[BostonCard]

Stanford Athletics press release:

https://gostanford.com/news/2025/07/31/j...-athletics

I think he is an excellent choice to lead the program into the new era of college athletics.  The old, “handshake and a smile” model is gone.  What is needed today is someone who can balance the budget, hire highly qualified talent and effectively represent the school at the highest levels of conference administration.  I think Stanford has found a person who can take the program back to the top.  Best wishes to Mr. Donahue….

Best wishes to him, but I disagree that this is a good choice.

https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/joh...ike-uncool

Who is John Donahoe, the man who made Nike uncool?
Nike’s 48-year success story has been put into question by John Donahoe, its outgoing CEO who knew nothing about Nike or its culture. What mistakes did he make?

Yikes!  If he could make Nike uncool, just think of what he could do to Stanford football.  The more I read about him, the worse I feel about the pick.  This is a guy who failed catastrophically at his last position:

Donahoe made four big mistakes, says Mark Ritson in Marketing Week: he lost focus on the all-important product, went for short-term gains at the expense of long-term success and saw digital transformation as an end goal rather than merely one means among others for making sales. He was also one of those who “lost the plot” during Covid, telling us the world had changed forever.

At best, we hope he learned from Nike.  At worst, he’s someone who was a tone deaf leader, knows little about collegiate athletics or Stanford.  I don’t think this was a good pick at all.

BC

[BostonCard]

Stanford Athletics press release:

https://gostanford.com/news/2025/07/31/j...-athletics

I think he is an excellent choice to lead the program into the new era of college athletics.  The old, “handshake and a smile” model is gone.  What is needed today is someone who can balance the budget, hire highly qualified talent and effectively represent the school at the highest levels of conference administration.  I think Stanford has found a person who can take the program back to the top.  Best wishes to Mr. Donahue….

Best wishes to him, but I disagree that this is a good choice.

https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/joh...ike-uncool

Who is John Donahoe, the man who made Nike uncool?
Nike’s 48-year success story has been put into question by John Donahoe, its outgoing CEO who knew nothing about Nike or its culture. What mistakes did he make?

Yikes!  If he could make Nike uncool, just think of what he could do to Stanford football.  The more I read about him, the worse I feel about the pick.  This is a guy who failed catastrophically at his last position:

Donahoe made four big mistakes, says Mark Ritson in Marketing Week: he lost focus on the all-important product, went for short-term gains at the expense of long-term success and saw digital transformation as an end goal rather than merely one means among others for making sales. He was also one of those who “lost the plot” during Covid, telling us the world had changed forever.

At best, we hope he learned from Nike.  At worst, he’s someone who was a tone deaf leader, knows little about collegiate athletics or Stanford.  I don’t think this was a good pick at all.

BC