Eli Capilouto

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

I will say right up front, I don’t know anything about the guy or his feelings about athletics.

That basically gets me to my questions: what role does he play in this if any? Is his role simply, “I hired an AD and now he has a job to do.” What has his stances on athletics been in the past? If Mitch is his guy and we’ve been having all this controversy over Cal, Cal’s contact, Stoops, Elzy then isn’t Eli just as liable as Mitch?

I feel like athletics are as big of a marketing tool as there is for a college as a whole. There are others of course, but athletics, especially in a Power conference school is as big as any of them. Shouldn’t the president of the university show a little more concern for how that tool is managed? And finally, though it’s been discussed a lot already, shouldn’t the president of the largest, most important public university in a state be concerned with big decisions like this being made possibly based on religious affiliation and nepotism?

TL;DR: at the end of the day, is Eli the one who gets the absolute final say; does he care enough about athletics to even have an opinion?

 

[zannmann]

He let it well known when he was hired he cared nothing about sports. When’s the last time you saw him at a sporting event?

 

[RondosRevengeTour]

He let it well known when he was hired he cared nothing about sports. When’s the last time you saw him at a sporting event?

I actually sit 2 rows behind him at every game, he sits by the governor. Why are you just trying to spread hate and misinformation as if he is to blame for Cal's lack of success and the situation we find ourselves in today.

 

[BlueSince92]

Capilouto didn’t hire no AD. Mitch Barnhart has been here for 22 years.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

Capilouto didn’t hire no AD. Mitch Barnhart has been here for 22 years.

Didn’t know that until just now. This is why I ask these kinds of questions. Anybody have any notes on what they’re working relationship has been? Or if Eli has ever rethought the AD position? Has there ever been any public controversy?

 

[JHB4UK]

None

He has nothing to do with Athletic dept operations, big or small. Barnhart runs it 100% his way his calls on everything.

And that's exactly how both men want things to be. Eli works the University stuff 100%, doesn't waste any time on sportz ball.

 

[BlueSince92]

Didn’t know that until just now. This is why I ask these kinds of questions. Anybody have any notes on what they’re working relationship has been? Or if Eli has ever rethought the AD position? Has there ever been any public controversy?

Which makes perfect sense. What else are you gonna do?

I know nothing personally but from my remote viewpoint I don’t think Capilouto is a very sportsy guy. He was here like two weeks before he tried to outlaw tailgating. The pushback was more than he expected so he wound up just restricting it.

Someone from the Black Student Union demanded they get a say in all athletics department hires so he gave it to them. No wider discussion or opening it to other groups. Imo he’s a very squeaky wheel gets the grease / if it ain’t broke don’t fix it kind of guy with sports and probably with everything. All his prominent decisions are about money. Things that help the university’s bottom line in the near term (sometimes with possible questionable repercussions in the long term, like deeding all the dorms to third party real estate developers, another of his early moves.)

Rumors have been floated that Capilouto was really the mastermind behind Cal’s “lifetime” contract and he forced Mitch’s hand with that despite Mitch’s protests. That doesn’t seem to jive with me, but what do I know.