Post by Aggie One on Oct 18, 2007 23:11:36 GMT -5
Fact Versus Fiction
Part One in a Blue Death Exclusive Series
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
There’s been a lot of debate and speculation about wanting another coaching change at A&T from some fans and readers on this web site and perhaps, to a lesser degree, among the vast majority of A&T alumni outside of cyberspace.
The positions have run the gambit of support for patience with Lee Fobbs and his staff as he tries to resurrect the A&T program from the abyss of a 23 game losing streak dating back to game seven of the of the 2005 season, to outright firing the entire staff and starting over again from scratch with a third coach in five years.
There have been those demanding the ouster of current athletic director Dee Todd since Fobbs was hired under her watch and the Aggies have yet to break through into the win column heading into the last part of the 2007 season. She has been heavily criticized and held responsible by her opponents for not being knowledgeable about football operations and her decision making as a whole.
Generally when things go badly with collegiate athletic teams, coaches and ADs often get too much of the blame and the same holds true when there is astounding success; they get too much of the credit. In reality, whatever success or failure that either one experiences is about 40 percent of their own making and about 60 percent of circumstances which they have no control over.
So in an effort to separate fact from fiction and truth from manufactured perceptions, I’ll attempt to put some real facts out there that you may or may not be aware. So next time you debate for or against the current leadership in the athletic department you will be have a factual basis to make rational judgments and sensible arguments, no matter which side of the fence you may fall.
Perception 1 – A&T is short on money for more staff because of the size Lee Fobbs Contract and can’t hire a Full Time offensive coordinator and Defensive Coordinator.
The Facts – In early 2003, then athletic director Charlie Davis and then Chancellor James Renick initiated a move to move all coaching positions in football off of state funds in their entirety. Up until then A&T coaches were paid through a combination of both state and private money which allowed previous head coaches to hire assistants of their choice.
As part of the terms of their contracts, several if not all of the assistants taught one or two classes each week which stretched the available dollars to cover extra recruiting costs, some additional scholarship monies, a modest improvements in facilities.
It was presented to and approved by the university administration to make a move as part of plan to move A&T into a position for the future if it ever chose to move to Division One. A noble experiment perhaps, but not necessarily smartest economic decision given that the football and basketball overall budgets received no increase.
That extra state money once used for supplementing those salaries was funneled out of the program and was never offset with a like increase to cover the shortfall. The cost of moving the entire football staff based upon the contracts at that time – roughly $700,000.
The net loss of state money was $200,000 and the botched Alcorn State Chicago classic deal that was supposed fill that hole never materialized so A&T took the $25,000 and went down to Lorman, Mississippi.
Add to that A&T was paying off almost $350,000 dollars on the last three years of a contract to fired AD Al Scandrett, another $210,000 in a settlement with former Coach Bill Hayes in back to back years, a half million dollars was lost and has never been replaced.
I won’t even mention the Aggie –Eagle revenue that A&T never received. That’s a whole other column. A lot like alimony. You’re just paid for a car you can’t drive.
So what does all of this mean when it comes to why A&T doesn’t have what other teams have in the coaching sector? That shortfall that I mentioned earlier basically eliminated two coaching positions given that the average coordinator now makes a bare minimum of $70,000 while most hit somewhere around $85,000. 2003 figures? $60,000 tops. So coaches now have to pull double duty and things get missed in practice, no matter how hard they work, this staff is spread way too thin. Not an excuse but a factual observation.
Fobbs signed a 5-year deal what is called a median contract by 1-AA standard ($165,000 per year) which was on par with what he earned as a running back coach at a major D-1 program. Now comes the retort. “Well Small only made $107,000 why so much more for this guy?”
Answer is that this is the average figure which is what the current market bears for a base salary coach at a program within the MEAC that does not offer a multitude of extra incentives, perks, like TV shows, shoe contracts, camp earnings, etc. Fobbs actually ranks dead in the middle of the conference when it comes to paychecks.
I, like you, have heard the comparison of Fobbs’ contract with Jerry Moore of Appalachian State and his $125,000 base. You really need to know that Moore makes nearly an additional $200,000 in guaranteed outside money sources and incentive clauses. When you have a booster club that raises over a million dollars a year, well you get the idea. They take care of business.
The bottom line is that this budget discrepancy was set in motion by an administration that micromanaged both the coaches on the field and the athletic department in general in two things it was not well versed in and a autocratic decision making process based upon egos, emotion, meddling, personalities, and unrealistic expectations for the dollars invested.
Bad administrative decisions from outside the AD’s office got A&T into this losing streak and it will take the new administration to make some tough decisions over the winter months to rectify it. We’ll discuss that in this series in the weeks to come.
Next Tuesday – Perception 2: The AD - Hirings, Firings, and Raising Money.
*******************************************************
After not coming out of the locker room last week against Delaware State, the Aggies will travel up to Washington, DC to face the Howard Bison. Howard has been very good most of the time on offense and some of the time on defense and consistent all of the time on its special teams. That will be enough for the Hilltoppers but I expect A&T to make a run at them just the same before the Bison pull away late.
PREDICTION
Howard 27
A&T 13
Part One in a Blue Death Exclusive Series
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
There’s been a lot of debate and speculation about wanting another coaching change at A&T from some fans and readers on this web site and perhaps, to a lesser degree, among the vast majority of A&T alumni outside of cyberspace.
The positions have run the gambit of support for patience with Lee Fobbs and his staff as he tries to resurrect the A&T program from the abyss of a 23 game losing streak dating back to game seven of the of the 2005 season, to outright firing the entire staff and starting over again from scratch with a third coach in five years.
There have been those demanding the ouster of current athletic director Dee Todd since Fobbs was hired under her watch and the Aggies have yet to break through into the win column heading into the last part of the 2007 season. She has been heavily criticized and held responsible by her opponents for not being knowledgeable about football operations and her decision making as a whole.
Generally when things go badly with collegiate athletic teams, coaches and ADs often get too much of the blame and the same holds true when there is astounding success; they get too much of the credit. In reality, whatever success or failure that either one experiences is about 40 percent of their own making and about 60 percent of circumstances which they have no control over.
So in an effort to separate fact from fiction and truth from manufactured perceptions, I’ll attempt to put some real facts out there that you may or may not be aware. So next time you debate for or against the current leadership in the athletic department you will be have a factual basis to make rational judgments and sensible arguments, no matter which side of the fence you may fall.
Perception 1 – A&T is short on money for more staff because of the size Lee Fobbs Contract and can’t hire a Full Time offensive coordinator and Defensive Coordinator.
The Facts – In early 2003, then athletic director Charlie Davis and then Chancellor James Renick initiated a move to move all coaching positions in football off of state funds in their entirety. Up until then A&T coaches were paid through a combination of both state and private money which allowed previous head coaches to hire assistants of their choice.
As part of the terms of their contracts, several if not all of the assistants taught one or two classes each week which stretched the available dollars to cover extra recruiting costs, some additional scholarship monies, a modest improvements in facilities.
It was presented to and approved by the university administration to make a move as part of plan to move A&T into a position for the future if it ever chose to move to Division One. A noble experiment perhaps, but not necessarily smartest economic decision given that the football and basketball overall budgets received no increase.
That extra state money once used for supplementing those salaries was funneled out of the program and was never offset with a like increase to cover the shortfall. The cost of moving the entire football staff based upon the contracts at that time – roughly $700,000.
The net loss of state money was $200,000 and the botched Alcorn State Chicago classic deal that was supposed fill that hole never materialized so A&T took the $25,000 and went down to Lorman, Mississippi.
Add to that A&T was paying off almost $350,000 dollars on the last three years of a contract to fired AD Al Scandrett, another $210,000 in a settlement with former Coach Bill Hayes in back to back years, a half million dollars was lost and has never been replaced.
I won’t even mention the Aggie –Eagle revenue that A&T never received. That’s a whole other column. A lot like alimony. You’re just paid for a car you can’t drive.
So what does all of this mean when it comes to why A&T doesn’t have what other teams have in the coaching sector? That shortfall that I mentioned earlier basically eliminated two coaching positions given that the average coordinator now makes a bare minimum of $70,000 while most hit somewhere around $85,000. 2003 figures? $60,000 tops. So coaches now have to pull double duty and things get missed in practice, no matter how hard they work, this staff is spread way too thin. Not an excuse but a factual observation.
Fobbs signed a 5-year deal what is called a median contract by 1-AA standard ($165,000 per year) which was on par with what he earned as a running back coach at a major D-1 program. Now comes the retort. “Well Small only made $107,000 why so much more for this guy?”
Answer is that this is the average figure which is what the current market bears for a base salary coach at a program within the MEAC that does not offer a multitude of extra incentives, perks, like TV shows, shoe contracts, camp earnings, etc. Fobbs actually ranks dead in the middle of the conference when it comes to paychecks.
I, like you, have heard the comparison of Fobbs’ contract with Jerry Moore of Appalachian State and his $125,000 base. You really need to know that Moore makes nearly an additional $200,000 in guaranteed outside money sources and incentive clauses. When you have a booster club that raises over a million dollars a year, well you get the idea. They take care of business.
The bottom line is that this budget discrepancy was set in motion by an administration that micromanaged both the coaches on the field and the athletic department in general in two things it was not well versed in and a autocratic decision making process based upon egos, emotion, meddling, personalities, and unrealistic expectations for the dollars invested.
Bad administrative decisions from outside the AD’s office got A&T into this losing streak and it will take the new administration to make some tough decisions over the winter months to rectify it. We’ll discuss that in this series in the weeks to come.
Next Tuesday – Perception 2: The AD - Hirings, Firings, and Raising Money.
*******************************************************
After not coming out of the locker room last week against Delaware State, the Aggies will travel up to Washington, DC to face the Howard Bison. Howard has been very good most of the time on offense and some of the time on defense and consistent all of the time on its special teams. That will be enough for the Hilltoppers but I expect A&T to make a run at them just the same before the Bison pull away late.
PREDICTION
Howard 27
A&T 13
