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It is a subscriber only article but it’s fairly enlightening, particularly in terms of the leadership @ the U of M & the feelings towards the NIL.

Five ambassadors weigh in on the future of Memphis athletics

Ambassador B: “They sent us a letter asking for the ambassadors to donate $2,000 a month. And we looked at each other and said,’Uh uh, not happening.’”

Ambassador D: “The fundraising for NIL seems mismanaged. We were told in writing that we would begin to lose athletes unless we became proactive in contributing to the NIL fund. If that’s the case, the U of M will never be competitive. The pitch was so uninspiring it was comical. Ambassadors don’t fault players for transferring in and out, seeking NIL money or being part of a generation that communicates through devices rather than in person. That’s the real world. The issue is, how is the AD merging the old and new?

Ambassador E: “Ryan didn’t have one NIL dollar a year and a half ago. Every player he gets is because they want to come here. Every player in high school he recruits has to want to come here. Not for NIL money. It’s difficult. There’s not one major football donor. It’s all basketball, and people just put together money for football. From an ROI perspective, football is outperforming.”

Ambassador B: “I think their outreach could be much better. I’ve yet to meet the president. His box is on the same level as our football suite. He has yet to come in and introduce himself. With that being said, it wouldn’t change my mind about giving them any money. But it didn’t take me very long to decide. I’m not real interested in doing much more.”

Ambassador D: “Why was a letter sent out asking for support? Is it possible that the leaders of the athletic department have been unable to create meaningful relationships with a group of people that have made contributions far in excess of the minimum $500,000? When Tubby Smith took over, the connections we had to the department came to a screeching halt. It’s become more distant every year since. I don’t fault the coach, but the athletic department should know that without that personal connection, many donors become distant as well.”

Ambassador E: “You feel like it’s futile. You’ve got the football side, which has done a lot. It’s really delivered. Look at it since Justin Fuente. It’s basketball that’s letting us down. The way it’s perceived outside is the opposite. It just seems futile and exhausting. You don’t have the right decision-makers. (Former president) David Rudd was good, but he overstepped his boundaries. Laird is a good guy. He’s a really good guy. But he’s not the person who’s gonna get us there. The president isn’t engaged as he probably should be yet. We’re not in great shape in a lot of ways, but the leadership is a challenge. That’s nothing against them as individuals. But if we got into a new conference, we’d all be surprised.”
Hammer meet nail, uninspiring leadership from our new President, Milquetoast Reactionary AD & our head football coach who is Ruining the program, will continue to yield uninspiring results. Just more excuses for all of them to fall back on when it doesn't work out. Talk about the worst timing, ever, for all three to be a perfect storm of inadequacy.

You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.
That is brutal. We’re a lot closer to being a sun belt level athletic dept than being in a p5. Hard to blame the big donors though. They gave it a good effort and the B12 told us no twice. With no chance of ever getting in a P5, it’s gonna be tough for Memphis going forward. Just accept it and move on. We tried, we failed.
Hardgrave & Veatch might be perfect at a more traditional university which may not require the glad handing & face time with alumni & boosters, but at Memphis, right now, they are a disaster.
(12-16-2022 10:35 AM)Unbreakable04 Wrote: [ -> ]Hammer meet nail, uninspiring leadership from our new President, Milquetoast Reactionary AD & our head football coach who is Ruining the program, will continue to yield uninspiring results. Just more excuses for all of them to fall back on when it doesn't work out. Talk about the worst timing, ever, for all three to be a perfect storm of inadequacy.

You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.

The fatigue is the from the negative nellies like yourself. if you're that unhappy, press on, bro. We'll be just fine.
(12-16-2022 10:47 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote: [ -> ]Hardgrave & Veatch might be perfect at a more traditional university which may not require the glad handing & face time with alumni & boosters, but at Memphis, right now, they are a disaster.

Are you saying we're not a traditional university. You guys are a freakin' trip with your negativity. Such downers... oh well, move on.
(12-16-2022 10:50 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-16-2022 10:47 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote: [ -> ]Hardgrave & Veatch might be perfect at a more traditional university which may not require the glad handing & face time with alumni & boosters, but at Memphis, right now, they are a disaster.

Are you saying we're not a traditional university. You guys are a freakin' trip with your negativity. Such downers... oh well, move on.

No, Memphis is not a traditional university.

Both may be fine at Auburn or Florida, but neither are getting it done here. Hardgrave is just getting started & may evolve in the role, though he seems rather meek. At this point, Veatch is who he is.
Was one of them Griffin ? Lol

Edit: pretty obvious he’s E since he praised Ryan and ripped basketball
Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.
(12-16-2022 10:49 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-16-2022 10:35 AM)Unbreakable04 Wrote: [ -> ]Hammer meet nail, uninspiring leadership from our new President, Milquetoast Reactionary AD & our head football coach who is Ruining the program, will continue to yield uninspiring results. Just more excuses for all of them to fall back on when it doesn't work out. Talk about the worst timing, ever, for all three to be a perfect storm of inadequacy.

You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.

The fatigue is the from the negative nellies like yourself. if you're that unhappy, press on, bro. We'll be just fine.

Not unhappy, however, I am not going to happy clap like many people and blindly support bad decision after bad decision. That small minded thinking has held our University back for 70+ years and we finally had a breath of fresh air for the past decade with Rudd and actual smart decisions by our leadership. Now, we're back to the meek, milquetoast variety and it will hinder us moving forward, at the worst time possible. It's called being real rather than putting your head in the sand and accepting the bare minimum, which you and many others have probably been happy to do, while our peers continue to pass us by.
Do we have any idea if these few donors are representative of the sentiments of the biggest donors, or, as I suspect, were they chosen because they are unusually negative and this sensationalism to get attention that we've come to expect from the DM?

Also I noticed you left out Ambassador C: “I really personally didn’t realize how important it was until (Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics) Laird (Veatch) came out and gave a talk before that video was released. They’re really on top of this. I won’t give anything unless I know where I’m giving it is good stewards of my money. I consider it a charity even though it’s a little more than that. They need this money badly. I got on board with it and got that email and got on board even more. I doubled what I was doing. I listened. Laird is a standup guy that impresses me. That’s why I did it. They need it badly. We’ve got to be competitive.”
(12-16-2022 11:02 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote: [ -> ]Was one of them Griffin ? Lol

Edit: pretty obvious he’s E since he praised Ryan and ripped basketball
Were reporters invited to this ‘meeting of the minds?’
If not, who gave the DM all this info for the article? lol
big donors I know dont talk to reporters
(12-16-2022 11:17 AM)snowtiger Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-16-2022 11:02 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote: [ -> ]Was one of them Griffin ? Lol

Edit: pretty obvious he’s E since he praised Ryan and ripped basketball
Were reporters invited to this ‘meeting of the minds?’
If not, who gave the DM all this info for the article? lol
big donors I know dont talk to reporters

Most of them don’t post on message boards either
(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote: [ -> ]Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

Great post you hit the nail on the head. Reality check time
On Memphis football
Ambassador C: “I guarantee they’ll make the decision they want to make for the best of the program. Not because they can’t afford it. Those players believe in Ryan. They do. Has the staff made a couple bonehead decisions? Absolutely. If the team believes in him and play as hard as they have and got recruits coming in and not many guys in the portal — it’s in a great spot. Am I proud of the season? No, but nobody on that team is, either. I’m 100% on board with Ryan as our coach. I can’t wait until next season to see what we can do. I bet he’s got a few more in the pipeline we don’t even know about. It’s gonna be exciting.”
On leadership:

Ambassador C: “We’re in great hands with (President of the University of Memphis) Bill (Hardgrave) and Laird. They know where we need to be. I don’t know of anybody that could put us in a better position. That’s their goal for the future. Look at how we responded with the 901 Fund so quickly. I’m not in that industry. I feel like we were ahead of the curve, getting in position for the NIL. We need more NIL money. We heard that from Laird emphatically. We all know that. It’s just another thing. Are we Alabama? No. But we’re Memphis, and my thing — I wanna be relevant. Those two guys will keep us relevant into the future. Is that being in a Power 5 league? Being king of the B team in the Group of Five? I think the world of those guys. They’ve got all my confidence. If not, they wouldn’t have our money.”
(12-16-2022 10:35 AM)Unbreakable04 Wrote: [ -> ]Hammer meet nail, uninspiring leadership from our new President, Milquetoast Reactionary AD & our head football coach who is Ruining the program, will continue to yield uninspiring results. Just more excuses for all of them to fall back on when it doesn't work out. Talk about the worst timing, ever, for all three to be a perfect storm of inadequacy.

You can see the fatigue in those words in the article and many others. NIL will destroy college athletics, it already has, and will continue to push fans away.

Notice every one of them said that football has overperformed relative to BB. Yet the perception is reversed. Football here still has one hand tied behind its back.
(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote: [ -> ]Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

The only bus that basketball drives is the bus that drives the University off the cliff into the bottomless abyss of irrelevancy.

The best way to improve a basketball program? Create a successful football program. If you don't believe me, ask Alabama.
How many ambassadors who were present weren’t quoted in the article.
This is a stirring the pot op
(12-16-2022 11:31 AM)snowtiger Wrote: [ -> ]How many ambassadors who were present weren’t quoted in the article.
This is a stirring the pot op

From the article: "I [John Martin] reached out to five ambassadors I know to gauge their thoughts on where the Tigers are and where they might be headed."

I agree this is a ****-stirring bit of nonsense. I've come to expect it from the DM.
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