I really wish we had a tenacious AD. I want to send CM the 10x rule or have him watch Seth Feroce’s you tube channel. I want an AD that drives businesses crazy he is calling/in person so much. Forget working behind the scenes - go do thinks in front and behind the scenes. Relentless, attacking and set a tone. The biggest issue is not setting / demanding high goals and attacking it.
We will never know just what Massaro (and McPhee) has done we are not aware of to elicit support. I suspect (but admittedly have no inside info) that Massaro tried early in his tenure to find support, hit a few brick walls, and gave up. Probably the difficulty led in part to his application at GSU.
Your post makes me wonder just how much Massaro did to try to influence Nissan to include MT in the 100 schools whose athletic programs they promote. Every time I see a Nissan banner in a school's venue I'm reminded that Rutherford Co. is the home to Nissan's largest factory, that every shipment from the factory in Decherd to Smyrna goes through M'boro, and that MT is the largest university within hundreds of miles from the U. S. headquarters in Franklin next door yet we are not one of "their" schools. One has to wonder how many trips Massaro took to Franklin, Smyrna, Decherd, and even Yokohama to elicit their support. Did he attempt to find MT grads who work for Nissan and might be helpful. Did he implore area dealerships' owners and managers to support our effort? Unless he left no stone unturned he should have to answer for his negligence.