Zac Selmon - SMU

[aTotal360]

I think the fundraising aspect is a little overstated. The donations we are getting are likely par for the course. I think any other competent AD could do a similar job fundraising.

My biggest concern with ZS is his ability to do things outside of fundraising. Gamedays should be a culmination of all your work. And under his leadership, they tend to be lackluster. There just seems to be lots of little things that get overlooked, especially on the gameday operation side.

Maybe the problem is 100% money related. Perhaps we simply don't have the funds to keep up with the rest of the league. WIth that being said, we've all had much better gameday experiences under other Athletic Directors. Yes, winning helps. But by God, you have to get something right. Either win or have a slick production. Don't do neither.

 

[thatsbaseball]

SMU is looking for a figurehead to be be AD. Where Auburn has one "YellaWood" SMU has about 5 of them. Their AD will have to do a lot less fund raising and begging than ours . If Selmon is offered I'd be shocked if he doesn't take it.

 

[patdog]

I think the fundraising aspect is a little overstated. The donations we are getting are likely par for the course. I think any other competent AD could do a similar job fundraising.

My biggest concern with ZS is his ability to do things outside of fundraising. Gamedays should be a culmination of all your work. And under his leadership, they tend to be lackluster. There just seems to be lots of little things that get overlooked, especially on the gameday operation side.

Maybe the problem is 100% money related. Perhaps we simply don't have the funds to keep up with the rest of the league. WIth that being said, we've all had much better gameday experiences under other Athletic Directors. Yes, winning helps. But by God, you have to get something right. Either win or have a slick production. Don't do neither.

I think our AD is "winning the press conference" by announcing several large gifts, that are likely 10 year-gift commitments that may or may not all ever come in.

 

[aTotal360]

I think our AD is "winning the press conference" by announcing several large gifts, that are likely 10 year-gift commitments that may or may not all ever come in.

That certainly could be the case. I don't want to poopoo anyone giving to MSU, but I do think a lot of those funds come in regardless of the AD. My issues are more on the operational side.

I'm sure funding is part of the problem, but we will always need a guy who can "do more with less". I'm not sure he's that guy.

 

[The Peeper]

If Selmon is offered I'd be shocked if he doesn't take it.

 

[anon1768925248]

He has completely screwed up our financial situation so bad that he has to get out somehow. Whoever comes in here after him has a tremendous mess to clean up. All of our cash reserves have been spent. His motto is borrowing money and using leverage. That makes no sense, especially when rates are still high

Our previous administration is who spent up our cash and didn't fundraise, per the MODS on the premium site here. .

 

[ETK99]

Look past the rankings. The portal class especially was a quantity ranking.

Nah, rankings are rankings. We all know you're never happy, but it's ok lol.

 

[ETK99]

I’ve never responded to these threads but I must : Selmon has never missed a free throw, or an open 3. Selmon hasnt wiffed on blocks or thrown picks. He hasn’t struck out looking on a ball down the middle nor has he ever over thrown the first baseman, let alone the free passes and hit batsmen.

what he has done, re energized our donations and our place amongst NIL in the hardest, most competitive league in all of college sports. I don’t get the hate, I actually think most are trolls but to put the inconsistency of some of our assets on the AD across all sports, well it’s childish, trollish and frankly ludicrous. Let him cook a few more years. I don’t think people realize the despairing department he took over.

Don't bring that common sense into Boomer and Troll land

 

[ETK99]

I think the fundraising aspect is a little overstated. The donations we are getting are likely par for the course. I think any other competent AD could do a similar job fundraising.

My biggest concern with ZS is his ability to do things outside of fundraising. Gamedays should be a culmination of all your work. And under his leadership, they tend to be lackluster. There just seems to be lots of little things that get overlooked, especially on the gameday operation side.

Maybe the problem is 100% money related. Perhaps we simply don't have the funds to keep up with the rest of the league. WIth that being said, we've all had much better gameday experiences under other Athletic Directors. Yes, winning helps. But by God, you have to get something right. Either win or have a slick production. Don't do neither.

He's announced new lights and speakers for game day. He's had quality concerts in the Junction gameday. No more trouble getting in the gates gameday. I mean, not sure how much more can be done beyond actually winning games. Even announced future stadium upgrades but those are a few years away. And money will always be a problem here but he's tapping the resources pretty well.

 

[ckDOG]

He has completely screwed up our financial situation so bad that he has to get out somehow. Whoever comes in here after him has a tremendous mess to clean up. All of our cash reserves have been spent. His motto is borrowing money and using leverage. That makes no sense, especially when rates are still high

What money have we borrowed during his tenure? Do we publish a balance sheet? I've only ever seen the p&l.

 

[anon1768925248]

What money have we borrowed during his tenure? Do we publish a balance sheet? I've only ever seen the p&l.

We haven't built anything major that I know of to borrow money for, except for the basketball upgrade that was already in progress.

 

[ronpolk]

I’ve never responded to these threads but I must : Selmon has never missed a free throw, or an open 3. Selmon hasnt wiffed on blocks or thrown picks. He hasn’t struck out looking on a ball down the middle nor has he ever over thrown the first baseman, let alone the free passes and hit batsmen.

what he has done, re energized our donations and our place amongst NIL in the hardest, most competitive league in all of college sports. I don’t get the hate, I actually think most are trolls but to put the inconsistency of some of our assets on the AD across all sports, well it’s childish, trollish and frankly ludicrous. Let him cook a few more years. I don’t think people realize the despairing department he took over.

I’ve questioned this over and over and no one on this board has ever given a legitimate concrete reason why he’s doing such a terrible job. Now the Lebby hire and how that unfolds is completely on him. Everyone wants to point to game day experience. The gameday experience sucks because we suck. We start winning games and magically the games will be a lot more fun again.

I’m not saying he’s lighting the world on fire but I wish someone could list out something tangible that would make it clear how terrible he is.

 

[anon1768925248]

I’ve questioned this over and over and no one on this board has ever given a legitimate concrete reason why he’s doing such a terrible job. Now the Lebby hire and how that unfolds is completely on him. Everyone wants to point to game day experience. The gameday experience sucks because we suck. We start winning games and magically the games will be a lot more fun again.

I’m not saying he’s lighting the world on fire but I wish someone could list out something tangible that would make it clear how terrible he is.

I don't know if he's doing great or terrible. Probably just meh. The problem most have with him on message boards is that he apparently does things a lot differently on the day to day and shook some things up when he arrived and some of the people that he either fired or ruffled feathers with get on the internet and talk sh*t about him (or get their buddies to do so).

 

[TXDawg.sixpack]

That certainly could be the case. I don't want to poopoo anyone giving to MSU, but I do think a lot of those funds come in regardless of the AD. My issues are more on the operational side.

I'm sure funding is part of the problem, but we will always need a guy who can "do more with less". I'm not sure he's that guy.

Yeah, because SO much money was flowing in under Cohen.

The sad part is that we haven't had a competent AD since The Ninja; although I do think the jury is still out on Selmon.

 

[ronpolk]

I don't know if he's doing great or terrible. Probably just meh. The problem most have with him on message boards is that he apparently does things a lot differently on the day to day and shook some things up when he arrived and some of the people that he either fired or ruffled feathers with get on the internet and talk sh*t about him (or get their buddies to do so).

Seems very plausible to me.

 

[ckDOG]

We haven't built anything major that I know of to borrow money for, except for the basketball upgrade that was already in progress.

Yep and borrowing for new construction is pretty standard practice. My judgement on Selmon will be based on how he handles Lebby (which ever direction that goes but the start was rocky allowing Lebby to hire a virgin defensive staff). Feels a lot like the bitching about Mullen earlier in his tenure when he crapped on the status quo. Will he be successful long term if he sticks around? No clue.

 

[L4Dawg]

I’ve never responded to these threads but I must : Selmon has never missed a free throw, or an open 3. Selmon hasnt wiffed on blocks or thrown picks. He hasn’t struck out looking on a ball down the middle nor has he ever over thrown the first baseman, let alone the free passes and hit batsmen.

what he has done, re energized our donations and our place amongst NIL in the hardest, most competitive league in all of college sports. I don’t get the hate, I actually think most are trolls but to put the inconsistency of some of our assets on the AD across all sports, well it’s childish, trollish and frankly ludicrous. Let him cook a few more years. I don’t think people realize the despairing department he took over.

No, most of them are Rebel trolls. He is doing what ADs are supposed to do and it looks like he has done a pretty good job, certainly better than the last AD. Now I will admit the last AD set an incredibly low bar.

 

[L4Dawg]

I suspect that he is genuinely worried, but in fairness, I think he’s far from the only AD in that spot

We’ve been operating as a not for profit entity for decades where for the most part, we’ve been spending what we’ve brought in, and now all of a sudden ADs have to come up with $20M to pay these kids. There aren’t many schools that have that laying around, and it’s going to require some hard decisions about staffing, sports that we’re offering, and facility investment.

If he isn't worried right now he is an idiot. College sports is in BIG trouble.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I suspect that he is genuinely worried, but in fairness, I think he’s far from the only AD in that spot

He might be worried about fundraising at MSU specifically, which is a legit concern. I mean John Cohen told us that passing around a hat at MSU has never been popular, but nobody listened. They just criticized him for not being proactive with NIL, whatever that means. But either way, trying to make a weakness a strength generally does not work out, so that makes me wonder why Selmon was hired in the first place. Never was a good fit - we need an innovator, not a slickster salesman.

We’ve been operating as a not for profit entity for decades where for the most part, we’ve been spending what we’ve brought in, and now all of a sudden ADs have to come up with $20M to pay these kids. There aren’t many schools that have that laying around, and it’s going to require some hard decisions about staffing, sports that we’re offering, and facility investment.

To be fair, colleges has also been blowing a lot of money on gold-plating as well, sparing no expense. And coaches and added staff. So, while this 20M is an overreaction, it's not something that just fell out of thin air. I often wonder why things can't be done reasonably in the gray area anymore. Don't know if it's the baby boomers or the angry gen-X'ers who are in charge now, but they definitely are 17ing shlt up.

 

[TheBannerM]

Sounds like a lot of y'all would be happier with another in-house/former employee hire - someone who will do things the way they've always been done at Mississippi State.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Sounds like a lot of y'all would be happier with another in-house/former employee hire - someone who will do things the way they've always been done at Mississippi State.

Funny thing is that Cohen did not do things the way we've always done them, and our fans hated him for it. And in the middle of it, brought us our first national championship.

Do we (as in, our fanbase) have any clue what we want, and what we realistically can achieve?

 

[golferdog]

The perception in the coaching and administrative industry is that SMU is a better job than MSU.

If they offer - he’s gone, IMO.

It is a better job. Much more $$$ to work with than what we have.

 

[85Bears]

It is a better job. Much more $$$ to work with than what we have.

Of course. SMU raised 100 million in five days. They are loaded.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Of course. SMU raised 100 million in five days. They are loaded.

Dead hooker insurance policies finally pay out?

 

[thatsbaseball]

Of course. SMU raised 100 million in five days. They are loaded.

SMU Athletics Celebrates Record-Breaking Fundraising Year Heading Into The ACC - SMU Athletics

DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU Athletics Department is thrilled to announce a historic milestone in its fundraising efforts, raising a record-breaking $159 million during

smumustangs.com

 

[85Bears]

Thats whats crazy about the wild west nil current situation. SMU could be a national power

 

[patdog]

Thats whats crazy about the wild west nil current situation. SMU could be a national power

I see an ESPN 30 For 30 a few years from now: "The Return of the Pony Express"

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Funny thing is that Cohen did not do things the way we've always done them, and our fans hated him for it. And in the middle of it, brought us our first national championship.

Do we (as in, our fanbase) have any clue what we want, and what we realistically can achieve?

Took from every sport to prop up baseball. The man was an idiot, set up no NIL either but was wanting baseball to get NIL over everything else. He was put in place by the baseball boosters.

 

[Called3rdstrikedawg]

The football program has an overall & conference losing record over its history.
The Basketball program went to a final 4 and 3 sweet 16s in its entire history.
The Baseball program has double digit trips to the Elite 8 with 2 tied for 3rd, 2 tied for 5th, 1 Runnerup and 1 National Championship, along with winning records vs. 10 of the 16 SEC programs. Who the damn AD hasn't mattered. Who the Coach has been has!

 

[bulldoghair]

DEI hire

 

[Bulldawg77]

Took from every sport to prop up baseball. The man was an idiot, set up no NIL either but was wanting baseball to get NIL over everything else. He was put in place by the baseball boosters.

Not only did he do this. He suspended leach in 2020 after that irrelevant tweet. He then negotiated a loan in 2020 that we are still paying off from the SEC. He emptied the Rainy day fund to fund several non Rev sport facilities in stead of fund raising. Cohen made LT look competent

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Our previous administration is who spent up our cash and didn't fundraise, per the MODS on the premium site here. .

Of course. Totin' that water...

 

[patdog]

The football program has an overall & conference losing record over its history.
The Basketball program went to a final 4 and 3 sweet 16s in its entire history.
The Baseball program has double digit trips to the Elite 8 with 2 tied for 3rd, 2 tied for 5th, 1 Runnerup and 1 National Championship, along with winning records vs. 10 of the 16 SEC programs. Who the damn AD hasn't mattered. Who the Coach has been has!

I would argue who the coach has been hasn’t even really mattered much in baseball. 5 of the 6 coaches we’ve had in the last 60 years has taken a team to Omaha, and every coach we’ve ever had except Dudy Noble, cohen & the guy who was only head coach 1 year has a winning conference record. There’s zero excuses for any baseball coach not to win at Mississippi State.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I would argue who the coach has been hasn’t even really mattered much in baseball. 5 of the 6 coaches we’ve had in the last 60 years has taken a team to Omaha, and every coach we’ve ever had except Dudy Noble, cohen & the guy who was only head coach 1 year has a winning conference record. There’s zero excuses for any baseball coach not to win at Mississippi State.

I'd argue that arguing about the coach is missing the point. The point is that the baseball program has by far been our most successful one. Ignoring it would be a pretty dumb thing to do.

 

[Bulldawg77]

Of course. Totin' that water...

I can link and article to this thread to prove that cohen did in fact take out a loan from the SEC…. Why? Cause he drained the Rainy day fund we had

Mississippi State athletics operated at a planned deficit in 2024 fiscal year. Here’s why

Mississippi State athletics operated at a deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by the Clarion Ledger.

www.clarionledger.com

 

[ETK99]

I'd argue that arguing about the coach is missing the point. The point is that the baseball program has by far been our most successful one. Ignoring it would be a pretty dumb thing to do.

There are about 12 teams in America that give a crap about college baseball. It's a non-revenue sport that people outside the south don't give a crap about. This "great" program has one championship more than football and the same number as OM. It's a party at the Dude, not the sport that people love.

 

[patdog]

I can link and article to this thread to prove that cohen did in fact take out a loan from the SEC…. Why? Cause he drained the Rainy day fund we had

Mississippi State athletics operated at a planned deficit in 2024 fiscal year. Here’s why

Mississippi State athletics operated at a deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by the Clarion Ledger.

www.clarionledger.com

Not to defend anyone, but the SEC loaned every school in the conference $23M which it financed by taking out a $322M loan against future ESPN earnings.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/05/19/sec-additional-revenue-football-covid

 

[ronpolk]

I can link and article to this thread to prove that cohen did in fact take out a loan from the SEC…. Why? Cause he drained the Rainy day fund we had

Mississippi State athletics operated at a planned deficit in 2024 fiscal year. Here’s why

Mississippi State athletics operated at a deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by the Clarion Ledger.

www.clarionledger.com

Does the athletic department release actual financial statements to look at?

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Not to defend anyone, but the SEC loaned every school in the conference $23M which it financed by taking out a $322M loan against future ESPN earnings.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/05/19/sec-additional-revenue-football-covid

The water-toters don't like facts.

 

[Bulldawg77]

Does the athletic department release actual financial statements to look at?

Yes

https://www.controller.msstate.edu/sites/www.controller.msstate.edu/files/2024-08/Athletics_FY25_Final.pdf