Bo Bounds: “MSU is out there offering scholarships while other schools..

[greenbean.sixpack]

You mean like they were when James Franklin was there? I thought you were saying they would actually be some type of special program. But yes, if they hire a good coach, they can go 7-5 in the East (which is equivalent to about 4-8 in the West). In any case, it’s not some huge impact to us currently. We only play them twice every 6 years.

Also, that endowment money doesn’t mean a damn thing for football recruiting. Those are earmarked dollars that they can’t just use to start writing NIL checks with.

My point is they can go from being an automatic W to a PITA like Kentucky in a couple years if they get serious, long term they could build a consistent 9 win program in 4-5 years or so. We don’t play them much now, but all will change with realignment. Don’t let the “high academic standards” BS fool you, they can get around that if they want.

 

[oxfordrebel22]

I don't think NIL is dominating everything yet, but I think pretty soon, and possibly even next year, NIL is going to be the dominant consideration for SEC caliber athletes. We don't need to be surprised and lose an entire class over it.

If there are limitations on what the Athletic department can do, they need to be having strategy sessions with big boosters on what the school needs boosters to do and set up some sort of plan to make it easy for small business owners to get some small NIL deals together. It's not reasonable to expect them to figure things out for themselves.

I agree with you, and I don't want to be "sky is falling" guy, and maybe a lot of this is the #WAOM coming out in me or whatever.. but if you look at some of the things that Texas and some of the blue bloods are doing already, it's scary. I know people scoff at it, but let's just play a simple game..

Texas is giving every scholarship OL $50K a year. So, now imagine either school has a 4-star OL from MS that they are recruiting. Is the draw of playing close to home going to outweigh a guaranteed $200K in your college career, playing in Austin, TX? That's before considering the other resources such as facilities, etc. that Texas has. And I know that's a niche example, but if they're giving every OL that, imagine what they're going to give a 5-star DL? Or a big time WR? And so on...

And you can say that "well if it's a big time local recruit we could match the $50K". And while that may be true, then you start worrying about the problems that will cause in the locker room. If your starting LT isn't getting $50K a year, can you imagine how he'll feel about a true freshman that isn't playing getting it? I'm all for player's being compensated, but we are naïve if we don't think this stuff will ultimately matter. And no matter how much passion we have, it becomes a demographics and numbers game. And MSU and OM do not have the resources to go around to keep up with that stuff. Not unless we find a Phil Knight or T Boone Pickens.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

They are already investigating some NIL deals that the schools have made. I'm actually in favor of being cautious and making sure you get things set up the right way since everybody's gonna have to pay or will be able to pay we need to at least make sure we don't do something that is termed to illegal afterwards.

 

[Cooterpoot]

They are already investigating some NIL deals that the schools have made. I'm actually in favor of being cautious and making sure you get things set up the right way since everybody's gonna have to pay or will be able to pay we need to at least make sure we don't do something that is termed to illegal afterwards.

As long as schools are following state guidelines, there's nothing the NCAA can do. And some states will make it easier to work big deals. Who here trusts MS to do that? They won't even allow something the people voted for.

 

[Smoked Toag]

We were a small fanbase when Bod Tyler, Jackie Sherrill and Greg Byrne were there too. They all ACTIVELY promoted the football program. Are you stupid enough to believe that our baseball program would have just happened without the Ron Polk's, John Cohen's and MANY MORE promoting it ? Wealth and numbers won't do **** without someone actively heading the promoting and marketing efforts.

Simmer down sparky. We are promoting everything as actively as we did back then, if not moreso. It hasn't really moved the needle. You're concentrating on the small things.

You remind me of someone who is trying to get his monthly expenses down, but can't understand why things don't change. It's because you're worried about the cable and power bills when you should be worried about your house and car payments.

 

[Go Budaw]

My point is they can go from being an automatic W to a PITA like Kentucky in a couple years if they get serious, long term they could build a consistent 9 win program in 4-5 years or so. We don’t play them much now, but all will change with realignment. Don’t let the “high academic standards” BS fool you, they can get around that if they want.

They can’t get around that they have no revenue, no facilities, no local talent base, and perhaps most importantly no history that is normally tied to a remotely competitive SEC program. All of the above is why they have no influential boosters….which is something you can’t say about Stanford or ND. They will never be a consistent 9 win program….because anyone that does that well for even 2 years is jumping for a big boy job at the next available opportunity. Hell, MSU has far more advantages than Vandy in just about all those areas, and we will absolutely never sniff being a consistent 9 win program either.

 

[johnson86-1]

My point is they can go from being an automatic W to a PITA like Kentucky in a couple years if they get serious, long term they could build a consistent 9 win program in 4-5 years or so. We don’t play them much now, but all will change with realignment. Don’t let the “high academic standards” BS fool you, they can get around that if they want.

They can't just "decide" to get serious about football. They need boosters to decide to get serious. That $10B endowment was largely built off of gifts from people that care more about the school and its academics than its football program. They certainly have some rich alumni, but if there were a lot of them that really cared about football, you'd probably have seen them already putting money into the program and trying to influence the school to take it seriously. If they were able to hire two Franklins in a row and keep them both around 5 years, then maybe ten years of bowl games with some big regular season wins thrown in will get boosters to care, but it's not like there is a just a switch to be flipped when they want to.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Cooterpoot keeps a spreadsheet on that

 

[paindonthurt]

Bo Bounds hahahahahahaha

 

[paindonthurt]

Athletic departments can’t give money.

 

[paindonthurt]

There are a **** ton of “old boomers” who have been contributing to “the program”. I don’t know if they are doing NIL deals but they are damn sure contributing.

 

[ronpolk]

Athletic departments can’t give money.

I don’t really know the answer to this but I tend to believe you’re right and schools can’t directly give money. From reading most post on this thread, people seem to believe state paying players more. I seen one post being up the size of our endowment. Literally has zero to do with athletic department. Some people are just ignorant to the facts and they are also set in their opinion, so there is not much the athletic department can do in regards to these people.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

No, our problem is that we are a small fanbase who splits a state with another fanbase that is similar in size. We are going above and beyond to get a crowd of 60K, while a blue blood has 75K for an FCS game in the middle of September heat.

THAT is the difference, THAT tells the tale. It's a metaphor for all of it. They have more fans that care, which equals more money and more enthusiasm. Auburn had 85K for Alabama State. Clemson had 75K for South Carolina State. Meanwhile we had 47K for Tennessee State.

You guys are getting mad at the wrong people. You're going after things that won't move the needle. The state of Mississippi needs to grow, or we simply need to get lucky and win, to grow our fanbase. And we still have fans that get pissed about academics and say we need to curb enrollment. What in the literal 17?

MSU simply can't win with some of you.

Jackson State can draw 60K to a game because they hired a coach that promotes the product. We have a large enough fan base, we just have an AD and support staff that is more worried about cutting cost, catering to a few boosters and zero marketing ability.

 

[Dawgg]

Furthermore, they are still limited by the admissions requirements to a significant extent. No, a football player on scholarship doesn’t have to hit the same academic requirements as a normal student applying for admission, but a kid with a 16 on the ACT and a 1.8 GPA ain’t getting in no matter how much some boosters want him on the field. And the vast majority of elite football athletes in the Southeast are much closer to those numbers than they are to what it would normally take to get in.

Does Mississippi State admit kids with those scores? That seems excessively low for a student to get admitted, much less a D1 student-athlete.

Like.. I’m not even sure you’re playing JUCO with that kinda academic resume.

 

[fang]

Waiting to see how much it will cost so we can plug it into the FY23 budget.

^^this^^ cost plus contracts will be SOP soon.

 

[patdog]

Also, their band. JSU has led I-AA in attendance for years. But it definitely picked up with Deion, from about 33,000 to about 45,000 per game.

 

[natchezdawg]

I don't listen to Bo Bounds very much...

but I specifically remember one show I did get to hear - I was driving home from Starkville the morning after we played Auburn / Cam Newton on a Thursday night in 2010 - we took Chris Relf and lost to the eventual national champions by 3 points! Bo had reached the conclusion based an that one game, that Mullen was not going to workout at Mississippi State. The guy does not know what the hell is talking about.

 

[Go Budaw]

Does Mississippi State admit kids with those scores? That seems excessively low for a student to get admitted, much less a D1 student-athlete.

Like.. I’m not even sure you’re playing JUCO with that kinda academic resume.

In some cases, yes. I know folks who had lower ACT’s than that who weren’t even athletes that got into MSU (granted, that was 15-20 years ago). I’m not sure what the “sliding scale” is for athlete eligibility these days, but its a hell of a lot lower than the minimum admissions requirements for Vanderbilt.

 

[Junction John]

^^Does not live the Y'all Lifestyle^^

You probably hate 4 Roses Bourbon, too, don't you??

 

[johnson86-1]

Athletic departments can’t give money.

Nobody is suggesting they can. But if they are getting millions of dollars in donations a year, that means there is money available for NIL deals.

 

[ronpolk]

Nobody is suggesting they can. But if they are getting millions of dollars in donations a year, that means there is money available for NIL deals.

So are you suggesting the university should not accept donations and in turn tell the donors to sponsor NIL deals?

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Yea, winning at levels that havent won in many years, including a conference championship, had nothing to do with it. All their marketing***

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

We’re about to sign more 4 stars than we have in years and a class ranked around

the top 23. But by all means, keep boosting Bo’s ego and ratings. He’s a clown. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Dawgzilla]

The three biggest MSU sports media personalities are Brandon Walker, Steve Robertson and Bo Bounds.

And all 3 are intolerable.

 

[Dawgzilla]

So are you suggesting the university should not accept donations and in turn tell the donors to sponsor NIL deals?

Thats almost what has to happen. There is not an infinite amount of money available. If a business sets up an NIL deal with athletes, that means there is less money available to donate to the University and/or less money spent on advertising to the University. Its not a 1:1 ratio, but NIL deals will cut into University budgets nationwide.

Not all of these deals come from boosters, though. The $1.4 million deal that Quinn Ewer's signed is with a sports marketing company. IDK if that company has ties to OSU, but they stand to profit from their deal wherever he plays as long as he remains high profile. Plus the PR they get from making the deal in the first place.

We do need our current players to sign good deals so that we can use that in recruiting. Not direct money, but just used as examples of what is possible. Yeah, its nice if every OL gets $50K, but the school has no control over that and can't guarantee it.

 

[ronpolk]

Thats almost what has to happen. There is not an infinite amount of money available. If a business sets up an NIL deal with athletes, that means there is less money available to donate to the University and/or less money spent on advertising to the University. Its not a 1:1 ratio, but NIL deals will cut into University budgets nationwide.

Not all of these deals come from boosters, though. The $1.4 million deal that Quinn Ewer's signed is with a sports marketing company. IDK if that company has ties to OSU, but they stand to profit from their deal wherever he plays as long as he remains high profile. Plus the PR they get from making the deal in the first place.

We do need our current players to sign good deals so that we can use that in recruiting. Not direct money, but just used as examples of what is possible. Yeah, its nice if every OL gets $50K, but the school has no control over that and can't guarantee it.

The athletic department is never going to encourage people to limit donations in favor of NIL deals.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

View attachment 23261

 

[Dawgzilla]

The athletic department is never going to encourage people to limit donations in favor of NIL deals.

Not literally, no. I said that is "almost" what has to happen. NIL deals are going to cut into donations and sponsorship money. There is no way around that. To the extent the athletic department encourages and promotes those deals, it is implicitly reducing its own budget.

 

[Eleven Bravo]

Bo Bounds. That’s the first problem with the opinion right there.

 

[ronpolk]

Not literally, no. I said that is "almost" what has to happen. NIL deals are going to cut into donations and sponsorship money. There is no way around that. To the extent the athletic department encourages and promotes those deals, it is implicitly reducing its own budget.

I can get on board with it reducing sponsorship money. And I could also see a scenario where MSU works advertisers and reduces what we charge if an MSU athlete is promoting the company or product. If donations are cut because of NIL deals, I think that is bad for MSU in the long run

 

[patdog]

Well, we're 28 with 1 4* right now, so I guess we're supposed to close strong. BTW, I do not understand recruiting rankings. Mississippi is 32 with 4 4* and only 1 less recruit overall and Auburn is 34 with 5 4* and only 2 less recruits overall.

 

[philduckworth]

Well, we're 28 with 1 4* right now, so I guess we're supposed to close strong. BTW, I do not understand recruiting rankings. Mississippi is 32 with 4 4* and only 1 less recruit overall and Auburn is 34 with 5 4* and only 2 less recruits overall.

Yeah, that makes no sense.