Relative to the rest of the BiG, how do you think IU is doing and why do you think their recruiting efforts are likely to elevate the program beyond its current position?
DJ Johnson
- Thread starter secondasky
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I do, too. No idea why all of these guys want to argue with him. Just put him on ignore.....
LMAO.
unlike you, i have a good idea what 44,000 looks like in a 50,000 seat stadium, and it doesn't look 1/3 empty.
as for my assertion that Glass makes absolutely zero effort to increase attendance other than saying "please come", perhaps i should qualify that statement.
what i meant was, he doesn't make any effort to increase the actual number of fans attending the game.
if crossing out 35,000 or 37,000 in the attendance column, and filling in 43,000 or 44,000 where the 35,000 or 37,000 belonged, then yes, he has increased attendance.
i was there every game during the Rose Bowl yr and the subsequent Pont yrs, i know what 50,000 looks like in that stadium.
i also went through the Mallory yrs. (think those numbers were a little inflated too, but nothing like now).
that said, Glass came here as a political operative.
that's how they handle such things.
don't shoot the messenger.
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Glass has been consistent with efforts to get butts in seats.
Those of us who go to the games see the efforts with price promotions for youth and young alumni, student offers, fireworks, music, the walk, pregame band concert, super duper video boards, staff bending over backwards to be friendly and thank you for coming, golf cart rides everywhere, the lots being redone, the kiddy football field, Glass and his staff walk the tailgates, the stadium is beautiful.
Attendance has definitely grown but it is tough to do much more with such a slim history until the winning improves.
he's been consistent in doing virtually nothing other than hoping.
the promotions have been beyond pathetic relative to the task at hand.
while $10 isn't a huge amount for a reserved youth ticket, it's hardly a game changer and miles from what i would call aggressive.
Glass spends money like a drunken sailor, yet won't invest squat in upping the football attendance.
Ohio State is the exception, but for most games, i'd let IU students in free, (any other business in the world is good enough with numbers to make this work), i'd have a general admission section with $20 tops for adults and up to 4 kids (through HS age) free if accompanied by an adult. (and sell sponsorships for that section).
no points with promo tics, GA section, and "reserved" youth tics stay at $10.
think this would cost a lot? it wouldn't. it would be small change relative to the budget, would bring almost enough incremental revenue to be a wash revenue wise, (and possibly be a revenue plus), and you can always back off once it's no longer needed.
virtually all our costs are fixed costs, so there's virtually zero incremental cost per incremental seat occupied.
any incremental revenue is all profit.
this is how almost every other major business in the world operates, that has excess unsold capacity.
and like i said, a full or almost full stadium has many times the positive impact on a recruit than more brick and mortar.
until Glass and IU start making some real effort to fill the stadium, (i don't consider talk or PR or wishing as "effort"), i won't consider them as "backing" the program any more than those who preceded them.
actually, much less support would be far more accurate, since the current administration has way more resources just given to them, to work with.
everyone talks about IU not "investing" in football over the decades.
this is where the "investment" should start, and it would be the cheapest investment with far and away the biggest bang per buck payout IU could do.
fact is, i could fill a lot more seats, make it revenue positive starting day one, (revenue neutral at worst), and if IU can't with the current group, they need new people and new vision.
I think it took Indiana a LONG time to really understand the value of fielding a good football team. When Fred was interviewed recently and stated "whether we like it or not, football disproportionately effects our image/brand", that statement itself leaves one to wonder or scratch their head.
Indiana has been full of basketball arrogance, and to me, it's on display in Fred's above comment. He's basically saying "we finally realized that football is the cash cow and we've moved on it (gun to the head)".
Fred gets a LOT of love around here but I'm not sure any of it's really warranted. Fred was at the right place/right time more than anything else because of the BIG NETWORK and the cash it spewed out.
My gut tells me that Fred is a basketball AD and that's where his priorities rest. The North Endzone and South Endzone projects would've been completed if any of us on this board were AD because of the geyser of money from the BTN.
If TA brings our football program into the upper crust of the Big Ten, I'll be Fred's biggest fan...I do think Fred has big balls, firing KW was freaking Ballsy...
Indiana has been full of basketball arrogance, and to me, it's on display in Fred's above comment. He's basically saying "we finally realized that football is the cash cow and we've moved on it (gun to the head)".
Fred gets a LOT of love around here but I'm not sure any of it's really warranted. Fred was at the right place/right time more than anything else because of the BIG NETWORK and the cash it spewed out.
My gut tells me that Fred is a basketball AD and that's where his priorities rest. The North Endzone and South Endzone projects would've been completed if any of us on this board were AD because of the geyser of money from the BTN.
If TA brings our football program into the upper crust of the Big Ten, I'll be Fred's biggest fan...I do think Fred has big balls, firing KW was freaking Ballsy...
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I can assure you , you're gut is wrong. Fred loves football, and attended IU football games as a kid.
IU shouldn't be full of basketball arrogance considering how we are essentially a middle of the pack team. We've done squat. We sure like IU basketball but the product is far worse than schools like MSU and Wisconsin whose fans have figured out you can be good in both and root like hell DURING THE APPROPRIATE seasons for their respective programs. Meanwhile IU fans get all pumped up for basketball and we are the whipping boy of Wisconsin every season. IU is so behind the curve with the basketball only dummies who promote that junk. Every legit basketball team has high expectations for their football programs. Hell, half of any top 25 basketball list has schools that churn out good football.
Glass's biggest issue, by far, is his lack of experience. He never played. He never coached. He never "administered" or ran or even worked in an athletic department. He never hired a coach. He never hired competent and experienced athletic administrators. Never. He's done a great job using the BTN windfall to bring IU's facilities into a decent spot (somewhere between 8 and 12) in the conference. But his coaching hiring has been, on balance, mediocre, and he has yet to experience either football or basketball success on any consistent basis.
Perhaps but, since you're unable to refute any of what I said, it's clear you either don't know of or can't form any sort of counter argument. Ignorance will do that to you.
I forgot to list all of the tv radio and billboard advertising they are doing.
So by your response you appear to have dismissed my entire list and added only free student tickets as your solution. Did you know young alumni tix are $10?
Free tix vs $5 or $10 is another interesting discussion on economic theory and price elasticity, but I digress.
Ok, you are AD next season and this year's team finishes with six wins, losing in a minor bowl game.
What is your 2018 strategy and what are some tactics?
You do realize that 50% of all the ADs at FBS programs never played the game of football?
Sandy Barbour is the AD at Penn State. You think she played football?
How about Jen Cohen at University of Washington?
I think a little credence should be given to building a program versus operating a well oiled machine with great history. Pull Jen or Sandy n someplace without a history and say build it..... well ..... if you had you last $1,000 in life and you had to be on who would make it..... they would be at the bottom if at a school that needed it built
I'm not immediately seeing who made the claim that playing football is a prerequisite for being a successful AD, but that's old school and naive. Sure, the model - - for decades - - involved hiring retired coaches (and most coaches are former players) for AD positions, but that approach was largely abandoned years ago. In today's world, college athletics is big business and ADs need multiple skill sets that extend far beyond the Xs and Os of a particular sport. ADs today need to be able to understand, assess and negotiate media rights deals, apparel contracts and other sophisticated business arrangements that involve tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. They need a full understanding of revenue distributions and strategic business planning, including capital and investment (in facilities) budgeting. The ability to develop and cultivate a culture of integrity and accountability, communication skills, and fundraising ability are also critically important. So, too, is the ability to hire good coaches - - and fire those who aren't a good fit. None of this requires past experience playing football - - or any sport.
Glass was very instrumental with bring the Super bowl to Indy and need a wonderful job with the presentation.
I'll give you one guess as to who started this digression.
Yeah I will never understand how being a lawyer or having a business degree is a negative in terms of being an athletic director. The qualifications for managing a major division one athletic department are a little more complex than "jock."
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OK, perhaps I misunderstood you, but are you suggesting that the football program does not produce revenue? We have a huge profit every year from the football program. Could we make more? Absolutely.
It is amazing that you seem to have the answers for absolutely every conceivable problem, and yet here you are posting on this message board. It's one thing to have ideas, but you are so freaking arrogant about it.
Attendance is always listed as tickets sold. No one is denying that. We are selling more tickets than we have sold in about 30 years. You come across as a crazy person. And it's a little frightening that your post actually got likes.
You always go on and on about how simple everything is and how you can do this and that and make a ton of money, and yet you never specify how exactly that's going to work.
There's also the fact that he's completely misunderstanding what FG was saying there. He was saying that like it or not, the athletic department, specifically football, is how most people relate to and gain interest in your university. He is saying that in an ideal world, academics would get more attention, but it's just reality that the football program gets a lot of eye balls. td75 should be happy about what FG said because he knows how important football is, and yet he went on a big rant about basketball. That statement had absolutely nothing to do with basketball.
That's true but those things don't come in the sizes that they can without a winning program.... of some kind.i agree the best can do all.
That entire rant was completely pointless because you completely misunderstood what FG was saying. He was saying that like it or not, athletics gets a lot more eyeballs in general than academics, so football is very important in terms of putting on a good face for the entire university. It had absolutely nothing to do with basketball. He understands that a good football program is good not only for the athletic department, but for the entire university. All he was saying with the "like it or not" part, was that in an ideal world, the academic side would get more attention. But that's not the case, and a lot of people are introduced to a university through their football program.
He is on your side, and yet you just went on a big rant against him because you didn't even understand what he was saying. I'm also not sure how you can criticize previous administrations for not doing anything to improve the program, and then refuse to give any credit to the current administration for actually doing those things and investing millions and millions of dollars in facilities alone.
In addition, the Big Ten network money is used for the entire department, not just football. They just raised $170 million from donors for facilities. I think the current administration deserves a little credit for that. He's also raised the coaches' salaries at least twice. Everyone in the conference gets that TV money, so we still have the second smallest budget in the conference.
His statement was 100% in agreement with you, and he has said before that he had a lot of ground to make up because previous administrations didn't do anything to invest. The guy went to football games as a kid and is a huge football fan. I realize you have this bizarre personal vendetta with the basketball program, but it's getting very silly. Your "gut" apparently needs to be adjusted, because you completely misinterpreted what he was saying. You are right that it took us many years to realize that we needed to invest in football, but that's not FG's fault. He can't spend money for other athletic directors from the past.
How many of them excel in their roles with such a lack of overall experience? Please list all of the successful novices here at schools like IU.
Your position is that no experience in any relevant area is an asset. Of course, as usual you make no argument to bolster your case.
Data clearly shows that most ADs have a background in business management, fundraising, operations, marketing, finance and compliance.
Only about 20% of all ADs have prior head coaching experience.
While 55% of ADs overall in FBS played sports in college, only around 15% played the sport of football in college.
In our own conference:
Big Ten
Illinois - Josh Whitman YES
Indiana - Fred Glass NO
Iowa - Gary Barta YES
Maryland - Kevin Anderson NO
Michigan State - Mark Hollis NO
Michigan - Warde Manuel YES
Minnesota- Mark Coyle YES
Nebraska - Shawn Eichorst YES
Northwestern - Jim Phillips NO
Ohio State - Gene Smith YES
Penn State - Sandy Barbour NO
Purdue - Mike Bobinski NO
Rutgers - Pat Hobbs NO
Wisconsin - Barry Alvarez YES
How many of them played no sport in college? Of those, how many never coached at any level of any sport? And, of those, how many have no experience whatsoever in college athletics administration? In other words, how many had no practical experience whatsoever as a precursor to the job they have?
Just curious why you believe success is likely in spite of those "credentials"?
Fred does excel in his role. Best AD we've had in ages. Love everything he's doing for the university. I'm a big Fred fan. Hope he stays for a long time. He puts to shame some of these old guys we had in the past who did zilch to update facilities. This guy has more vision for IU athletics than the past 10 guys combined.
The guy is not pumping up football because of a "gun to the head." He's stated repeatedly that when he came on board that our facilities did not live up the expectation of excellence our university demands. I hope Fred stays for a long time. The guy is off the charts for me compared to some of these guys we had. I suppose some of you guys want Clarence Donniger back?
That guy had as much "vision" as Ray Charles during a full solar eclipse.
Your view and you're obviously entitled to it. Mediocre performance in football and basketball is more than good enough for you, and Glass has delivered with a revolving door of coaches and very modest results. You seem thrilled, even as some of us aspire to much more. But I would never talk anyone out of the goal of being average (or even a little above it).
I want somebody who has proven achievements in any realm that requires an ability to raise capital and influence decision makers. Fred proved that long before coming to B-town. I don't need some guy that played LB in college necessarily running my entire athletic department.
If I'm selling my house, do I require that my realtor have extensive background in construction, running the plumbing or wiring a house?
No. You get somebody who knows how the hell to promote and sell and interact with buyers.
Tom Jurich is probably the biggest definition of a "maverick" when it comes to being an AD but his programs resemble something just short of the Gambino crime family.
If you were selling your house, would you require your realtor to have actually sold houses prior to trying to sell yours? How about just taken a real estate course or tried to get licensed? Wouldn't some background in real estate be important? Any background?
He's pulled in some big money that has nothing to do with the Big Ten Network, and he's demonstrated ability and success in multiple key areas of the job. Coaching hires/contract extensions has not been one of those areas, but let's see what happens with Allen and Miller. If one or both or those hires proves to be a home run, Glass' legacy is cemented. If they don't pan out, then ultimately it's a very different overall assessment.
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