SEATTLE — To say Dave Mahler gets animated talking about University of Washington athletics might be an understatement.
Why did he even come here? Why did Troy Dannen even take this job? And, more importantly, why did Washington hire the guy? Why are they paying a search firm to find this guy when six months later, he's telling us his family doesn't want to be here?” said Mahler, his diction and voice increasing with every word. “If I'm (President) Ana Mari Cauce, whatever check I wrote to the Parker search firm, I want a refund because this didn't work out the way you said it would at all.
Mahler gets paid by the word for Sportsradio 950 KJR but has developed a reputation as *the* Husky insider around the University of Washington. Not only does he host the "Husky Honks" for the radio station, but he’s a frequent sight on the sidelines at games and fundraisers and has become an ambassador of sorts within the athletic program.
RELATED: Washington AD Troy Dannen leaving for Nebraska after less than 6 months
This is why his words carry weight with stakeholders and donors who have been ponying up millions to keep up with the ever-changing world of college sports. He feels like UW made a massive mistake by hiring Troy Dannen, only to watch him leave less than six months later for the same job at the University of Washington.
But Mahler also believes Dannen rubbed people the wrong way from the start, citing internal meetings and conversations with donors.
There were personal issues for Troy that had to get through. His wife and kids have not yet moved out here, and it sounds like they were never moving out here. Behind the scenes, I think there was just some, there was a little bit of friction between him and the staff at Washington,” said Mahler. “(Former UW AD) Jen Cohen, who was there forever, had installed a culture at Washington that people had grown accustomed to. Troy Dannen comes in here and does things a much different way, and maybe a bit more abrasive than Jen was, to be honest with you.
Dannen said on more than one occasion that he viewed the UW as his final stop, yet presided over ultimately a tumultuous, memorable period. The Husky football program made it to the national title game but saw their coach, Kalen DeBoer, leave a few days later. Then Dannen threw a record contract at his replacement, Jedd Fisch, that starts at $7.5 million a season.
He also fired basketball coach Mike Hopkins with more than $3 million left on that deal and proceeded with a long-planned $60 million basketball training facility. At the same time, debt payments are increasing on the Husky Stadium renovation, and travel costs will go up with the move to the Big Ten conference. The UW is projecting another budget deficit, even with the added exposure and TV deal.
RELATED: New UW Athletic Director Troy Dannen focused on Big 10 transition, limiting travel for Olympic sports
Mahler suggests there needs to be some help from the "upper campus" while admitting that is a difficult conversation with all the other needs in the university community. UW supporters are also being asked to chip into the Husky collective, known as "Montlake Futures," to help recruit and retain student-athletes in the evolving name, image, and likeness landscape.
“I think they're getting there, but they're not where they need to be. I mean, they're not where Oregon is, and that makes me sick to say something like that,” said Mahler.
When asked how the school competes at a time with such financial and leadership uncertainty, Mahler again sped up his delivery.
I'm not a big fan of change, to begin with. But this rate of change is making my head spin," Mahler continued. "It is unbelievable how much change is not just happening at Washington but also in college sports, right? A year ago, you would have been arrested for writing a kid a check in high school. Now, it's being encouraged, for God's sake. A year ago, even talking about paying athletes on campus, you would have been thrown out of the department, on your butt. (Washington) is going to have a third AD in the last nine months, and they're going to have a second basketball coach and a second football coach. At this rate of change, Chris it is just completely out of control. They need some stability starting today.
How does that happen? Mahler, who tossed burgers to adoring fans at a Husky football sendoff in January, throws some rapid-fire verbal grenades.
“This is a totally different ballgame now for Washington. You're competing with Ohio State, Michigan, and Nebraska, who just took your AD for God's sake!”
He revs up.
“How does that happen? It happens by either Ana Mari Cauce stepping down and somebody else taking over or a new AD convincing Ana Mari Cauce to be a bigger partner financially with Washington's athletic department end of story. I mean, how long is AMC going to be on the job? I don't know. Rumors are flying around that she may be out of there in a year or so we'll see if that actually comes to fruition. I think that's what you're talking about. Chris, you're talking about a whole different attitude regarding sports from the top at Washington,” said Mahler.
