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WAC
Jan 23, 2021 14:30:02 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 23, 2021 14:30:02 GMT -6
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WAC
Jan 24, 2021 17:44:02 GMT -6
Post by buckeyecat on Jan 24, 2021 17:44:02 GMT -6
My guess would be Pepperdine since the ACU build started under President Teague who came from California and started recruiting renowned wealthy donors to give to the school, not to diminish the efforts of his predecessors who also worked hard to get large donations from some very generous west Texas ranchers. President Teague seemed to believe an attractive university class campus was necessary for growth. We are definitely in the same class academically, and now in the same class, NCAA division I athletically. Although we are in west Texas and not Malibu, we do have football and will be considered with our new conference a western university.
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Post by Cat_A_holic on Jan 24, 2021 19:04:55 GMT -6
We are certainly heading in an upward trajectory in academics, but we are still a long, long way from Pepperdine in that area. We also still have room to get to where Wheaton and Calvin are. I wonder if in some sense we are trying to create a new category. That is, are there faith-based private liberal arts schools where faith is truly an animating concern, very high academics, and D1 sports? - Wheaton, Calvin, George Fox don't do competitive sports at a high level
- Rice and Elon not really seriously faith-based. Pepperdine is more so but has a significant amount of non-religious students and faculty
- Grand Canyon, Cal Baptist not too strong academically
- Liberty, Samford, and ORU may be the closest parallels. Baylor perhaps though there is a high level of non-religious students.
- DBU (but only in baseball)
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Post by rc on Jan 24, 2021 19:09:49 GMT -6
Pepperdine is a fine school in several areas, but cannot come close to ACU in other areas--they are not even on the radar. That is the nature of most quality private universities, maybe all Universities--they are good in some areas and not as good in others. Which brings me to how we can be competitive in athletics. Not sure how many successful FBS universities are smaller than 10,000 to 12,000 students (just a range I have chosen as a standard for now) but there are academically superior universities with far fewer. California Institute of Technology has a bit over 2,200 students. Gonzaga is a bit over 7,500 and it plays basketball with the big boys but last played football 78 years ago. I can't imagine the Ivy league universities not enjoying their sports competitions, but I don't think any would trade their overall status for FBS membership, and they have plenty of endowment. My point is ACU can have a robust and competitive life as a mid-major FCS school and continue to have academic areas of excellence that provide distinction. So my thought is I hope we try to be competitive and winners in FCS or mid-major athletics while producing a superior student product. I remember when Rice was a competitive football school but that was decades ago. If I was Rice, I would rather be a distinctive mid-major and remain a decorated academic institution. Discussion invited if you would like.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 25, 2021 10:42:40 GMT -6
I agree with RC’s point about athletics. Better to focus our efforts on basketball and FCS football than attempt to play FBS football against much larger schools. Only four FBS schools have enrollments under 5000 and 7 under 10000. Three of the smallest schools are the service academies that offer unlimited numbers of full ride academic scholarships. The only other school with an enrollment under 5000 is Tulsa, whose endowment dwarfs ours.
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WAC
Jan 25, 2021 15:11:08 GMT -6
Post by Cat_A_holic on Jan 25, 2021 15:11:08 GMT -6
The other issue here is salaries for coaches. I know that our assistants don't get paid much but can we really think we will compete at a higher level with the AD budget we currently have? Is there a plan for bumping that up? If you consult our most recently filed Form 990 ( projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/750851900/202010209349300716/full) you can see that Dorrell makes around $275,000 total package. The report lists the 19th highest paid individuals on campus and Dorrell is the only coach that makes the list. The bottom of that to 19 makes $160,000 so I take that to mean that no other coach makes more than $160,000. Can we stay competitive with salaries like this? How does it compare with others we'll be going up against?
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Post by wildcatter on Jan 25, 2021 17:03:46 GMT -6
I know it’s not practical but I think the basketball coaches need to make as much as dorrell. I know football reigns and yada yada but if we are gonna talk about what has put us on the map and what makes this move legit it’s for basketball. I would imagine the president and the AD (coming from Murray st) know how valuable a successful basketball program is at our level now.
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WAC
Jan 27, 2021 9:24:36 GMT -6
Post by Cat_A_holic on Jan 27, 2021 9:24:36 GMT -6
I'm still curious if anyone has info or can research that info about coach salaries in the WAC (or current SLC). What will it be costing us going forward to hold onto quality coaches such as Joe, Julie, or others and can we reasonably expect that we can expand our budgets to accommodate those amounts?
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WAC
Jan 27, 2021 9:31:25 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 27, 2021 9:31:25 GMT -6
I'm still curious if anyone has info or can research that info about coach salaries in the WAC (or current SLC). What will it be costing us going forward to hold onto quality coaches such as Joe, Julie, or others and can we reasonably expect that we can expand our budgets to accommodate those amounts? The only two that show up on the USA Today database are Keller at SFA ($380) and Jans at New Mexico State (($528). Both salaries are before bonuses. sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach/
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WAC
Jan 27, 2021 10:27:50 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by acumedic on Jan 27, 2021 10:27:50 GMT -6
I'm still curious if anyone has info or can research that info about coach salaries in the WAC (or current SLC). What will it be costing us going forward to hold onto quality coaches such as Joe, Julie, or others and can we reasonably expect that we can expand our budgets to accommodate those amounts? The only two that show up on the USA Today database are Keller at SFA ($380) and Jans at New Mexico State (($528). Both salaries are before bonuses. sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach/And you gotta figure Bryce Drew is making more than both of them.
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Post by catfanatic on Jan 27, 2021 12:07:10 GMT -6
Knowing coaches salaries, HC as well as assistants (i.e.expenses) must increase, the ability will be directly proportional to revenue increase. Consequently, I encourage all who attend games in Abilene to pay full price for tix and to visit the concession stands often! For those of us who can’t, my Wildcat Club dues check is in the proverbial mail!! Go Wildcats!! Beat the h-e-double 🏒’s outta SFA!!!
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WAC
Jan 30, 2021 9:05:23 GMT -6
Post by Outsider on Jan 30, 2021 9:05:23 GMT -6
A little bit of a hindsight, but a good interview nonetheless of the SLC view from the last few months and it's next moves. We are moving on but you may still be interested. I wish he would have given more detail. but not sure I would have really expected it.
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WAC
Jan 30, 2021 9:11:05 GMT -6
Post by Outsider on Jan 30, 2021 9:11:05 GMT -6
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WAC
Jan 30, 2021 10:32:46 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by catfanatic on Jan 30, 2021 10:32:46 GMT -6
Remembering five schools are leaving the Southland effective 7/1/21, some interesting comments, especially, when read within the context of ACU’s WAC move, in this morning’s Arkansas Gazette. Concerning UCA’s move to the Atlantic Sun conference, which includes Liberty, who, like NMSU, plays FBS football, and Lipscomb: -ASun commissioner, Ted Gumbart, states, “This (admitting UCA, Eastern Kentucky and Alabama’s Jacksonville State) is the result of over two years of work. We realized that one of the biggest things that we needed for stability was to focus on football.” -UCA AD, Brad Teague, states, “We could feel the conference landscape changing, and we wanted to make sure we were out in front of it and not be left behind.” -Like the WAC, the expanded ASun only has four FCS-playoff eligible members (UCA, EKU, JSU, Kennesaw State, as North Alabama has one more probation year)
My takeaways are that the Texas4 may have been more “reactive”, than “active”, in making its move. Likewise, I believe 2020 exposed both “strengths and weaknesses” in individual schools and conferences that never had to be confronted previously. Lastly, knowing the WAC still needs a sixth FCS-playoff eligible school, my $ is on Northern Arizona, given its proximity to Dixie, GCU and Southern Utah, or, Northern Colorado, given its proximity to WAC’s Englewood, CO, headquarters.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 30, 2021 10:49:27 GMT -6
Remembering five schools are leaving the Southland effective 7/1/21, some interesting comments, especially, when read within the context of ACU’s WAC move, in this morning’s Arkansas Gazette. Concerning UCA’s move to the Atlantic Sun conference, which includes Liberty, who, like NMSU, plays FBS football, and Lipscomb: -ASun commissioner, Ted Gumbart, states, “This (admitting UCA, Eastern Kentucky and Alabama’s Jacksonville State) is the result of over two years of work. We realized that one of the biggest things that we needed for stability was to focus on football.” -UCA AD, Brad Teague, states, “We could feel the conference landscape changing, and we wanted to make sure we were out in front of it and not be left behind.” -Like the WAC, the expanded ASun only has four FCS-playoff eligible members (UCA, EKU, JSU, Kennesaw State, as North Alabama has one more probation year) My takeaways are that the Texas4 may have been more “reactive”, than “active”, in making its move. Likewise, I believe 2020 exposed both “strengths and weaknesses” in individual schools and conferences that never had to be confronted previously. Lastly, knowing the WAC still needs a sixth FCS-playoff eligible school, my $ is on Northern Arizona, given its proximity to Dixie, GCU and Southern Utah, or, Northern Colorado, given its proximity to WAC’s Englewood, CO, headquarters. A short term barrier to NAU- they are in the midst of a search for a new president. Geographically they make the most sense. Whether a new president will want to make such a move at the outset of their term remains to be seen.
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