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Scott Secules was fired today by Steve Orsini (after John Koerner was let go last week). I understand new guys want their own staffs, but this one has me baffled. Secs gave everything he had to SMU thru some lean years. This is no way to build any loyalty in a program. I'm pi$$ed.

WTF

I just saw Secs wednesday when I was dropping of a Mustang Club donation. What happened?

I'm sure Secules was a great guy, but if Orsini feels this is needed to clean out the old Copeland mentality, then so be it. A firing like this shouldn't be taken personally.

Orsini really is adopting a scorched earth policy here. Secules, Koerner, Chris Walker and Barb Totzke all gone. I've heard the marketing staff has also been depleted. So far, no one hired to replace any of these folks.

Don't forget Jimmy Tubbs.

I was joking the other day with a friend that I wouldn't know a soul when I walked into the Mustang Club office, having not visited since May. Until Secs walked by and chatted with me, I was correct.

Orsini has the right to do as he pleases, but that doesn't mean I can't feel saddened when people you've known and liked for so many years are no longer around.

Couch 'em ... I agree he can do what he wants, but leaving NO ONE (especially those dedicated) is ridiculous, and speaks so poorly of Orsini and SMU that I'm dismayed. He must think the entire batch of apples is spoiled, or he's an incredibly paranoid man. Better watch out or he may say he doesn't need you around either.

Who was it that announced he was going to somewhere in California right after the Orisini hire? I thought that was Secules but must be mistaken.

anyone know for sure that this is a firing? It could be Secules left on his own.

[quote="Eddie P"]
Orsini has the right to do as he pleases, but that doesn't mean I can't feel saddened when people you've known and liked for so many years are no longer around.[/quote]

Thats pretty much the way I feel. I liked having personal contact with alot of people, and that level of connection is part of what has kept me a loyal fan over the years. I havent even seen Orsini yet. Part of that is my fault, I work too much these days and havent made it to the football lunches, but its still not a good feeling to lose so many of the people I had a personal connection with. Sadder still because when new people are brought in I doubt I will have the time to make that kind of connection again. So, its gone.

mrydel wrote:Who was it that announced he was going to somewhere in California right after the Orisini hire? I thought that was Secules but must be mistaken.

Never mind. It was Scott Heilbron.

Like many, I am saddened to see friends move on. I knew Chris Walker and like him a lot. I knew Scott Secules and Barb Totzke a little and liked them. Didn't know John Koerner.

However, my understanding is that Chris Walker left on his own. I don't know about Secules, and I didn't know Barb had left until I read it here. Maybe they left on their own, maybe they didn't.

But let's not go assailing Steve-O just yet. It is not uncommon at all for a new executive to take over an organization with predetermined notions of who he or she would like in various positions. Happened to me a few years ago -- I worked for a company for years and had stellar performance reviews, and when a new owner came in, he cleaned house. He insisted that he had nothing against those of us on the staff, but he had a familiarity wiith some people that he didn't want to have to build all over again. Maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he wasn't. For me, that's water way under the bridge. But it happens all the time.

It might well be that Steve-O had a group of people in mind with whom he had worked before, and simply wanted to bring them along with him because he knows them and they know what to expect of him. I simply don't know.

What I do know is that I wish nothing but the best for Chris Walker, Scott Secules, Barb Totzke and John Koerner.

mrydel wrote:

mrydel wrote:Who was it that announced he was going to somewhere in California right after the Orisini hire? I thought that was Secules but must be mistaken.

Never mind. It was Scott Heilbron.

Shawn Heilbron.
Left on his own when a great opportunity arose. Shawn's a great guy, and should do very well in La-La-Land.

Corso wrote:

mrydel wrote:

mrydel wrote:Who was it that announced he was going to somewhere in California right after the Orisini hire? I thought that was Secules but must be mistaken.

Never mind. It was Scott Heilbron.

Shawn Heilbron.
Left on his own when a great opportunity arose. Shawn's a great guy, and should do very well in La-La-Land.

Sorry. Shawn. Now quit interupting my conversation with myself.

Ha! My apologies....