Power ranking of CUSA programs from the desirability of Athletic Director jobs standpoint

[SpaceRaider]

Athletic Department Power Index: Conference USA

The AthleticDirectorU Athletic Department Power Index, powered by Athlete Viewpoint, continues with a look at the Conference USA. Dozens of sitting Athletic Directors and executive-level administrators who currently are, or could soon be, a Conference USA AD shared feedback.

www.athleticdirectoru.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTLynn]

I blame 7-wood and whoever is pulling his strings

 

[SpaceRaider]

I'm not going to argue about any other school's ranking or whatever, for the most part nothing about MT surprises me. I would disagree with non-revenue success, that should be higher.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTFNBY5]

I'm not going to argue about any other school's ranking or whatever, for the most part nothing about MT surprises me. I would disagree with non-revenue success, that should be higher.

Agreed, that's the first thing I noticed.

 

[sWiley]

I don't disagree with our position, but this looks like a North Texas love affair. 100% delusional. North Texas is not even close to the rankings they were assigned. It makes it lose all credibility.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

I don't disagree with our position, but this looks like a North Texas love affair. 100% delusional. North Texas is not even close to the rankings they were assigned. It makes it lose all credibility.

100% agree. Bit much on them. But you still can't deny the awesome job Wren Baker has done there. And that's with a FB coach some say is on the hot seat. Goes to show you what a dedicated administration can do.

 

[sWiley]

Seth Littrell is 100% on the hot seat. He's done a terrible job there outside of a few decent seasons. He's the #1 paid coach in the conference while fielding the worst team in the conference. Yikes. I don't see how he survives this season. North Texas actually has some standards.

 

[TRUEBLUE73]

The North Texas Facilities are incredible. They absolutely destroy most of the conference. I agree with the move to a new conference rating.

 

[crposton]

There is zero reason FIU should be so low.

 

[RaiderDoug]

How are we at 8 on quality of life?

We should be #1 by a mile. Middle Tennessee is a great place to live, you make a fine salary, and there are literally no performace demands whatsoever!

 

[SpaceRaider]

then there is this article, and as usual, mention of Middle Tennessee comes towards the bottom of the article, click and scroll, scroll...

The hardest jobs in college football: Coaches, ADs and agents on Miami, Vanderbilt, Kansas, UMass, Michigan and more

What are the toughest gigs in college football? More than 60 people in the sport weighed in.

theathletic.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

then there is this article, and as usual, mention of Middle Tennessee comes towards the bottom of the article, click and scroll, scroll...

The hardest jobs in college football: Coaches, ADs and agents on Miami, Vanderbilt, Kansas, UMass, Michigan and more

What are the toughest gigs in college football? More than 60 people in the sport weighed in.

theathletic.com

My only comment is Middle Tennessee is on this list because Rick Stockstill, game in and game out, makes it look hard. He has huge support in that regard with Massaro and McPhee.

 

[MTFNBY5]

Can you give some MT excerpts for those of us who are not subscribers.

 

[MTLynn]

Rick Stockstill, game in and game out, makes it look hard.

And he repeatedly states how hard it is to win games. I'm sure all .500 coaches feel the same way.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Can you give some MT excerpts for those of us who are not subscribers.

under the category of G5 programs, the hardest jobs:

​

UConn (115 votes/6 First place votes) and UMass (97/11), NMSU, Akron, UL Monroe, Rice, Utep, Hawaii, those all gained first place votes and multiple paragraphs dedicated to each, Middle Tennessee was listed as:

Other notable Group of 5 vote-getters: Eastern Michigan, FIU, San Jose State, Temple, Middle Tennessee State​

of those there were comments from agents on EMU, FIU, and Temple

no comments published on MT

there was a detailed ranking by votes for both P5, G5 and independents (Voters were asked to list their toughest five jobs in order of preference. A whopping 19 schools received first-place votes, and the voting for the No. 1 spot was tight.)

MT rec'd three votes

MT was 4th hardest among CUSA behind Rice, UTEP, and FIU)

FWIW, among P5s, Vandy led the way with 10 first place votes, ut-k was also among the top p5 programs receiving votes.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

And he repeatedly states how hard it is to win games. I'm sure all .500 coaches feel the same way.

How ironic it would be for UConn to be the school that puts him under .500 as a head coach.

 

[ewglenn]

I think a lot of people here overlook the importance of facilities and fan support. Sure HCRS could do better and really it is time for new blood but what makes anyone think the next coach will be better? Our facilities are terrible in comparison to other Regional G5 teams. Recruiting makes or breaks a program and our coaching staff isn’t doing well but a lot of it is because of what we have in place. I’m just giving the thoughts of a new fan that hasn’t been here long enough to be bias to one side or the other.

 

[sWiley]

I think a lot of people here overlook the importance of facilities and fan support. Sure HCRS could do better and really it is time for new blood but what makes anyone think the next coach will be better? Our facilities are terrible in comparison to other Regional G5 teams. Recruiting makes or breaks a program and our coaching staff isn’t doing well but a lot of it is because of what we have in place. I’m just giving the thoughts of a new fan that hasn’t been here long enough to be bias to one side or the other.

No you are right. Our facilities do suck. Which is why McPhee, Massaro, and Stockstill all need to be replaced. Should have been replaced years ago.

And you never keep a coach around out of fear the next one might fail. If a coach isn't winning championships and building and progressing a program, then you don't keep them around, period. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are.

 

[ewglenn]

No you are right. Our facilities do suck. Which is why McPhee, Massaro, and Stockstill all need to be replaced. Should have been replaced years ago.

And you never keep a coach around out of fear the next one might fail. If a coach isn't winning championships and building and progressing a program, then you don't keep them around, period. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are.

I don’t disagree with you. Change is necessary but people just assume the issue is Rick. The issues are the program hasn’t been supported and that’s from the AD, President, coaches and fans. All are to blame.

 

[sWiley]

Yes they are all to blame. And they have all shown why they are to be blamed. Rick included. There are many coaching blunders and issues we could discuss that we've all seen over the last 16 years. Most notably terrible roster management, continuing to employ his buddies despite clear need for better position coaches, and non-existent player development. And I mean non-existent.

I can't think of a single star player here at MT under Stockstill that ever really got better from their younger years to their older years. His own son regressed dramatically over his career. Richie James Jr. had his best years as a younger player, so did Blankenship, so did TT Barber, Malcolm Beyah, Jordan Parker, Brent Stockstill, Kevin Byard, and so on and so forth. Nobody has ever improved under Rick Stockstill. I've never seen a freshmen/sophomore phenom player for us actually improve as a junior/senior under Rick's 16 year tenure. If that is not the biggest red flag known to man, I don't know what else is. We've even had QB's on our roster here at MT that supposedly were not good enough to start that left MT, went to other schools, and started and won championships for their team. (AJ Erderly @ UAB, and Chance Nolan has a good chance to do it this year @ Oregon St.) But they weren't good enough to start at MT. I don't think Chance or AJ were ever even on the 2 deep. Both remained 3rd string at best while here. LOL

College football is about player recruiting and development, roster management, and superior game planning during the week for your opponent/installation of game plan + playcalling on Saturday. That's all it is. It's not rocket science. The one thing this staff has done a decent job at is recruiting players. I will admit they do sign pretty good classes in terms of talent when you consider our poor facilities and complete lack of football tradition/success. But you can sign all the talent in the world and it won't matter if you can't develop it and scheme your opponent up on Saturday.

This staff just doesn't have it and never will. Rick Stockstill is one of those guys that doesn't know what they don't know. He thinks he is wise to the sport because he's been a part of it his whole life as a player/coach, but the reality is CFB is a young man's game now and him and his geriatric buddies can't compete anymore. The sooner he understands that the better.

He is very lucky to have had such an incompetent AD and President for a boss. Anyone else anywhere else in the country would have been fired by now. It's an unfortunate situation because I happen to believe we have two pretty good coordinators with Shafer & Dearmon, but there's still so much dead weight on the staff and Rick has shown he isn't willing to make the tough call to fire his buddies.

 

[Hop45]

I don’t disagree with you. Change is necessary but people just assume the issue is Rick. The issues are the program hasn’t been supported and that’s from the AD, President, coaches and fans. All are to blame.

I completely disagree. I can't remember EVER seeing anything on this board stating the problem is CRS and only CRS. On this board at least, it has been made very clear that there are many issues affecting not only football, but the athletic dept as a whole.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

I don’t disagree with you. Change is necessary but people just assume the issue is Rick. The issues are the program hasn’t been supported and that’s from the AD, President, coaches and fans. All are to blame.

The first three are paid (very handsomely) to make a product that the last group is willing to pay their hard earned money for. When that inferior product is no longer desired, the paying customer looks for other ways to spend their discretionary income. This fanbase is waaaay past being shamed into supporting something that would only give the folks in charge credibility and validation of a job well done. Folks have finally figured this out and it shows. In attendance, season ticket sales, donations and apparel sales.

 

[RaiderDoug]

I think a lot of people here overlook the importance of facilities and fan support. Sure HCRS could do better and really it is time for new blood but what makes anyone think the next coach will be better? Our facilities are terrible in comparison to other Regional G5 teams. Recruiting makes or breaks a program and our coaching staff isn’t doing well but a lot of it is because of what we have in place. I’m just giving the thoughts of a new fan that hasn’t been here long enough to be bias to one side or the other.

We know other coaches could do better because we've seen it. I remember when 25k+ attendance was not a rare occurrence. Facilities don't just spring up. They are a result of program building, fan excitement, donations, ticket sales, etc.

Massaro and Stockstill have actively and deliberately sucked the life out of a program that had a pretty solid upward trajectory at one point.

The program was hijacked by leaders who have no desire to field a winning product and where we are from a support and facilities and $$$'s standpoint is completely due to these leaders.

Think about it this way - what freakin' G5 coach doesn't want to move up? Really, I can't think of one other than the 5'feet of wet moldy cardboard that we have that isn't actively trying to win as much as possible for his own career ambition. 16 years and not a single sniff from a higher conference program and yet not a peep from our AD! It's unheard of!

 

[RaiderDoug]

I don’t disagree with you. Change is necessary but people just assume the issue is Rick. The issues are the program hasn’t been supported and that’s from the AD, President, coaches and fans. All are to blame.

Make an attempt at fielding a winning program at some point, and you'll see the fans, $$$'s and support materialize. We've seen it before.

The road block to all success is poor leadership - McPhee has no interest in sports and won't hold the athletic department accountable, and the AD and coach are simply milking the program.

 

[TrueBlue147]

We have never any sustained success in FBS football, so we don't even really know what are ceiling is with respect to fan support. When we had success in basketball we sold out a 12,000 seat arena and averaged more fans than any other conference team other than UTEP. If we ever had some sustained success in football with an exciting coach and athletic department I believe we could routinely have 30,000 fans in that stadium. Especially, if they upgraded it. Who knows if we will ever have the right people though.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

We know other coaches could do better because we've seen it. I remember when 25k+ attendance was not a rare occurrence. Facilities don't just spring up. They are a result of program building, fan excitement, donations, ticket sales, etc.

Massaro and Stockstill have actively and deliberately sucked the life out of a program that had a pretty solid upward trajectory at one point.

The program was hijacked by leaders who have no desire to field a winning product and where we are from a support and facilities and $$$'s standpoint is completely due to these leaders.

Think about it this way - what freakin' G5 coach doesn't want to move up? Really, I can't think of one other than the 5'feet of wet moldy cardboard that we have that isn't actively trying to win as much as possible for his own career ambition. 16 years and not a single sniff from a higher conference program and yet not a peep from our AD! It's unheard of!

Look no farther than Birmingham, Charlotte and San Antonio.