runnER/DR wrote:
DII Denizen wrote:
Her rejection of the Stanford Director's position, and that was the position, was the result of the disorganized and unprofessional manner in which she was treated during the interview process. That was the sole reason.
I have no insider information. All I know is what has been said and published publicly. But I have an incredibly hard time believing someone would turn down their dream job(close to her home, elite academic institution, enormous recruiting opportunities, long tradition of success, great pay etc.) solely because the interview process was "unorganized" and "unprofessional".
So I agree that it's unlikely that it was the "sole" reason, as job change decisions are very rarely based entirely on a single factor. That said, it probably didn't help and may have been what finally convinced Taylor to stay at BYU. The thing is, she has a very good job right now, and it was a very good job at the time that she decided to turn Stanford down.
Looking at the pros and cons of each school, Stanford is close to her family, but BYU is close to her husband's family, so Stanford isn't as obviously better as it may look at first glance. BYU is also a good academic school, though it's obviously not Stanford. But the academic standards at Stanford can actually be an impediment to some sports like football and men's basketball, though it seems to be helpful in the non-revenue sports like cross country and volleyball. Stanford probably pays more (though Pac-12 schools are pretty notorious for being cheap), but the cost of living in Palo Alto is much higher than it is in Provo. Etc.
As for the programs themselves, Stanford has great tradition, but BYU does too in this particular sport. The Cougars had a legitimate dynasty in the late 90s and early 2000s. If I was Taylor, I would conclude that if one coach (Patrick Shane) could build a great distance program in the not-so-distant past, then another great coach probably could too. She had already made great progress with her first recruiting class as she rebuilt the program. Putting all these factors together, and I really don't think Stanford is obviously a better job.
I'm speculating a bit on this next point, and I'll preface this by saying that I don't know Taylor personally. But from everything I've ever read and heard about her, she strikes me as a very loyal person. She coached at her Division II alma mater for nearly a decade before moving to D1. And I think she really values that Ed Eyestone and Tom Holmoe were the ones who gave her the chance to coach D1 at a major program. She seems to really like both of them, based on her interviews, social media posts, and even a glowing endorsement of Holmoe when he was being considered for National Athletic Director of the Year.
If you're considering another job that might be better on paper, but you really like the people you're currently working with, it's already hard to leave. But then if your "dream" employer treats you unprofessionally in the interview process, that would be a major red flag for many people. And at the same time, your current employer is working to give you a promotion and more money, which is what BYU did. At that point, Taylor's decision isn't so surprising. And based on what's happened since, it certainly seems like she made the right call.