I just finished up on the vestry of my Christian church, so yeah, no. My point isn't to start a debate on his beliefs but rather to say that he has a history that will turn a lot of people off. They might not be TU's "customers" so maybe it doesn't matter but someone who doesn't have his history might be better able to fill a bigger net.
Gragg going to Arky as AD?
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my recollection is that Largent walked away from the TU Board over his objections to diversity initiatives. On the other hand, if he can raise money, maybe his hires could actually run the department.
I think he was a decent hire at the time. It was right after the Ross’ betting issues and the SMU pisser of a president.
But now that compliance is back in place, I agree with you and many others, we need a fundraiser and that isn’t Gragg’s cup-o-tea.
Largent won't gel with Clancy, which is fine by me.
I don’t blame them. That’s a good hire. He’s done WAY more than Gragg has even considered doing at TU... build a brand new, big boy stadium, renovating their basketball arena, elevated the perception of uh athletics in the community, increased donations, increased coaches salaries to P5 levels, and had uh in contention for a big12 invite....
Gragg has done nothing even close to any of that... further he’s moved backwards on the indoor practice facility, upgrades to the football locker rooms, football and basketball attendance, and the perception of TU in the community.
While it’s true he hasn’t been in trouble or given TU a black eye like parmley did... he has done nothing to move the university forward via athletics. He’s done good enough for government or to simplify, he’s earned a solid C grade. Similar to our old pal Doug when he coached hoops... riding the wave of mediocrity.
Not happening.... it’s on the furtherest back burner possible. Hell TU had to beg students and staff to put up Christmas lights... they aren’t gonna be breaking ground on an IPF anytime in the foreseeable future.
I wish but Stead extended Graggs contract right before he retired. We’ll have him for a while unless he chooses to go somewhere else.
Apparently scoop has been reading this thread... he put out a piece regarding Gragg and his lackluster performance so far as AD.
It’s pretty straightforward and is MOSTLY true as far as actual facts are concerned (he’s got a few details wrong)... BUT his opinion that TU pays their coaches too much is EXACTLY what I was referring to by saying that our local media views us a very small potatoes. TU can pay their coaches whatever they want... scoop’s opinion on that is about as valuable as what he left on the toilet paper early this morning.
Going on his suggestion, TU would be paying its coaches the lowest salaries in the conference (by far)...
Scoop and a few others at the Tulsa World do much more harm to not only TU athletics, but the university as a whole by spewing ridiculous backhanded hatchet jobs against TU regularly. TU deserves better... they deserve a city and community that’s supports them... not the crap flowing from clowns like scoop.
It’s pretty straightforward and is MOSTLY true as far as actual facts are concerned (he’s got a few details wrong)... BUT his opinion that TU pays their coaches too much is EXACTLY what I was referring to by saying that our local media views us a very small potatoes. TU can pay their coaches whatever they want... scoop’s opinion on that is about as valuable as what he left on the toilet paper early this morning.
Going on his suggestion, TU would be paying its coaches the lowest salaries in the conference (by far)...
Scoop and a few others at the Tulsa World do much more harm to not only TU athletics, but the university as a whole by spewing ridiculous backhanded hatchet jobs against TU regularly. TU deserves better... they deserve a city and community that’s supports them... not the crap flowing from clowns like scoop.
I thought the article was pretty good. To me, he's trying to light a fire under Gragg.
If our current donation situation is true, we need a TON of focus in this area.
Every little bit helps.
If our current donation situation is true, we need a TON of focus in this area.
Every little bit helps.
I agree that the comments about paying coaches too much are out of line, and Scoop is continuing to do damage to TU with comments like this.
But I think HotterTYHusband is on target wit the rest of the article. It is a well meant attempt to light a fire under Gragg, as hopeless as that may be.
You’re right - I just hate seeing the same backhanded crap over and over against TU from the Tulsa World.
Haisten blocked me on Twitter a long time ago because I called him out on his trashing of TU because they decided to move on from BB. Maybe if your damn paper covered the hometown school with some enthusiasm it would generate a little extra interest in both your newspaper and in people wanting to go to games. It's lazy and he feels to realize that because TU actually cares about the entire experience on campus and that because of the small student body resources are limited, that TU isn't always pestering the more deep pocketed donors for money just specifically for football and basketball.
I do think that Dr. Gragg has failed to generate a new generation of fans and supporters of TU athletics and that is probably his primary function as an AD. With the Ross Parmley exception which was underground and unknown/undocumented until the Feds went after a tax evader and money launderer, compliance issues are not a huge problem at TU. Being a smaller school and dept. makes the microscope magnification of any sort of impropriety that much greater. TU is now in the season where it needs a charismatic AD with connections who have deep pockets and who is recognizable in the community. While Bubba came here and wasn't a part of the community necessarily, he made himself part of the community and he had connections from coast to coast. And we're in OK, it shouldn't be hard to find a Bubba somewhere
It's been discussed in the HS thread that the World provides far more coverage of local high school teams that it does for TU. For example, I read an article last weekend that mentioned some of the 9th graders that are ready to move up through the program.
Just for comparison, here’s a link the the Memphis newspaper (commercial appeal) sports section... as you can see the number of Memphis related articles far outnumber the Tennessee articles, even with the Tennessee coaching search situation. They treat Memphis like it’s big time... not only do we not get that type of coverage, the tone of the articles and reports are completely different.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/sports/
To be fair Memphis is 10-2 and just played in the AAC Championship game while Tennessee was 0-8 in the SEC.
Tulsa was 2-10 while OSU was 9-3 and OU is 12-1 playing in the CFP. I would hope is Tulsa was 10-2 and OSU and OU sucked that we would be getting more pub in the papers. The problem is the size of our fan base and the fact that OU and OSU have rarely sucked over the last ten years.
Tulsa was 2-10 while OSU was 9-3 and OU is 12-1 playing in the CFP. I would hope is Tulsa was 10-2 and OSU and OU sucked that we would be getting more pub in the papers. The problem is the size of our fan base and the fact that OU and OSU have rarely sucked over the last ten years.
In general WE DO pay our coaches too much based on their performance. Our revenue sport coaches have underperformed yet we feel the need to throw millions at them. I’m ok with being a stepping stone. But to succeed you have to make the right hires and do your homework. You can’t hire on feel good sensations. You can’t hire because the optics are good. Your only expectation in a hire cant be loyalty and that can’t be the basis for salary actions.
Our softball coach has consistently delivered and yet probably makes a fraction of the salary of his peers on average. I’m not usually an advocate for the non revenue sports but our coaches in tennis, softball, and volleyball deliver on minimum dollars. Women’s golf used to deliver until we got cheap and don’t start me on men’s golf.
Memphis State was never small potatoes in the Memphis market. They don’t consider Knoxville to even be in the same state.
It’s one thing for you to have an opinion on the matter... you’re certainly entitled to it. However, it’s entirely different issue when the media in town steer everyone to that same opinion based on what one jerk prints in the paper.
In simple terms, yes, TU isn’t getting an ROI for both football and basketball. But that shouldn’t equate to being backhanded by the local paper, basically saying TU needs to get back in its box of stepping stone status... heaven forbid the university and donors actually step up to pay coaches a competitive salary in our conference. The ol “well it’s just TU” mindset is part of the reason we have some of the struggles we do.
That’s my point... Memphis gets treated way better by their media in the size market as Tulsa.
Tulsa has distanced itself from the metro area since the passing of Twyman and the hiring of Donaldson and the media has reacted accordingly.
Trust me. I’m the farthest from the “well it’s just TU” mindset.
But, we have paid millions to people that haven’t produced. We are paying Haith way too much for his results because we wanted to make a splash. Same with Montgomery. We paid for the Baylor offense and a four star quarterback and we got neither.
So we’re stuck with what we’ve got forever? I know Donaldson was not a friend of athletics... or anyone for that matter, but come on, one person’s actions shouldn’t define the university decades later.
We got the same crappy and limited coverage last year when we were 10-3.
Not saying that. But perhaps if TU worked on strengthening regional alliances and reflected regional thinking, perhaps, just perhaps, regional media would treat us different. As it is, we recruit all over the country, our grads leave the region, and they don’t buy local papers. We need grads that stay home, raise families with Tulsa ties, and generate legacies.
The comment was more directed toward the schools we compete against for print space. I would hope if we're in consideration for a BCS bowl game and OU and OSU are down the coverage would tilt like it has in Memphis. Unfortunately, we may never know.
I don't think Memphis is ever treated like a 3rd or 4th rate citizen in its hometown ever. I think that is more the point.
I agree that Haisten has no business telling TU how much to pay its coaches. I think his point (not well written) was that, based on current performance and attendance, the coaches are overpaid. To cut salaires when the programs are done is, IMHO, counterproductive. Like the stock market, invest at the bottom and reap at the top.
