La. Tech AD bails

[meangreen11]

 

[MeanGreenTeeth]

That seems like a step down. Was he going to get fired?

[akriesman]

29 minutes ago, MeanGreenTeeth said:

That seems like a step down. Was he going to get fired?

I can't imagine they would fire him.   La Tech accomplishes a lot with so little to work with.   Maybe they were going to ask him to take a pay cut due to Covid ?

Edited September 14, 2020 by akriesman

[drex]

28 covid positives that cost them a game this weekend.  Maybe management at LaTech is not a priority.

[greenjoe]

Or park cars on Saturday.

[UNTLifer]

@TechBulldog11 any news on this?

McClelland tweeted 15 minutes ago about some big scheduling news.  Maybe they got a home and home with Vanderbilt and he was part of the deal.

Edited September 14, 2020 by UNTLifer

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

Surprised a bit from this because they have been doing well in a lot of sports

[Aquila_Viridis]

Let's see ... Nashville or Ruston? Tough choice.

[techdawg88]

54 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

@TechBulldog11 any news on this?

McClelland tweeted 15 minutes ago about some big scheduling news.  Maybe they got a home and home with Vanderbilt and he was part of the deal.

Tech is playing at BYU on October 2 and Tech already has a future home & home w/ Vandy in the future

Edited September 14, 2020 by techdawg88

[97and03]

Wow is he going to be surprised when he finds out they have GPA requirements 

[MCMLXXX]

Could the financial situation be a factor.

It was a very thoughtful decision,” Tech Athletic Director Tommy McClelland told the News-Star on Tuesday afternoon. “And it goes both ways with the financial situation we’re currently facing that could progressively get worse.”

To take care of the total for all spring-sport student athletes, it would have cost the Louisiana Tech athletic department more than $300,000. With an athletic budget that pulled in just $37,560 in revenue for the 2019 fiscal year, curtailing that cost was a necessity.

https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2020/04/07/how-louisiana-tech-handling-spring-sport-athletes-extra-eligibility/2957318001/

Edited September 14, 2020 by MCMLXXX

[greenb.o.g.]

That's too bad. I appreciate a guy who speaks his mind and tells how it is.

In response to the possible C-USA/Sun Belt merger nonsense from earlier this year:

“Well, let me just be very frank and very direct — there is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest. And I think that’s – I don’t know how direct, I can be with that."

Conference USA needs more like him.

Edited September 14, 2020 by greenb.o.g.

[VideoEagle]

33 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

Wow is he going to be surprised when he finds out they have any admission requirements 

Fixed it for you.

[meanrob]

28 minutes ago, greenb.o.g. said:

That's too bad. I appreciate a guy who speaks his mind and tells how it is.

In response to the possible C-USA/Sun Belt merger nonsense from earlier this year:

“Well, let me just be very frank and very direct — there is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest. And I think that’s – I don’t know how direct, I can be with that."

Conference USA needs more like him.

I disagree. I’m not completely on board with a merger but everything should be on the table. Because what CUSA is doing right now isn’t working and going status quo is asinine. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 minute ago, meanrob said:

I disagree. I’m not completely on board with a merger but everything should be on the table. Because what CUSA is doing right now isn’t working and going status quo is asinine. 

That doesn't mean a conference "merger" with the Sun Belt is a good idea... it just means someone took the name recognition of C-USA (which, we're barely hanging onto), and has driven it into the ground with lackluster leadership.   Remedy the top and it will get better.

[TIgreen01]

I don’t know why everyone wants to blame the conference commissioner for everything.  It seems to me that the leadership can’t do squat when all (almost all) of your member institutions suck at most sports.

When is the last time CUSA had a weekend like what the SBC just pulled off? 

[VideoEagle]

5 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

I don’t know why everyone wants to blame the conference commissioner for everything.  It seems to me that the leadership can’t do squat when all (almost all) of your member institutions suck at most sports.

When is the last time CUSA had a weekend like what the SBC just pulled off? 

Conference commissioners do what University Presidents tell them to do. 

[meanrob]

28 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

That doesn't mean a conference "merger" with the Sun Belt is a good idea... it just means someone took the name recognition of C-USA (which, we're barely hanging onto), and has driven it into the ground with lackluster leadership.   Remedy the top and it will get better.

I didn’t say it was a good idea but at this point any ideas should be discussed. There is no name recognition. Our TV deal stinks. We’re too big and far flung. We’re not competitive. 

Would I like a change at the top? Yes 

Am I naive enough to believe that would fix everything? No

We need to do something bold as a league and half brained ideas like pod play won’t fix it. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by meanrob

[RiseUNT]

8 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

Conference commissioners do what University Presidents tell them to do. 

Don’t even waste your time saying this. Some people just don’t care about the truth.

[MeanGreenTexan]

7 minutes ago, RiseUNT said:

Don’t even waste your time saying this. Some people just don’t care about the truth.

The Presidents vote on the Commissioner, sure.  But if you think they are more active in the conference activities than that, you're sorely mistaken.   It's her show to run.  She's the one negotiating TV deals, Bowl games, and everything else... not a 14-President panel.   They have their own Universities to run.

[DallasGreen]

Ask SMU about how they fared against an FAU team lacking their coach and a half dozen players. That’s what it would take to raise CUSA but our players, coaches , and students are content as whipping boys for SMU. Cancel the series as it is just an embarasment not a game!!

On 9/13/2020 at 12:58 PM, TechBulldog11 said:

UL-L has repeatedly tried to get into CUSA but we (along with USM) have been in opposition. They might not even want to move now that the belt has improved a little bit.

Personally, I would not be against letting UL-L in under the condition that they go by their state mandated name UL-L and drop the UL/University of Louisiana crap. 

 

[VideoEagle]

8 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

The Presidents vote on the Commissioner, sure.  But if you think they are more active in the conference activities than that, you're sorely mistaken.   It's her show to run.  She's the one negotiating TV deals, Bowl games, and everything else... not a 14-President panel.   They have their own Universities to run.

I was told a while back that every strategy is run by a committee of Presidents for approval before being implemented. That included media negotiation strategies, but that was back when Banowski was commissioner. It's possible they have voted more freedom of action for MacLeod but I doubt they voted much more freedom. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 minute ago, VideoEagle said:

I was told a while back that every strategy is run by a committee of Presidents for approval before being implemented. That included media negotiation strategies, but that was back when Banowski was commissioner. It's possible they have voted more freedom of action for MacLeod but I doubt they voted much more freedom. 

True.   Consider that committee of Presidents like UNT's BOR.   They're a final stamp on the work that President Smatresk & the University has done to present to them.   
The BOR aren't going to get in and mix it up with construction companies to find the best deals for new buildings and whatnot, but they'll sign-off, or nix proposals brought to them by the University.   

Likewise, the C-USA presidents aren't on the phones with ESPN/Fox/etc... either.  They'll take what they can get.  Which, unfortunately with current C-USA leadership, our choices are not much, or even less.   And I know we have some pretty crappy teams, but that is only going to get perpetually worse because those struggling schools aren't getting any kind of financial resources from the broadcast deals to help with things like upgrading facilities or hiring better coaches, and it's very clear their boosters aren't gonna do it for them.    It's Judy & Co's job to SELL C-USA to the networks and negotiate for more.   Not just accept scraps thrown their way.

[TIgreen01]

12 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

True.   Consider that committee of Presidents like UNT's BOR.   They're a final stamp on the work that President Smatresk & the University has done to present to them.   
The BOR aren't going to get in and mix it up with construction companies to find the best deals for new buildings and whatnot, but they'll sign-off, or nix proposals brought to them by the University.   

Likewise, the C-USA presidents aren't on the phones with ESPN/Fox/etc... either.  They'll take what they can get.  Which, unfortunately with current C-USA leadership, our choices are not much, or even less.   And I know we have some pretty crappy teams, but that is only going to get perpetually worse because those struggling schools aren't getting any kind of financial resources from the broadcast deals to help with things like upgrading facilities or hiring better coaches, and it's very clear their boosters aren't gonna do it for them.    It's Judy & Co's job to SELL C-USA to the networks and negotiate for more.   Not just accept scraps thrown their way.

The SBC gets less than or equal to what we get in tv money and most of their schools have smaller athletic budgets than the schools in CUSA.  I just think this is all excuses.  We can help ourselves by winning, getting ranked, beating P5s.  MWC had Boise and TCU lift up their visibility years ago.  Now the SBC has App St getting ranked every year.  It creates interest for every school that has them scheduled.  Interest leads to dollars.  We were on a decent trajectory a few years ago to be that school in CUSA, but fell off.  FAU was close, but never got ranked.  
 

Playing in the worst division in football has its advantages...our schedule is stacked with easy wins.  We just need to capitalize on the built in advantages we have and quit blaming everyone else.  Just win and North Texas, by itself, can lift up the perception of CUSA.  It only takes one school to get it started.  UNT can and should be that school.

Edited September 14, 2020 by TIgreen01

[untjim1995]

Judy McLeod is  absolutely terrible as an AD, as the TV, I mean Facebook, deal is what we have for our entire league. The SBC and MAC think that is bad. Think about that for a moment...

What CUSA does have for it is WHEN we have a team get good, it SHOULD be connected to a bigger market. With the exceptions of Marshall, La Tech, WKU, and USM, the others are connected to bigger markets. But right now, the bet on TV markets was a tremendously poor one, as the SBC has seen their profile rise by adding in Appy State and seeing them raise everyone else. We added UTSA, Charlotte, and Old Dominion. That trio hasn’t done much at the FBS level, certainly nothing close to Appy State’s level of play. 
 

But to @TIgreen’s point, when you’re  providing teams that never get wins or rarely provide even a competitive game against P5s in OOC play, networks aren’t gonna jump up and down to air your league. Troy has beaten LSU. Appy State has beaten P5s. Now, UL has beaten a ranked ISU team and is now ranked. Arkansas State will be next. We roll out UAB and WKU and watch them get pounded by ACC teams. USM loses to USA and immediately fires their coach, which screams desperation. 
 

At this point, for our sake, we need realignment for both cost containment AND to get better teams to play. Because the folks in CUSA West that reside in Texas are just not helping the league either. The four of us are just terrible right now, which also doesn’t help the CUSA’s AD job any easier, either.