Today's History Lesson

[aggie62]

Next Question - How many playoffs have Alvin Wyatt taken Bethune-Cookman to? Take your time and count them slowly. Use your fingers and toes if you need to.

My goodness, are we going to pursue excellence or just try to be an average athletic department? No wonder we get the Dee Todds and Lee Fobbs of life!!!!!

[DOOMS]

Two. Both were the only playoffs the school ever went to.

I answered your question, why not answer mine?

In any event, we've been on three playoff trips with a record of 1-4. The one was against another hbcu that played their third string qb the majority of the game. The next week we were beaten 41-3 by a team that did not punt, took a knee on the one yard line instead of scoring on us again at the end of the game, and lost the national championship game by about 40 points. After that year, how much did the budget go up in an attempt to get us to the next level? I would bet the farm that the budget of every other team in the playoffs that year increased after the season (except FAMU's).

No, we are not going to pursue excellence. If you answered my earlier question you would realize that. There are almost zero hbcus that are pursuing the level of excellence that you and I would like to see us pursue. If there were it would not have been nine years since the last hbcu won a playoff game, would it? I think the administration would be ecstatic to see us winning playoff games, if they didn't have to pay for it.

[oleschoolaggie]

Oct 28, 2008 12:11:18 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Love don't put digits in the win column. Is the criterion for the next Aggie Head Football Coach based on love of A&T? There are a bunch of Aggies out there coaching, lets put them on the I Love A&T Love Scale and find the cheapest one with the most experience. That could be winning formula every time we need a coach.

How do we know what the right coach will cost? Is there a selection process based on requirements or criteria, or is this the easy thing to do or just plain insanity.

Insanity makes sense to the insane, so I ain't buying this scenario yet. So, in the meantime I want all of you to get some rest from the obvious traumatic stress of the past three years. I will prescribe a cocktail of meds to help you cope with this disorder that afflicts many of you. I promise to revisit this issue on Nov. 23rd. That will give your meds time to acclimate you back to the real world.

If Rags becomes the next Head Coach of Aggie Football, let it be due to him being the best candidate, based on criteria that all candidates can be measured against.

BTW, three things, 1.) It’s not to late to look at the Howard game! 2.) Is Shine the rule or the exception? 3.) What does the resume say?

gawd knows i'm a big fan of rags! i seen dude play his senior year of football for a&t at a time when there was no aggie stadium and there was no wellness center! i seen when he teamed with dexter feaster, elsworth turner, dwane board, and dem!

that being said, aggie77 you are 110% correct! you're dead on dude! folks need to put their emotions in check and come to their senses!

rags should be judged the same as any other candidate. is he the best candidate to give us the best chance of turning our program around? that's what matters.

in my opinion, the only way he gets the job is if he's as good or better than anybody else we can hire. in fact, i'd even give him the nod if he's "very slightly" less qualified than the best candidate. we have to give his a&t ties and love for aggieland some extra weight, but not an overwhelming amount of weight. if he meets those conditions, imo, he's our guy. if not, we love ya rags, but its been nice...

[aggie75]

You make a good argument Dooms but I think the time to hire Rags has passed. It was when we hired Smalls.

[aggie62]

DOOMS,

I don't know whether the budget was increased or not so I will accept your statement that it was not.

I'm am not a fan that thinks we should be in the middle of the pack just because other HBCUs chose that path and by the way Joe Taylor kept Hampton at or near the top of the MEAC while he was there and appears to have FAMU headed in that direction. What's wrong with A&T doing that and getting to the playoffs 2-3 times over the next decade and winning a national championship during that decade?

When I attended A&T we were winning records in football, basketball and baseball and felt like "winners". I would like to see us be winners again not only on the field but also mentally see ourselves as winners. It seems like we have lost that "Winning Feeling" that says we are suppose to win everytime we take the field or ball court. Incidentally, say what you wish about Bill Hayes but when I attended a A&T football game he coached I felt from the start that we had a chance to win. We seem to have lost that with Small and Fobbs. It would be nice to turn that around.

[aggie62]

DOOMS,

One other thing I meant to mention. I don't care whether we hire Ragsdale or not, I just want us to win, win and win. Yes, to be perceived as winners by others as well as by ourselves. Currently, everyone wants to play us for their homecoming because they feel they will win (stated another way 'because they see us as 'losers'). That's a bitter pill for me to swallow, how about you?

[DOOMS]

I was with you until the national championship part. You kinda have to win a few playoff games to get to that point.

I'm not a fan who thinks we should be in the middle of the pack either. I think you'd be hard pressed to find one that does. I don't think you are understanding me here. Just re-read what is posted above.

I was a freshman the first year Hayes had a winning record. All I knew was smashmouth football, strong defense, and losing to any pwc with a winning record. I honestly believe that Rags could get us to at least the Hayes days. I might be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time, and God willing, it won't be the last. I just happened to have paid attention all these years and I have noticed what pwcs and hbcus have done. No matter what an hbcu has done, we have not gotten far in this race against the pwcs. It's pretty obvious we are neither going to get out of the race nor pony up the funds to be a player in the race.

What do you suggest we do?

[aggie62]

Keep reminding Battle and Wheeler that excellence is what we want throughout the athletic department as well as the rest of the university..................

[Gator]

this is bogus!

[DOOMS]

Oct 29, 2008 7:59:15 GMT -5 aggie62 said:

Keep reminding Battle and Wheeler that excellence is what we want throughout the athletic department as well as the rest of the university..................

What constitutes excellence? And how much are we willing to pay for it? Cause it dang sure ain't free, whatever it is.

[aggie62]

Excellence is winning or coming out on top in whatever you do. Regarding the cost, keep reminding Battle and Wheeler of that, support the program with contributions and attendances at the a games. But be sure that Battle and Wheeler understand that excellence on the field translates into money in the bank. Duke's Coach K makes a lot of money because he brings a millions into the school with excellence on the court and money from playoff games. If they put the proper amount of upfront money into the program, the program will return the money to the school down the line.

I find it hard to think of myself or my people or fellow Aggies as losers or just middle of the road people because so many of us have done so well, including our athletic teams down through the years.

[DOOMS]

First, I don't understand where you're getting this "losers" and "just middle of the road people" stuff from. Expound.

I'm understanding you to mean that football excellence would be contending for the FCS division national championship on a yearly basis?

Here's some numbers that were reported for fiscal year July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007 to the Office of Postsecondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the numbers. I picked some regular playoff paricipants and a couple of MEAC schools for comparison.

School-------------Participants------------Operating ---------------------------------------------------------expenses per participant

A&T------------------94---------------------$2,687
App State------------95--------------------$4,293
Del State------------108-------------------$4,146
Northern Iowa-------103--------------------$3,866
JMU-----------------102-------------------$4,094
Hampton-------------80--------------------$4,874
Southern Illinois-----99--------------------$4,705
Montana-------------120-------------------$10,441
New Hampshire------92---------------------$4,131


I'm certain our budget has increased substantially since these numbers were reported. I'm also certain some are underreporting, and I hope Montana is overreporting. That being said I feel as an hbcu you have to greatly outspend pwcs to get the same results. Do you think we would be able to spend the money Montana is reporting here on a yearly basis with annual increases? You can see that Hampton spent a load of money yet still suffered their usual first round playoff exit.

By the way, you lose money going to the playoffs. Money that you can only hope will be recouped by increased donations, ticket sales, etc. Hope doesn’t pay the bills and it doesn’t get the budget increased.

[aggie62]

DOOMS,

Connect the dots, how much money do think App State got for playing Michigan and do you think Michigan would have invited them to play if they had not been in the playoffs recently? Whether you like it or not the playoffs result in Money. But I won't say anymore about this.

[DOOMS]

Actually, App’s been playing I-As since the 80s. Maybe they would have gotten Michigan, maybe they wouldn’t. But they have a long history of playing I-A teams due to their Southern Conference roots, not playoff history. They’ve played against at least one I-A team every year since 1979 regardless of their playoff history.

Likewise, SC State hasn’t made the playoffs since 1982 but they’ve had little trouble scheduling FBS teams the last few years. Playoff history has nothing to do with scheduling I-As so your theory on that one is flawed.

Playoff success results in increased ticket sales and increased donations from the alumni, but does that offset the cost of attending the playoffs and the cost of sustaining a playoff caliber team?

Would we rather spend 200 grand on a coach that promises to take us to the top but can't get us past the first round or spend half that and use the other 100 grand on the program to help him get us there?

[aggie62]

DOOMS,

You are right, all I want A&T to do are those things necessary to bring winning programs to the school and everything will be alright with me. How they do that is not as important to me as doing it. I'm sure there are a thousand ways to achieve this, just chose one and get it done.