MGB: Key questions UNT's new AD will face Part II -- Find a way to build support

TreeFiddy · May 28, 2016

Focus on making people want to be at the event. Unfortunately, giving away tickets is about as creative as the current AD staff has been able to muster. Weak sauce.

Winning more could be one angle, but I don't think it is the only solution given our history.

Someone mentioned having a minor league franchise background. Would not be a bad idea. They understand that it is not all about the performance on the field.

Figure out what drives people to WANT to be there. It has to be the total package. There are lots of things the AD could do to improve the game experience. One thing I would do is to try to figure out a way to get the entire Apogee parking lot full every weekend, with lots of people tailgating. Somehow figure out a way that non season ticket holders could get into the Apogee lots. Use Fouts as overflow. You may have to have designated areas for season ticket holders, but get everyone in the same general area. Make it more of a party atmosphere. Become known for our tailgating. Right now it is just a box that can be checked.

Cater to the attendees. Schedule as many games as possible during later afternoon/evening, especially in Aug/Sep/Oct. Bring in local bands that will play for cheap and have them play in the Apogee lot prior to games. Have chili cookoffs during the weekend of games. Have car rallys. Competitions of some sort. Encourage more overnight camping. Again, until the team performance starts generating its own attendance, get creative.

This is an area where current staffers seem to turn their noses. They all want to point to the team results and say "see, we can't do our job when the team isn't winning" That's BS. It's like having a sales person than can only sell when they have the clear cut best product at the lowest price.

Edited May 29, 2016 by TreeFiddy

Wag Tag · May 28, 2016

2 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:

Focus on making people want to be at the event. Unfortunately, giving away tickets is about as creative as the current AD staff has been able to muster. Weak sauce.

Winning more could be one angle, but I don't think it is the only solution given our history.

Someone mentioned having a minor league franchise background. Would not be a bad idea. They understand that it is not all about the performance on the field.

Figure out what drives people to WANT to be there. It has to be the total package. There are lots of things the AD could do to improve the game experience. One thing I would do is to try to figure out a way to get the entire Apogee parking lot full every weekend, with lots of people tailgating. Somehow figure out a way that non season ticket holders could get into the Apogee lots. Use Fouts as overflow. You may have to have designated areas for season ticket holders, but get everyone in the same general area. Make it more of a party atmosphere. Become known for our tailgating. Right now it is just a box that can be checked.

Cater to the attendees. Schedule as many games as possible during later afternoon/evening, especially in Aug/Sep/Oct. Bring in local bands that will play for cheap and have them play in the Apogee lot prior to games. Have chili cookoffs during the weekend of games. Have car rallys. Competitions of some sort. Encourage more overnight camping. Again, until the team performance starts generating its own attendance, get creative.

This is an area where current staffers seem to turn their noses. They all want to point to the team results and say "see, we can do our job!" That's BS. It's like having a sales person than can only sell when they have the clear cut best product at the lowest price.

An empty seat is an opportunity lost! If you can't sell then do what you can to get a butt in it! Wing It, gives us a neat section to do promo's. You get 2,500 in the wing With some posting on SM you could reach another 5,000! SM could help drive attendance and interest! The tailgate and stadium in North Texas area is second to none!

UNT90 · May 28, 2016

Wingzone seats are dirt cheap. Point being is even if you give them away at this point in time, people STILL wouldn't use them.

Two huge things UNT must do:

Hire an outstanding, overachieving athletic director.

Win at football.

In that order.

Edited May 28, 2016 by UNT90

foutsrouts · May 29, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

Wingzone seats are dirt cheap. Point being is even if you give them away at this point in time, people STILL wouldn't use them.

Two huge things UNT must do:

Hire an outstanding, overachieving athletic director.

Win at football.

In that order.

Unfortunately, it's probably going to take a year or two before we can even start speculating as to whether or not our new AD is going to be outstanding. It has pretty much been that way since at least the old days when the head FB coach was also generally the AD. Of course a knockout basketball hire and a baseball program could speed up that evaluation process considerably. I still haven't heard a lot of names thrown around out there that overly impress me.

SilverEagle · May 29, 2016

14 hours ago, foutsrouts said:

Unfortunately, it's probably going to take a year or two before we can even start speculating as to whether or not our new AD is going to be outstanding. It has pretty much been that way since at least the old days when the head FB coach was also generally the AD. Of course a knockout basketball hire and a baseball program could speed up that evaluation process considerably. I still haven't heard a lot of names thrown around out there that overly impress me.

Two years? We better know much sooner than that.

oldguystudent · May 30, 2016

22 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Two years? We better know much sooner than that.

Let's be fair about something. There are a whole bunch of bridges to be mended and new relationships to build. Ain't gonna happen in a week.

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

17 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Let's be fair about something. There are a whole bunch of bridges to be mended and new relationships to build. Ain't gonna happen in a week.

If Benford isn't let go within a month after the AD hire, I'll be very leery of the same ole same ole at UNT.

What this program needs to do is prove to people that it isn't the same old UNT that everyone became ambivalent to under Rick Villarreal. It will take time while winning to bring attendance levels back up.

Let's hope terrible decisions that decrease attendance and alienate fans, like a steep hike to club seats after the worst football season in the history of the university, are in the review mirror.

The AD decision and actions taken soon after that hire will tell us a lot.

oldguystudent · May 30, 2016

4 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

If Benford isn't let go within a month after the AD hire, I'll be very leery of the same ole same ole at UNT.

What this program needs to do is prove to people that it isn't the same old UNT that everyone became ambivalent to under Rick Villarreal. It will take time while winning to bring attendance levels back up.

Let's hope terrible decisions that decrease attendance and alienate fans, like a steep hike to club seats after the worst football season in the history of the university, are in the review mirror.

The AD decision and actions taken soon after that hire will tell us a lot.

I hadn't thought about the Benford issue. That's an interesting sticky wicket, isn't it? Should be a good indication as to who's running things.

Also, short-term, mid-term, and long-term, will be interesting to see if there's a "We can't do that" mentality.

Edited May 30, 2016 by oldguystudent

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

Just now, oldguystudent said:

I hadn't thought about the Benford issue. That's an interesting sticky wicket, isn't it? Should be a good indication as to who's running things.

Not letting him go before the season is another "screw you" to the fan base. I think the RV firing was being negotiated at basketball season's end and therefore Smatresk didn't want to make a move until step one was complete. Step two is naming a new AD, and step 3 is firing Benford and hiring a new coach.

If this isn't the case, it's not a good sign going forward.

oldguystudent · May 30, 2016

Just now, UNT90 said:

Not letting him go before the season is another "screw you" to the fan base. I think the RV firing was being negotiated at basketball season's end and therefore Smatresk didn't want to make a move until step one was complete. Step two is naming a new AD, and step 3 is firing Benford and hiring a new coach.

If this isn't the case, it's not a good sign going forward.

As you know, I don't know a thing about basketball. If they fire Benford over the summer, do they put in an interim for the 16-17 season, or is there a viable market for a new long-term coach?

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

2 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

As you know, I don't know a thing about basketball. If they fire Benford over the summer, do they put in an interim for the 16-17 season, or is there a viable market for a new long-term coach?

I think there is still a viable market, it will just require more work (all the end of year coaches conferences have passed). Which again makes it an indicator whether things have truly changed or not.

Ben Gooding · May 30, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

If Benford isn't let go within a month after the AD hire, I'll be very leery of the same ole same ole at UNT.

What this program needs to do is prove to people that it isn't the same old UNT that everyone became ambivalent to under Rick Villarreal. It will take time while winning to bring attendance levels back up.

Let's hope terrible decisions that decrease attendance and alienate fans, like a steep hike to club seats after the worst football season in the history of the university, are in the review mirror.

The AD decision and actions taken soon after that hire will tell us a lot.

Read no more after this. This is absolutely asinine to think, let alone say. You can't truly expect an AD to come in and immediately start Donald Trumping everyone from the get go.

Cerebus · May 30, 2016

41 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

Read no more after this. This is absolutely asinine to think, let alone say. You can't truly expect an AD to come in and immediately start Donald Trumping everyone from the get go.

UNT90 please realize where you are. Ben Gooding is being the reasonable voice of moderation to one of your posts. BEN. GOODING.

If that doesn't lead to some searching introspection you may be a lost cause.

TreeFiddy · May 30, 2016

I go back to an earlier post. The ADept needs to focus on making people want to be there and put butts in seats, regardless of the current on field/court performance .

The coaches are responsible for on field/court performance.

The ADir is responsible for making sure both sides do their jobs.

Recently, neither side has done their jobs, which is why we shouldn't just be evaluating the performance of our coaches.

We have some departments within the AD that are producing measurable positive results. We have others that are underperforming our peers. The underperforming groups should be evaluated to understand the root cause and take corrective action where appropriate.

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

13 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

UNT90 please realize where you are. Ben Gooding is being the reasonable voice of moderation to one of your posts. BEN. GOODING.

If that doesn't lead to some searching introspection you may be a lost cause.

Lol. Problem is Ben is wrong. Read the thread title. To get people engaged/re-engaged, you can't keep being the same tired, losing thing that you have always been. Not replacing Benford within a month of the new hire is giving off the same, tired vibe.

I mean, it would literally take about 2 to 3 hours to evaluate Benford's time here and come to the obvious conclusion that he should have been gone years ago. This isn't some deep, time consuming process. Doing anything else just shows the same old cross your fingers and hope for the best ideology that has been this program's approach throughout the Benford era.

Ya, it'll be a delayed firing and a harder coaching search. So what. Suck it up and earn your $375k or more paycheck, Mr. Athletic Director. We haven't seen someone do that in years around here. That is what would impress people that still pay attention to UNT sports.

Edited May 30, 2016 by UNT90

UNTFan23 · May 30, 2016

2 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

As you know, I don't know a thing about basketball. If they fire Benford over the summer, do they put in an interim for the 16-17 season, or is there a viable market for a new long-term coach?

I doubt there will be much interest in the job given how close to the start of the season the search will take place. I doubt we'd have a new coach named before August if that is the route the new AD takes.

I don't see the point in giving Benford the boot and installing an interim coach. We'll still be paying out Benford's final year of his contract regardless of whether he on the sideline or not. An interim coach pretty much assures we finish yet another season under .500. I could see a mid-season firing though, perhaps in February.

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

9 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

I doubt there will be much interest in the job given how close to the start of the season the search will take place. I doubt we'd have a new coach named before August if that is the route the new AD takes.

I don't see the point in giving Benford the boot and installing an interim coach. We'll still be paying out Benford's final year of his contract regardless of whether he on the sideline or not. An interim coach pretty much assures we finish yet another season under .500. I could see a mid-season firing though, perhaps in February.

It's one of 128 jobs of its type that exist in America. Lack of interest will likely be much more related to recent athletic performance. The good thing is JJ proved you can parley UNT into a better job, something football didn't have going for it. So there is that.

Try to expect something different than the last 15 years for a change. I know it's hard for a lot of you, but please, dare to dream that UNT will actually start acting like a FBS program. After all, now is the time to dream that dream, a time when it appears that dream is actually attainable. A period that may extend or end with the announcement of the next AD.

Try to be just a bit more positive. I mean, positivity is what you have been calling for on this board for the last 6 months, now you want to say improvements aren't possible?

Edited May 30, 2016 by UNT90

UNTFan23 · May 30, 2016

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

It's one of 128 jobs of its type that exist in America. Lack of interest will likely be much more related to recent athletic performance. The good thing is JJ proved you can parley UNT into a better job, something football didn't have going for it. So there is that.

Try to expect something different than the last 15 years for a change. I know it's hard for a lot of you, but please, dare to dream that UNT will actually start acting like a FBS program. After all, now is the time to dream that dream, a time when it appears that dream is actually attainable. A period that may extend or end with the announcement of the next AD.

Try to be just a bit more positive. I mean, positivity is what you have been calling for on this board for the last 6 months, now you want to say improvements aren't possible?

You're so blinded by your vitriol that you don't want to take things into perspective. I can't recall the last time a new basketball coach was hired during the summer. I suspect we'd have find an assistant somewhere, perhaps from an NAIA or Div 2 school. Given the lack of "demand" for a new coach, I think we'd likely have to overpay for an under-qualified coach.

As I previously stated, canning Benford and elevating an assistant, likely Monarch, as the interim coach really does the program no good. You're making a change, yes, but then hitting the pause button for 9 months until a new coach is actually hired. You lose out on possible recruiting for a full season and team morale likely takes a serious hit. It can't be much worse if Benford was allowed to stay on.

TreeFiddy · May 30, 2016

The only way I see making a change at this point is if someone is available that you really want. If so, go for it. If not, it is more likely you start the season with the current staff.

Harry · May 30, 2016

23 is correct, you would severely hamper your coaching pool prospects if you dropped Benford now. Good coaches will come available after next season. If Benford starts slow I could see them make a change during the season and go with an interim.

Ben Gooding · May 30, 2016

1 hour ago, Cerebus said:

UNT90 please realize where you are. Ben Gooding is being the reasonable voice of moderation to one of your posts. BEN. GOODING.

If that doesn't lead to some searching introspection you may be a lost cause.

I feel as if this is a jaded compliment and a backhanded insult. And I may be wrong in how I approach my words at times, but I try to just call it how I see it while trying not to be overly bias.

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

36 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

You're so blinded by your vitriol that you don't want to take things into perspective. I can't recall the last time a new basketball coach was hired during the summer. I suspect we'd have find an assistant somewhere, perhaps from an NAIA or Div 2 school. Given the lack of "demand" for a new coach, I think we'd likely have to overpay for an under-qualified coach.

As I previously stated, canning Benford and elevating an assistant, likely Monarch, as the interim coach really does the program no good. You're making a change, yes, but then hitting the pause button for 9 months until a new coach is actually hired. You lose out on possible recruiting for a full season and team morale likely takes a serious hit. It can't be much worse if Benford was allowed to stay on.

Status quo man to the end. Expecting better isn't vitriolic, it's something that's been needed at UNT for a very very very long time.

At some point I hope you can get over the butt hurt of RV's dismissal and get on with UNT sports life.

With only so many jobs available, it's sellers market. UNT just needs to sell.

Edited May 30, 2016 by UNT90

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

At least one D1 university disagrees with 23's "you can't hire a head coach now, by God! That's not how college basketball worked in 1992" philosophy. From 2 days ago:

http://hoopdirt.com/breaking-reggie-witherspoon-named-head-coach-at-canisius/

And that's from an extremely brief Internet search.

Like I said, the plan all along may have been to work out RV's exit, hire a new AD, and then let the new AD make the Benford fire. I mean, how many coaches can Smatresk be in charge of hiring, after all.

That makes logical sense. If the RV firing has been under negotiation for quite some time, so may have been the search for his replacement, who may be named mere days after RV's exit. That hire may already be in place and may have already know what he wants to do with Benford and may have already starts an unofficial search of his own.

Hey, a guy can dream. I dream of change and success, 23 dreams of 1992.

UNTFan23 · May 30, 2016

8 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Status quo man to the end. Expecting better isn't vitriolic, it's something that's been needed at UNT for a very very very long time.

At some point I hope you can get over the butt hurt of RV's dismissal and get on with UNT sports life.

With only so many jobs available, it's sellers market. UNT just needs to sell.

Label as me (and others) as accepting the status quo but you can easily make a bad situation worse by making a poor hire with a limited applicant pool.

This is far from a seller's market. I'd even go so far as to say it's not even a buyer's market. I believe NT would be the only school looking to make a hire this close to the start of the season. If we go this route, NT will be desperate for a coach and thus anyone that the new AD feels might be decent fit could name his price and we'd have little to no choice on what they will make. I hope the AD would only offer a three year contract that way if he doesn't work out after a year or two the financial exposure is minimal.

I just hope you don't get butt hurt when the new AD doesn't fire Benford as his/her first order of business.

2 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

At least one D1 university disagrees with 23's "you can't hire a head coach now, by God! That's not how college basketball worked in 1992" philosophy. From 2 days ago:

http://hoopdirt.com/breaking-reggie-witherspoon-named-head-coach-at-canisius/

And that's from an extremely brief Internet search.

Like I said, the plan all along may have been to work out RV's exit, hire a new AD, and then let the new AD make the Benford fire. I mean, how many coaches can Smatresk be in charge of hiring, after all.

That makes logical sense. If the RV firing has been under negotiation for quite some time, so may have been the search for his replacement, who may be named mere days after RV's exit. That hire may already be in place and may have already know what he wants to do with Benford and may have already starts an unofficial search of his own.

Hey, a guy can dream. I dream of change and success, 23 dreams of 1992.

Considering NT hasn't fired Benford yet, this is premature. If we have a new AD named before July 1st, I'll consider ourselves lucky. If we fire Benford before July 15th, I'd wind the clock at 30 days before a new coach is named, putting the new coach arriving on campus right when school starts back up.

I just see getting a new coach in right before school starts as a bad idea resulting in the tanking of the 2016-2017 season when there is some pretty good talent on the roster.

Official practices can begin on September 30th, so the new coach will have 45 or so days to build a new coaching staff and then I'm sure have to teach a whole new offensive and defensive system. Hopefully all the players agree to stay with the team.

If this is the path of the Men's basketball program, I won't expect much for the 16-17 season.

Army of Dad · May 30, 2016

11 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Label as me (and others) as accepting the status quo but you can easily make a bad situation worse by making a poor hire with a limited applicant pool.

This is far from a seller's market. I'd even go so far as to say it's not even a buyer's market. I believe NT would be the only school looking to make a hire this close to the start of the season. If we go this route, NT will be desperate for a coach and thus anyone that the new AD feels might be decent fit could name his price and we'd have little to no choice on what they will make. I hope the AD would only offer a three year contract that way if he doesn't work out after a year or two the financial exposure is minimal.

I just hope you don't get butt hurt when the new AD doesn't fire Benford as his/her first order of business.

Considering NT hasn't fired Benford yet, this is premature. If we have a new AD named before July 1st, I'll consider ourselves lucky. If we fire Benford before July 15th, I'd wind the clock at 30 days before a new coach is named, putting the new coach arriving on campus right when school starts back up.

I just see getting a new coach in right before school starts as a bad idea resulting in the tanking of the 2016-2017 season when there is some pretty good talent on the roster.

Official practices can begin on September 30th, so the new coach will have 45 or so days to build a new coaching staff and then I'm sure have to teach a whole new offensive and defensive system. Hopefully all the players agree to stay with the team.

If this is the path of the Men's basketball program, I won't expect much for the 16-17 season.

Agree that the timing is an issue, but we've already seen what Benford is capable of. A (relatively) last minute replacement isn't likely to do worse than 12-20...