You are AD for the next 2 years...

dawgstudent

Well-known member
Apr 15, 2003
36,580
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What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
 

HailStout

Well-known member
Jan 4, 2020
2,268
5,515
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The truth of the matter is football is the most important thing. I would be hard and heavy looking for our next coach right now. There is extreme danger of the fan base walking away. Financially the athletic dept cannot handle that. If a miracle happens and he starts winning, problem solved.

I would like to see state try to have other sports like gymnastics. I get tired of watching my daughter wear LSU and Auburn gymnastics shirts.
 

Mjoelner

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2006
2,499
785
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1. I would be in the middle of doing due-diligence and creating a short-list of football coaches in case I had to move in that direction at the end of the season.
2. Stay on top of progress at the Hump to make sure it gets finished.
3. Tear out the concession stand in center field at Dudy Noble and use that area and more if needed to expand the men's and women's restrooms out there.
4. Create a new 'grandstand general admission' ticket at Dudy Noble with a $5 up-charge over a regular GA ticket that lets you sit in the grand stand in any non club level seat as soon as you walk through the gate until the season ticket holder for that seat shows up. Once the rightful owner shows up, you have the ability to move to another seat and if there are none, go grab a drink rail.
5. Begin preliminary plans for removing bleachers and putting chairbacks in the lower bowl of Davis Wade and enclosing the south endzone which would also include an upgrade to the M Club. Included in this would be the possibility of putting more entrance portals in the west side lower bowl of Davis Wade to reduce the ridiculously long rows.
6. Make any renovations/upgrades needed underneath both the east and west sides of Davis Wade.

Notice there is nothing on my list about a short-list for baseball coaches. That should already have been well researched and if it hasn't, we have a problem at the top of our department.
 
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L4Dawg

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2016
6,205
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Football has to ALWAYS be the priority. The rest can go in the tank and the athletics budget stays pretty much the same. Not so with football.
 
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johnson86-1

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
12,211
2,430
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What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
I would be looking for a way to convert Bulldog Club Donations into NIL donations. Anybody that has pledged to give for a particular project, I'm seeing if we can find Athletic department resources to pay for that and encouraging those donors to drop their pledge and give to NIL instead. I'd be looking for a way to credit donors for gifts to the Bulldog initiative. If that's against NCAA rules, I'm at least cultivating an unofficial list and figuring out how the Athletic Department can unofficially provide perqs to the bulldog club members that are also giving to the bulldog initiative at a significant level. I'm looking at our capital improvement plan and deciding which projects need to be put on hold while we try to better position ourselves in the NIL market.

Priorities are basketball (only because we are in good shape there with a coach and can make a huge difference with one or two players a year) and then football (because it will suck up everything not used in football and not from sport specific fans). Then baseball, although again, basketball and football should suck up everything where the giving isn't tied to a particular sport.

Next priority is identifying a short list for football head coach.

As mentioned, we better already have a short list for baseball hc and I'd be looking over that next and updating/tweaking as needed.

Everything else is so far down the list it's not worth mentioning.
 

Dawg1976

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
7,199
1,483
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New football HC. But seeing that Arnett will probably get 2 years baseball will come up first so Lemonis will get replaced first.
 

Dawgg

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2012
7,547
6,117
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1. Expand on EZ club and bring in strippers.
2. Add a marijuana dispensary in the MClub.
3. Remove the golf tents in the EZ and put blue tents with kegs.
4. Dove shoots at the amphitheater in Sept. Archery shoots (deer) at Southfarm in Oct.
5. Bring in a Buc-ees at the roundabout
To expand on #1, launch a beach volleyball program.
 

OG Goat Holder

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2022
7,597
7,167
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If you're Zac Selmon, NIL. That's what he was hired to do (along with general fundraising). So, my first task would be to formulate a strategic plan that the staffers could execute, and it would revolve around ex-athletes who have made it big. Those 20-25 guys they show on 'State to Sundays' and such. They'd be on campus every chance I could get.

If it's me - MSU would likely be my last AD job, so I'm in it for the long haul. I would come up with a mission statement for the entire AD, every sport within it, and NIL. That's the 3-pronged stool. Every decision made within the department would be based on that plan. Some examples, very general in nature:

NIL - engage our ex-athletes and biggest boosters, get them on campus as much as possible;
Football - pay the bills for the rest of the sports, since we have no real shot at ever winning a title, and play second fiddle in our own state. Have to innovate or do something fun here to keep fans engaged and keep hope for a playoff appearance once a decade;
Basketball - money maker, I would try and build this to championship caliber;
Baseball - compete at the absolute highest level;

Then all of those have their own plans underneath them, that influence every decision made. To me the biggest decision is whether we go all in on football or basketball.
 

MSUDC11-2.0

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2022
6,727
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Give football and men’s basketball whatever they need and don’t worry about the other sports. Maybe you have to make a baseball coaching change but hopefully not.
 
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Mjoelner

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2006
2,499
785
113
I would be looking for a way to convert Bulldog Club Donations into NIL donations. Anybody that has pledged to give for a particular project, I'm seeing if we can find Athletic department resources to pay for that and encouraging those donors to drop their pledge and give to NIL instead.
I really like this idea. I asked Charlie about something like this at one of the games last year. Basically if BDC could keep seat donation prices the same but turn around and give half of that money to NIL. At that time, he told me it wasn't legal but the way he spoke made it clear he was emphasizing the "at this time" part which means everything is still evolving.
 

Seinfeld

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2006
9,520
3,554
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What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.

I hate talking about people’s jobs, especially ones that I know are great bulldogs at heart, but does anyone else have a fairly strong feeling that our entire athletic department may be in dire need of a thorough review and possible overhaul?
 

Seinfeld

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2006
9,520
3,554
113
To expand on #1, launch a beach volleyball program.
To expand further, let them play at halftime in front of a DWS or Hump crowd rather than trotting the marching band out there. Not sure how to get temporary sand down, but dammit, figure it out!
 
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ronpolk

Well-known member
May 6, 2009
8,116
2,609
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Go find an experienced winner for football. It’s priority #1. Baseball will take care of itself. Either Lemonis will win or he won’t this year. Even if he wins (unless he wins a national title), I’m not extending him.

As for facility type stuff, I would explore the possibility of chairbacks on the lower level of the football stadium (except for student section). I’d be curious if I could raise tickets enough to offset loss of seats.
 
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Ranchdawg

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2012
3,098
2,251
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1. Hire a full time Marketing Guru that floods the newspapers and television stations daily with professionally recorded stories about our current success in every sport. During the summer keep it up with historical features. Submit everything to ESPN and SEC so it is easy for them to show as fillers. PERCEPTION BECOME REALITY.

2. Maintain a list of replacement coaches and staff for each position in the athletic department. I would have staff meetings to bat around potential coaches with pros and cons. The lists would be fluid with ranking.

3. Meet weekly with each coaching staff to review results or recruiting ranks. Keep metrics for each program and present them at this meeting. Determine what is needed to improve both and provide the tools to improve performance. Be brutally honest with each staff about what is expected and the outcome if they are not.

4. Meet monthly with Bulldog Club, Booster network and NIL collective to review needs for each sport. Rank order the needs and provide their feedback at the coaches meetings. Invite the coach with the biggest need to the meeting to defend their request.

5. Hold a monthly online meeting with fans to review the "State of State". Answer pre-screened questions that fans submit the week before. Require the questions have the persons real name which must be verified attached to it to insure they are Bulldog fans and not OM instigators.

6. Meet with businesses throughout Mississippi to solicit funding for Mississippi State sports. A good marketing program would do this for me going forward.
 

travis.sixpack

Well-known member
Mar 3, 2008
1,031
1,025
113
What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
Fixing the football program. If I'm Selmon, I've already engaged a search firm to identify potential candidates if/when State finishes 0-8 in the SEC. More change is coming to college football (and by extension all college sports) and Mississippi State has to be in the absolute best possible position to take advantage, otherwise we will get left in the dust. National perception of the program was already bad before this year, and it will only get worse if we show that an 0-8/1-7 season is acceptable.

Fix the football program is the number one priority and everything else can take a backseat.
 

Trojanbulldog19

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2014
8,857
4,334
113
What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
Making sure football is right. It's the money maker. NIL will pour in if we are good. Butts in seats and revenue for football. It's good to be engaging and exciting and got to have a couch that excites people and gets them interested. Second priority behind that is NIL. Third is baseball since it matters here.
 

thatsbaseball

Well-known member
May 29, 2007
16,593
4,062
113
Fixing the football program. If I'm Selmon, I've already engaged a search firm to identify potential candidates if/when State finishes 0-8 in the SEC. More change is coming to college football (and by extension all college sports) and Mississippi State has to be in the absolute best possible position to take advantage, otherwise we will get left in the dust. National perception of the program was already bad before this year, and it will only get worse if we show that an 0-8/1-7 season is acceptable.

Fix the football program is the number one priority and everything else can take a backseat.
This is a very important point IMO. This is a critical time for us and not the time to drag asz around and do things the old MState way.
 

Hugh's Burner Phone

Well-known member
Aug 3, 2017
4,289
3,404
113
What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
Not top priority but change up the game experience at football. It's been damn near the same thing since I was in school there. I never want to hear bad to the bone again. Same goes for the maroon white chant or the state spell out. That gets me pumped for the start of a game about as much as a case of explosive diarrhea.
 
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bolddogge

Well-known member
Aug 23, 2012
556
549
93
#1=Football coach, #2=NIL$, #3=Baseball coach
I like CZA. By most accounts (including my own personal experience) he's a great guy. He's just not currently a great head coach. Similar to the situation we had with Croom.
 

Maroon Eagle

Well-known member
May 24, 2006
16,456
5,384
102
What's your #1 priority? Could be a facility? Could be finding the right football coach.
Bugs Bunny Money GIF by Looney Tunes
 
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