I got into a discussion with a friend over this last night. We got talking about which MAC school's Ath. Dept. is the most/least stable right now. I gave my top three and why.
CMU-They have an AD and coaches that have stayed at CMU for a long while(except BK) and have made upgrade to buildings.
Akron-They have gone from being the cellar dwellers of the MAC to winning and being competitive in the past 10 yrs. and have made upgrades to buildings.
KSU-Same as Akron.
Least stable:
Unfortunately, I have to come down big on my alma mater, EMU. Our department has been the least stable in the past 10 yrs. We are currently on our 5th AD in about 15yrs, 3rd football coach in 13 yrs., and 3rd Men's basketball coach in 10yrs. Facilities have not been upgraded or get upgraded when something bad happens. Our former AD, Dip**** Dave, along with Tim Weiser, were only there until the next best came up. Weiser was a good AD and is now at Kansas State.
I want to hear your opinions. Who do you think has the most/least stable Athletic Department?
Thanks and have a great weekend!!!
Although you state that my Zips may be one of the more stable departments i will have to disagree with you. Since the department has faced a big turnaround in the last 5 years especially, i would like to throw this out:
The AD, Senior Assoc. AD, Entire Marketing and Sales staff, Ticket Office staff, top facilities folks, and other key cogs are gone. Save Mack, the AD, because i think he has done a good job with what he has, but the rest of those jokers are a real piece of work.
The marketing staff is atrocious, the ticket office is hardly competent, and if it wasn't for the previous AD, and Senior Assoc. AD setting up the new stadium deal, i am not sure any of the facilities folks would still be around.
The former staff members have all moved on and there is a lot of heat (from what i am told) on the current staff to step-up because they are not doing a very good job right now.
Stable? I don't think so.... maybe treading water.
WMU is pretty stable. I thought she would bomb, but Kathy has done very well at keeping momentum going despite a complete loser President.
NIU is pretty stable for the short term. Long term, that is another question. With as much as Philips has done at NIU in the few short years he has been here, he could be picked up by fish higher up in the food chain a few years down the road. I can't think of one thing he has done that has gone wrong. FInally got the AAPC built-a much larger one then first envisioned when the first plans were made. The coaching hires he has made-especially in the smaller sports(too early to tell from b-ball but things look promising). NIU/Iowa SF game. Wisconsin to Huskie Stadium next year. IPF on the drawing board. Olympics to NIU if Chicago host(though I think Peters-NIU president-is just as important in the process). Increased giving to athletics. This includes a modest donation to some remodeling of our press boxes. I am sure I have left some things out that other Huskie fans can add. Of course, Cary got us started along this path and deserves a lot of credit but things never got done. That is now changing and for the better. I knew I would forget something. Getting football(and some b-ball) on the SCORE. Getting most of our games on Comcast Chicago the last couple years may have been partly his doing too. Though I don't know how much.
RobertN Wrote:Increased giving to athletics. This includes a modest donation to some remodeling of our press boxes.
I heard that modest donation towards the press box was near $2 million.
RobertN Wrote:Of course, Cary got us started along this path and deserves a lot of credit but things never got done.
I never cared for her much. The only things it seem she got right was Coach Novak and Coach Simmons (Men's Soccer). She ran our athletics program during our first and only major violation. She gave Rob Judson a two-year contract extension right before she left for Nevada even though Judson still had two years left on his current contract and had done exactly nothing to deserve an extension. She couldn't get the Yordon Center built.
Some of the other things Jim Phillips has done was getting contracts with both Adidas and Gatorade, another bowl game, and the best two-year GPA in the history of NIU Athletics. He's done a phenomenal job.
Ohio has AD Kirby Holcutt, Football coach Frank Solich, Mens BB Tim O'Shea, Womens BB Cynthia Crawley, Baseball Joe Carbone, and Volleyball coach Geoff Carlson. Very respected coaches by their peers.
who's the next football coach to move on: Solich or Cubit? On one hand, you have the obvious reasons to move on, but I can see these guys staying and building a new legacy.
Solich is 60-ish, an Ohio native who may not want the type of job he got fired from once. Or, he may want a shot at redemption at the highest level.
Cubit is a little younger, really likes Kalamazoo and WMU, but I think he wants a chance to see what he can do in the "big time." He won't leave for a total reclamation project, though.
I think that CMU has a very stable athletic department what with their 2nd yr basketball coach, 1st year football coach, an athletic director in what his third year. Yeah thats a model of stability there.
SeaWaBronc Wrote:who's the next football coach to move on: Solich or Cubit? On one hand, you have the obvious reasons to move on, but I can see these guys staying and building a new legacy.
Cubit will move on w/ 8+ wins this year.
Solich is a lifer unless he does something stupid. D1 at the highest levels has past him by, time has run out.
Liam9903 Wrote:I think that CMU has a very stable athletic department what with their 2nd yr basketball coach, 1st year football coach, an athletic director in what his third year. Yeah thats a model of stability there.
LIAM, you forgot the Reese Trophy......."Central Michigan University men's athletics teams turned in the top cumulative performance in the Mid-American Conference standings this school year as the Chippewas were awarded the league's prestigious Reese Trophy at the annual MAC meetings in CHicago."
Is that trophy awarded for stability? Or were you just trying to find a way to mention it?
While impressive, winning the Reese Trophy is a one-year accomplishment.
Does not necessarily indicate stability or consistency.
Solich wants to turn Ohio into the next Boise State. He took Ohio to their first bowl since 1968. 13 wins in just two years at Ohio. Bryant, Lichtenburg, and Knorr had 28 wins over 12 seasons while Grobe and Solich had 46 wins in 7 years. Huge difference. Solich beat Pittsburgh and Illinois at Ohio in his first two years. How strong would Ohio be had Grobe stayed another 4 years? The Bobcats made a huge mistake with the hire of Knorr after Grobe left. Solich has restored the program to the point where Grobe had it when he left and taken it to the next level. No doubt a school like Indiana could use a guy like Solich, but Solich can win championships at Ohio in the MAC.
SeaWaBronc Wrote:WMU is pretty stable. I thought she would bomb, but Kathy has done very well at keeping momentum going despite a complete loser President.
During my playing days Kathy was and assistant AD and I had no doubt that she would be a great AD. She was great with the players and really cares about WMU. This seems like the only place she wants to be. If you knew her you would have never doubted her.