Imagine if everyone in the NFL or NBA could be a free agent every year, and that there was no salary cap. It would be almost impossible for smaller market teams with less money to win consistently over the long run. The Cowboys, the Lakers, etc would be dominant every year. The Trail Blazers, the Titans, etc would generally suck.
And that is what we’re dealing with here. This is college football now. The hard truth is that we have less donor money, and money in general, than any other SEC school—including Vanderbilt. We are the ag school in the poorest state with the lowest population in the SEC. We have less wealthy donors as a whole, and our school has the lowest budget in the SEC. We produce more farmers, engineers, than doctors, lawyers, CEO’s. We have substantially less money donor base wise than Ole Miss. I’m sorry, but these are the facts.
And we have a blue collar, good ole boy mentality. THIS is what needs to change. We need to expand our fanbase. Ole Miss, besides Vandy, has the highest out of state % of students in the SEC. We have the lowest. They have tens of thousands of kids paying the 2.5-3x more expensive out of state tuition, are from wealthy families, and are much more likely to donate once they graduate and are 35, 45, 55. Their fanbase is not nationwide, but it is not confined to one state. We need to encourage more out of state kids to come to State. We need to make Starkville have a better bar scene, a better social scene, and make it more exciting for out of state kids. And they will then graduate and be more likely to donate. Our social scene and the town of Starkville is far and away the worst in the SEC—sorry. No wealthy kid from Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville is excited go to Mugshots on a Friday night.
Some might say well we lost to Toledo, they can’t have more money than us—that’s correct. And in an NFL with no salary cap as I described above, the Cowboys would still occasionally lose to the Titans. But on a whole, this would happen less often.
This is different than the Croom years, prior stretches of bad seasons. College football is totally changed forever—and it is not going back to amateurism. We are getting left behind, and yes if we do not do anything about it, with the new system there is a very substantial chance we could be in the C-USA in 10 years. Look at Washington State, look at Oregon State—do you ever think a decade ago they literally would not have a conference to play in?
We have to change the entire culture, the make-up of the town and school. What I’m talking about here is not a 3-5 year plan. It’s not a “get rid of Huntzler next year” discussion. If we want to even think about being competitive the next couple decades, we need more money. And the easiest way to do that is to expand the fan base.
And that is what we’re dealing with here. This is college football now. The hard truth is that we have less donor money, and money in general, than any other SEC school—including Vanderbilt. We are the ag school in the poorest state with the lowest population in the SEC. We have less wealthy donors as a whole, and our school has the lowest budget in the SEC. We produce more farmers, engineers, than doctors, lawyers, CEO’s. We have substantially less money donor base wise than Ole Miss. I’m sorry, but these are the facts.
And we have a blue collar, good ole boy mentality. THIS is what needs to change. We need to expand our fanbase. Ole Miss, besides Vandy, has the highest out of state % of students in the SEC. We have the lowest. They have tens of thousands of kids paying the 2.5-3x more expensive out of state tuition, are from wealthy families, and are much more likely to donate once they graduate and are 35, 45, 55. Their fanbase is not nationwide, but it is not confined to one state. We need to encourage more out of state kids to come to State. We need to make Starkville have a better bar scene, a better social scene, and make it more exciting for out of state kids. And they will then graduate and be more likely to donate. Our social scene and the town of Starkville is far and away the worst in the SEC—sorry. No wealthy kid from Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville is excited go to Mugshots on a Friday night.
Some might say well we lost to Toledo, they can’t have more money than us—that’s correct. And in an NFL with no salary cap as I described above, the Cowboys would still occasionally lose to the Titans. But on a whole, this would happen less often.
This is different than the Croom years, prior stretches of bad seasons. College football is totally changed forever—and it is not going back to amateurism. We are getting left behind, and yes if we do not do anything about it, with the new system there is a very substantial chance we could be in the C-USA in 10 years. Look at Washington State, look at Oregon State—do you ever think a decade ago they literally would not have a conference to play in?
We have to change the entire culture, the make-up of the town and school. What I’m talking about here is not a 3-5 year plan. It’s not a “get rid of Huntzler next year” discussion. If we want to even think about being competitive the next couple decades, we need more money. And the easiest way to do that is to expand the fan base.
