Examining The Legacy Of Rick Villarreal

[meangreen11]

Mandy update:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/aug/30/radar-sdsu-newest-rainmaker/%3famp&page=all

[El Paso Eagle]

10 hours ago, greenjoe said:

He was by far one of the best AD's we had to that point.    while he was here

 

Fixed it for you

 

[untjim1995]

RV did a few things here that were great—1.) he opensd up tailgating. He couldn’t  believe that there was no tailgating allowed at a program in the south. 
2.) He got 17 people to pay for extra stuff so that the university wouldn’t see us spending too much on athletics that was over the  budget.  In the end, they paid off the extension that RV gave Dan McCarney immediately after the worst loss in modern college football history, the Homecoming shellacking against FCS Portland State by 59 points. Otherwise, it’s very probably DMac stays coaching here for at least two more years after 2015. And we would have had no Mason Fine.

 

[97and03]

RV did plenty during his time here. We have the Mean Green Village and all the minor sports’ facilities because of him. Softball was playing in a park and soccer in intramural fields. We were in serious breach of Title IX obligations and we ended up recognized as one of the best in compliance a few short years later. I know most of you think Title IX is a joke or unfair but it isn’t either of those things and it is also the law. So when he was unable to get the students to pass an increase in fees for athletics, he did not give up. He went to student government and explained the dire situation and consequences. He reached a compromise and got more funding. The Athletic Center and the other facilities got built. 
I am not trying to say he was a world beater but he also did not just sit on his ass and not try to improve things. He tried hard to make us better in many ways, including the above and the fact that we are now established as the Mean Green nationally.
He failed at many things but it wasn’t for a lack of trying or that he didn’t care.  I don’t think anyone should stay in one job that long so maybe he became less effective or complacent. But RV definitely cared and really wanted us to succeed. I know firsthand. I was the student senator that he worked with to get the funding increase. 

Edited June 26, 2021 by 97and03

[bstnsportsfan3]

While RV was decent on the administrative side and help increase the quality of facilities, his largest and most visible downfall was his coaching hires which were pretty abysmal 

[GrandGreen]

I was almost always a big RV critic.  However, it was not because of his effort; but more he just did not have the qualifications for the job.   An ex coach and fundraiser, but I don't think he had any significant experience being in an AD position. 

I could not fault RV effort and at the end of his NT career, you could see a great improvement in fundraising.  Many of his coaching hires were suspect, but again NT was just not spending the money necessary to be competitive for proven personnel. 

[TheColonyEagle]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:07 PM, emmitt01 said:

Now, now, be fair.  If you didn't join the Mean Green Club back then it was "You haven't called me...or I haven't called you." 

[Big Z]

I didn’t know he was a AD all this time, I thought he was a used car salesman.

[untjim1995]

One other thing about RV—he scheduled us like we were some brand new FBS startup, even though we had Apogee. When we were in the planning stages of building the new stadium, teams like Iowa and Minnesota were mentioned as potential teams to bring down here because the stadium would accommodate the extra fans. Then we immediately sign for 2 games at Iowa. Now, he did get Indians to come here for our first season, but after that, he made scheduling the series with SMU out to be the biggest thing we could ever possibly get for OOC play, 

And the two seasons where we had one OOC game at home against Texas Southern and Portland State were pure jokes. Thank God that Wren Baker has scheduled us some actual opponents here that people want to come see in OOC play.

[greenjoe]

I took a lot of red down votes for my position, that Rick was the best AD we had, to that point or rather, the best AD prior to RV’s hiring.  So, since many seem to disagree, please list the ADs PRIOR to Rick that were better.  Please list their accomplishments as to why they were better than Rick.

GO MEAN GREEN

[untjim1995]

19 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I took a lot of red down votes for my position, that Rick was the best AD we had, to that point or rather, the best AD prior to RV’s hiring.  So, since many seem to disagree, please list the ADs PRIOR to Rick that were better.  Please list their accomplishments as to why they were better than Rick.

GO MEAN GREEN

I think RV being the best AD we have had says more about this place than it does about his time here...which was 16 years long.

He literally hired the worst coaches in the three revenue sports in the history of the school--you can make an argument that Vic Trilli was the worst basketball coach here, but he took a very average program and drove it into the ground over 4 years. Tony Benford got five years to absolutely pound a program on the cusp of being something really good into the depths of earth. I've heard people on here say that Gretchen Bataille made the hires of Shanice Stephens and Todd Dodge and RV just followed the orders, similar to how he ran the program at the orders of the BOR to stay within the budget. If so, RV showed his ass even more because that proved all he wanted to do was just get paid and didn't care at all about building a winner. And he got rewarded by the BOR for staying in budget by getting extensions over and over, all while we were colossally losing most of the time in the three main revenue sports.

RV did do some good things here, as I mentioned. And, yeah, he was probably the best we had, although he got the benefit of working under Dr. Pohl, who did not loath athletics, like Hurley and Bataille did. Helwig was a jerk, but he did schedule much better in football than anything RV did, which is almost amazing to type. 

I'll just end this by saying that I've learned to just really enjoy success when it shows up around here, whether its been a 9-win football season or a really good hoops season like we just had. Except for Johnny Jones and Karen Aston, we haven't had any other head coaches hired away from here in the last 40 years in the three revenue sports. As much as that hurts to realize just how little the BOR and administration cared about sports here, you'd think the AD here over that timeframe could've hired SOMEONE to be successful enough to get hired away by another program. RV was just an example of the symptom here before Dr. Smatresk got hired and settled in. RV was no different than watching folks like Tina Slinker, Darrell Dickey, and Tony Benford coach here with a losing record for long amounts of time just because it cost too much to do anything different. With Wren Baker at the helm of the department and with the help the BOR and administration give to athletics now, its truly a golden era around here for leadership at the top. Only thing missing is winning in football...

 

 

 

[greenjoe]

Jim, I don’t disagree with one word you said.   What I said was that RV was the best AD to that point.  I think we have had about 10 ADs before Rick came along.  Which was better and why ?

[untjim1995]

5 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Jim, I don’t disagree with one word you said.   What I said was that RV was the best AD to that point.  I think we have had about 10 ADs before Rick came along.  Which was better and why ?

As I mentioned above, not a one can say they were better. But that's a black and white answer to a very gray topic.

[GrandGreen]

1 hour ago, greenjoe said:

I took a lot of red down votes for my position, that Rick was the best AD we had, to that point or rather, the best AD prior to RV’s hiring.  So, since many seem to disagree, please list the ADs PRIOR to Rick that were better.  Please list their accomplishments as to why they were better than Rick.

GO MEAN GREEN

RV was I think the first non head football coach that held the AD position.   However, you could make a case that most were better than RV.

Theron Fouts - Had a football field named after him, must have did something.

Andy Everest - I think was only a temporary AD when searches were going on

Hayden Fry - You really want to compare RV with him?

Corky Nelson - One of my favorite no nonsense or complaints HC's

Rod Rust - Was over arguable the best NT football team ever

Steve Sloan - Was maybe the first hired to be only an AD, left early for better job

Bob Tyler - Maybe the worst hire ever

[greenjoe]

Thanks Grand.
I think I’ve made my point.  

[Cr1028]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:27 PM, meangreen11 said:

Mandy update:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/aug/30/radar-sdsu-newest-rainmaker/%3famp&page=all

Only person in Mean Green history that I actually loathed. Benford sucked but nobody could fill me with hate the way Mandy did.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

52 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

Only person in Mean Green history that I actually loathed. Benford sucked but nobody could fill me with hate the way Mandy did.

I dunno - I kind of liked her sassy self. She completely half-ass setup all away game tailgates with cold chicken tenders and cold corn, but I still thought she was comical. She never crossed me in any way. 

Edited July 1, 2021 by SteaminWillieBeamin