do y'all think we are headed in the right direction? Let's discuss.
Edit to Add: Put a letter grade like Dawg1976 did. That's a good idea.
Edit to Add: Put a letter grade like Dawg1976 did. That's a good idea.
Last edited:
What's everyones view of the Athletic Department?...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
Better than when LT was running the show but still full of people who haven't hit puberty.
From an athletics standpoint, we are light years ahead of where we were in 2008. And what evidence proves my point? The exuberant complaining over the last 3 weeks on this board best supports that. People seem to be more invested and interested than ever about our athletics, and expect much more(although some is irrational).
Now to directly answer your question about "going in the right direction". I'm going to continue to say yes as whole. And I will hold out on judgement of our football team until after the season.
Now to directly answer your question about "going in the right direction". I'm going to continue to say yes as whole. And I will hold out on judgement of our football team until after the season.
As a whole, I feel like we are heading up. The football program is at a shakey intersection right now though... It could teeter either way depending on how this season plays out.
Ill give the Athletic Department as a whole a C+
Our football program is like me in 9th grade algebra... Struggling to get a D.
Ill give the Athletic Department as a whole a C+
Our football program is like me in 9th grade algebra... Struggling to get a D.
Administration of the Athletics Department: A
Revenue Sports (Men's Football, C- by SEC standards, Basketball, I, Baseball, A: yes, all may not be revenue sports but they've been the ones chiefly supported by fans): C
Olympic/Non-Revenue Sports: B-
Overall Grade: B-
Revenue Sports (Men's Football, C- by SEC standards, Basketball, I, Baseball, A: yes, all may not be revenue sports but they've been the ones chiefly supported by fans): C
Olympic/Non-Revenue Sports: B-
Overall Grade: B-
Headed in right direction. But unfortunately not keeping up the pace being set by the rest of the conference. Marketing effort = A. Marketing execution = B-. Coaching Search = D (credit for girls softball). Paying attention to customers = A+. Pulling our asses out of the lonnie tinkle dark ages = A. Addressing *** crack cups = A. Overall Grade = C.
My 2 cents
Overall a B-. My biggest concern is our family tree in the Athletic Dept and Bulldog club is a telephone pole. Everyone I can think of working there is a graduate of MSU and that is their dream job. Our advertising, university wide, is sophomoric and because of that we have no name/university recognition outside a 250 mile radius of Starkville. I would be willing to bet if you found someone who had no preconceived ideas about any southern universities and took them to MSU, then to UM, then to Alabama, then to LSU and walked them around campus they would say that MSU was the nicest/most beautiful campus of the group. Yet how do you think we would rank if you sent our a questionnaire around the south and asked that question. A dollar to a donut it would be last. The perception in the SEC is that we are last in everything, but the reality is that we are at the top or near the top of most categories that matter to prospective students and student athletes.
As i kick the soapbox out of my office, i will go back to work.
Overall a B-. My biggest concern is our family tree in the Athletic Dept and Bulldog club is a telephone pole. Everyone I can think of working there is a graduate of MSU and that is their dream job. Our advertising, university wide, is sophomoric and because of that we have no name/university recognition outside a 250 mile radius of Starkville. I would be willing to bet if you found someone who had no preconceived ideas about any southern universities and took them to MSU, then to UM, then to Alabama, then to LSU and walked them around campus they would say that MSU was the nicest/most beautiful campus of the group. Yet how do you think we would rank if you sent our a questionnaire around the south and asked that question. A dollar to a donut it would be last. The perception in the SEC is that we are last in everything, but the reality is that we are at the top or near the top of most categories that matter to prospective students and student athletes.
As i kick the soapbox out of my office, i will go back to work.
I used a mcclurian weighted avg. The coaching search thing gets LOTS of weight with me. I don't so much blame loafers as I do his minder for letting him run something he should never have been allowed to run by himself. Hopefully it never happens again for any revenue generating sport.
Keenum, I'm looking at you.
Keenum, I'm looking at you.
C-. I just can't shake the feeling that Scott is LT light...
LT's downfall was wanting to impress the SEC office and make them happy more than making us happy. And just like Scott, he was an "MSU" guy.
I really think we are better off with a AD that has no ties and wants to move on (he's forced to prove himself with on the field results in order to stand out). With Scott, he doesn't want to rock the boat so he can stay here until he retires (sound familiar). You would think a State guy would be good, but I think it's actually worse. I genuinely think we need someone that rocks the boat to be successful.
LT's downfall was wanting to impress the SEC office and make them happy more than making us happy. And just like Scott, he was an "MSU" guy.
I really think we are better off with a AD that has no ties and wants to move on (he's forced to prove himself with on the field results in order to stand out). With Scott, he doesn't want to rock the boat so he can stay here until he retires (sound familiar). You would think a State guy would be good, but I think it's actually worse. I genuinely think we need someone that rocks the boat to be successful.
Disagree - don't see much similarity in LT and Scott ...
Scott seems to REALLY want to make the fanbase happy. Using the website, twitter, videos, etc. to communicate with Bulldog nation is something LT would never have done.
Now, I've never met Scott but have met LT - LT seemed like a self-important prick.
Scott just needs experience and bigger balls.
My overall grade, I'm on the fence- C+ or B-
Scott seems to REALLY want to make the fanbase happy. Using the website, twitter, videos, etc. to communicate with Bulldog nation is something LT would never have done.
Now, I've never met Scott but have met LT - LT seemed like a self-important prick.
Scott just needs experience and bigger balls.
My overall grade, I'm on the fence- C+ or B-
I'll give our overall grade a B-, but we are light years ahead when thinking back a decade or more ago. LT did some good things, but he didn't have much vision or foresight.
ADs should be leaders and not managers. We need direction and focus. Byrne seemed to be great at that. Stricklin doesn't seem to be as good, but I think he has done a good job of continuing what Byrne started. I also think he is learning a lot and has a ton of potential.
ADs should be leaders and not managers. We need direction and focus. Byrne seemed to be great at that. Stricklin doesn't seem to be as good, but I think he has done a good job of continuing what Byrne started. I also think he is learning a lot and has a ton of potential.
B+ at worse
From where we've been, I think we're in good shape. Not going to let a few disappointing games define a coach or department. We're light years ahead of where we were just a few yrs ago. Everyone saying get rid of Mullen need to chill out. He's a good coach. Lot of football left this yr. All the talk about his recruiting is also stupid. We lost games this yr due to poor game day decisions, not a talent deficit. I have faith that the game day stuff will improve. Mullen's a smart guy, he'll get those things corrected.
From where we've been, I think we're in good shape. Not going to let a few disappointing games define a coach or department. We're light years ahead of where we were just a few yrs ago. Everyone saying get rid of Mullen need to chill out. He's a good coach. Lot of football left this yr. All the talk about his recruiting is also stupid. We lost games this yr due to poor game day decisions, not a talent deficit. I have faith that the game day stuff will improve. Mullen's a smart guy, he'll get those things corrected.
Do I think we can do better? Yes.
However, we are in better than ever since I joined the bulldog family (86).
At least we now have an AD and President on the same page. We have never had that before. Either the president didn't care about athletics. Or we had an inept AD who never ran it like a business and "breaking even" was considered a win.
However, we are in better than ever since I joined the bulldog family (86).
At least we now have an AD and President on the same page. We have never had that before. Either the president didn't care about athletics. Or we had an inept AD who never ran it like a business and "breaking even" was considered a win.
Some people are just idiots searching for things to ***** about. You are correct that there is no similarity at all between Stricklin and Templeton. Stricklin's biggest fault is that he's Greg Byrne light, and not the real Greg Byrne. But he's still light years better than any other AD we've ever had.
B-.
I don't like that we seem to be farting away the football season with things that could have been done differently with a little gumption, like scheduling the OSU game and getting soft on D during Auburn's last drive. But if nobody remembers the state of things around 2006, then there's no point in discussing this. I felt we were at an all-time low in 2006. LT was LTing, Croom was Crooming, Polk was Polking, and Stansbury began his decline. And it seemed that every single program in the country was moving forward while we were stuck in athletic purgatory.
Fast forward to 2010, Byrne was going all out ninja, Keenum's in, Mullen's winning, Polk's gone/Cohen's in, Stansbury was either going to have to **** or get off the pot, and things were finally feeling like they were headed in the right direction. I wish Byrne was still here but overall we are light years ahead of where we were in a very short period of time.
To me, the bigger question is, would we even be talking about this had we made a play on Auburn's last drive and won the game?
I don't like that we seem to be farting away the football season with things that could have been done differently with a little gumption, like scheduling the OSU game and getting soft on D during Auburn's last drive. But if nobody remembers the state of things around 2006, then there's no point in discussing this. I felt we were at an all-time low in 2006. LT was LTing, Croom was Crooming, Polk was Polking, and Stansbury began his decline. And it seemed that every single program in the country was moving forward while we were stuck in athletic purgatory.
Fast forward to 2010, Byrne was going all out ninja, Keenum's in, Mullen's winning, Polk's gone/Cohen's in, Stansbury was either going to have to **** or get off the pot, and things were finally feeling like they were headed in the right direction. I wish Byrne was still here but overall we are light years ahead of where we were in a very short period of time.
To me, the bigger question is, would we even be talking about this had we made a play on Auburn's last drive and won the game?
C. Everything good about our athletic department is basically from our old AD (A+) and this current crop basically just has it on cruise. Any time they're left to decide something or try to come up with a GREAT IDEA GUYS it's horrible.
Strick being an alum should carry some weight but it shouldn't be the factor that got him the job. We could do better. All around. Joe leaving basically sapped the little positive attitude I had towards the department.
Does anyone think if Strick hadn't gone to MSU he'd be in charge of a consistent top 40 football team, a baseball team likely to start the season #1, and what was before one of the best basketball programs in the conference?
Strick being an alum should carry some weight but it shouldn't be the factor that got him the job. We could do better. All around. Joe leaving basically sapped the little positive attitude I had towards the department.
Does anyone think if Strick hadn't gone to MSU he'd be in charge of a consistent top 40 football team, a baseball team likely to start the season #1, and what was before one of the best basketball programs in the conference?
C-
Our compliance department is a major self inflicted wound.
We don't pay conpetitive assistant salaries. This limits our assistant coaching pool to up and comers who either fail, leave, or tread water.
The program has grown a lot from SEC welfare. That in turn has increased donations and ticket sales.
Mullen certainly lifted the floor. We no longer suck. There is relief in not being a laughing stock.
But most of us are tired of living in the lower middle class. Most competent head coaches could come in here and beat 4 non conference patsies and whatever SEC teams are firing their coaches or are perpetual doormats.
Priorities:
1) Fire Bracky Brett and modernize the compliance department.
2) Attract and pay SEC level assistants. We already have some of these guys and soon we'll need to pay then market rates.
3) Demand more results from Mullen. But he might do OK just having #1 and #2 taken care of.
Our compliance department is a major self inflicted wound.
We don't pay conpetitive assistant salaries. This limits our assistant coaching pool to up and comers who either fail, leave, or tread water.
The program has grown a lot from SEC welfare. That in turn has increased donations and ticket sales.
Mullen certainly lifted the floor. We no longer suck. There is relief in not being a laughing stock.
But most of us are tired of living in the lower middle class. Most competent head coaches could come in here and beat 4 non conference patsies and whatever SEC teams are firing their coaches or are perpetual doormats.
Priorities:
1) Fire Bracky Brett and modernize the compliance department.
2) Attract and pay SEC level assistants. We already have some of these guys and soon we'll need to pay then market rates.
3) Demand more results from Mullen. But he might do OK just having #1 and #2 taken care of.
Anything less than a A from any of you...
means you're an idiot *****. Good grief. I hate our fans. People in the industry repeatedly reference (copy) our department for their innovations and for getting things done with our budget.
I didn't read anyone's comments...just fired this off. I'll go read the comments now.
means you're an idiot *****. Good grief. I hate our fans. People in the industry repeatedly reference (copy) our department for their innovations and for getting things done with our budget.
I didn't read anyone's comments...just fired this off. I'll go read the comments now.
C+
We have become stale. I'd like to see more people in the important positions have a better understanding of how the whole thing should be run. Brett as our compliance director is an incompetent moron and it starts at the top. I know Scott, Bracky and all of us love the university but Scott has got to take the bull by the horns and start shaking **** up to make success instead of hoping for a stroke of luck every once in a while.
Football: Cellar in the SECW with an arrogant loud-mouth egotist for a coach. Stadium expansion and facility upgrades are nice though.
Grade: C+
Basketball: After the lateStansbury implosion, the rebuilding process has begun but it is proving very tough to find and keep scholly athletes. I like Ray but we need players.
Grade: D (but I see a lot of potential)
Baseball: The crown jewel. The piece that salvaged the whole shabang '13. Doing fine here.
Grade: A
We have become stale. I'd like to see more people in the important positions have a better understanding of how the whole thing should be run. Brett as our compliance director is an incompetent moron and it starts at the top. I know Scott, Bracky and all of us love the university but Scott has got to take the bull by the horns and start shaking **** up to make success instead of hoping for a stroke of luck every once in a while.
Football: Cellar in the SECW with an arrogant loud-mouth egotist for a coach. Stadium expansion and facility upgrades are nice though.
Grade: C+
Basketball: After the lateStansbury implosion, the rebuilding process has begun but it is proving very tough to find and keep scholly athletes. I like Ray but we need players.
Grade: D (but I see a lot of potential)
Baseball: The crown jewel. The piece that salvaged the whole shabang '13. Doing fine here.
Grade: A
Fan Engagement - A. We generally do a good job with social media, events, multimedia (sans hype videos), etc..
Booster Engagement - C. About average I would say, but then again I'm only ~5000 in the BDC, so I have no clue how much more engaged the big time donors are.
Athletic Programs - C. Face it, we are middle of the road on average, only excelling currently and historically, for the most part, in baseball. Some non-big 3 sports are atrocious.
Facilities - B+. And has a chance to be top of the line across the board with a baseball upgrade. Basketball facility is top notch, football renovation will be great, Seal Building is excellent. This has been the main area of growth under this administration.
Administration - D+. Compliance problems, perceived lack of determination, "meh" hires at key admin and coaching positions on average, lingering effects/personnel of previous terrible administrations.
Overall - C+. Which is about where we probably sit in the grande scheme of things across Division 1.
ETA: We've definitely improved across the board from historical times. But against our peers, we are middle of the road at best. Moving the right direction, though, providing we don't hit a snag.
Booster Engagement - C. About average I would say, but then again I'm only ~5000 in the BDC, so I have no clue how much more engaged the big time donors are.
Athletic Programs - C. Face it, we are middle of the road on average, only excelling currently and historically, for the most part, in baseball. Some non-big 3 sports are atrocious.
Facilities - B+. And has a chance to be top of the line across the board with a baseball upgrade. Basketball facility is top notch, football renovation will be great, Seal Building is excellent. This has been the main area of growth under this administration.
Administration - D+. Compliance problems, perceived lack of determination, "meh" hires at key admin and coaching positions on average, lingering effects/personnel of previous terrible administrations.
Overall - C+. Which is about where we probably sit in the grande scheme of things across Division 1.
ETA: We've definitely improved across the board from historical times. But against our peers, we are middle of the road at best. Moving the right direction, though, providing we don't hit a snag.
Last edited:
Wins = money. Plain and simple. Any freshman business major could tell you that concept. Winning games leads to more donations and higher attendance, which leads to more income... you get the picture. You absolutely cannot evaluate the athletic department without looking at how teams are performing on the field.
Scott put it this way... "The goal of MSU Athletics is to provide the best fan experiences." Well... in those experiences is winning... or at least playing at a competitive level every single time an athletic team steps on the field. In being competitive, I want to see our teams reach the absolute potential of what they can accomplish. Since football pays the bills, that team gets the most weight in my opinion, by far. The past 2 seasons and so far this year, we have not played to the potential myself or fans know we can play.
I also think compliance is a major issue. We should not be turning ourselves in, our compliance office should be our own internal attorney's office... paid to protect our university and our student athletes. We don't do that constantly turning ourselves in for stuff.
Overall, I give our athletics a B- right now... the only reason I gave us higher than a C is looking at this in terms of 5 years. 5 years ago, we were awful. No money coming in, no donations, no butts in seats, no accountability for our coaches, and a team that might not even be able to win campus intermural tournaments. We've taken large leaps, but in order to build the big picture, there are still changes that need to be made.
Scott put it this way... "The goal of MSU Athletics is to provide the best fan experiences." Well... in those experiences is winning... or at least playing at a competitive level every single time an athletic team steps on the field. In being competitive, I want to see our teams reach the absolute potential of what they can accomplish. Since football pays the bills, that team gets the most weight in my opinion, by far. The past 2 seasons and so far this year, we have not played to the potential myself or fans know we can play.
I also think compliance is a major issue. We should not be turning ourselves in, our compliance office should be our own internal attorney's office... paid to protect our university and our student athletes. We don't do that constantly turning ourselves in for stuff.
Overall, I give our athletics a B- right now... the only reason I gave us higher than a C is looking at this in terms of 5 years. 5 years ago, we were awful. No money coming in, no donations, no butts in seats, no accountability for our coaches, and a team that might not even be able to win campus intermural tournaments. We've taken large leaps, but in order to build the big picture, there are still changes that need to be made.
The AD is doing a good job. They get an A- from me, at worst.
Baseball - Can't ask for anything more, except a new stadium (or upgrade). And this is really controlled by the fans/donations.
Basketball - I was ready and happy with the Stansbury purge, regardless of how long it takes for us to "get back". It was needed.
Football - I know we've had a very ****** 8 or 9 game stretch and the armchair coaches on SPS/ED thinks Mullen is worthless and can't coach. While there is room for growth, Mullen is doing a pretty good job. The only thing I'm disappointed about in football is Mullen's insistence on playing Tyler this year... if Dak had been giving the starting job in the fall camp (he couldn't in the spring b/c of injury), I think we'd be 3-0 right now. Mullen was put into a very tough situation in benching the school's most prolific passer in history for a guy coming off an injury.
The real kicker in all of this, is OM's resurgence under Freeze. Had OM gone 3-9 last year and started 1-2 this year, the "sky is falling" crowd would be much smaller. But the slight appearance that OM is turning their ship around much faster than us is frightening to some (me included).
Nex year, I'm anticipating Dan going back to the true spread read-option running attack with Dak/Damian. And maybe Elijah Staley can be a poor mans Tebow for us. The defense is going to be great, again, too and our O-Line should get better, as they've done every year. It's amazing how much better the o-line looks when you take pocket-pass protection off their shoulders for as much as we were putting it on them.
/endrant
Baseball - Can't ask for anything more, except a new stadium (or upgrade). And this is really controlled by the fans/donations.
Basketball - I was ready and happy with the Stansbury purge, regardless of how long it takes for us to "get back". It was needed.
Football - I know we've had a very ****** 8 or 9 game stretch and the armchair coaches on SPS/ED thinks Mullen is worthless and can't coach. While there is room for growth, Mullen is doing a pretty good job. The only thing I'm disappointed about in football is Mullen's insistence on playing Tyler this year... if Dak had been giving the starting job in the fall camp (he couldn't in the spring b/c of injury), I think we'd be 3-0 right now. Mullen was put into a very tough situation in benching the school's most prolific passer in history for a guy coming off an injury.
The real kicker in all of this, is OM's resurgence under Freeze. Had OM gone 3-9 last year and started 1-2 this year, the "sky is falling" crowd would be much smaller. But the slight appearance that OM is turning their ship around much faster than us is frightening to some (me included).
Nex year, I'm anticipating Dan going back to the true spread read-option running attack with Dak/Damian. And maybe Elijah Staley can be a poor mans Tebow for us. The defense is going to be great, again, too and our O-Line should get better, as they've done every year. It's amazing how much better the o-line looks when you take pocket-pass protection off their shoulders for as much as we were putting it on them.
/endrant
We have a head football coach, basketball coach and AD who would not even be considered for the same position at another SEC school. How could you possibly give it over a C- ?
A very solid B and likely B+ to A-. Just the facilities changes alone are worth the B. add in the increase in donations, communications with fans, and willingness to break the mold and you have a solid situation. The Ray hire and the inability to brand us well from a uniform stand point bring us down a bit. (And I like Ray). There is always some room for improvement.
Btw, if you went to the social event before the CWS first game, then you would really see the drastic change in our AD. Larry T would have **** a brick if he was approached to throw a free event like that in such a nice facility.
Btw, if you went to the social event before the CWS first game, then you would really see the drastic change in our AD. Larry T would have **** a brick if he was approached to throw a free event like that in such a nice facility.