complaining about being blocked for social media attention than they do actually caring. It’s a little group of people who all congratulate each other for being blocked and act like it’s the most asinine thing in the world and their feelings are hurt so three people can tell them how ridiculous it is and they feel better because people online gave them attention. It’s weird.
Let me just be clear. Are you saying that ISU fans and the Athletics Department shouldn’t care about fans being engaged? That was my point. We’re ISU fans who have an interest in our fan base being engaged. Heck, it’s what our coach (and really any coach) has asked for.

The beat writer’s job depends on his company justifying paying him to track the team. If engagement is garbage and subscriptions trend down, it’s easier for the Pantagraph to do what they do for other sports - take ISU’s stories and just publish them - and cut the position.

If the beat writer is going to have such thin skin and block people for asking simple questions, seems fair game to call him out for it.
 

DWRedbird

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He doesn’t work for the department so why does he care if fans are engaged? I don’t care if he does the best job or the worst job in the world because the idea that someone under the age of 80 needs to read Jim Benson twice a week to know what’s going on with ISU just isn’t true. If he does such a poor job and isn’t Wyatt Wheeler, then being blocked shouldn’t matter. Those who are blocked spend more time complaining about being blocked for social media attention than they do actually caring. It’s a little group of people who all congratulate each other for being blocked and act like it’s the most asinine thing in the world and their feelings are hurt so three people can tell them how ridiculous it is and they feel better because people online gave them attention. It’s weird.

Not that I have a real dog in the fight as I have no real problem with Benson, though I think blocking people like he does is garbage, the reason he should care if fans are engaged is because more fan engagement is more potential readers and clicks on his articles. As someone whose primary responsibility is Men's basketball, he should want the fanbase to be, not only engaged, but foaming at the mouth for information on them. He isn't really fostering any of that. He has kind of reached the point where he is just kind of Eeyore at this point "Its my beat to write and nobody remembers".

I’m not claiming to be a subject matter expert or anything like that but I have worked in journalism/marketing/PR for a while. Jim’s job as a beat writer is to cover all facets of the team. This has been a story that has been ongoing for months now. The fact he was given the quote that Pedon “assumed” Offutt would be back following his paternity leave, and did not mention that he followed up or asked for clarification is bad reporting. At that time he very easily could’ve said, “I followed up and Pedon did not have additional comment.” Okay, great, at least we know he asked. Instead, he opted to be snarky and block fans for simply asking if there was follow up.

I was never looking for or expecting the actual details to be publicly reported. At this point, a statement should’ve been released from ISU as generic as, “Coach Offutt is no longer with the program. We wish him well and are thankful for his time as a Redbird. The search for a new assistant is being conducted. We have no further comment at this time”. The reason is he’s gone is none of our business whether it be health, family or whatever. Does Jim know and not saying anything? Doubtful, but that’s beside the point.

Instead, they’ve opted to go completely silent which is why there are so many questions and speculation. I agree it remains ISU’s narrative to control but it is Jim’s job to ask the question and report that he did. Otherwise, fans will do exactly what has been done and have way more questions than answers. Until his tweet above, there was no indication the question had been asked. There are much better ways to interact with fans and handle instances like this. He could learn something from Wyatt Wheeler and Paul Oren.

In my opinion I think the lack of answers is stemming from both Pedon's lack of experience in handling a staff on his own, and not wanting to talk poorly about his friend. But he is committing one of the most common mistakes in PR, and that's allowing a void of information to grow, because the longer the void exists and the larger it gets, the more fans are going to speculate.
 

SlackBooDom

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Let me just be clear. Are you saying that ISU fans and the Athletics Department shouldn’t care about fans being engaged? That was my point. We’re ISU fans who have an interest in our fan base being engaged. Heck, it’s what our coach (and really any coach) has asked for.

The beat writer’s job depends on his company justifying paying him to track the team. If engagement is garbage and subscriptions trend down, it’s easier for the Pantagraph to do what they do for other sports - take ISU’s stories and just publish them - and cut the position.

If the beat writer is going to have such thin skin and block people for asking simple questions, seems fair game to call him out for it.
I am saying why does Benson care if the department is engaging fans. But to answer the misguided question, I think this current department and administration does not care about anyone outside of six donors and thinks the rest don’t matter.
 

SgtHulka

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He doesn’t work for the department so why does he care if fans are engaged? I don’t care if he does the best job or the worst job in the world because the idea that someone under the age of 80 needs to read Jim Benson twice a week to know what’s going on with ISU just isn’t true. If he does such a poor job and isn’t Wyatt Wheeler, then being blocked shouldn’t matter. Those who are blocked spend more time complaining about being blocked for social media attention than they do actually caring. It’s a little group of people who all congratulate each other for being blocked and act like it’s the most asinine thing in the world and their feelings are hurt so three people can tell them how ridiculous it is and they feel better because people online gave them attention. It’s weird.
Your job is driving traffic to the corporate website via clicks since physical paper subscriptions are dismal. Seems kinda stupid to chase away business when your performance is easily tracked. Like me or not, click on my link to the online article so I look better during my annual review
 

BirdGrad2011

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Am sure everyone will now be satisfied it is official😅
That’s all we needed in the first place. Would’ve rather had the university or Pedon issue a vague “we wish him the best” 2 months ago but it is what it is.
 
P

Popsto4

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Let me just be clear. Are you saying that ISU fans and the Athletics Department shouldn’t care about fans being engaged? That was my point. We’re ISU fans who have an interest in our fan base being engaged. Heck, it’s what our coach (and really any coach) has asked for.

The beat writer’s job depends on his company justifying paying him to track the team. If engagement is garbage and subscriptions trend down, it’s easier for the Pantagraph to do what they do for other sports - take ISU’s stories and just publish them - and cut the position.

If the beat writer is going to have such thin skin and block people for asking simple questions, seems fair game to call him out for it.
I do like this post, however I’m sure ILSU have more than just a few bombarding Jim with the same question. I can see any beat writer trying to report on any subject getting frustrated because of simply not knowing. For one it would kind of annoy me. I would’ve did a post about, I will bring the story when I find out or hear information regarding the situation. To me that would’ve kept some questioners at bay I believe. Either way they guy isn’t about fake news apparently which is a good thing and have to be respected for that.
 

redbirdron1

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Now, time to hire a Yaklich clone who gets D and has been mentored by someone with some cred.
Also, while I’m hoping; ok if the new guy puts a transfer in his suitcase.

Whatever Pedon does will likely b thought out very well - r Coach has a much better understanding of what it’ll take to compete in MVC.

Best wishes to Coach Offutt in Life.
 

SgtHulka

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I do like this post, however I’m sure ILSU have more than just a few bombarding Jim with the same question. I can see any beat writer trying to report on any subject getting frustrated because of simply not knowing. For one it would kind of annoy me. I would’ve did a post about, I will bring the story when I find out or hear information regarding the situation. To me that would’ve kept some questioners at bay I believe. Either way they guy isn’t about fake news apparently which is a good thing and have to be respected for that.
You weren't posting here when he announced that Judson was our new head coach, but we hired Muller instead 🤔
 

BirdGrad2011

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I do like this post, however I’m sure ILSU have more than just a few bombarding Jim with the same question. I can see any beat writer trying to report on any subject getting frustrated because of simply not knowing. For one it would kind of annoy me. I would’ve did a post about, I will bring the story when I find out or hear information regarding the situation. To me that would’ve kept some questioners at bay I believe. Either way they guy isn’t about fake news apparently which is a good thing and have to be respected for that.
Props for giving him the benefit of the doubt, but reality is he’s just bad at his job. He announced the wrong guy being hired when it was Muller, he attacked a student reporter at the Vidette for scooping him on a story, he’s blocked countless ISU fans for asking him for updates or why he didn’t ask a question. He cares more about local golf than the ISU coverage and hates his Redbird readers. He just needs to retire.
 

Rollbirds5

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Need to hire an assistant coach with a stud kid who will come with, don’t care if he can coach or recruit or anything just give us a Tucker Devries, AJ Green, etc. player
 

ScoreboardDotRace

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The local golf comments are always puzzling. They’re two different seasons. And even so, he had plenty of ISU bball articles this past summer on top of golf coverage. When there was news to report.

I have no problem if he truly likes covering local golf more than ISU bball. I’ve had countless good conversations with him about ISU hoops over the years.

As far as the departure of Offutt goes, now that it’s official and the seat is open let’s go find someone that can help this team win.
 

Adunk33

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I do like this post, however I’m sure ILSU have more than just a few bombarding Jim with the same question. I can see any beat writer trying to report on any subject getting frustrated because of simply not knowing. For one it would kind of annoy me. I would’ve did a post about, I will bring the story when I find out or hear information regarding the situation. To me that would’ve kept some questioners at bay I believe. Either way they guy isn’t about fake news apparently which is a good thing and have to be respected for that.
I'm sure it was annoying to be asked the same thing over, and over. What is the best way to put an end to it? To me and most on here that have an issue with how it was handled, saying, "I've asked and no official word from ISU" would have been sufficient. He took the opposite approach and went out of sight, out of mind.

Anyway, it's over. I doubt we ever hear anything official from ISU. I'm with everyone else, lets get a solid guy in here with experience and preferably Midwest ties.
 

RedbirdSoxFan

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When Walter Offutt did his interview with Ryan Pedon and Kyle Brennan:

A) Did he inform them during that interview that he and his wife were expecting a baby in the Fall and that he would be taking three months leave of absence and not be available to coach during most (or All) of the 2022-23 basketball season?

B) Did Walter Offutt withhold that information from Ryan Pedon and Kyle Brennan?

If he did decline to inform Coach Pedon and AD Brennan of his wife expecting to have a baby in the Fall, and his plans to not be available for most (or all) of the upcoming basketball season, that could possibly have caused a difficult situation between the parties involved. It would not look good for the University to make a stink about a coach wanting to take authorized leave of absence after having a baby. So I’m guessing this would be a reason for not having any comments from the coach or AD.

If Walter Offutt did inform Coach Pedon and AD Brennan of this during the interview than why did they hire him knowing he would not be available for the 2022-23 season?
 
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