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Smatresk on the importance of revenue sports


Harry

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In case you haven’t seen it yet, Jenna Duncan, a writer here at the DRC who covers North Texas from the university side, wrote a great piece of Neal Smatresk for today’s paper.

UNT’s president talks about what’s ahead for the school and what has happened since he was hired back in 2013.

There is always material that doesn’t make the story that is of interest. And that brings us to Smatresk’s take on athletics and their importance to UNT’s efforts to become a Tier One institution.

“If we’re going to compete as a Tier One institution, our athletics teams need to compete as a Tier One institution as well,” Smatresk said. “So we need to expect to fund athletics in a way that’s consistent with success, and we need that success in turn to yield revenue streams that can support and sustain.

read more:  http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2015/08/the-sunday-leftovers-smatresk-on-the-importance-of-revenue-sports.html/

Edited by Harry
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Harry,

Can you put under the football board on GMG.com, "Coach Mac Neal Smaetresk is our leader and will take us to the promised land" ?

So is Smaetresk the guy who will "awake the sleeping giant? He is a progressive thinker where as the AD is not. Could that lead to tension a long with the fact that most of the major sports arent having success? Will he have the BOR's backing to do what necessary if he continues to lead this university so well? 

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So is Smaetresk the guy who will "awake the sleeping giant? He is a progressive thinker where as the AD is not. Could that lead to tension a long with the fact that most of the major sports arent having success? Will he have the BOR's backing to do what necessary if he continues to lead this university so well? 

I've posted this before--but I'd love for Neal Smatresk to just tell the BOR that I need $2 million to fix the revenue sports over and above the budget within the next two years. He needs it to buy out poor performing contracts for the two revenue sports and to make significant hires. Benford, you are gone as soon as a winning season is no longer possible or if we finish poorly and don't make at least the NIT. And if we are bad in football this year, Mac gets one more year to get us back to a bowl game in 2016 or he is done.

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I've posted this before--but I'd love for Neal Smatresk to just tell the BOR that I need $2 million to fix the revenue sports over and above the budget within the next two years. He needs it to buy out poor performing contracts for the two revenue sports and to make significant hires. Benford, you are gone as soon as a winning season is no longer possible or if we finish poorly and don't make at least the NIT. And if we are bad in football this year, Mac gets one more year to get us back to a bowl game in 2016 or he is done.

This ^

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Are buyouts ever paid by University-budgeted funds?

I always thought big-money donors were the ones funding buyouts.   Not just at UNT, but everywhere...

It probably is in most circumstances, but he would have to really sell the BOR on the fact that winning in revenue sports is a top priority and it has to start now. Benford cannot do it, obviously, and Mac has shown the ability to turn Dodge's recruits into something really solid, but his recruits have not been anything special yet.

Mac may have to be with us for a while, no matter what, but replacing Benford and even RV shouldn't be a problem. In basketball, you can get a winner here easier than in football, just because of the competitive environment that is college basketball and the NCAA Tournament. Its all about finding the next Gregg Marshall out there, a great mind with a knack for finding developable talent.

Football will always be a tougher sell because of the P5/G5 deal, as well as our history, but this is where a new AD could really help lift things off the ground. I would assume if Smatresk is serious about this and that this isn't just lip service to the fans, while winking at the BOR, RV's days as AD could actually be numbered, just because his hires and the revenue sports' records and attendance is just not good at all. But I do fear the BOR making it real clear in private that there is no way this place is going to pay more for athletics than we already do and that we will never buy out more than a year of a contract, ever...then its just business as usual around here.

 

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It probably is in most circumstances, but he would have to really sell the BOR on the fact that winning in revenue sports is a top priority and it has to start now. Benford cannot do it, obviously, and Mac has shown the ability to turn Dodge's recruits into something really solid, but his recruits have not been anything special yet.

Mac may have to be with us for a while, no matter what, but replacing Benford and even RV shouldn't be a problem. In basketball, you can get a winner here easier than in football, just because of the competitive environment that is college basketball and the NCAA Tournament. Its all about finding the next Gregg Marshall out there, a great mind with a knack for finding developable talent.

Football will always be a tougher sell because of the P5/G5 deal, as well as our history, but this is where a new AD could really help lift things off the ground. I would assume if Smatresk is serious about this and that this isn't just lip service to the fans, while winking at the BOR, RV's days as AD could actually be numbered, just because his hires and the revenue sports' records and attendance is just not good at all. But I do fear the BOR making it real clear in private that there is no way this place is going to pay more for athletics than we already do and that we will never buy out more than a year of a contract, ever...then its just business as usual around here.

 

His name is Scott Cross he isn't to far south of Denton. 

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