Our university has turned into a clown college. I don't think there is another example out there where an institution with so much "potential" has seen its administration find a way to go the exact opposite direction and steer it directly into the ground. This isn't just about football. Football and athletics are just one of the most visible illustrators of this dynamic. At one point we had leadership talking about how MT had the potential to be a Boise - heck even talked about modeling our programs after Louisville. Yet, what we got and what we've become is UL Monroe. And this is even worse because Monroe has never really even had a chance always being so under-resourced. How do we have one of the highest budgets annually in our conference and always fail? That rhetorical question is one that is difficult to answer.

There are some who believe that the President has done the job he was hired to do. Stop the growth. Suffocate success. Drain ambition. Instill apathy. The truth of the matter is we really don't know. It is the most plausible, but it could be pure incompetence. It could be racially motivated. We simply don't know for sure, but it is difficult to imagine that level of incompetence being allowed to stick around. We could literally have had decisions made by random hamster wheel outcomes and been better off. But if it is driven by the state - which is the most likely scenario - then there really isn't any hope even with McPhee retiring. The state will just install another puppet.

This is why no one wants us any longer. Heck, I'm not even sure C-UAS wants us anymore. But we will know soon when we see who is selected as the next President and what his first few moves are. But what you all who have been around for a while and have witnessed over the past 15 years has no comparison in modern history. There should be a 30 for 30 on this.

New leadership will be ahead of the University soon. Just enjoy the holiday season and all will be right in the world soon. I understand your frustration, but we are near a transition. There are high's and low's in life. It's the cycle.

(10-30-2026 10:45 AM)gumbobrown Wrote:  New leadership will be ahead of the University soon. Just enjoy the holiday season and all will be right in the world soon. I understand your frustration, but we are near a transition. There are high's and low's in life. It's the cycle.

Normally I would agree with you, but that is not what's happening in the Boro. You must be new around the school/program/etc.

(10-30-2026 09:59 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  Our university has turned into a clown college. I don't think there is another example out there where an institution with so much "potential" has seen its administration find a way to go the exact opposite direction and steer it directly into the ground. This isn't just about football. Football and athletics are just one of the most visible illustrators of this dynamic. At one point we had leadership talking about how MT had the potential to be a Boise - heck even talked about modeling our programs after Louisville. Yet, what we got and what we've become is UL Monroe. And this is even worse because Monroe has never really even had a chance always being so under-resourced. How do we have one of the highest budgets annually in our conference and always fail? That rhetorical question is one that is difficult to answer.

There are some who believe that the President has done the job he was hired to do. Stop the growth. Suffocate success. Drain ambition. Instill apathy. The truth of the matter is we really don't know. It is the most plausible, but it could be pure incompetence. It could be racially motivated. We simply don't know for sure, but it is difficult to imagine that level of incompetence being allowed to stick around. We could literally have had decisions made by random hamster wheel outcomes and been better off. But if it is driven by the state - which is the most likely scenario - then there really isn't any hope even with McPhee retiring. The state will just install another puppet.

This is why no one wants us any longer. Heck, I'm not even sure C-UAS wants us anymore. But we will know soon when we see who is selected as the next President and what his first few moves are. But what you all who have been around for a while and have witnessed over the past 15 years has no comparison in modern history. There should be a 30 for 30 on this.

UT (i.e. state legislators) sent McPhee here, but I think his disdain for Boots turned into football sabotage. Should not have allowed him to make hires for the athletics department -- EVER, but he had his "yes" cronies on the trustee board (those that got free flights, tickets, etc, including national championship games, and other perks). The "yes" folks, including non-board-members and mostly retired alums, are either looking out for themselves (eat a free steak with the big guy) or they don't want to rock the boat and just show blind allegiance.

I am an educator in the Middle Tennessee Area and have family that have gotten or are in the process of getting a degree from MTSU. Most of my coworkers got their degrees from MTSU as well. As an outsider, I would not say that MTSU is a clown college, in fact it seems to be highly regarded and doing some good things on the academic front. Could and should it have had more growth? Maybe? The issue at Middle Tennessee seems to be its Athletic Leadership. In my personal opinion, MTSU has spent more money than any other team, largely because of state support. They have built some of the best facilities in the G6 and continue to spend money on facilities. I think this has been to your detriment, as it has allowed your leadership to point to the success of building these shiny facilities while allowing the rest of the conference to out perform you, especially in Football. If MTSU had a better AD who didn’t feel cash strapped by major capital projects you may have been able to make the right moves to fix the current football situation, but it is hard to justify a buyout when you are spending so much money on facilities. This lack of success has made it harder for MTSU to capture the attention of the local market. When I come into school in my owls gear, I am surrounded by Ewe T fans that got their degrees from MTSU. None of them wear MTSU gear and very few even knew that KSU and MTSU were playing this week. I am not trying to throw stones because Kennesaw has the same problem with UGA, Auburn, Bama, name other SEC team. If MTSU was regularly winning on the football field I think that the community would support it better. With all that being said I think that MTSU is one of the schools with the highest ceilings in CUSA. The middle Tennessee media market is growing substantially, you shouldn’t have to invest heavily in facilities for a while, thus should be able to redirect funds from facilities to NIL and coaching. It just hinges on the next president putting more emphasis on Athletics, Hiring the right AD who hires the right Coach. Don’t lose hope because I believe y’all are due for some better days. Here is to hoping the new leadership can right the ship and make MTSU into the next Memphis. I just hope that KSU can be the next USF to keep up.

AS an MTSU alum and a loyal fan for more than 65 years (yep I'm old); I share everyone's disappointment in the woeful underachievement of the Blue Raiders in FB (in recent years) as well as in MBB (in recent years). Lots of "excuses" are offered but the failure is really "inexcusable"! This is actually due to a host of factors but primarily it's the following: (1) Incompetent Leadership in our administration, (2) Apathy both inside and outside the university, (3) abysmal media coverage in the 28th largest Media Market (i.e. Nashville) in the country. Hells Bells. Our triple AAA baseball Nashville Sounds and our local soccer team garner more publicity than Middle does. Hopefully, the retirement of McPhee will turn it around after December.

(10-30-2026 12:03 PM)Owlref11 Wrote:  I am an educator in the Middle Tennessee Area and have family that have gotten or are in the process of getting a degree from MTSU. Most of my coworkers got their degrees from MTSU as well. As an outsider, I would not say that MTSU is a clown college, in fact it seems to be highly regarded and doing some good things on the academic front. Could and should it have had more growth? Maybe? The issue at Middle Tennessee seems to be its Athletic Leadership. In my personal opinion, MTSU has spent more money than any other team, largely because of state support. They have built some of the best facilities in the G6 and continue to spend money on facilities. I think this has been to your detriment, as it has allowed your leadership to point to the success of building these shiny facilities while allowing the rest of the conference to out perform you, especially in Football. If MTSU had a better AD who didn’t feel cash strapped by major capital projects you may have been able to make the right moves to fix the current football situation, but it is hard to justify a buyout when you are spending so much money on facilities. This lack of success has made it harder for MTSU to capture the attention of the local market. When I come into school in my owls gear, I am surrounded by Ewe T fans that got their degrees from MTSU. None of them wear MTSU gear and very few even knew that KSU and MTSU were playing this week. I am not trying to throw stones because Kennesaw has the same problem with UGA, Auburn, Bama, name other SEC team. If MTSU was regularly winning on the football field I think that the community would support it better. With all that being said I think that MTSU is one of the schools with the highest ceilings in CUSA. The middle Tennessee media market is growing substantially, you shouldn’t have to invest heavily in facilities for a while, thus should be able to redirect funds from facilities to NIL and coaching. It just hinges on the next president putting more emphasis on Athletics, Hiring the right AD who hires the right Coach. Don’t lose hope because I believe y’all are due for some better days. Here is to hoping the new leadership can right the ship and make MTSU into the next Memphis. I just hope that KSU can be the next USF to keep up.

I appreciate your take and some of the things you talk about are on the money. However, the take on our AD being the biggest problem is WAY off. President McPhee is far and away our biggest problem. Our AD has been hampered by McPhee jumping into athletics and not letting Massaro do his job. On the academic front, McPhee has done some okay things. The university reached R2 status, built a lot of new facilities, and added some programs. The biggest issue with academics is his inability to land a professional school. They had a law school gifted to them and botched that. Honestly I feel like anyone could have built facilities and improved research. Let’s also not forget that McPhee killed the Greek life by kicking them off campus. There’s a lot of things wrong in the Boro and it starts at the top. Hopefully the new hire is a major improvement.

At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

One thing I've noticed is that the $EC schools are increasing enrollment, seemingly trying to get as big as they can be, maybe to combat the huge student bodies of the Big 10.

And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

(10-31-2026 11:39 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

One thing I've noticed is that the $EC schools are increasing enrollment, seemingly trying to get as big as they can be, maybe to combat the huge student bodies of the Big 10.

And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

To be fair, the quality of the student body has gone up quite a bit. Also enrollment is slowly moving up. 20,867 this year. National college enrollment is down so a lot of schools are dealing with issues.

Don’t look now but Rick Stockstill is the interim head coach at Florida State.

(10-31-2026 11:39 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

One thing I've noticed is that the $EC schools are increasing enrollment, seemingly trying to get as big as they can be, maybe to combat the huge student bodies of the Big 10.

And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

That is absolutely wild to drop that many students!

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

Because of the greed for money by universities and student athletes and the high cost of entertainment for fans?

(11-02-2026 12:06 PM)Kat1990 Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 11:39 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

That is absolutely wild to drop that many students!

That's the trend among schools in the MAC and the reason no university president is going allow his athletic program to move to a conference in the rust belt (and perhaps the reason a MAC school or two will move into the SBC or CUSA).

Sorry to drag this a little further off topic.

(11-02-2026 12:06 PM)Kat1990 Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 11:39 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

One thing I've noticed is that the $EC schools are increasing enrollment, seemingly trying to get as big as they can be, maybe to combat the huge student bodies of the Big 10.

And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

That is absolutely wild to drop that many students!

And, of course, every speech in athletics seemingly starts out honoring McPhee talking about all of his "accomplishments". We hired a new head coach recently and it seemed as if half the press conference was feeding McPhee's ego. It's a joke, and the joke's on us, the alumni & fans.

I had missed 3 home football games combined in the last 26 years up until this year, when I missed the first 3 home games. They are driving even the most diehard folks away.

(11-02-2026 03:32 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(11-02-2026 12:06 PM)Kat1990 Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 11:39 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(10-31-2026 09:39 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  At some point, and this is just not a statement about Middle Tennessee, but college football in general. Somebody needs to ask that question…, Why are we gonna put all this money into new facilities when it’s blatantly obvious people just don’t care that much about college football anymore especially at the FCS and G6 level

One thing I've noticed is that the $EC schools are increasing enrollment, seemingly trying to get as big as they can be, maybe to combat the huge student bodies of the Big 10.

And, of course, MT zags while others zig........... getting smaller. We have gone from 26,500 down to 19k the last decade or so under the McPhee reign of error.

That is absolutely wild to drop that many students!

And, of course, every speech in athletics seemingly starts out honoring McPhee talking about all of his "accomplishments". We hired a new head coach recently and it seemed as if half the press conference was feeding McPhee's ego. It's a joke, and the joke's on us, the alumni & fans.

I had missed 3 home football games combined in the last 26 years up until this year, when I missed the first 3 home games. They are driving even the most diehard folks away.

Yep, two years in the AD as a GA and another full time. After that for over a decade I flew in from DC area about four or five times a season.

And now I have set foot on campus only one time since the championship game we hosted in 2018.

Any of you Middle Tennessee guys remember the Home and Home against Delaware back in 1977 and 1978? I have no idea why that was scheduled.

Anyway

I remember it because of a picture of the game in the newspaper and how green that Astro turf looked …. I had never seen Delaware on Astro Turf before that

(11-04-2026 08:57 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  Any of you Middle Tennessee guys remember the Home and Home against Delaware back in 1977 and 1978? I have no idea why that was scheduled.

Anyway

I remember it because of a picture of the game in the newspaper and how green that Astro turf looked …. I had never seen Delaware on Astro Turf before that

I only remember the beat downs. A terrible time for MT FB.

(11-04-2026 10:30 AM)SpaceRaider Wrote:  

(11-04-2026 08:57 AM)caribbeanhen Wrote:  Any of you Middle Tennessee guys remember the Home and Home against Delaware back in 1977 and 1978? I have no idea why that was scheduled.

Anyway

I remember it because of a picture of the game in the newspaper and how green that Astro turf looked …. I had never seen Delaware on Astro Turf before that

I only remember the beat downs. A terrible time for MT FB.

Well, you got one of them back this year