Fan meeting.

[UNT90]

42 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

So those who were in attendance, do you feel hopeful? Were you heard? It sounds positive, but was it really? 

My personal hope is the new AD can start fixing some things right away, things like customer service.  The ticket office can improve immediately and get consistently better over time. No one gets to Sewell service levels in just a year, but things CAN improve immediately. 

It sounds like some of the problems will take years to repair, things like 65 scholarship athletes in football and the need to sell games in basketball. Admitting a problem and starting to fix things are the key.

I'm also sure that other schools ARE going to use our are admitting troubles in recruiting against us. That will make things harder in some ways but might also attract players who want to grow a program. Those players do exist, they can be found and they really can build a program. 

 

I think we will know for certain when the new AD is announced. If the choice is Hank, this was just a dog and pony show to appease the peasants. 

But if it's a qualified candidate who has done it before, I will be full of hope until given reason not to be. 

Very, very, very critical decision going forward. 

Oh, and no bathrooms or showers in the new basket practice facility. Yes, you heard that correctly.

Edited June 28, 2016 by UNT90

[wardly]

So the consultants charged with evaluating the Athletic  Department  were aware of an audit but didn't know what it was for? Surely you jest.

[oldguystudent]

3 minutes ago, wardly said:

So the consultants charged with evaluating the Athletic  Department  were aware of an audit but didn't know what it was for? Surely you jest.

As an accountant myself, some of the words that Michael used like engagement letter and non-disclosure agreements suggest to me that he knows exactly what is going on, but is contractually bound to not speak of it.  

[wardly]

So does anyone know what the audit is about?

[UNT90]

18 minutes ago, wardly said:

So the consultants charged with evaluating the Athletic  Department  were aware of an audit but didn't know what it was for? Surely you jest.

They aren't conducting the audit and made it pretty clear they are simply serving as advisors to the president. 

Dont know if it's a financial or management audit (that exact question was asked and they didn't have that answer). I'm hoping both.

Edited June 28, 2016 by UNT90

[MeanGreenTexan]

13 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

I hope that Trip and Michael browse through some of these topics to look for additional feedback.  

Last night the athletic department as a whole received most of the criticism, and rightfully so.  However, in order to fix this thing and get it moving in the right direction it will take more than just a new AD.

One of the things that Benford and Littrell both mentioned was the fact that they are required to play guaranteed/paycheck games.  I don't put this requirement solely on the shoulders of the AD.  I believe this is an area that Pres Smatresk and Brint Ryan can specifically look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are really committed to having an athletic program that is competitive with our G5 peers.  

We are requiring the basketball team to raise roughly $250k via guarantee games and the football team to raise around $1M via guarantee games (paycheck - FCS).  If the university is serious about fixing this thing then fund the athletic department with enough support to eliminate these games.  According to the last numbers that I saw, the university is providing roughly $9M of institutional support.  This from a university with over $800M in annual revenues. 

If Pres Smatresk and Mr. Ryan are serious then look in the mirror and address this unnecessary burden we place on our teams.  Fund the program in such a way that they can schedule for success as well as put together the most attractive home schedules as possible.  This should be a no brainer to fix if we are really serious about making substantive change.

I understand that this is an athletics-focused message board, but please remember that the University of North Texas is an institution of higher learning.  We cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.  
Pres Smatresk & Chairman Ryan (along with the rest of the BOR) have a difficult job of properly funding every academic/extra-curricular/facility program under the University umbrella with a fixed budget.

If the athletics department needs more money to be successful, that should be part of the new Athletic Director's job description.

Asking the University for more funds (which equals asking to underfund another department) is the same kind of request as asking for the student athletics fee to increase substantially.  There are private funds/boosters out there.  If the new Athletic Director can find them and create inventive ways for them to give, the budget can increase without putting un-necessary burdens on students or our academic departments.

[UNT90]

IF UNT hires the right guy, I think y'all will be shocked at the inflow of money into this program.

Edited June 28, 2016 by UNT90

[TreeFiddy]

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I understand that this is an athletics-focused message board, but please remember that the University of North Texas is an institution of higher learning.  We cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.  
Pres Smatresk & Chairman Ryan (along with the rest of the BOR) have a difficult job of properly funding every academic/extra-curricular/facility program under the University umbrella with a fixed budget.

If the athletics department needs more money to be successful, that should be part of the new Athletic Director's job description.

Asking the University for more funds (which equals asking to underfund another department) is the same kind of request as asking for the student athletics fee to increase substantially.  There are private funds/boosters out there.  If the new Athletic Director can find them and create inventive ways for them to give, the budget can increase without putting un-necessary burdens on students or our academic departments.

I disagree. If they are using athletics as a very visible window to the university then it is worthy of funding it at a level that allows the programs to compete at the highest levels. 

UNT's level of institutional support is low when compared to some of our peers. For example, WKU provides $15M of institutional support to athletics and they are half the size of UNT. 

This isn't all on the AD's shoulders. Show that the university is truly serious by getting outside of our historical comfort zone and fund this thing at levels consistent with the top programs in the G5. 

Get out of our comfort zone. Show that we are committed like never before. Do more than check the box. 

[MeanGreenHoops]

2 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

I disagree. If they are using athletics as a very visible window to the university then it is worthy of funding it at a level that allows the programs to compete at the highest levels. 

UNT's level of institutional support is low when compared to some of our peers. For example, WKU provides $15M of institutional support to athletics and they are half the size of UNT. 

This isn't all on the AD's shoulders. Show that the university is truly serious by getting outside of our historical comfort zone and fund this thing at levels consistent with the top programs in the G5. 

Get out of our comfort zone. Show that we are committed like never before. Do more than check the box. 

Agree. As @meanrob said in another thread, most of this thing can be fixed pretty easily by having good leadership. But, you have to start treating this like a marketing thing. ROI may not be shown for awhile. It might take some years of big revenue losses. But you have to show the stakeholders that you are serious about being successful. And this means investing. Give us a plan and ask us for help. Then invest in it.

[untbowler]

27 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I understand that this is an athletics-focused message board, but please remember that the University of North Texas is an institution of higher learning.  We cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.  
Pres Smatresk & Chairman Ryan (along with the rest of the BOR) have a difficult job of properly funding every academic/extra-curricular/facility program under the University umbrella with a fixed budget.

If the athletics department needs more money to be successful, that should be part of the new Athletic Director's job description.

Asking the University for more funds (which equals asking to underfund another department) is the same kind of request as asking for the student athletics fee to increase substantially.  There are private funds/boosters out there.  If the new Athletic Director can find them and create inventive ways for them to give, the budget can increase without putting un-necessary burdens on students or our academic departments.

Well unfortunately UNT had that chance to fully fund athletics and our weasel of a Chancellor refused to fight for it down in Austin and we got saddled with restrictions on our athletics fee unlike any other university, blame Lee Jackson for this garbage under his terrible leadership or lack of leadership.

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

I disagree. If they are using athletics as a very visible window to the university then it is worthy of funding it at a level that allows the programs to compete at the highest levels. 

UNT's level of institutional support is low when compared to some of our peers. For example, WKU provides $15M of institutional support to athletics and they are half the size of UNT. 

This isn't all on the AD's shoulders. Show that the university is truly serious by getting outside of our historical comfort zone and fund this thing at levels consistent with the top programs in the G5. 

Get out of our comfort zone. Show that we are committed like never before. Do more than check the box. 

I cannot speak for how/why WKU spends their money on athletics the way they do, but I don't see them on the Carnegie Tier 1 research institution list like UNT.

You realize you're essentially saying "lets take money away from our stellar Education/Music departments, or our emerging Science programs, or our CoBA, etc..." when you say this, right?

Do we not need to "Show that the University is truly serious..." about those programs as well?   Is there some sort of hierarchy?  If so, I bet yours and Dr. Smatresk's are very different.

[oldguystudent]

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I cannot speak for how/why WKU spends their money on athletics the way they do, but I don't see them on the Carnegie Tier 1 research institution list like UNT.

You realize you're essentially saying "lets take money away from our stellar Education/Music departments, or our emerging Science programs, or our CoBA, etc..." when you say this, right?

Do we not need to "Show that the University is truly serious..." about those programs as well?   Is there some sort of hierarchy?  If so, I bet yours and Dr. Smatresk's are very different.

Who was the old guy that spoke last night about the need for a proper letterman's club?  I think he nailed it when he spoke of what it means to be a student athlete.  That this is a university, a place of education, and a "pretty darn good one."  We should never lose that focus.  It's a university first.  

[akriesman]

A big thank you to all of you who took the time to attend this meeting yesterday.

And, a big thank you to the university for reaching out to the fans in a candid manner.

This is all definitely a step in the right direction.

[MeanGreenTexan]

11 minutes ago, untbowler said:

Well unfortunately UNT had that chance to fully fund athletics and our weasel of a Chancellor refused to fight for it down in Austin and we got saddled with restrictions on our athletics fee unlike any other university, blame Lee Jackson for this garbage under his terrible leadership or lack of leadership.

"Restrictions" that, if played right, will never ever be exercised.  Lee Jackson is not a good Chancellor, but that is not a reason to rob any academic program to fund athletics. 

Also, as much as some of you people really hate it, UNT is attracting students because of the lower cost of tuition compared to other Universities.  We shouldn't saddle students with $600 of debt per year for athletics just because that's what UTSA & TX St does.   That's more money than a VAST MAJORITY of us pay per year in MGC donations.  

Again, the private funds/donors are out there.  We just need an Athletic Director who can find them and convince them to donate.  This is not rocket science.

[VideoEagle]

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

I think we will know for certain when the new AD is announced. If the choice is Hank, this was just a dog and pony show to appease the peasants. 

But if it's a qualified candidate who has done it before, I will be full of hope until given reason not to be. 

Very, very, very critical decision going forward. 

Good to know. I will be extremely disappointed if it is Hank. I be more likely to believe the whole "Hank tried but was over ruled" theory if they produced even one memo Hank sent suggesting something that was shot down. I don't think Hank is "evil," but I don't think he should be AD either. 

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

Oh, and no bathrooms or showers in the new basket practice facility. Yes, you heard that correctly.

What!?! How does that pass building code? Are they calling it a tent or a temporary office?

9 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Who was the old guy that spoke last night about the need for a proper letterman's club?  I think he nailed it when he spoke of what it means to be a student athlete.  That this is a university, a place of education, and a "pretty darn good one."  We should never lose that focus.  It's a university first.  

Very true. Don't lose focus on University first. And you can't really compare us universities in other states as their funding rules are quite different. 

[wardly]

It is my understanding that the consultants are involved in conducting the following audit : 1] Facility needs analysis.What needs upgrading. 2]Budget analysis. Does each sport have the funds to be successful. 3] Personnel analysis. Are employees compensated appropriately in relationship to their job description. When completed, a summary report will be compiled and submitted to the appropriate parties. .From the outside looking in, this appears to  an excellent exercise in "where are we now,where are we going, and how are we going to get there". It also appears that Trip was an excellent choice , and that my initial concerns of nepotism were unfounded.

[UNT90]

1 minute ago, VideoEagle said:

Good to know. I will be extremely disappointed if it is Hank. I be more likely to believe the whole "Hank tried but was over ruled" theory if they produced even one memo Hank sent suggesting something that was shot down. I don't think Hank is "evil," but I don't think he should be AD either. 

What!?! How does that pass building code? Are they calling it a tent or a temporary office?

Very true. Don't lose focus on University first. And you can't really compare us universities in other states as their funding rules are quite different. 

True story to the bolded, although let me qualify that it's definitely no showers, I may be incorrectly assuming no bathrooms, but I'm pretty sure that's the way I heard it.

As to the whole Hank deal, it was just pretty stunning to see the terrible culture of blaming everything on the guy that was just fired come to life. Why do important figures in UNT athletics follow the dysfunctional pattern of 100% support for the person while they are employed, but the moment they are fired, blame them for everything. 

Its just so off putting.

[NTEdgex2]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that there are plans to beef up our social media use.  Coach said they're looking to hire a couple of people to help with that.

GMG!

[Graddean]

 

As to the whole Hank deal, it was just pretty stunning to see the terrible culture of blaming everything on the guy that was just fired come to life. Why do important figures in UNT athletics follow the dysfunctional pattern of 100% support for the person while they are employed, but the moment they are fired, blame them for everything. 

Its just so off putting.

from personal experience, what else are you to do when the BOR publicly supports your superior?  You either resign or try to do the best you can for your institution and your colleagues.

[TreeFiddy]

4 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

"Restrictions" that, if played right, will never ever be exercised.  Lee Jackson is not a good Chancellor, but that is not a reason to rob any academic program to fund athletics. 

Also, as much as some of you people really hate it, UNT is attracting students because of the lower cost of tuition compared to other Universities.  We shouldn't saddle students with $600 of debt per year for athletics just because that's what UTSA & TX St does.   That's more money than a VAST MAJORITY of us pay per year in MGC donations.  

Again, the private funds/donors are out there.  We just need an Athletic Director who can find them and convince them to donate.  This is not rocket science.

I don't see it as quite the black and white as is being painted here.  Nothing personal, but IMO this is the type of thinking that has hindered our athletic program for years.  The excuse as to why not to fund the program at levels required to be competitive with its peers always uses the crutch of 'it will be at the expense of academic program X'.  Therefore, leadership feeds just enough crumbs so that we can check the box.

Notice that I AM NOT suggesting to increase the student fee although we should not apologize for having one and using it as appropriate and consistent with other universities.  There is a reasonable amount already coming from that source.  I am suggesting the university to increase its support.

Is UH an institution of higher learning?  What about Cincinatti?  East Carolina? ODU? Memphis? Boise (well, maybe bad example ;-)  ), SDSU?  On and on.  Look at programs in the MWC and AAC.  They are perceived to be a level above us.  If so, and those are the universities that we want to consider our peers then they are who we need to study and imitate.  Look at their support.  How do they do it?  Why can't UNT be expected to do the same?  Take advantage of our resources.  

We should have a huge advantage over many institutions based on our size and resources yet we seem to  continually apologize for having an athletics program and seem intent on making sure we don't somehow succeed because we might offend another area of the university.  

Once again it is time to fish or cut bait.  We faced this decision once before and we shat the bed by voluntarily moving down to AA.  Will we essentially repeat that decision by standing pat?  We demand different results but refuse to change the way it is supported/funded?  Crazy.  It requires investment.  An investment with an expected future return.  Investment comes with risk, but the rewards of having a nationally recognizable program and nationally recognized degree could far outweigh the risks.  Think of the alternative.

[UNT90]

1 minute ago, Graddean said:

 

As to the whole Hank deal, it was just pretty stunning to see the terrible culture of blaming everything on the guy that was just fired come to life. Why do important figures in UNT athletics follow the dysfunctional pattern of 100% support for the person while they are employed, but the moment they are fired, blame them for everything. 

Its just so off putting.

from personal experience, what else are you to do when the BOR publicly supports your superior?  You either resign or try to do the best you can for your institution and your colleagues.

If you publicly keep your mouth shut before, you publicly keep it shut after. That's what you do. And you don't use an underling lying for the guy that just got fired as a reason to promote said underling. 

This type of dysfunction really needs to end.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

From what I heard it sounds like it was a very positive meeting. Kudos to Pres. Smastresk for getting outside consultants who are actively engaging former student-athletes and the fans as much as possible. That has to be a step in the right direction if you ask me. Sounds like they are taking this very serious and trying to turn over as many rocks as possible. I do fear that the aforementioned audit is going to show some bad things that have been kept secret within the department for many years. Perhaps financially or otherwise, but better to find out about it now.

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

I don't see it as quite the black and white as is being painted here.  Nothing personal, but IMO this is the type of thinking that has hindered our athletic program for years.  The excuse as to why not to fund the program at levels required to be competitive with its peers always uses the crutch of 'it will be at the expense of academic program X'.  Therefore, leadership feeds just enough crumbs so that we can check the box.

Notice that I AM NOT suggesting to increase the student fee although we should not apologize for having one and using it as appropriate and consistent with other universities.  There is a reasonable amount already coming from that source.  I am suggesting the university to increase its support.

Is UH an institution of higher learning?  What about Cincinatti?  East Carolina? ODU? Memphis? Boise (well, maybe bad example ;-)  ), SDSU?  On and on.  Look at programs in the MWC and AAC.  They are perceived to be a level above us.  If so, and those are the universities that we want to consider our peers then they are who we need to study and imitate.  Look at their support.  How do they do it?  Why can't UNT be expected to do the same?  Take advantage of our resources.  

We should have a huge advantage over many institutions based on our size and resources yet we seem to  continually apologize for having an athletics program and seem intent on making sure we don't somehow succeed because we might offend another area of the university.  

Once again it is time to fish or cut bait.  We faced this decision once before and we shat the bed by voluntarily moving down to AA.  Will we essentially repeat that decision by standing pat?  We demand different results but refuse to change the way it is supported/funded?  Crazy.  It requires investment.  An investment with an expected future return.  Investment comes with risk, but the rewards of having a nationally recognizable program and nationally recognized degree could far outweigh the risks.  Think of the alternative.

But this is exactly what it is.   It is black & white.    There is a fixed budget.  
The budget allocates <$x-amount> to every program at the University (let alone facilities and other expenses).   If you're saying the University needs to give more money to athletics, and the budget remains fixed, then you are saying they must take money from some other program/programs.

Again, 
There are private funds/donors out there to augment the Athletics department.  It's the Athletic Director's job to find them.  

As long as we're comparing what other schools do: The Mean Green Club #s are PATHETIC.  Let's work on getting those #'s up to the level of the booster clubs for those other schools you mention.   Then, we won't need to bother with asking the University for more money.

The second bolded point is a nasty perception.   And when on the outside looking in, perception is reality... even if false.  It's tough to argue against you here because we have not had the proper leadership to prove that perception wrong.

As for fishing or cutting bait... I agree.  We have an opportunity now to get a guy in here who knows how to run a trotline rather than using a cane pole with a dead worm.

[UNT90]

4 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

From what I heard it sounds like it was a very positive meeting. Kudos to Pres. Smastresk for getting outside consultants who are actively engaging former student-athletes and the fans as much as possible. That has to be a step in the right direction if you ask me. Sounds like they are taking this very serious and trying to turn over as many rocks as possible. I do fear that the aforementioned audit is going to show some bad things that have been kept secret within the department for many years. Perhaps financially or otherwise, but better to find out about it now.

Yes, let the new AD know exactly what he is getting into and the pile of problems he will face. 

Oh, one other thing that has was said by either Mr. Securo or Trip Kuene was that Pres. Smatresk wanted this AD hire done in July. 

I hope it happens before July 15th. 

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

Yes, let the new AD know exactly what he is getting into and the pile of problems he will face. 

Oh, one other thing that has was said by either Mr. Securo or Trip Kuene was that Pres. Smatresk wanted this AD hire done in July. 

I hope it happens before July 15th. 

Wow, July. That is quick. I hope so too.