Gregg Brandon controversy

[BillyLP]

Brandon has received some pretty negative publicity lately, aside from having a ton of success on the field, due to an incident with a faculty member.

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/11/09/c ... cture/amp/

Also a pretty damning thread on Twitter that has gotten some traction lately.

[jpfalcon09]

Sounds about right. I remember him driving down Wooster after leaving Frickers one night and he was yelling at kids walking down the sidewalk by the BP. Dude was plastered.

Oddly enough, I read an article yesterday where someone mentioned him as a darkhorse for the CSU job.

[MarkL]

So the coach thought the room was his while the professor was teaching a class. The coach did a coach thing and blew his whistle and turned off the projector. That is what football coaches do to maintain focus. Sounds like an administrative misunderstanding. Non story.

Here's the real story: the professor called it workplace violence. Workplace violence ... because the head coach enters a lecture hall and blows a whistle. Workplace violence.

[Schadenfreude]

This wasn't an innocent misunderstanding. The classroom belonged to Professor Ning Lu at that day and time. But Gregg Brandon arrogantly thought since he was the football coach and this was the football stadium, he could just barge in there and kick out Lu, who is a full professor for God's sake.

Bullying doesn't sit well with me. That was a major dick move. Colorado Mines should be clear about how it disciplined Brandon. (He's probably one of Colorado's highest-paid public employees. Those records should be public.)

[Flipper]

It's like Revenge of the Nerds minus the great Bernie Casey....

[Schadenfreude]

It's like Revenge of the Nerds minus the great Bernie Casey....

Lol.

[MarkL]

The classroom belonged to Professor Ning Lu at that day and time.

Yes it was. As far as I can tell Brandon also thought it was his and was mistaken. Maybe someone told him wrong, maybe it was his mistake entirely. But this isn't malicious, it was butting heads of a football coach and a prof.

[TommyG]

Brandon could definitely be abrasive, but this is a non issue. Probably a miscommunication over who had priority over the room. Definitely wasn’t handled well on footballs end, but some professors will look for any opportunity to bring up issues caused by athletics.

[Schadenfreude]

As far as I can tell Brandon also thought it was his and was mistaken.

I don't see any real evidence of this. According to the professor: “The head coach was well aware that it was our scheduled class time, and, in fact, he had told me in the weeks before that I should expect to start class late because he wanted to use the room instead.”

Also, on the day in question, once Dr. Lu finally got access to his classroom -- after a 15 minute delay (!) -- "he soon was interrupted by Brandon, who entered the room shouting that he was the head coach and instructing everyone to leave. Nobody left, Lu said, and the class continued."

At this point, a reasonable person would have called the building manager, a school administrator, or someone else in a position to know who actually had a right to the room at that moment.

But Gregg Brandon was not acting reasonably. Instead, "[s]oon after, Lu said his class was interrupted again by the sharp sounds of a whistle blowing, and Brandon and associates" entering the room.

[Flipper]

This sounds like a territorial dispute...not uncommon in Universities, corporations, homeowner's associations etc... Brandon has his team playing in the DII Semifinals...that kind of pressure could only exacerbate the frustration from having inadequate meeting space. Could it have been handled better? Maybe...I don't know the histories of the people involved.

I do not think it's a big deal either way

[pdt1081]

This sounds like a territorial dispute...not uncommon in Universities, corporations, homeowner's associations etc... Brandon has his team playing in the DII Semifinals...that kind of pressure could only exacerbate the frustration from having inadequate meeting space. Could it have been handled better? Maybe...I don't know the histories of the people involved.

I do not think it's a big deal either way

If the professor did in fact call it "Workplace violence," with no actual violence, it takes a lot of credibility away from the professor. Almost like he's trying to make it personal, and bigger than it actually is. Unless, of course, there's a history of similar incidents that went reported with no action.

[jpfalcon09]

This sounds like a territorial dispute...not uncommon in Universities, corporations, homeowner's associations etc... Brandon has his team playing in the DII Semifinals...that kind of pressure could only exacerbate the frustration from having inadequate meeting space. Could it have been handled better? Maybe...I don't know the histories of the people involved.

I do not think it's a big deal either way

If the professor did in fact call it "Workplace violence," with no actual violence, it takes a lot of credibility away from the professor. Almost like he's trying to make it personal, and bigger than it actually is. Unless, of course, there's a history of similar incidents that went reported with no action.

No way is it violence. Intimidation? Perhaps. GB was obviously trying to go for effect and it worked.

[Beaker]

2 university employees got into a pissing match/turf war over use of a room. Not the first time it's ever happened in a university setting. Brandon acted inappropriately and childish in the way he handled it, but no more inappropriate and childish than this snowflake professor making a big hub bub by throwing out the popular catch phrase "workplace violence" and citing panic attacks. No blood was spilled, no one was admitted to ICU. Calling it "violence" is ridiculous. I'm surprised he didn't also throw in a reference to "hostile work environment" or "toxic work environment" just for good measure. Adults should be able to work out something like that without turning it into a social media event. It sounds like they both need a big "time out" since they are both acting like children.

[Schadenfreude]

It sounds like they both need a big "time out" since they are both acting like children.

While this wasn't quite "workplace violence," let's not equate Dr. Lu's imprecise use of words with what Brandon did, which was to try to bully a professor out of his own classroom through physical intimidation.

Close to 100 students paid good money to hear that lecture. I really don't care how focused Coach Brandon was on beating Black Hills State or whoever. He should know better.

[guest44]

Let's move this thread to the Other Teams forum. Dr. Wu doesn't belong in the BG Football forum. Someone get control of Schadenfraud.