MT is simply screwed. We are one of the most poorly supported D1 institutions in the country despite having one of the most advantageous geographical locations. Talk about leadership failure....So sad. And they all have no insight, either. I'm sure McPhee, Steve Smith, and all their cronies think they're doing a fine job. To be fair, Rutherford County flat out sucks, but even if the community did support the university it wouldn't matter with the current "leadership" we have.
NIL and the money that will flow into it is effectively going to turn MT, and schools like it, into junior colleges for the schools with $$$. This has already started to happen. This phenomenon is only going to increase over time as NIL fleshes itself out and the transfer portal becomes a more known entity. The best players, even at the FCS and G5 levels, are going to go where the $$$ is. And that isn't Murfreesboro.
We won't even be able to keep players from transferring / committing to schools that we view as peer institutions because of how broke and how poorly supported MT is.
It's all so depressing and feels futile. I don't know what the answer is. Consolidating and focusing on men's basketball might be the only viable option. Football is just a total lost cause and it's difficult to see it as anything but that. I'd rather shudder the program vs. being a glorified junior college for the $$$ programs to cherry pick our players and give us their left overs.
No thanks.