Jay Sawvel named head coach

[ragtimejoe1]

Interesting. I would argue the big sky is regional and apparently closer to our level of being able to compete.

One thing that is revealed in this discussion, WYO athletics have been largely mediocre (at best). Some accept that mediocrity as the ceiling due to external factors.

I guess the accepting of mediocrity is true and the real debate is whether the acceptance of mediocrity is just a realist's perspective or an underachieving attitude.

It’s pretty simple to me. Saying you ‘don’t accept mediocrity’ is absolutely hollow without action. Put your money where your mouth is and throw the money at NIL. But beating a drum saying ‘I don’t accept mediocrity’ while at the same time doing absolutely nothing about it other than complaining it is pretty lame and deserves an eye roll.

For me - I’ve been consistent. I believe NIL is a fool’s errand and thus my realistic expectations are adjusted accordingly. I have no desire to donate to the direct pockets of college kids so they can buy fancy cars.

So mediocre in MWC or competitive in big sky?

[OrediggerPoke]

It’s pretty simple to me. Saying you ‘don’t accept mediocrity’ is absolutely hollow without action. Put your money where your mouth is and throw the money at NIL. But beating a drum saying ‘I don’t accept mediocrity’ while at the same time doing absolutely nothing about it other than complaining it is pretty lame and deserves an eye roll.

For me - I’ve been consistent. I believe NIL is a fool’s errand and thus my realistic expectations are adjusted accordingly. I have no desire to donate to the direct pockets of college kids so they can buy fancy cars.

So mediocre in MWC or competitive in big sky?

Sure, that’s my selection based on my NIL donation of zero.

What’s your selection? How much are you willing to put in the direct pockets of college kids who already have a full scholarship?

Now if they want to set up a separate account to help walk-ons with their tuition and books costs, I’m happy to consider that.

[307bball]

It just comes down to whether or not those external factors, whatever they are, are real. Even in the case that they are real, but can be mitigated by talented administrators or coaches...the more resourced programs will buy whatever advantage has been realized and the lessor resourced program will sink back to square one. The fact that the good programs (Ohio St, Penn St, Alabama, etc, etc) are always good is part of the proof of these external factors but the real evidence is the fact that the bad programs are always bad. Why is UNM always bad at football...why is Idaho? There are versions in the big conferences as well. The schools that are in the position to draw the cream of the crop in talent will accrue to themselves an asymmetric advantage that, over time, will become more and more insurmountable. It's like boiling a frog...it's hard to notice it for a while, but at some point, you are cooked. This is how college sports have operated for a very long time.

The one thing that the big programs could not get around in the past was the problem of evaluating immature talent...plenty of unremarkable HS athletes have blossomed and dominated at small college programs. Now even that small problem has been solved by the complete relaxing of transfer restrictions and massive amounts of NIL dollars.

And to your question, "why have a football team?" I think I have already answered that....it is not, in the main, to win championships.

I think all this talk about what it takes to win is missing the point. Maybe I can anticipate your next question....Why do I (307bball) care about watching Wyoming sports if I know they aren't going to ever be relatively as good as they were when I was younger? That is a tougher question...and one I would not have had a good answer for until my son has come online with watching and playing sports. I am now experiencing it through his eye's. It's hard to explain. This year was one of the most enjoyable for me as a Cowboy's fan....despite having witnessed multiple greater years as a younger fan. My son and I went nut's when we got the two-point conversion to beat tech...I'll never forget the mosh pit in stands as the App St fg was blocked and run back and I don't think he will either. After the game, we went on the feild and I have a picture of him with Devonne Harris's arm around him! I know that this year's team is not as good as many of the teams I watched in year's past...but I can't deny the enjoyment I derived from it. Anyways...that is now what I'm enjoying. Maybe the NCAA will wake up and the people that care about real amateur athletics will create something that won't competitively disadvantage program's like ours .... but i'm not holding my breath.

[ragtimejoe1]

So mediocre in MWC or competitive in big sky?

Sure, that’s my selection based on my NIL donation of zero.

What’s your selection? How much are you willing to put in the direct pockets of college kids who already have a full scholarship?

Now if they want to set up a separate account to help walk-ons with their tuition and books costs, I’m happy to consider that.

What level ($ amount) is required to move from 4th or 5th to 2nd or 3rd? How much did unlv spend this year?

[ragtimejoe1]

It just comes down to whether or not those external factors, whatever they are, are real. Even in the case that they are real, but can be mitigated by talented administrators or coaches...the more resourced programs will buy whatever advantage has been realized and the lessor resourced program will sink back to square one. The fact that the good programs (Ohio St, Penn St, Alabama, etc, etc) are always good is part of the proof of these external factors but the real evidence is the fact that the bad programs are always bad. Why is UNM always bad at football...why is Idaho? There are versions in the big conferences as well. The schools that are in the position to draw the cream of the crop in talent will accrue to themselves an asymmetric advantage that, over time, will become more and more insurmountable. It's like boiling a frog...it's hard to notice it for a while, but at some point, you are cooked. This is how college sports have operated for a very long time.

The one thing that the big programs could not get around in the past was the problem of evaluating immature talent...plenty of unremarkable HS athletes have blossomed and dominated at small college programs. Now even that small problem has been solved by the complete relaxing of transfer restrictions and massive amounts of NIL dollars.

And to your question, "why have a football team?" I think I have already answered that....it is not, in the main, to win championships.

I think all this talk about what it takes to win is missing the point. Maybe I can anticipate your next question....Why do I (307bball) care about watching Wyoming sports if I know they aren't going to ever be relatively as good as they were when I was younger? That is a tougher question...and one I would not have had a good answer for until my son has come online with watching and playing sports. I am now experiencing it through his eye's. It's hard to explain. This year was one of the most enjoyable for me as a Cowboy's fan....despite having witnessed multiple greater years as a younger fan. My son and I went nut's when we got the two-point conversion to beat tech...I'll never forget the mosh pit in stands as the App St fg was blocked and run back and I don't think he will either. After the game, we went on the feild and I have a picture of him with Devonne Harris's arm around him! I know that this year's team is not as good as many of the teams I watched in year's past...but I can't deny the enjoyment I derived from it. Anyways...that is now what I'm enjoying. Maybe the NCAA will wake up and the people that care about real amateur athletics will create something that won't competitively disadvantage program's like ours .... but i'm not holding my breath.

All can be had in the Big sky and we'll probably be competitive, no?

[bullbugle307]

Interesting turn. Right around the time they were building HAPC, I was questioning whether we could ever compete against the big dogs, even in conference. I wasn’t too happy about money we were throwing at facilities given we were saying we needed to cut everywhere else. Lots of folks thought those investments would leads us to be much more competitive in conference at least, IIRC.I think I was pretty well summarily derided by most of this board. It’s an apples to oranges comparison with NIL in the mix now, but it’s interesting that so many people are now possibly feeling the way I was then.

For me, I came around to expecting to compete for conference championships, since that seems to be what was sold to us. If you’re gonna spend all that money, better deliver, and I’ll be happy. Well, I’m not happy am I.

Is NIL the nail in the coffin to a problem that already existed, or is NIL the actual coffin and nail. Some might say we can still get there, and we aren’t left behind. I guess that’s the debate now if I’m assuming you guys up right. I don’t really care much to debate it, but I’m sure you guys will continue, and I’ll read it, and maybe chime in from time to time.

[307bball]

It just comes down to whether or not those external factors, whatever they are, are real. Even in the case that they are real, but can be mitigated by talented administrators or coaches...the more resourced programs will buy whatever advantage has been realized and the lessor resourced program will sink back to square one. The fact that the good programs (Ohio St, Penn St, Alabama, etc, etc) are always good is part of the proof of these external factors but the real evidence is the fact that the bad programs are always bad. Why is UNM always bad at football...why is Idaho? There are versions in the big conferences as well. The schools that are in the position to draw the cream of the crop in talent will accrue to themselves an asymmetric advantage that, over time, will become more and more insurmountable. It's like boiling a frog...it's hard to notice it for a while, but at some point, you are cooked. This is how college sports have operated for a very long time.

The one thing that the big programs could not get around in the past was the problem of evaluating immature talent...plenty of unremarkable HS athletes have blossomed and dominated at small college programs. Now even that small problem has been solved by the complete relaxing of transfer restrictions and massive amounts of NIL dollars.

And to your question, "why have a football team?" I think I have already answered that....it is not, in the main, to win championships.

I think all this talk about what it takes to win is missing the point. Maybe I can anticipate your next question....Why do I (307bball) care about watching Wyoming sports if I know they aren't going to ever be relatively as good as they were when I was younger? That is a tougher question...and one I would not have had a good answer for until my son has come online with watching and playing sports. I am now experiencing it through his eye's. It's hard to explain. This year was one of the most enjoyable for me as a Cowboy's fan....despite having witnessed multiple greater years as a younger fan. My son and I went nut's when we got the two-point conversion to beat tech...I'll never forget the mosh pit in stands as the App St fg was blocked and run back and I don't think he will either. After the game, we went on the feild and I have a picture of him with Devonne Harris's arm around him! I know that this year's team is not as good as many of the teams I watched in year's past...but I can't deny the enjoyment I derived from it. Anyways...that is now what I'm enjoying. Maybe the NCAA will wake up and the people that care about real amateur athletics will create something that won't competitively disadvantage program's like ours .... but i'm not holding my breath.

All can be had in the Big sky and we'll probably be competitive, no?

My knee-jerk response is yes. But it's missing the point. My point is that the system is functioning as intended and is delivering a product that fans are obviously enjoying (as evidenced by attendance and engagement). If you want the simplicity of determining success and failure by outcomes on the field...amateur college athletics may not be for you.

[307bball]

Sure, that’s my selection based on my NIL donation of zero.

What’s your selection? How much are you willing to put in the direct pockets of college kids who already have a full scholarship?

Now if they want to set up a separate account to help walk-ons with their tuition and books costs, I’m happy to consider that.

What level ($ amount) is required to move from 4th or 5th to 2nd or 3rd? How much did unlv spend this year?

I don't think Schools spend any.....It comes from outside of the schools influence (supposedly). That being said...this question is all but impossible to answer at this point. It is truly the wild west out there. On3.com is trying to gather info but it's all over the place.

In general though...I would imagine that if you are in a conference with three teams that have double your football budget, you aren't going to be competitive with them until your budget is within some smaller percentage. Probably the same for NIL .... right now, I don't think a lot of NIL dat is getting compiled...that is changing fast though.

[OrediggerPoke]

Sure, that’s my selection based on my NIL donation of zero.

What’s your selection? How much are you willing to put in the direct pockets of college kids who already have a full scholarship?

Now if they want to set up a separate account to help walk-ons with their tuition and books costs, I’m happy to consider that.

What level ($ amount) is required to move from 4th or 5th to 2nd or 3rd? How much did unlv spend this year?

UNLV was WAY ahead of Wyoming in NIL. They actually had a collective ready to go before the rule change. Vegas does not suffer from a lack of marketing money…

As 307 points out, the total numbers are tough to come by and are very anecdotal. But the belief is that UNLV might have had one of the top (if not the top) total NIL payments in the conference this year. I think Boise reclaims that throne next year with the Jeanty and other rumored NIL deals.

I think we will see top of the MWC football teams probably in the 2-5 million total NIL yearly range. But this number is funny because single player top quarterbacks are going for that in the Big 10 and SEC.

[OrediggerPoke]

Interesting turn. Right around the time they were building HAPC, I was questioning whether we could ever compete against the big dogs, even in conference. I wasn’t too happy about money we were throwing at facilities given we were saying we needed to cut everywhere else. Lots of folks thought those investments would leads us to be much more competitive in conference at least, IIRC.I think I was pretty well summarily derided by most of this board. It’s an apples to oranges comparison with NIL in the mix now, but it’s interesting that so many people are now possibly feeling the way I was then.

For me, I came around to expecting to compete for conference championships, since that seems to be what was sold to us. If you’re gonna spend all that money, better deliver, and I’ll be happy. Well, I’m not happy am I.

Is NIL the nail in the coffin to a problem that already existed, or is NIL the actual coffin and nail. Some might say we can still get there, and we aren’t left behind. I guess that’s the debate now if I’m assuming you guys up right. I don’t really care much to debate it, but I’m sure you guys will continue, and I’ll read it, and maybe chime in from time to time.

I could support an actual physical structure which had a lot of private money behind it. Looking back, it was a wise investment with current building costs. This structure has supported all athletes.

I cannot support literally giving big money to 18-22nyewr olds.

[ragtimejoe1]

All can be had in the Big sky and we'll probably be competitive, no?

My knee-jerk response is yes. But it's missing the point. My point is that the system is functioning as intended and is delivering a product that fans are obviously enjoying (as evidenced by attendance and engagement). If you want the simplicity of determining success and failure by outcomes on the field...amateur college athletics may not be for you.

So what happens if wsu and osu reform the pac? Would you support moving to the pac where we have no chance (according to the dogma on this board and apparently in the ad) or would you advocate trying to get into the big sky where the external factors will be more equal?

[ragtimejoe1]

What level ($ amount) is required to move from 4th or 5th to 2nd or 3rd? How much did unlv spend this year?

UNLV was WAY ahead of Wyoming in NIL. They actually had a collective ready to go before the rule change. Vegas does not suffer from a lack of marketing money…

As 307 points out, the total numbers are tough to come by and are very anecdotal. But the belief is that UNLV might have had one of the top (if not the top) total NIL payments in the conference this year. I think Boise reclaims that throne next year with the Jeanty and other rumored NIL deals.

I think we will see top of the MWC football teams probably in the 2-5 million total NIL yearly range. But this number is funny because single player top quarterbacks are going for that in the Big 10 and SEC.

So the conference rankings are mostly a reflection of nil money?

[307bball]

My knee-jerk response is yes. But it's missing the point. My point is that the system is functioning as intended and is delivering a product that fans are obviously enjoying (as evidenced by attendance and engagement). If you want the simplicity of determining success and failure by outcomes on the field...amateur college athletics may not be for you.

So what happens if wsu and osu reform the pac? Would you support moving to the pac where we have no chance (according to the dogma on this board and apparently in the ad) or would you advocate trying to get into the big sky where the external factors will be more equal?

I don't claim to know the dogma of the AD despite having consumed what was shared in the media about the hiring process .... That being said....would I rather be a fan of a team who is a big dog in a lessor pond or be constantly under-resourced compared to conference mates? I don't have a great answer. Neither seem that attractive to me. This does feel like it's getting to the conundrum facing the University of Wyoming though. As the great Thomas Sowell said, "There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs." As Oredigger has pointed out....there is a cost to competing for championships that we may not be willing to pay.

My wish is that we join the larger pond and find a way to be competitive but the details of "finding a way" seem pretty daunting. And we all know what happens if you s$#t in one hand and wish in another!

[ragtimejoe1]

So what happens if wsu and osu reform the pac? Would you support moving to the pac where we have no chance (according to the dogma on this board and apparently in the ad) or would you advocate trying to get into the big sky where the external factors will be more equal?

I don't claim to know the dogma of the AD despite having consumed what was shared in the media about the hiring process .... That being said....would I rather be a fan of a team who is a big dog in a lessor pond or be constantly under-resourced compared to conference mates? I don't have a great answer. Neither seem that attractive to me. This does feel like it's getting to the conundrum facing the University of Wyoming though. As the great Thomas Sowell said, "There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs." As Oredigger has pointed out....there is a cost to competing for championships that we may not be willing to pay.

My wish is that we join the larger pond and find a way to be competitive but the details of "finding a way" seem pretty daunting. And we all know what happens if you s$#t in one hand and wish in another!

If it's primarily nil/transfer problem, why weren't we more competitive in Bohl's first 7 or 8 years?

[307bball]

UNLV was WAY ahead of Wyoming in NIL. They actually had a collective ready to go before the rule change. Vegas does not suffer from a lack of marketing money…

As 307 points out, the total numbers are tough to come by and are very anecdotal. But the belief is that UNLV might have had one of the top (if not the top) total NIL payments in the conference this year. I think Boise reclaims that throne next year with the Jeanty and other rumored NIL deals.

I think we will see top of the MWC football teams probably in the 2-5 million total NIL yearly range. But this number is funny because single player top quarterbacks are going for that in the Big 10 and SEC.

So the conference rankings are mostly a reflection of nil money?

Success in college football already is tightly correlated with football budgets....It would surprise me greatly if, once we get accurate NIL numbers, it doesn't also correlate.

There is a list floating around that attempts to rank the 69 P5 programs by NIL deals done...it pulls from lots of sources and is undoubtedly inaccurate in specifics....but it's interesting in who is on top vs at the bottom. Here are the top 10:

1 - Texas $19.9 mil
2 - Alabama $16 mil
3 - Ohio St 13.6 mil
4 - USC 13.5 mil
5 - Georgia 13.4 mil
6 - Colorado 12.3 mil
7 - Michigan 11.6 mil
8 - Oregon 11.6 mil
9 - Tennessee 11.6 mil
10 - Florida State 10.2 mil

Here are the bottom 10:

59 - Virginia 2.5 mil
60 - Syracuse 2.4 mil
61 - Vanderbilt 2.4 mil
62 - California 2.3 mil
63 - Standford 2.3 mil
64 - Indiana 2.2 mil
65 - Boston College 2 mil
66 - Cincinnati 1.9 mil
67 - Northwestern 1.6 mil
68 - Houston 1.5 mil
69 - BYU ?

The one that jumps out to me is CU...but we all know what is driving that. Pretty much the top dog heavyweights at the top of that list and the programs with less success at the bottom. That list did mention notable G5 teams:

AAC: SMU 2.1 mil, Tulane 1.5 mil
C-USA: Western Kentucky 1.1 mil
MAC: Toledo 2.5 mil, Western Michigan 1.2 mil
MW: Biose State 2 mil
SBC: James Madison 1.9 mil, App State 1.4 mil

The list was widely criticized, but it's at least interesting.

[307bball]

I don't claim to know the dogma of the AD despite having consumed what was shared in the media about the hiring process .... That being said....would I rather be a fan of a team who is a big dog in a lessor pond or be constantly under-resourced compared to conference mates? I don't have a great answer. Neither seem that attractive to me. This does feel like it's getting to the conundrum facing the University of Wyoming though. As the great Thomas Sowell said, "There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs." As Oredigger has pointed out....there is a cost to competing for championships that we may not be willing to pay.

My wish is that we join the larger pond and find a way to be competitive but the details of "finding a way" seem pretty daunting. And we all know what happens if you s$#t in one hand and wish in another!

If it's primarily nil/transfer problem, why weren't we more competitive in Bohl's first 7 or 8 years?

I think it has become primarily an NIL/transfer problem but the problem of a decidedly non-level playing field has been around since a great 10-win Wyoming team was left without a bowl invite in 1996....Would that have happened to any other team in a "power conference" who didn't win the conference championship? Heck no....that is the problem and it's gotten worse. If I'm a borderline recruit and I see a really good Wyoming team not get invited....I'm going to make the call to go elsewhere. Now, even the guys that do go to Wyoming and become good can transfer. That doesn't even happen in the NFL...there are rules for how the players can move between teams. In college it's sooooo bad.

That is setting aside the possibilities that Bohl (or Christensen or Glenn) might not be very good coaches. If that is the case...this effect is magnified...but if you are an "average" coach at these traditionally high talent schools (like BSU has become) you can sort of fall backwards into the upper levels of the conference.

[ragtimejoe1]

I don't disagree with the external factor narrative just the extent of those facotors' influence.

It is my opinion that for every external factors you can't control, there are 10 internal factors you can. A major one is people selection. Others are things like putting cjc on steroids and over-catering to POKE members. Great tailgates, great away seats, off-season fan engagement activities (Bohl had a damper on this as far as fans connected to Spring ball), etc. The Sternberg report highlighted several others.

It is my opinion (which I've been crucified for) that this hiring process missed an opportunity. Thank Craig Bohl for stabilizing the program and announce we are now ready for the next step. Make a bid deal out of it. Other programs are going to pay the most to athletes but we're going to pay the most to mentors who can make bring our the best in young men.

I guess the overall feel to me was, "hey, we reached mediocrity which is huge for us. Now, we just need to stay there" instead of "hey, we lifted ourselves up and we're almost to the top of the mountain. It's all hands on deck to hire and do the things to get us there".

Like I said, just my opinion. I'll stand by it no matter how many run me down.

[307bball]

I don't disagree with the external factor narrative just the extent of those facotors' influence.

It is my opinion that for every external factors you can't control, there are 10 internal factors you can. A major one is people selection. Others are things like putting cjc on steroids and over-catering to POKE members. Great tailgates, great away seats, off-season fan engagement activities (Bohl had a damper on this as far as fans connected to Spring ball), etc. The Sternberg report highlighted several others.

It is my opinion (which I've been crucified for) that this hiring process missed an opportunity. Thank Craig Bohl for stabilizing the program and announce we are now ready for the next step. Make a bid deal out of it. Other programs are going to pay the most to athletes but we're going to pay the most to mentors who can make bring our the best in young men.

I guess the overall feel to me was, "hey, we reached mediocrity which is huge for us. Now, we just need to stay there" instead of "hey, we lifted ourselves up and we're almost to the top of the mountain. It's all hands on deck to hire and do the things to get us there".

Like I said, just my opinion. I'll stand by it no matter how many run me down.

What you just said was great...it's what I thought you were saying all along just without so much overt assumptions of people who see things differently. I, for one, have enjoyed dialoguing with you...it has caused me to think carefully about one of my favorite topics...Wyoming Sports! I think you are absolutely right that this could be a missed opportunity to do as you said. That is a great way to conceive of it. I can love the analogy and still point out that no matter what happens with Sawvell, there is no way to prove if it was actually a missed opportunity. What if we go with the external hire and Sawvell ends up wildly successful somewhere else.... that would also be a missed opportunity.

I think you are incorrect in the ability for those internal factors to overcome the selection freedom that the talented players are now, more than ever, availing themselves of. I also don't think your characterization of the hiring process is accurate but I get the gist of what you fear is the motivation of the people making the decision.

Anyways...Merry Christmas to you!

[wwplayer]

It just comes down to whether or not those external factors, whatever they are, are real. Even in the case that they are real, but can be mitigated by talented administrators or coaches...the more resourced programs will buy whatever advantage has been realized and the lessor resourced program will sink back to square one. The fact that the good programs (Ohio St, Penn St, Alabama, etc, etc) are always good is part of the proof of these external factors but the real evidence is the fact that the bad programs are always bad. Why is UNM always bad at football...why is Idaho? There are versions in the big conferences as well. The schools that are in the position to draw the cream of the crop in talent will accrue to themselves an asymmetric advantage that, over time, will become more and more insurmountable. It's like boiling a frog...it's hard to notice it for a while, but at some point, you are cooked. This is how college sports have operated for a very long time.

The one thing that the big programs could not get around in the past was the problem of evaluating immature talent...plenty of unremarkable HS athletes have blossomed and dominated at small college programs. Now even that small problem has been solved by the complete relaxing of transfer restrictions and massive amounts of NIL dollars.

And to your question, "why have a football team?" I think I have already answered that....it is not, in the main, to win championships.

I think all this talk about what it takes to win is missing the point. Maybe I can anticipate your next question....Why do I (307bball) care about watching Wyoming sports if I know they aren't going to ever be relatively as good as they were when I was younger? That is a tougher question...and one I would not have had a good answer for until my son has come online with watching and playing sports. I am now experiencing it through his eye's. It's hard to explain. This year was one of the most enjoyable for me as a Cowboy's fan....despite having witnessed multiple greater years as a younger fan. My son and I went nut's when we got the two-point conversion to beat tech...I'll never forget the mosh pit in stands as the App St fg was blocked and run back and I don't think he will either. After the game, we went on the feild and I have a picture of him with Devonne Harris's arm around him! I know that this year's team is not as good as many of the teams I watched in year's past...but I can't deny the enjoyment I derived from it. Anyways...that is now what I'm enjoying. Maybe the NCAA will wake up and the people that care about real amateur athletics will create something that won't competitively disadvantage program's like ours .... but i'm not holding my breath.

There is so much truth in this post. Why are Wyoming sports important? Why should they continue? Why should they stay in division 1A? All great questions, to which I have my own personal answers. Others may have their own answers, which is fine. The main thing for me is CONNECTION. Championships would be great, being always able to run with the big dogs - fantastic. Will it happen? Can it happen? I don't have an answer for those questions and maybe never will. But the CONNECTION is important. I was born and raise in WY. Followed the Cowboys starting as a child. Educated at UW. Hell, my father even taught there - connection. But my life took me far, far away a very long time ago, for a number of reasons. Haven't actually physically even visited in literally decades (gotta fix that at some point). But I've followed my Cowboys vicariously ever since I left. Would have been very easy just to file my UW connections away and forget about them. I was in a position recently to use some money I inherited from my late mother (also a UW grad, as was my late sister) to endow a scholarship there and also give some support to my dad's department. Why? Because of the CONNECTION I still have with a place I haven't been to in forever. It's just not about the championships..... If I just wanted to give it away, I guess the money could have just as easily been donated to a charity/school/whatever where I actually live. But it wasn't - due to the connection established a very, very long time ago.

Anyway, that's my rant.

In regards to the transfer portal, NIL, etc. - everybody is just going to have to see how it all plays out. The genii is out of the bottle, and you might notice how it's coming back to even bite the "big dogs" in interesting and unforeseen ways. Have you seen how many players from this year's Georgia team are in the Portal?

[ragtimejoe1]

I think you are incorrect in the ability for those internal factors to overcome the selection freedom that the talented players are now, more than ever, availing themselves of. I also don't think your characterization of the hiring process is accurate but I get the gist of what you fear is the motivation of the people making the decision.

Anyways...Merry Christmas to you!

Respect your opinion and those of other posters. We can agree to disagree and I hope like hell Sawvell can take us to the next step.

As for Merry Christmas, same to you and all on the board.

I've tried hard not to personally insult anyone and think I was successful in that. I certainly didn't insult your spouse. I'll leave all that to a select few posters.