I figured he's been there well over a year now and accomplished some things so here are my thoughts. I'm thinking a few of you may have higher ratings than me, but that's what makes it a fun board.

1. Scheduling - Huge improvement no doubt, but further room to grow here. Soldier Field? A local BIG school comes to Huskie Stadium? More games in Florida, FIU, FAU, etc? Schedulepalloza, great idea. Got people talking. I actually like the basketball teams on our schedule. A-

2. Facilities upgrades - Nothing but a lot of talk from him so far. Some communication was supposed to happen in August, but we've heard very little. Was a good survey though. C-

3. Pup Club - His department seems to have dropped the ball here and they are trying to recover. Hopefully this gets a huge makeover by the time spring rolls around. T-Shirts and credentials sent out late. It will be so cold Saturday that my son probably will have to wear something else. D

4. The Yard - Great idea. A nice gathering place for people to get together and have a good time food, activities, tents, bands, etc. a nice job of making use of the land there. The people working in there are very helpful and friendly, great job of dealing with my son in the kids zone. A

5. Football Parking - I still think this could have been handled better. Maybe it was the fact there was a big change got people upset. I was ok with it, but others were either kicked out or just displaced. Next year there probably needs to be better clarity. People just didn't realize what was really needed to park where they wanted. Personally I like the more you pay over the years the better your spot should be concept. B

6. Premium upgrades - The coaches club and skybox areas are no doubt great ideas and gives us addtional revenue. Problem is you can only put lipstick on a pig for so long, people want nice things, but Huskie stadium really is not conducive for these sorts of things as it is currently configured. Hence not everything sold out. B

7. Champions Club - Could have been handled better. I've been going to that tent for years and have been counting on getting a decent lunch at least. A lack of communication forced a lot of people who were unaware that they were just getting some veggies, and some drinks now, and they have to go the Yard to buy food it they want it. C-

8. Minor improvements - A coat of paint on Huskie Stadium, canopys on the Yordan Center boxes, a new basketball floor. Well done here with minimal cost. A

9. Media - A swap of radio stations with U of I. Probably a bit of a downgrade, but not sure how important this is anyway. ESPN contract his somewhat beyond his control so can't grade him on that. A home game on a local cable/free tv station at least once a year would go a long way to get home viewers interested. Comcast? WGN? WPWR? Ususally these stations may be looking for content on a Saturday afternoon after baseball season is over. We can offer that a minimal cost to have them show D1 football. C

10. Marketing - Going to the outside to manage events at the Convo, dropping IMG interesting. At least the burden of managing facilities and any past scandals should no longer be an issue. Probably a smart move. Marketing the football schedule this year to get new season ticket holders was tough, probably did the best they could with what they had to work with. B

11. HAF - A remake that I went into through a couple points above. Also, they put a web site out there for the HAF that hasn't been touched by anyone since the day it went live. I even think there is still a "coming soon" link somewhere on there. Feel they could do a better job here of reaching out to existing donors and making them feel appreciated, on a more personable level. License plate holdes and some small giveaways are nice touches, again at minimal cost. C

Probably a few things I'm forgetting that you can contribute to.

My Overall grade: B-

I can't speak to some of those items but I'd give him an A+ on scheduling. And I was one of the biggest complainers about scheduling when Jiff was around. I'd like to see a game on Comcast but I'm not sure how feasible, and the radio station - I don't know how much he could do there. I was able to listen to the Presby football game's post-game show pretty much all the way home on the radio with no issues.

I feared we had another Compher with scheduling in Frazier's first year but as we found out the past few months, Frazier did MUCH work behind the scenes to fix this problem. He might not have landed a huge huge fish, but wow, how bad does Compher look now. My biggest hope going forward is that Frazier brings a bigger focus to NIU basketball. NIU is going to go 1 of 2 routes over the next 5 to 10 years, either move up in football conference and remain a football school. However, in my opinion, what might be even a stronger possibility is that NIU transitions more toward its longer term basketball identity, especially given the backdrop of whats happening in the p5 separation. Basketball should not be ignored completely because it could end up being the athletics lifeline in the not too distant future.

(10-01-2014 02:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I feared we had another Compher with scheduling in Frazier's first year but as we found out the past few months, Frazier did MUCH work behind the scenes to fix this problem. He might not have landed a huge huge fish, but wow, how bad does Compher look now. My biggest hope going forward is that Frazier brings a bigger focus to NIU basketball. NIU is going to go 1 of 2 routes over the next 5 to 10 years, either move up in football conference and remain a football school. However, in my opinion, what might be even a stronger possibility is that NIU transitions more toward its longer term basketball identity, especially given the backdrop of whats happening in the p5 separation. Basketball should not be ignored completely because it could end up being the athletics lifeline in the not too distant future.

Wow, I agree with you MD.


GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(10-01-2014 02:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Basketball should not be ignored completely because it could end up being the athletics lifeline in the not too distant future.

I agree 100%!

I don't think SF will forget about basketball, just that there's been a lot to do with football and he's trying to strike while the iron is hot. The BB team appears to be turning around so I'm sure he'll be working on that too. Maybe he'll get Duke to do a 1-1 with us. :-)

I've been saying this for years and I get bashed here every time I mention it. NIU has gotten good in ftball that's why its our sport. Also years ago the MAC decided to try and become a ftball first conference. The truth is NIU is just like EIU, ISU, SIU, WIU, BRADLEY, LOYOLA, DEPAUL, U of I and to some degree NORTHWESTERN as schools that love basketball. NIU has just been so bad at it that people lost interest. A few good seasons in a row will change that. NIU already has enough things in place to be a great basketball school. We are a great ftball school right now but we don't have enough money to get to a higher level in football. I really doubt we ever will but I do know we have enough to be a great basketball school.

(10-01-2014 02:03 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  I figured he's been there well over a year now and accomplished some things so here are my thoughts. I'm thinking a few of you may have higher ratings than me, but that's what makes it a fun board.

1. Scheduling - Huge improvement no doubt, but further room to grow here. Soldier Field? A local BIG school comes to Huskie Stadium? More games in Florida, FIU, FAU, etc? Schedulepalloza, great idea. Got people talking. I actually like the basketball teams on our schedule. A-

2. Facilities upgrades - Nothing but a lot of talk from him so far. Some communication was supposed to happen in August, but we've heard very little. Was a good survey though. C-

3. Pup Club - His department seems to have dropped the ball here and they are trying to recover. Hopefully this gets a huge makeover by the time spring rolls around. T-Shirts and credentials sent out late. It will be so cold Saturday that my son probably will have to wear something else. D

4. The Yard - Great idea. A nice gathering place for people to get together and have a good time food, activities, tents, bands, etc. a nice job of making use of the land there. The people working in there are very helpful and friendly, great job of dealing with my son in the kids zone. A

5. Football Parking - I still think this could have been handled better. Maybe it was the fact there was a big change got people upset. I was ok with it, but others were either kicked out or just displaced. Next year there probably needs to be better clarity. People just didn't realize what was really needed to park where they wanted. Personally I like the more you pay over the years the better your spot should be concept. B

6. Premium upgrades - The coaches club and skybox areas are no doubt great ideas and gives us addtional revenue. Problem is you can only put lipstick on a pig for so long, people want nice things, but Huskie stadium really is not conducive for these sorts of things as it is currently configured. Hence not everything sold out. B

7. Champions Club - Could have been handled better. I've been going to that tent for years and have been counting on getting a decent lunch at least. A lack of communication forced a lot of people who were unaware that they were just getting some veggies, and some drinks now, and they have to go the Yard to buy food it they want it. C-

8. Minor improvements - A coat of paint on Huskie Stadium, canopys on the Yordan Center boxes, a new basketball floor. Well done here with minimal cost. A

9. Media - A swap of radio stations with U of I. Probably a bit of a downgrade, but not sure how important this is anyway. ESPN contract his somewhat beyond his control so can't grade him on that. A home game on a local cable/free tv station at least once a year would go a long way to get home viewers interested. Comcast? WGN? WPWR? Ususally these stations may be looking for content on a Saturday afternoon after baseball season is over. We can offer that a minimal cost to have them show D1 football. C

10. Marketing - Going to the outside to manage events at the Convo, dropping IMG interesting. At least the burden of managing facilities and any past scandals should no longer be an issue. Probably a smart move. Marketing the football schedule this year to get new season ticket holders was tough, probably did the best they could with what they had to work with. B

11. HAF - A remake that I went into through a couple points above. Also, they put a web site out there for the HAF that hasn't been touched by anyone since the day it went live. I even think there is still a "coming soon" link somewhere on there. Feel they could do a better job here of reaching out to existing donors and making them feel appreciated, on a more personable level. License plate holdes and some small giveaways are nice touches, again at minimal cost. C

Probably a few things I'm forgetting that you can contribute to.

My Overall grade: B-

Didn't they change the tailgating on the east side last year to open it up to more people? Also the huge signs on Huskie Stadium is a nice minor cost change.

Frazier has stated that the bball home schedule will be upgraded next year. Frazier believes NIU can be great in both sports. He is going to decorate the Convo and make it warmer. Right know you go in there and you don't even know its NIU's stadium. The Convo is already big conference big program ready. The stadium not so much. Frazier is doing the best he can with what we have. Grade is an A-plus

I give Mr Frazier an A for accomplishing so much so soon with limited resources. He creatively makes their most of what he has to work with and he does a damn good job of it.

I hope Frazier can create a NCAA Hockey program at NIU. I think it would do very good things for the school, especially with how popular hockey is around here these days.

No! Adding Hockey would mean adding two new sports. There is no money at NIU.

He's the Athletic Director, not the Football Director or the Basketball Director.

Has Sean Frazier:

* Improved the the non-revenue sports?
* Are athletes graduating on time?
* What is the GPA of NIU student athletes?
* Are the athletes staying out of trouble?

All of this is important when "Grading Sean Frazier."

(10-01-2014 04:54 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  No! Adding Hockey would mean adding two new sports. There is no money at NIU.

...or removing 1 mens sport.

You would be getting rid of Tennis or Wrestling or Baseball. Hockey would cost a few more bucks than any of those sports. I am pretty sure there will not be a NCAA Hockey team here any time soon.

(10-01-2014 05:10 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  You would be getting rid of Tennis or Wrestling or Baseball. Hockey would cost a few more bucks than any of those sports. I am pretty sure there will not be a NCAA Hockey team here any time soon.

Baseball is required by the MAC...and AAC so that is not happening.

The MAC does not require Wrestling and the AAC does not sponsor Wrestling at all.

(10-01-2014 02:03 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  I figured he's been there well over a year now and accomplished some things so here are my thoughts. I'm thinking a few of you may have higher ratings than me, but that's what makes it a fun board.

2. Facilities upgrades - Nothing but a lot of talk from him so far. Some communication was supposed to happen in August, but we've heard very little. Was a good survey though. C-

While I agree with much that you have said, C- is based on your not knowing, not a lack of effort or progress. A while ago I had a conversation with someone in the Athletics Dept. that I truly believe to be in the know. I was told they are looking at some reallyBIG changes. While August may have been optomistic, there also needs to be approval which probably involves some sort of funding plan which may take quite a bit of time.

I wish I knew what was going on or what was approved, but I'll just have to wait.

I'm very impressed with Mr. Frazier's performance up to this point. He's accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I look forward to seeing/hearing about Huskie Stadium upgrades and the timetable

Well done Sean, well done.

A+

Club hockey is great. They play in Geneva. We've gone to a few games and it is great fun and cheap.