who gives a **** what Larry thinks, but....

[FlabLoser]

I wonder what Larry thinks. The dramatic turnaround in the MSU football program was caused by things that Larry was directly opposed to:

Hiring a good coach who rebuilds in 1-2 seasons instead of 5+.

The Junction.

Night games.

Creative selling of tickets.

Firing Hank Flick. Not that this is a factor. Its just out with the old, in with the new.

Energetic use of A/V in the stadium. I must admit Larry had a big part in acquiring the moo tube. But no way would he have it all crunk like Byrne & Striklin are doing.

COWBELLS.

 

[FlabLoser]

I wonder what Larry thinks. The dramatic turnaround in the MSU football program was caused by things that Larry was directly opposed to:

Hiring a good coach who rebuilds in 1-2 seasons instead of 5+.

The Junction.

Night games.

Creative selling of tickets.

Firing Hank Flick. Not that this is a factor. Its just out with the old, in with the new.

Energetic use of A/V in the stadium. I must admit Larry had a big part in acquiring the moo tube. But no way would he have it all crunk like Byrne & Striklin are doing.

COWBELLS.

 

[NapoleonDynamite]

He also wanted to build some monstrosity of an Athletic Study Hall (according to those that saw the drawings/plans) on about half the site where the Junction is located now. After seeing where the game day atmosphere is now compared to just 2 years ago, it makes me think we should have fired him 5 years earlier! Talk about old-boy leadership that had never bothered to venture out of Starkville... Thank you Scott Ross and Ninja!

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

In the modern era, Doc's firing of LT was probably the single most important event to happen to State in the last 50 years. It changed the culture and landscape. Hail Doc!

 

[GloryDawg]

bd

 

[gdogg]

he was looking straight ahead like he didn't want to make eye contact with anyone. Same ol Lar.

 

[AROB44]

you doing here.....thought you were fired. Get the hell out of here.</p>

 

[jmbeck]

He fired a underperforming AD, which while unpopular with some big donors, was what a very vocal faction of the fanbase wanted. That doesn't take a phuckingvisionary. It was a tough decision, but that is what he was being paid to do.

He also got into a pissing contest with the architectural department over some ******** (I can't remember). At the first sign of problems with the IHL, he tucked tail and ran. Oh, and about that decision to hire a new AD and lose the old one; he ran off before the transition was complete, leading some to think there was a distinct possibility it wouldn't happen.

He also was quoted as saying after his resignation "This was plan 2, It's back to Plan 1."

So, +%@$ a bunch of Doc Foglesong. As far as I see it, the one decision that he made, while it helped MSU athletics enormously, was pretty much lightning in a bottle for this guy. He also pussied out 2 years into it.

 

[MeridianDog]

He was good people. I had him in speech about 300 years back.

 

[gdogg]

nm</p>

 

[jmbeck]

Greg Byrne made some great choices for the ADept. He got the ball going on a lot of projects. He also ran to another opportunity in less than two years.

Greg Byrne did exactly what he was supposed to do, but it was always a job to Byrne. He did everything he could because he wanted to perform well at his job. Luckily, that meant he made good decisions for the university. However, he was never emotionally involved.

Scott is emotionally involved in the ADept. The photos we saw of him at the Auburn game are a testiment to that. Scott Striklin will do what is best for the University because he loves the University.

So, while I'm certainly MUCH more appreciative of Greg Byrne than I am Dawg One, he's still gone, and therefore inconsequential to Mississippi State. He jumped at the first (better) opportunity. Excuse me if I don't feel like making him the greatest figure in MSU athletics.

 

[MeridianDog]

The architecture students had their student projects n the windows of the Arch building and Doc made them take them down and or remove them,

The Vanziverdans (sp?) of Meridian gave the school about 10,000 daffodil bulbs that were planted all over campus and Doc had landscape services dig them up - a poor move toward good school supporting family.

He wanted to paint everything on campus the same color - kind of a ****** brown.

He hated to discuss anything with anyone - maybe bad and maybe good considering college professors.

I kind'a liked him in the old crop duster plane buzzing the stadium on game days.

He was not a very well liked officerin the military - may not mean anything at all.

He did not like University BS which was a good thing, but kind'a radical, since he rana University.

We did OK with him, but he really did walk away from MSU and that was ******.</p>

 

[War Machine Dawg]

that Doc got into a pissing contest with the PGM program. And he ruined Perry Cafeteria by outsourcing it. Sure, it might have saved a few bucks. But he killed one of the few in-house cafeterias left in the nation, and replaced it with a much worse product. I can give Doc a pass on a lot of things for firing LT, but overall, his tenure was far from what should be deemed successful.

 

[MeridianDog]

except he lef MSU. He was a two year sally and we called him the ninja.

 

[NapoleonDynamite]

Yeah, Doc was clueless. If I remember correctly, he was only hired because some IHL people saw him as the "Anybody But Keenum" guy - which I didn't understand. And I lost ANY support for Doc when I saw him dressed like a crazy uncle on the sidelines in his shorts, maroon polo and face maroon face paint on national f'ing TV!

He wanted to run MSU like an Air Force Base and that was just dumb. Thank goodness there's a great team in place now that understands MSU as well as marketing and promotion.

Go Dogs!

 

[VirgilCain]

June of 2006 to May of 2010 according to arizonas website

and he was actually awesome.... He fired first AA coach in the SEC when everyone in else in the national media thought otherwise. Then completely out-kicked our perceived coverage in the subsequent coaching search, resulting in Mullen. Then he had the balls to fire the only athletic legend we have in Polk and pick up arguably the hottest coaching prospect in the nation in Cohen (yeah yeah i know, any athletic director probably could have hired him back to state).

I can't remember exactly what he was attributed to as far as on campus facilities if any (Jumbotron?), but i do remember a significant spike in fund-raising.

 

[8dog]

d

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

And Greg Skywalker made him release his dark-side choke hold on our athletic program. <div>
</div><div>Might be a good alternative nickname for Stricklin...the Jedi. </div><div>
</div><div>Sorry - my Star Wars geekery is showing today. </div>

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

I've seen a bunch of coaches come and go, and in the first two years, it is always a dramatic turnaround. I have a lot of faith and hope in Coach Mullen, but even he would tell you, unless he's as big an idiot as some message board posters, that the turnaround is in progress and not yet accomplished.

Also, I'd like to know where the proof is that LT was "directly opposed" to all of those things you list. My guess is that the truth is a lot more complicated than that.

And to the poster that wants to erect new statues and tear down old ones, please tell me that you're kidding. That is a seriously horrible idea. Let's wait until we go to an all-online curriculum before we fire up those jackhammers.

It's great I guess to fit in on the message board, but some people need to take a break from the bandwagon. Even the best sounding horn is awful when it never stops.

 

[FlabLoser]

[No message]

 

[VirgilCain]

.

 

[8dog]

not having one at all. Im serious. I don't think I've heard Holmes all year.

 

[FlabLoser]

to be more of a background guy. He's there for whoever wants to listen to him, but he generally stays out of the way and does nothing to force your attention. That's a contrast to Flick, but I could take either one.

 

[AFDawg]

Almost everyone I know from the Air Force who had any experience with Foglesong hated the guy. He was controversial at State for all the reasons he was controversial in the military--micromanagement, arrogance, vindictiveness, etc. To be fair, I never met the guy or served under him, but I know dozens of people who did and their feelings are nearly unanimous.<div>
</div><div>That being said, he did do some great things for State--firing LT not least of them.</div>

 

[57stratdawg]

I think he is missed more in basketball than in football.

This is why I'm not dreading it if Mullen leaves. It wasn't us hiring Mullen that brought MSU around, he is a secondary part. It started at the leadership at the top of the AD and the University and has trickled down the from there.

Think about how far we've come in 3 years..

Larry Templeton..... to Greg Bryne/Scott Sticklin
Ron Polk... to John Cohen
Sylvester Croom.... to Dan Mullen
Charles Lee.... to Fogglesong/Keenum

Who would you rehire right now if you had the chance? Exactly...

 

[Indndawg]

Typical

 

[AROB44]

Does that mean there will be no more classes? Since I graduated in the 60's, I don't understand this. Would save a hell of a lot in prof salaries and benefits and in building maintenance. Hell, all we will need are athletic facilities.

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

We will need people to work on the IPO, but they won't need PhD's for that. It'll be cheap and stadium expansion will be a breeze.

 

[FlabLoser]

While we have not reached the destination we want, we have most definitely turned around.

Regarding Larry Templeton facts:

LT fought the SA on the idea of establishing The Junction. Its a fact and has been commented on here before by people who were in the SA working on it.

LT's hard line policy for game times was 1:30 starts except for August and September games which were 6:00 starts due to heat issues. What really pissed me off about this was a few years ago when we had a big heat wave going in Sept and early Oct. Long range forecast for the 1st week of Oct was temps in the 90's, yet Larry had to stick to his hard line policy of 6:00pm starts for post-Sept games - playing in the searing heat despite the heat being the stated motivation for his policy.

Larry's administration never sold mini season ticket packages, sky dawgs, or anything like that to encourage sellouts.

Hank Flick outlasted Larry. Clearly, Larry didn't fire Hank Flick.

Energetic use of A/V in the stadium. OK this one was pure speculation on my part since Larry was gone before all the big A/V stuff was installed at DWS.

Larry voted against cowbells during SEC AD meetings on that subject. This is public record and Larry has discussed his vote. He said he simply voted with the rules.

These are all simple facts. Except my speculation on the A/V stuff.

 

[Big Sheep81]

Said he was a hard case who came in and told all the ROADies that they could get to work or put in their paperwork. Said CAFB looked like a freshly scrubbed poop deck after 3 months. He told me several stories about NCOs snd staff officers that Doc ripped pretty good. Sam said he served under Doc 2x. Said he was ok as long as you kept your sh*t wired tight.

I guess he was the exception........

 

[Big Sheep81]

That's why I give them both kudos. Doc rattled a lot of cages that needed shaking. The Ninja made changes a local guy most likely would not have made due to hurting feelings of some oldtimers. I don't worship either one of them but they both made some changes that were not only needed but changed things for the better. We (the fans and boosters) are now getting treated like valued clients rather than slot machines for $$$. Things are customer oriented and that is how it should be. Scott's job was made easier by following the Ninja's lead. The hard stuff was done and Scott could step in and fine tune. Scott would have had a lot more problem getting some of those things done.

Doc and the Ninja were here at the right time. Things are much better because of what they did. For that, I will personally be grateful.

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

Based on what some posters have said in this thread, Doc was a piss-poor president, but the point of my post was that he was the only administrator in the modern history (or any history) of State to man-up and actually attack that monolith of "good ole boy" culture that was ingrained at State. You just don't fire a 20+ year employee like LT,
or a Polk or any other icon of the institution. Doc did, that's enough for me to raise the "statue". A simple concept, nothing as complex as you guys are trying to make it sound.

 

[Big Sheep81]

Based on everything that has changed, still do.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

[No message]

 

[00Dawg]

Energetic use of A/V in the stadium. OK this one was pure speculation on my part since Larry was gone before all the big A/V stuff was installed at DWS.

I know first hand that he and his staff intentionally resisted playing the more urban popular music during basketball games. I'm sure the same applied to football.

Oh, and count me among the Doc supporters. He messed up a ton of short-term stuff and ticked some folks off, but he was perfect when it came to the stuff that permanently affected our university. We needed his tenure, and in the end it was the perfect length, too.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

jmbeck]Greg Byrne did exactly what he was supposed to do, but it was always a job to Byrne.

That isexactly what we needed. For too long, we had a bunch of local-yokel good-ol-boys who didn't feel the urgency to turn our program around. We always had theattitude, "Thas th' way thangsalways bin dun", or "He played ferth' B'ar." I like having guys in our athletic department who know their paycheck requires that they perform well.

 

[futaba.79]

I like having guys in our athletic department who know their paycheck requires that they perform well.

MDOT doesn't share your philosophy

 

[BullDawgin]

Everyone last year seemed to agree that the current announcer was not all that great during basketball games. While some despised Flick's voice, they all agreed that something was lacking in the Hump on gamedays. Flick may have been dull on football, but I genuinely got goosebumps during some of those pregame antics he had. Roster intro's, "Hump for Hoops", and just a natural excitement in his tone when players scored- even spitting a nickname at them from time to time. Flick really cares for this university and is as true maroon as it gets. I do feel like things are going in the right direction from top-down the university food chain, but I wouldn't mind Hank's nasally voice bouncing off the hardwood once more

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

MDOT doesn't share your philosophy

First thing MDOT needs to do, is rescind the blanket $10,000 a year raise they gave all the Engineers after the Nissan Plant was opened (supposedly, Nissan was going to steal all of MDOT's engineers, when in actuality Nissan went afterstudents just graduating Engineering school). That would help balance the State budget and let the public know that MDOT is serious about helping out during this financial crisis.

 

[ultra dwarf]

Looking back on all the boneheaded moves that LT did, makes me think he was really a closet rebel.