The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(12-14-2010 09:09 PM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(12-14-2010 07:55 AM)Flash FreaK 81 Wrote:  I hope he really is here for 15 years. It'll be hard for him to turn down big $$ but I really believe he'd like to stay.

Geno likes living in Kent and loves the challenge of his job. His wife and kids are settled here. I agree that he’d like to stay. But let’s not get carried away.

Not getting carried away at all. I said "I'd like him to stay" and I think "he'd like to stay." I didn't write that he would stay. I've followed college sports closely for a long time & I know that coaches who get big $$ offers seldon stay at the lower paying job (unless they are older...like a Charlie Coles).

(12-15-2010 06:55 AM)Flash FreaK 81 Wrote:  

(12-14-2010 09:09 PM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(12-14-2010 07:55 AM)Flash FreaK 81 Wrote:  I hope he really is here for 15 years. It'll be hard for him to turn down big $$ but I really believe he'd like to stay.

Geno likes living in Kent and loves the challenge of his job. His wife and kids are settled here. I agree that he’d like to stay. But let’s not get carried away.

Not getting carried away at all. I said "I'd like him to stay" and I think "he'd like to stay." I didn't write that he would stay. I've followed college sports closely for a long time & I know that coaches who get big $$ offers seldon stay at the lower paying job (unless they are older...like a Charlie Coles).

Check

Speaking with someone very close to Geno, they feel he is going to be another Charlie Coles. He wants to stay close to home and is happy doing what he is doing now. With the exception of the Ohio State job, which we know isn't coming knocking, he is VERY happy where he is and is planning on staying a long time. Remember, he already turned down Marshall, which was twice as much money to stay at Kent (not that it was his dream job)!!

(12-15-2010 06:50 AM)The Flash Wrote:  Should have spent the money wasted on Dix on a practice facility for the basketball team or auxilary facilities for the other sports to free the MACC.

Invest in your strengths! Kent State football is, was, and probably always will be irrelevant. I hate the spending on Dix at the expense of basketball growth.

The main problem at Kent is the way the Athletic Department is run. We have the highest paid: wrestling coach, field hockey coach, track coach, etc in the MAC. These sports give us NO income whatsoever!! If you look at the other MAC schools who have top notch facilities, they dont have an all around athletic department like Kent does. They put all of there money in Football and basketball and it pays off for them. They have top of the line facilities and practice facilities. And with funding to Universities getting cut, do you think Lefton is going to send more money to the athletic budget.. NOT!!!! We will have to give up on being good in other sports and an all around athletic department to be good in Football and Basketball.

How has putting all the money into basketball paid off for MAC schools that have lesser basketball programs than KSU? I'll grant their football has been superior, but those great facilities at NIU, EMU, UT, BSU, etc. have given them what? Teams that have multiple losing seasons and no post-season appearances.

I'm not saying we don't need better practice facilities, but other MAC schools are certainly no model to follow.

We need to give the coaches the tools that they say they need to be successful. Christian and Geno have both brought up the practice situation as an issue. Renovating the MACC may not be in the cards, but finding the money and/or other solution to the practice issue is a priority in my opinion.

(12-15-2010 11:20 AM)The Flash Wrote:  We need to give the coaches the tools that they say they need to be successful. Christian and Geno have both brought up the practice situation as an issue. Renovating the MACC may not be in the cards, but finding the money and/or other solution to the practice issue is a priority in my opinion.

Exactly. I’m in violent agreement that Geno is not looking and wants to stay. But the package to lure him away may include the circumstances to keep him successful, such as reliable access to his home court for practice.

I don't think success in the non-major sports and the major sports is an either/or proposition. The golf program is the model for the non-revenues, and greater funding can be found for football and basketball.

There is no need to weaken our strong programs. The kind of money we are talking about extracting is not enough to make that kind of big difference anyway.

(12-15-2010 11:52 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't think success in the non-major sports and the major sports is an either/or proposition. The golf program is the model for the non-revenues, and greater funding can be found for football and basketball.

There is no need to weaken our strong programs. The kind of money we are talking about extracting is not enough to make that kind of big difference anyway.

I totally disagree!! Gold funds itself through fundraising efforts! The other sports are nothing more than a drain on the athletic budget. Concentrate those funds on football, upgrade facilities, weightroom, coaches salaries and we might be more competitive. We could also concentrate more funds on basketball to keep recruiting high and upgrade those facilities as well. The only other sport besides gold that I can personally see raising significant $ for the program is baseball. Our football coaches salary and assistant coaches salary pool is one of the LOWEST in the country! not the MAC, but the country!

(12-15-2010 12:20 PM)pyle03 Wrote:  

(12-15-2010 11:52 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't think success in the non-major sports and the major sports is an either/or proposition. The golf program is the model for the non-revenues, and greater funding can be found for football and basketball.

There is no need to weaken our strong programs. The kind of money we are talking about extracting is not enough to make that kind of big difference anyway.

I totally disagree!! Gold funds itself through fundraising efforts! The other sports are nothing more than a drain on the athletic budget. Concentrate those funds on football, upgrade facilities, weightroom, coaches salaries and we might be more competitive. We could also concentrate more funds on basketball to keep recruiting high and upgrade those facilities as well. The only other sport besides gold that I can personally see raising significant $ for the program is baseball. Our football coaches salary and assistant coaches salary pool is one of the LOWEST in the country! not the MAC, but the country!

Spending money on football will be throwing good money after bad. Keep football at a level that won't embarrass us any more and put the money in a program that is and can continue to be a source of pride: Men's Basketball.

(12-15-2010 12:20 PM)pyle03 Wrote:  

(12-15-2010 11:52 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't think success in the non-major sports and the major sports is an either/or proposition. The golf program is the model for the non-revenues, and greater funding can be found for football and basketball.

There is no need to weaken our strong programs. The kind of money we are talking about extracting is not enough to make that kind of big difference anyway.

I totally disagree!! Gold funds itself through fundraising efforts! The other sports are nothing more than a drain on the athletic budget. Concentrate those funds on football, upgrade facilities, weightroom, coaches salaries and we might be more competitive. We could also concentrate more funds on basketball to keep recruiting high and upgrade those facilities as well. The only other sport besides gold that I can personally see raising significant $ for the program is baseball. Our football coaches salary and assistant coaches salary pool is one of the LOWEST in the country! not the MAC, but the country!

You totally disagree that we should model our non-revenue sports after the golf program? How is golf a drain on football and basketball? You think that money that they raised would have found itself to football somehow?

Baseball is another sport that has dramatically moved to being self-sustaining. I think this is the direction the non-revenues have to take, and I think there are enough involved alums, former athletes, etc. in those programs that can make it happen. I've been saying this for many years. And I think they can raise significant $ to keep their programs successful.

And I hate to see our failures in football being laid at the door of other sports. I really don't believe that's true. I think the people involved in football--coaches, players, AD's, etc. need to own that.

(12-15-2010 12:20 PM)pyle03 Wrote:  

(12-15-2010 11:52 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't think success in the non-major sports and the major sports is an either/or proposition. The golf program is the model for the non-revenues, and greater funding can be found for football and basketball.

There is no need to weaken our strong programs. The kind of money we are talking about extracting is not enough to make that kind of big difference anyway.

I totally disagree!! Gold funds itself through fundraising efforts! The other sports are nothing more than a drain on the athletic budget. Concentrate those funds on football, upgrade facilities, weightroom, coaches salaries and we might be more competitive. We could also concentrate more funds on basketball to keep recruiting high and upgrade those facilities as well. The only other sport besides gold that I can personally see raising significant $ for the program is baseball. Our football coaches salary and assistant coaches salary pool is one of the LOWEST in the country! not the MAC, but the country!

The sports you mention already rely largely on private donors. There isn’t some great windfall awaiting football or basketball by shutting them off.

Don’t assume the patrons that have made significant donations to sustain and upgrade “minor” sports such as wrestling and field hockey are going to throw their bucks toward basketball and football. Those I know who write those checks do it because they want a specific sport to continue at Kent State and realize it’s always going to get crowded out of our budget. So, as an example, their decision is supporting KSU Wrestling or another charitable cause, not wrestling or football.

Completely agree that football and basketball need major infusions of cash. Football fundraising has been much improved, with those funds dedicated to the items you mentioned. None of the cash recently raised for football is going anywhere else.

I thought the best quote in that article was when Coach Ford was talking about the team's innovative 2-3 defense, where, "Two guys play defense, and the other three stand around and watch."