Post by Aggie One on Dec 29, 2010 11:53:19 GMT -5
How Much Is Enough or Too Much?
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
When N.C. A&T fired head Alonzo Lee last month many an Aggie fan was taken by surprise but then it wasn’t really that hard in some respects to justify the move after going through another 1-10 season after so much promise was expected in the preseason.
Lee stated that the loss of star sophomore quarterback Lewis Kindle on the last day preseason of scrimmage was indeed the killer blow for him and of he had had him for the entire year that A&T’s season would have been much different in the win loss column. Perhaps so, but even Lee’s more ardent supporters had to grimace in distinct pain at that statement.
Call it naiveté or tunnel vision or plain denial; no coach should ever base the outcome of his entire season on the performance of one single player, no matter how good, or how productive without being able to adjust your team’s style of play and offensive attack to that player’s absence especially in the preseason.
Yes perhaps a reasonable an agreement could be made about the last minute eligibility questions surroundings several players but even after week one two players fell into the trap, and despite them both being starting defensive tackles, their replacements stepped up and well enough until wholesale injuries took them out and the Aggies were forced to play pure linebackers from game six onward in down linemen positions.
Again the question was raised about adjusting to changing circumstances and Lee’s ability to make the moves necessary. After the 67-17 destruction at the hands of Bethune Cookman in front of a national television audience, the die was pretty much cast in the mind of the one man that ultimately makes the decisions at A&T, Chancellor Harold Martin.
Martin also decided it was time for an additional change in the athletic administration after the gut wrenching death of track walk-on prospect, Jospin Milandu, when improper steps were involved and there was much consternation over whether all the proper procedures were followed and how unscheduled practices occur and take place without the knowledge of the Athletic Director Wheeler Brown.
There will continue be and still are debates going on back and forth among many Aggie supporters about both firings as to whether they were justified or not.
This sports news organization aired six part interview with the very popular Brown to discuss those very issues and other problems facing Aggie Athletics and when it was all said and done, with the exception of Milandu death , it all seemingly comes back in one way or another to just one question.
How much money is A&T willing to pony up to stay pace with its other Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals? Martin has stated on many occassions that athletics at A&T is an integral part of the university, one that puts A&T in the national limelight in front of the media, both on the local and nationalstage for prestige and name recognition.
Dr. Martin wants winning teams in the worst possible way but that desire and vision must be integrated into the same institutional structure as any other part of the university with its own distinct vision, a viable infrastructure and proper managerial oversight, with a design on excellence and the commitment of resources to achieve that goal.
So in the wake of the Brown and Lee dismissals, and now with the signing of former Prairie View Cinderella story Head Coach Henry Frazier by arch rival North Carolina Central to a five year deal that will cost the Eagles $1.5 million over five years to lock him in and another $2.5 million in staff salary commitments for eight full time assistants, the ante has been upped considerably and literally overnight.
Now there are two basic trains of thought as to which direction A&T should go with its football program after seven years of futility. One is to remain in the same, exactly where the Aggies have been hovering over the last ten years with an approximate $7.5 million athletic budget with about $4 million of that dedicated to football.
If A&T desires to continue that route it will almost certainly indeed will have to hire an FCS assistant coach/coordinator or a perhaps a younger D-II coach with competent staff who has yet to compete at the FCS level on a week in and week out basis.
Many A&T fans feel that, in this slow recovering economy that both the university and getting the biggest bang for the buck would be the smart move financially without risking massive deficits like FAMU or Delaware State in recent years.
Now FAMU’s mistake was trying to go full-fledged D-I across the board and no HBCU and few FCS football schools can achieve that even in the best of circumstances let alone compete without a major TV contracts or an alum like Oklahoma State’s T. Boone Pickens with millions of dollars at his disposal and no hobbies to speak of but to spend on his alma mater’s sports teams.
The other choice seemingly would be that A&T could go for the one big time investment, say another $1.5 million, but this time now with a distinct plan for a well calculated and new market based organized fund raising apparatus that indeed would pay for the expansion and most importantly sustain itself and prosper as a potential cash cow over the long term.
I think I might have finally figured out what direction on just where A&T will be heading the next 4-5 years by looking at things going on off the field surrounding the program now rather the newspaper headline events of firings and such that broke on to the public scene in recent weeks.
The Aggies will soon begin construction of a brand new $3.8 million dollar press with luxury boxes facility beginning next month to be ready by the Labor Day opening weekend. Another $75,000 dollars invested into summer school tuition for student athletes. Then another $80,000 was added to the football recruiting budget last summer as well.
Those are things that you simply don’t do if your administration is in a conservative “pull back” mode economically.
There has been a lot of names tossed around in recent weeks and I too like many of you have speculated on a lot scenarios and possibilities.
The truth is no one but Harold Martin knows who will be the next athletic director, who he has seriously talked to, what is he looking for in administrative qualities and experience, and who will be the best fit not only with his senior management team but more importantly who can both interact and energize a large fan and donor base that frankly is in the dark and very skeptical as to where A&T is headed with it's athletic program.
I don’t see A&T taking the Howard road of making athletics an afterthought and frankly there would be an open revolt among the alumni association if that was indeed the grand plan. I could envision a similar situation if A&T suddenly decided to simply chuck the entire bank like a FAMU or DSU and just go plain stupid in mortgaging its future.
What I do see coming up on the horizon is an attempt by this administration to change the way business has been conducted in the past at N.C. A&T. I anticipate there will be substantial increase in the athletic program over the next couple of years but it will be done with this chancellor’s picks as athletic director and as head coach.
Once those program choices have been made and are in place, I believe the money may indeed loosen up considerably and very quickly. Recruiting for this year is far less a problem with only 12 seniors leaving and only half of them really playing very significant roles as starters or part-time starters.
Approximately a third of last season’s stellar recruiting class (29 prospects) was red shirted and the real turnaround will need to be in two major areas by targeting ten or 12 top caliber players, especially along the defensive line and with more emphasis at adding depth at running back and quarterback.
Will A&T lose an entire recruiting year in 2011? Probably not if Martin and his new AD find a tested and savvy head coach and independent athletic director that will work in consort in finding those players and with help from an administration that understands that some D-1 transfers will have to be allowed in as a necessity instead of a luxury in this era of competitive FCS football scholarship limits.
With 80 or so underclassemen returning this spring there is no longer a need for as huge recruiting class this winter, just the right one, late start or not.
Drastic change is never easy and people too often feel the need to be included in all the particulars and details when it does occur. Sometimes that works in certain situations but often times it’s better for those charged with that responsibility to is keep their intentions queit and on their own terms to avoid distractions and the message board opinion polls.
I believe most of this disgruntlemnt from some alums stems from the circulation of a alot of second hand information from his days as chancellor at Winston Salem State and the fact that Martin does not seek the spotlight like a Renick or even a Hackney for that matter. He's not a media whore.
He plays his cards close to his vest, is very deliberate, and is not one to make decisions from his inner emotions but from a more practical and analytical standpoint - an engineer by trade.
I have my own clearly distinct impression now what will take place next month in the way of the naming of a new athletic director and head football coach but I’ll keep it to myself until an official announcement is made.
Heck we all may have it wrong by the time the trigger is pulled but I don’t think so but I think it had already been pulled quite some time ago.
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
When N.C. A&T fired head Alonzo Lee last month many an Aggie fan was taken by surprise but then it wasn’t really that hard in some respects to justify the move after going through another 1-10 season after so much promise was expected in the preseason.
Lee stated that the loss of star sophomore quarterback Lewis Kindle on the last day preseason of scrimmage was indeed the killer blow for him and of he had had him for the entire year that A&T’s season would have been much different in the win loss column. Perhaps so, but even Lee’s more ardent supporters had to grimace in distinct pain at that statement.
Call it naiveté or tunnel vision or plain denial; no coach should ever base the outcome of his entire season on the performance of one single player, no matter how good, or how productive without being able to adjust your team’s style of play and offensive attack to that player’s absence especially in the preseason.
Yes perhaps a reasonable an agreement could be made about the last minute eligibility questions surroundings several players but even after week one two players fell into the trap, and despite them both being starting defensive tackles, their replacements stepped up and well enough until wholesale injuries took them out and the Aggies were forced to play pure linebackers from game six onward in down linemen positions.
Again the question was raised about adjusting to changing circumstances and Lee’s ability to make the moves necessary. After the 67-17 destruction at the hands of Bethune Cookman in front of a national television audience, the die was pretty much cast in the mind of the one man that ultimately makes the decisions at A&T, Chancellor Harold Martin.
Martin also decided it was time for an additional change in the athletic administration after the gut wrenching death of track walk-on prospect, Jospin Milandu, when improper steps were involved and there was much consternation over whether all the proper procedures were followed and how unscheduled practices occur and take place without the knowledge of the Athletic Director Wheeler Brown.
There will continue be and still are debates going on back and forth among many Aggie supporters about both firings as to whether they were justified or not.
This sports news organization aired six part interview with the very popular Brown to discuss those very issues and other problems facing Aggie Athletics and when it was all said and done, with the exception of Milandu death , it all seemingly comes back in one way or another to just one question.
How much money is A&T willing to pony up to stay pace with its other Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals? Martin has stated on many occassions that athletics at A&T is an integral part of the university, one that puts A&T in the national limelight in front of the media, both on the local and nationalstage for prestige and name recognition.
Dr. Martin wants winning teams in the worst possible way but that desire and vision must be integrated into the same institutional structure as any other part of the university with its own distinct vision, a viable infrastructure and proper managerial oversight, with a design on excellence and the commitment of resources to achieve that goal.
So in the wake of the Brown and Lee dismissals, and now with the signing of former Prairie View Cinderella story Head Coach Henry Frazier by arch rival North Carolina Central to a five year deal that will cost the Eagles $1.5 million over five years to lock him in and another $2.5 million in staff salary commitments for eight full time assistants, the ante has been upped considerably and literally overnight.
Now there are two basic trains of thought as to which direction A&T should go with its football program after seven years of futility. One is to remain in the same, exactly where the Aggies have been hovering over the last ten years with an approximate $7.5 million athletic budget with about $4 million of that dedicated to football.
If A&T desires to continue that route it will almost certainly indeed will have to hire an FCS assistant coach/coordinator or a perhaps a younger D-II coach with competent staff who has yet to compete at the FCS level on a week in and week out basis.
Many A&T fans feel that, in this slow recovering economy that both the university and getting the biggest bang for the buck would be the smart move financially without risking massive deficits like FAMU or Delaware State in recent years.
Now FAMU’s mistake was trying to go full-fledged D-I across the board and no HBCU and few FCS football schools can achieve that even in the best of circumstances let alone compete without a major TV contracts or an alum like Oklahoma State’s T. Boone Pickens with millions of dollars at his disposal and no hobbies to speak of but to spend on his alma mater’s sports teams.
The other choice seemingly would be that A&T could go for the one big time investment, say another $1.5 million, but this time now with a distinct plan for a well calculated and new market based organized fund raising apparatus that indeed would pay for the expansion and most importantly sustain itself and prosper as a potential cash cow over the long term.
I think I might have finally figured out what direction on just where A&T will be heading the next 4-5 years by looking at things going on off the field surrounding the program now rather the newspaper headline events of firings and such that broke on to the public scene in recent weeks.
The Aggies will soon begin construction of a brand new $3.8 million dollar press with luxury boxes facility beginning next month to be ready by the Labor Day opening weekend. Another $75,000 dollars invested into summer school tuition for student athletes. Then another $80,000 was added to the football recruiting budget last summer as well.
Those are things that you simply don’t do if your administration is in a conservative “pull back” mode economically.
There has been a lot of names tossed around in recent weeks and I too like many of you have speculated on a lot scenarios and possibilities.
The truth is no one but Harold Martin knows who will be the next athletic director, who he has seriously talked to, what is he looking for in administrative qualities and experience, and who will be the best fit not only with his senior management team but more importantly who can both interact and energize a large fan and donor base that frankly is in the dark and very skeptical as to where A&T is headed with it's athletic program.
I don’t see A&T taking the Howard road of making athletics an afterthought and frankly there would be an open revolt among the alumni association if that was indeed the grand plan. I could envision a similar situation if A&T suddenly decided to simply chuck the entire bank like a FAMU or DSU and just go plain stupid in mortgaging its future.
What I do see coming up on the horizon is an attempt by this administration to change the way business has been conducted in the past at N.C. A&T. I anticipate there will be substantial increase in the athletic program over the next couple of years but it will be done with this chancellor’s picks as athletic director and as head coach.
Once those program choices have been made and are in place, I believe the money may indeed loosen up considerably and very quickly. Recruiting for this year is far less a problem with only 12 seniors leaving and only half of them really playing very significant roles as starters or part-time starters.
Approximately a third of last season’s stellar recruiting class (29 prospects) was red shirted and the real turnaround will need to be in two major areas by targeting ten or 12 top caliber players, especially along the defensive line and with more emphasis at adding depth at running back and quarterback.
Will A&T lose an entire recruiting year in 2011? Probably not if Martin and his new AD find a tested and savvy head coach and independent athletic director that will work in consort in finding those players and with help from an administration that understands that some D-1 transfers will have to be allowed in as a necessity instead of a luxury in this era of competitive FCS football scholarship limits.
With 80 or so underclassemen returning this spring there is no longer a need for as huge recruiting class this winter, just the right one, late start or not.
Drastic change is never easy and people too often feel the need to be included in all the particulars and details when it does occur. Sometimes that works in certain situations but often times it’s better for those charged with that responsibility to is keep their intentions queit and on their own terms to avoid distractions and the message board opinion polls.
I believe most of this disgruntlemnt from some alums stems from the circulation of a alot of second hand information from his days as chancellor at Winston Salem State and the fact that Martin does not seek the spotlight like a Renick or even a Hackney for that matter. He's not a media whore.
He plays his cards close to his vest, is very deliberate, and is not one to make decisions from his inner emotions but from a more practical and analytical standpoint - an engineer by trade.
I have my own clearly distinct impression now what will take place next month in the way of the naming of a new athletic director and head football coach but I’ll keep it to myself until an official announcement is made.
Heck we all may have it wrong by the time the trigger is pulled but I don’t think so but I think it had already been pulled quite some time ago.
