The U's commitment to winning

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ruralgopher

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Many don't think that the U has right the commitment to winning, I disagree.

Facilities-
Obviously TCF is a huge statement that the U is committed to the football program. 1st rate in the nation.
Everything that I hear is that there is momentum building on the basketball practice facitity.
Marriuchi is a 1st rate arena.
New Baseball stadium is in the works.

Coaches-
The U brought in Tubby at top dollar.
Lucia was a good hire, 2 nat'l championships, being paid well.
Coach Brewster's salary may be lower end, but I believe that the assistant coaches budget is fairly high. Recruiting budget is very high.

I guess I don't know what else the U is supposed to do other than improve and upgrade facilities and try to hire and support the coaches. What should the U be doing that they aren't currently doing to promote championship athletics?
 

Cheat as much as all the other winning schools.
 

Well the results aren't there. Facilities don't win anything. Maturi has to be the worst AD in the Big Ten.
 

You don't commit to winning by sitting out your top basketball recruit you have had in a long time over a stupid laptop case that takes 3 months to resolve. You push it through, get it handled, get the kid on the court, and win games.
 

My opinion is that as long as the athletic department makes money, or just breaks even, that Maturi and the rest of the U of MN administration are satisfied. I do not for one second believe that excellence on the field (or court, or ice, or whatever) is the top priority of the athletic department administrators - keeping the books balanced is priority #1.

Think of it this way - when you read quotes from Bruniks or Maturi, do you get the sense that they are heart-broken when their teams are not excellent? Do they convey a message of "we have to do significantly better" when they see mediocre results or do they gnash their teeth and say that the teams have to do better to try and appease the fans? I have never sensed any level of urgency or overwhelming desire to produce better results from them - because the books balance and that's good enough. I would like to hope I'm wrong, but I fear that I'm correct. Money first - winning second.
 


NDGopher said:
You don't commit to winning by sitting out your top basketball recruit you have had in a long time over a stupid laptop case that takes 3 months to resolve. You push it through, get it handled, get the kid on the court, and win games.
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It is not the adminisrations fault that this incident occured shortly after the MOA incident. Due to the timing I'm not sure what else they could have done. Royce's issues are on Royce, not the U.
 

During the Clem years, winning was first, give a damn how. The Clem staff was castigated for that. Now people are back to thinking that winning at all costs is more important. I don't fricking get it.
 

Clyde Tester said:
My opinion is that as long as the athletic department makes money, or just breaks even, that Maturi and the rest of the U of MN administration are satisfied. I do not for one second believe that excellence on the field (or court, or ice, or whatever) is the top priority of the athletic department administrators - keeping the books balanced is priority #1.

Think of it this way - when you read quotes from Bruniks or Maturi, do you get the sense that they are heart-broken when their teams are not excellent? Do they convey a message of "we have to do significantly better" when they see mediocre results or do they gnash their teeth and say that the teams have to do better to try and appease the fans? I have never sensed any level of urgency or overwhelming desire to produce better results from them - because the books balance and that's good enough. I would like to hope I'm wrong, but I fear that I'm correct. Money first - winning second.
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I think you're right, but there is probably a good reason for it: the need to make money, to keep all the sports they have over there. That's why they went for TCF and started putting money into football and basketball IMHO. The University found out that they needed to keep everything when they tried to kill golf and gymnastics. The outcry against it was overwhelming. It was also a huge surprise to many people who thought that Minnesotans only cared about Men's basketball, hockey and football.

Golf and gymnastics. Those University sports had a lot of support in the state? Can you imagine the outcry if baseball was to be killed?:eek: An idea that many on the old board at the time advocated. It could make sense for a number of reasons, but it's not going to happen.

A task force under the guidance of Harvey Mackay if I remember right, raised millions to save the sports. A re-targeting of Title Nine to reflect relative interest rather then student numbers, was also advocated by the U as well as other schools, as a way to reign in costs.

It was shot down, in a rather surprising move, by the Bush Administration.

We can all dislike the feeling that all sports must stay. What you can't ignore is the fact that the majority of people in the state expressed their opinion and used their dollars, to say that they want the U to succeed athletically, but NOT by killing the non-revenue sports.

Maturi and Bruininks have pushed for building TCF. They spent money in hiring Tubby. They've put a lot of money into coaches and recruiting for football. They, along with Maturi's successor, are still going to need a LOT of luck to keep the public happy and things going over at the U.
 

Iceland12 said:
They've put a lot of money into coaches and recruiting for football.
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I'm not sure I buy this part. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but, if we add together Brewster's salary plus the salaries of both the OC and DC and add in the purported recruiting budget, aren't we right around what Mason was making as HC?
 



harrys ghost said:
I'm not sure I buy this part. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but, if we add together Brewster's salary plus the salaries of both the OC and DC and add in the purported recruiting budget, aren't we right around what Mason was making as HC?
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I think that's true if you use Brew's base salary, but not if you go by his total compensation package (before bonuses based on winning). As I recall that package was worth closer to 1 million a year. No links though so I could be way off (also I don't know how his restructured deal affects this).
 

GoAUpher said:
I think that's true if you use Brew's base salary, but not if you go by his total compensation package (before bonuses based on winning). As I recall that package was worth closer to 1 million a year. No links though so I could be way off (also I don't know how his restructured deal affects this).
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I believe Brewster gets $800K per year. If he makes it to year five he gets $1M (deferred salary from years 1-5). In addition, there are performance incentives.
 

harrys ghost said:
I'm not sure I buy this part. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but, if we add together Brewster's salary plus the salaries of both the OC and DC and add in the purported recruiting budget, aren't we right around what Mason was making as HC?
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The first increases for Assistant Coaches came during the 2006 negotiation of Mason's contract. All the "masonites" kept saying that was the stumbling block. It turned out those increases had been decided early on. The fight was over how much Glen wanted.

Glen signed for:

"The extension will last through 2010 and pay Mason an average of $1.65 million per season. He will also be eligible for up to $750,000 in incentive bonuses tied to on-the-field performance and graduation rates." They were able to buy him out for the three years left on his contract, between $1.3 to $1.5 million total. That included the deferred money he was already owed.

Brewster's extension:

"His new deal was agreed to last week. It runs through the 2013 season and has the same $1 million annual value including supplemental and deferred compensation as before. Brewster will get a $100,000 bonus if the Gophers win seven regular-season games. The bonuses escalate with each extra victory all the way up to $350,000 for 12 victories." ESPN

"However, Brewster received an adjusted buyout package that reduces his payment from $400,000 per years remaining on his contract to $200,000 per years left. That means Brewster would receive $600,000 if he's fired after next season -- $200,000 times three years. He would have received $400,000 had he not received an extension, but $1.2 million had the university extended his buyout at its original base.

Brewster's $1 million annual salary -- $400,000 base, $400,000 supplemental and $200,000 in deferred retirement -- remains identical to the terms of his original contract signed after taking the job in 2007...Brewster's other incentives -- for BCS and other bowls, Big Ten finish, Academic Performance Rate (APR) and six-year graduation rates -- remain intact. Brewster was eligible for $700,000 in bonuses in his original contract, and the bonus ceiling increases to $1,000,050 under the extension." Star Tribune
It sounds like the deferred comp accrues yearly.

The 2006 contracts gave more money to assistants. Brewster's contract allowed for even more money for Assistants
 

crazy thoughts

If anyone actually thinks the U does not have a burning desire to WIN is crazy. The University cannot do anything without severe criticism by the politically correct majority in this state. Can you imagine the outcry if the one suspended and now departed basketball players were on the court? People would be questioning their decision and the legislature would make a new law against them playing. The problem lies with us, the residents of Minnesota. When people want to see a winner, they need to shut up, buy a ticket and let the U athletic department do their job without being under the microscope.
 



Not even dealing with the suspended players, Maturi was put between a rock and a hard place, but what he has done to Williams Arena is just shameful. I do not even know why they bring the band into the gym they get as much time as Bryant Allen. By making horrible decisions on when to give extensions and then firing coaches the next year he has cost the University money and thus every TV time out has to be subway give away this, and land o lakes that. See Monson and Mason as examples, and inevitably Borton will be the same eventually. I appreciate that they are sponsors but I have been going to games at Williams since I was 2 years old and I am 29 now and the comparison between the Clem days and now is night and day. In the 90s the fans were hanging on every possession and that was carried over into the band keeping the fans in a frenzy during the timeouts. Now the team will go on a little run and then it is spin to win, or land-o-lake give away. I don't think the fans enthusiasm has changed that much. I just think it is very deflating to have that give away crap all the time. LET THE BAND PLAY!!! I think the students do a great job and I think the band could do a better job if given the opportunity.
 

Clyde Tester said:
Think of it this way - when you read quotes from Bruniks or Maturi, do you get the sense that they are heart-broken when their teams are not excellent? Do they convey a message of "we have to do significantly better" when they see mediocre results or do they gnash their teeth and say that the teams have to do better to try and appease the fans? I have never sensed any level of urgency or overwhelming desire to produce better results from them - because the books balance and that's good enough. I would like to hope I'm wrong, but I fear that I'm correct. Money first - winning second.
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Rumor has it Brunninks and Maturi fired Mason because he was complacent about the Texas Tech loss, not just because he lost. The shows a lack of complacency because Mason was the best we've had in 30 years.

They're good at supporting coaches, because they hired a recruiter and they have the discipline to see that the recruiter has the opportunity to see how good he can be with his own recruits.

We're two basketball players away from a top 20 team and a top four Big 10 finish. Because the U of M has a more balanced academic versus athletic view point, they didn't let the players slide. Tubby has very little to do with the current woes of the team. He hasn't made miracles out of his personnel, but it appears to me that the personnel are losing the battles not the coaches.
 

I think they care but this is just a 2nd rate university when it comes to FB and BB. Not a huge local talent pool, no one wants to come live in the cold weather, and this is a pro sports town 1st. I dont blame it on the University, just my opinion on how this makrket is.
 

it's not all money....

It's the fact that the people that are running the show are stupid. If money was #1, The Redskins wouldn't have been horrible for so long. Maturi=idiot.
 



To be completely honest i think all Maturi does is spin around in his big office chair going 'weeeee' and hitting a big red suspension button whenever a player gets in trouble because he's too busy spinning to actually care to resolve the situation.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
I think they care but this is just a 2nd rate university when it comes to FB and BB. Not a huge local talent pool, no one wants to come live in the cold weather, and this is a pro sports town 1st. I dont blame it on the University, just my opinion on how this makrket is.
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I get that you're trying to rile someone up with this post, fact is this is not a second rate university in anything, just recently very average. It's still Big Ten FB and BB, that's not second rate to anything in the NCAA.

The local talent pool is shallow, but has produced some serious athletes in the last decade, and it's getting better, getting them to quit leaving has been the problem.

The cold weather thing maybe, but sorry if you can't live in MN, you're a pansy anyway.

The pro sports team market has nothing to do with the university's commitment to winning, people latch onto and love when the U is winning, look at the lady basketball final four run awhile back for an example. It's a pro sports market only because there has been a lack of college winning, it's actually more of a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately market, sickening for sure, but TC fans are just not loyal or hardcore, don't know why they just aren't.

I really believe Maturi needs to be replaced ASAP, he's just a terrible AD unless you're a swimmer or gymnast. He refuses to make tough decisions and take a stand on anything. If a new AD came in and turned the athletic department upside down, there would be an uproar for awhile, then it would go away, and whatever big changes were made would be accepted.
 


People talk about the cold is if it is so incredibly colder than in other parts of the country. It isn't. They aren't sitting on the beach drinking pina coladas in Winconsin, Michigan or Ohio, the differences in temperature are very slight. And while the local talent isn't near the top of the nation, it's not near the bottom either.

I agree that having a fund to handle NCAA fines does seem to indicate that a school intends to continue cheating, and simply hoping not to get caught, and being prepared if they do get caught. I suspect that if a program that was less prominent had such a fund, the NCAA would be all over them.

I'm all for a committment to winning, but there has to be a golden mean here - excess leads to a Clem Haskins fiasco. Even if we wanted Clem Haskins 2.0, we have to accept that we wouldn't get away with it. It was local media that broke the Clem Haskins scandal, in most college towns, the local media wouldn't touch such stories with a 10 foot pole. There are scandals that break, but in most schools, the local media isn't going to be the ones to break it. Perhaps all local media should be like this instead of covering up for the local school, but we have to accept that the situation is as it is.
 

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