wardly

Guys, you are smoking crack if you think that a coach would turn down $2 million+ a year for 5 years vs $700,000 to do the same job. Would you? When you are hot you grab the brass ring. Remember when Littrell was hot? Regarding loyalty , his loyalty is too his family, not an institution that would have no qualms about showing him the door if things go south. This is a business decision that he may or may not have an opportunity to make. Lets not get our panties in a wad over something we can't control.

LSU is going to get hammered by the NCAA

Other than South Carolina I think most good head coaching jobs have been filled.

Tulsa is a good job with a rich history and a really nice arena.They have good fan support which softened recentlybecause several bad seasons that forced previous coach to resign [ He was head coach at Mizoo and left them for the Canes] I think it is a 7 figure gig plus its a good city to live in.

I saw where the New Mexico State coach was hired by Mississippi State. Just guessing but I would think if Mac is tempted to move it would be to a program in a major conference, not mid major. It is really hard to make the NCAA's in a one or two bid conference.

Love it!

The "going gets tough " comment is inappropriate . The Board of The University of Alabama controls the purse strings to UAB, and never supported their establishment of a football program. A few years ago Bear Bryant's son became chairman of the U of A Board and under his leadership eliminated Blazer football due to budgetary concerns. The biggest sticking point was their use of Legion Field, part of which was condemned as unsafe to use by the city. [My son is a UAB graduate and Legion Field made Foutts Field look like Jerry World]. At any rate , the UAB Administration got up in arms and with support of the Birmingham business community and the city itself, they were able have the U of A Board reverse its previous decision .By then Bear Jr had rolled off the U of A Board and UAB had a beautiful new stadium . {I think the city of Birmingham actually owns the stadium but am not sure. My son and I are attending the UNT/UAB game in October in order to see the new stadium] Regarding La. Tech being a classier act, they snubbed their noses at ULL and ULM, and even refused to play Monroe in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport about a decade ago. As a result, when the Sun Belt recently expanded their spokesperson said that the Belt already had two teams in Louisiana and a third would be redundant. Pay back can be a real bitch.

Unlike football, head basketball coaches schedule their own OOC games.

You were correct. Just comparing football conferences.

Dumb question. I was referring to PAC 12 football vs CUSA. I grew up in FT. Worth in lower middle class neighborhood and choices were either sign up for the draft [1961] or North Texas State. [ minimum wage was 75 cents an hour, tuition was $5 an hour plus $2.50 lab fee.]If I had it to do over again I would have gone into military and then college. What about you? Daddy have enough money for out of state tuition?

Our football glory years were in the 60's and 70's when the SEC and SWC were segregated and if a black athlete wanted to play in Texas NTSU was their primary option.

They see coaches move to perceived better opportunities and do the same. It's no different from you or I moving to a better job. I certainly would trade UCLA for UNT.

I wasn't comparing programs nor investments .Their new arena is equivalent to us replacing our men's gym with the Super Pitt.There were posts about TCU's stadium and I just thru UTA into the mix. However, if the Super Pit is so good [ and I am not saying it isn't although practices are a problem] why is a new dedicated basketball arena on Wren's master plan? Just to look good on paper next to our proposed baseball park?

Well, UNT is in Denton, and the Cougars are in Houston. Big difference in media coverage, access to alumni with deep pockets, and huge population. While they were in the SWC, AAC, and now Big 12, we were in Southland, Big West, Sun Belt, and ACC. I don't think we are comparing apples to apples with Houston in the conversation, and probably in another decade or so UTSA . While the Roadrunners have no success in basketball and very little in football they have a large city to draw fans and money from, and this years football team got very good media coverage . We seem to be doing a better job with fans in Dallas, but I don't understand why we have made little if any inroads into the Ft. Worth market. Our medical school partnership with TCU dissolved in January with the Horned Frogs going it alone. Perhaps a satellite campus is something to consider to increase visibility as well as fill a academic need.

Looks to me we are back to the question what do we want, what do we need, and what are we willing to pay for. We want a new arena, we need a new practice facility , we are starting from scratch to raise money unless there is a major donor on the $15 million range that we are unaware of. While the Super Pitt is too large, in my opinion it works as a basketball game venue but not for every day use. Life being a compromise I would opt for a new practice facility which certainly should be more attainable that a new 7,000 seat arena.[ While you are looking at arenas, check out UTA's new 7,000 seat arena.]

FYI, UTA has a 7,000 seat arena that looks very good.

We don't have a signature win, which is our problem. When you are a very good mid major program you are just held to a higher standard. I still don't see how Murry State gets so much love this yer.

I certainly appreciate Ernie basically funding this facility with a little help from his friends but I think if you ask him this was a stopgap from nothing to something. I think the Super Pit is oversized with 10,500 seats but does work for basketball games.However, until it can be replaced we need a do need a kick ass practice facility . It is sorely needed for recruiting. as well as practices. See Clinetort. We can agree on an issue. Now about our Congress........

Lets just agree to disagree. We have a men's basketball program that is on the rise and I would support either updating the Super Pitt [if possible ]or building a new arena before starting a new baseball program without an existing ball park from scratch.My same reasoning would put a new women's soft ball park ahead of baseball. If memory serves[ I am 79 so sometimes it may not ] UNT was required to raise 10% of the cost of our football stadium and bond the rest out. We had planned of a 36,000 seat stadium at a cost of $32 million. However it took longer that anticipated to raise the 10% and China was hosting the Olympics driving material costs sky high world wide. By the time we were able to build we had a 30,000 seat stadium at cost of $72 million. To put that in perspective, UTA just built a new basketball arena a few years ago that I think seats about 6,000 for the same $ 72 million. If I were to prioritize my wish list for bricks and sticks it would be to support our existing successful athletic programs first. Our basketball practice facility is a joke and would be first on my list, followed by a new state of the art soft ball park. We have a great soccer program so I would be supportive of their needs first. Finely, I probably will be dead and buried before either a new basketball arena or men's ball park is constructed so my give-a-shit meter is rising as we speak. I have been supportive of UNT athletics since my freshman year of 1961 both in involvement and financially to the best of my ability. I have briefly met Wren Baker once and I told him that I had always hoped the amount of money I contributed to athletics would no longer warrant a call from the Athletic Director. He asked have I not called you and my answer was no, and you won't, and he hasn't. Now that my personal goal has been met I can die a happy fan.

I would rather take the money it probably would take to build a state of the art baseball park and update the Super Pitt. I don't know that I would call it one of the best in the nation but its a good facility that needs updating. I suggested to a previous AD that we might be able to create a more intimate setting by blocking off and covering the upper seats for basketball. It's hard to fill a 10,500 seat arena . Just ask Texas. By the by, I don't proclaim to be the only financially responsible poster. Its just that I remember when Judy Nelson won the Women's Southland Conference championship and the athletic department asked me to buy the banner {$500}because they didn't have the money. We have certainly come a long way since then but I am opposed to creating unnecessary expenses, especially at this point in time. College sports is making the transition into unchartered waters regarding compensation for players starting with football. I would think that it would not stop with just one sport. Also in the next two years the P5 programs will be renegotiating there new tv contracts and we don't know how big the table scraps will be for the G5.s. If memory serves we got a boost moving to CUSA and then it was gone. In summary, until we get a better understanding of how the new "pay for play" environment will impact our budget as well as how much tv revenue we will get I think we should sit tight. By the way, I am curious as to how you would fund a baseball program , including the cost of a ball park. I don't think the season ticket you might buy along with a dog and 2 beers at the games you will attend will get the job done. I think Margaret Thatcher once said "socialism is great until you run out of other peoples money."

I don't believe that I have "ranted" but only expressed my opinion, as have you, regarding what I consider to be a financially irresponsible position in adding a baseball program. Regarding softball, we evidently inherited an adequate venue for our program that initially did not require a multi dollar investment by the university. In a perfect world I would support the construction of a new softball park to support our excellent women's program. I have never stated that I was not a baseball fan . I am just not a fan of pissing off millions of dollars just because someone thinks it would be a neat thing to have. Since you brought it up, perhaps you could contact the account for UNT athletics and get his take on the subject and share that information with us. In summary, I am bored with you, this conversation, and the subject matter. Strike 3.

Glad I can't count on you to fund a new ball park and the annual operating costs. Like every one else you don't care what the cost is as long as you are not paying for it, and I don't mean just buying season tickets. Most of us [ me included] are all mouth and no money when it come to committing the amount of financial support necessary for a viable program. Those who think we can draw 4,000 fans per game have not attended a men's basketball game in the past few years that despite a great men's team average attendance is 4,000. I suggest you check out our three local programs attendance before projecting fans in the stands remembering that these schools are in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Arlington, not isolated in Denton. Regarding being a national contender in 5 years, surely you jest. Please name me a start up program in any sport at any school that reach that height in 5 years. The only one that I can think of is Sam Houston's women's bowling team who won the NCAA national championship in that time frame with a start up program. Sports programs are just like business. What do you want, what do you need, and what are you willing to pay for, and by "you", I mean us.

We can't afford baseball. In fact, very few athletic programs can. My question is not that La. Tech can, but why SMU can not?

The new Texas basketball arena, if memory serves, was privately funded, which is a lot of zeros. Does any one have an idea what the cost would be to upgrade the Super Pitt and would it be funded by the university since its not a designated athletic facility or require donor financing ?

Nationally competitive in 5 years. Right.