(09-12-2019 09:13 PM)ilovegymnast Wrote: [ -> ]Judging football records is probably the worst way to evaluate a Kent AD. With only a handful of winning seasons I don't think any AD in the past would have a good record. Best way would be overall championships throughout the whole department.
I think you make an excellent point ilovegymnast.
The video I posted on YouTube (link below) lists some of the overall numbers, although it doesn't include total MAC championships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKESel609YU
It does list the combined records and total championships in the MAC's four "priority sports" – Football, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball and Volleyball.
These numbers do not include games from the current athletic season.
Football in 9 years under Nielsen: 37-72 (0.339) with 0 MAC championships
Football in previous 9 years under Kennedy: 38-67 (0.362) with 0 MAC championships
Volleyball in 9 years under Nielsen: 126-147 (0.462) with 0 MAC championships
Volleyball in previous 9 years under Kennedy: 128-136 (0.484) with 0 MAC championships
Men's Basketball in 9 years under Nielsen: 186-121 (0.605) with 1 MAC Championship.
Men's Basketball in previous 9 years under Kennedy: 211-89 (0.703) with 3 MAC Championships.
Women's Basketball in 9 years under Nielsen: 99-174 (0.363) with 0 MAC Championships.
Women's Basketball in previous 9 years under Kennedy: 160-107 (0.599) with 4 MAC titles.
So in 9 years under Nielsen, that's 1 MAC Championship combined in all four MAC priority sports. Kennedy won 7 MAC championships in sports that would become MAC priority sports.
I recently compiled all of the records and championships in all sports in a comparison between Nielsen and Kennedy over those nine-year periods.
I'll look for those numbers if you are interested. I do know that the advantage again goes to Kennedy. Note, as I mentioned earlier, the only sports with better records in Nielsen's 9 years are women's track and field, men's track and field and women's soccer.
Sports with better records in Kennedy's last nine years include football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, wrestling, softball and gymnastics.
Men's and Women's Golf continue to be the class of the MAC, and while I consider both to be "holding steady" under Nielsen, men's golf does have more championships during Nielsen's tenure.
Of course, golf success at Kent State has absolutely nothing to do with Nielsen and everything to do with fantastic coaching staffs led by Herb Page, Greg Robertson and Mike Morrow. From donors to many coaches past and present and former student athletes, the people in and around the golf programs at KSU will tell you that golf's success has continued despite Nielsen.
Men's and Women's Golf were the ONLY two teams to win championships in 2018-19, which is as poor an athletic year at Kent State during the nine years of Nielsen combined with the last nine years under Kennedy.
It should be noted that the head coaches of those teams, Herb Page and Greg Robertson, are no longer on staff.