Hearing this is it for Ray

[Coach34]

Wheels have just started turning and no idea where it's headed yet. But change is coming. Same source that told me Crooms was out after the Ga Tech game in 2008.

Let the circus begin

[VandelayIndustries]

Who would be the candidates for HC? I honestly have no clue who we would look at

[Coach34]

got nothing yet. Sounded like the realization has set in that this aint getting any better and it has to be done. Got to get a plan together

[Big4Dawg]

Are you talking about end of the year or before season is over?

[msstate7]

Who would be the candidates for HC? I honestly have no clue who we would look at

Seth smith (assistant coach at Clemson) -- he's from Clemson, has matching initials, and his initials are next in order past Rick ray's****

[Quaoarsking]

As an out-of-the-box hire, we should consider Duggar Baucom of VMI. VMI is usually at or near the top of the NCAA in points scored because they sprint down the court and shoot immediately, trying to tire out the other team. Would be exciting and get people back in seats, and we could probably hire him for cheap.

[Coach34]

Are you talking about end of the year or before season is over?

didnt know yet

[Smitty]

As an out-of-the-box hire, we should consider Duggar Baucom of VMI. VMI is usually at or near the top of the NCAA in points scored because they sprint down the court and shoot immediately, trying to tire out the other team. Would be exciting and get people back in seats, and we could probably hire him for cheap.

With our current stock of shooters that would be a disaster.. Also they are 6-11 this year.

[Bully13]

I'd be more excited knowing stricklin's job was on the line. that would knock out 2 birds with one stone.

[BeardoMSU]

I'd be more excited knowing stricklin's job was on the line. that would knock out 2 birds with one stone.

Give it a rest. Stricklin isn't getting canned.

[HoopsDawg]

I'd be more excited knowing stricklin's job was on the line. that would knock out 2 birds with one stone.

Seriously man, find another drum to beat.

[Bully13]

Seriously man, find another drum to beat.

I hear ya man. let's just give strick 2 million a year this time. give him a blank check and let's see how that works out.

[HoopsDawg]

I hear ya man. let's just give strick 2 million a year this time. give him a blank check and let's see how that works out.

Other than the Ray hire do you not feel Strick has done a good job as AD?

[shannondawg]

I saw a thread on 247 about possibility of Stansbury coming back, since I let me subscription expire didn't get to see much. I doubt that would be good for us or him. First thing that came to my mind , what would happen to pensionwhich is in the neighborhood of 300k. Which also brought to mind , what would happen to Richard Williams pension if he was to take the job as interim? Isn't his radio gig paid from a private company?

We saw what happened when we brought Polk back, best experiences often come from bad mistakes.

I know a lot of high school coaches have moved over to other states after putting their time into the pension system so they could double dip.

[maroonmania]

I hope this time we get a HC that has shown success at some level and has some recruiting ties in the South. Call Stans "The Recruiter" all you want but there is no sport in college more dependent on recruiting ability in basketball. Basketball players are the easiest to identify as far as who will be good at the collegiate level and therefore, while getting the players doesn't guarantee great success, not getting your fair share absolutely guarantees you won't have much success.

[Bully13]

Other than the Ray hire do you not feel Strick has done a good job as AD?

All I know is that he laid the biggest turd in SEC history hiring Ray and the 1M per year to boot was icing on the cake. maybe I became spoiled with the Ninja. all this b'ball shitfall coupled with the advertisements during football games coupled with the state farm logo during baseball games tells me he has no 17'ing clue as to how to run an athletic program. Bracky still being in charge of compliance and not having lawyers who have OUR best interests at the forefront in charge also speaks loudly. I'm just ready for a change. Can Newton U hiring the ex Vol coach and we have to endure THIS shit? since when does cam newton U get to pull this shit off and we have to "be careful"?

I'm sick and 17ing tired of other programs in our area getting to do whatever in the 17 they want to while we suck shit playing "nice".

I want an AD in charge who doesn't accept bending over and thinking we can't operate under same rules of conduct that others operate under. 17 this shit. we deserve to operate EXACTLY how others operate.

you either WANT to win or you DON'T want to win. You either are SICK of losing or you ACCEPT it. the choice is clear.

[MetEdDawg]

My biggest problem with Stricklin is the message the Ray hire sent to the fan base. We could have and should have done better. To me that's 100% on him because if it is true he decided we needed to go away from the AAU stuff and going after certain types of players, he has to be held for the consequences of that decision. Ray and what he's done is the consequence and that looks bad on him.

That being said, you can't judge him solely on the basis of the basketball hire. Volleyball worked out terribly, but considering there isn't much volleyball in the state of MS and the state that program has been in for a while I can't really hold that against him. That job is tough sledding no matter how you shake it. But you look at Schaefer and say major success. You look at Steudeman and say major success. The jury is still out on Matt Roberts for men's tennis since this is his first year. We will see how Dudley does this year in track and Gordon with women's soccer.

A lot of his hires are still 1 or 2 years in, but to this point Schaefer and Steudeman seem like major successes and Ray seems like a major fail. Obviously men's basketball is the most important there because it's the only real revenue sport so you have to weigh that more in my opinion, but to this point I have been pleased with what he's done as AD. The program has grown substantially, he's moved on major projects including the renovation of DWS and DNF, he got the football practice facility built, he's getting the softball/tennis complex built, and donations are up big time during his tenure. He's done his job so far so it's unfair to judge him solely on the Ray hire, even though that is the most important hire he's made to date. Judging an AD based on jumbotron commercials is extremely short sighted and ranks very very low on my priority list for judging the success or failure of an athletic director.

[Bully13]

I'm not judging him SOLELY on jumbotron 17 ups. it's just more icing on the cake. But that is indeed much more important than thanking him on getting us potentially good hires on the tennis and volley ball programs.

football atmosphere in DWS should be one of his priorities . he failed. when the whole country watches our baseball team on t.v. , we should be 2nd to none and not play 2nd fiddle to state farm. he failed. AU got the vol ex coach, we got Ray for a million dollars, he failed.

we deserve better.

[engie]

I'm not judging him SOLELY on jumbotron 17 ups. it's just more icing on the cake.
If you are "judging him on it", you also have to judge him on "admitting the mistake and fixing it as quickly as he could." The Jumbotron(s) was NOT an issue this year.


But that is indeed much more important than thanking him on getting us potentially good hires on the tennis and volley ball programs.
Make that statement tangible for me. I'm pretty sure you can't.


football atmosphere in DWS should be one of his priorities . he failed.
And fixed it. And had Forde and others writing articles about just how bad ass Davis Wade was this year. And started a great 4th quarter tradition that will be with us forever now. And legalized cowbells as well.


when the whole country watches our baseball team on t.v. , we should be 2nd to none and not play 2nd fiddle to state farm. he failed.
It's a sign. Who cares. Next, you'll tell me how Alex Box is ****ed and no one will recognize LSU baseball on tv because of Tony Chachere's...


AU got the vol ex coach, we got Ray for a million dollars, he failed.
Pearl wasn't available when we hired Ray.


If you are going to bash Stricklin, at least build the argument on a decent foundation. There's plenty to give him credit for and plenty to take issue with without making it ridiculous...

[MetEdDawg]

If you are "judging him on it", you also have to judge him on "admitting the mistake and fixing it as quickly as he could." The Jumbotron(s) was NOT an issue this year.


Make that statement tangible for me. I'm pretty sure you can't.


And fixed it. And had Forde and others writing articles about just how bad ass Davis Wade was this year. And started a great 4th quarter tradition that will be with us forever now. And legalized cowbells as well.


It's a sign. Who cares. Next, you'll tell me how Alex Box is ****ed and no one will recognize LSU baseball on tv because of Tony Chachere's...


Pearl wasn't available when we hired Ray.


If you are going to bash Stricklin, at least build the argument on a decent foundation. There's plenty to give him credit for and plenty to take issue with without making it ridiculous...

Yeah, all of what you said engie. Well done.

[Political Hack]

Other than the Ray hire do you not feel Strick has done a good job as AD?

Basketball.
Aggressiveness with hiring big time football assistants.
increased visibility on the baseball stadium, to include actual timelines and construction details.
compliance.
football scheduling is abhorant. Thursday home games during spring break are the coolest.
volleyball.
post football game traffic.
signing Dan to an extension would be nice.
etc
etc
etc

He hasn't done a horrible job, but he hasn't done anything impressive yet either. Mullen and Cohen building those two programs are due to Byrne and the success they have generated as head coaches. the basketball facility was due to Byrne. I seriously don't know what he's done except steer the wheel while the car's on cruise control.

I'm also fairly confident that I'm not the only one that knows this, and people a whole lot more important than me have stronger opinions on his performace. If anyone thinks he's got 100% job security right now, you're kidding yourself.

[Bully13]

the advertising mistake should not have needed correcting in the first place. leadership also includes getting it right from the get go. he failed.

don't brag about volleyball and tennis "supposed" accomplishments while more important ones are going from dumpster fires to nuclear hell holes. tangible enough for you?

4th quarter traditions? "don't stop believing"? why not copy the pussie assed neil diamond song like Pitt? that shit sucked engie. people who can't distinguish a romantic moment with their better halves and a 17ing football game need to be left out of determining what's best for a winning football atmosphere.

I 17ING CARE!.. I want MSU displayed and NOT a 17ing COMMERCIAL!!!

justifying paying Ray 1 million to run MSU'S b'ball program a year tells us you don't have the 1st 17ing clue about running a SEC program

[Bully13]

Basketball.
Aggressiveness with hiring big time football assistants.
increased visibility on the baseball stadium, to include actual timelines and construction details.
compliance.
football scheduling is abhorant. Thursday home games during spring break are the coolest.
volleyball.
post football game traffic.
signing Dan to an extension would be nice.
etc
etc
etc

He hasn't done a horrible job, but he hasn't done anything impressive yet either. Mullen and Cohen building those two programs are due to Byrne and the success they have generated as head coaches. the basketball facility was due to Byrne. I seriously don't know what he's done except steer the wheel while the car's on cruise control.

I'm also fairly confident that I'm not the only one that knows this, and people a whole lot more important than me have stronger opinions on his performace. If anyone thinks he's got 100% job security right now, you're kidding yourself.

good post Hack, thank you.. good insight..

[engie]

the advertising mistake should not have needed correcting in the first place. leadership also includes getting it right from the get go. he failed.
The ads weren't Stricklin's doing. That was Learfield. The company that allegedly owns part/all of the original video board itself. A process that Stricklin wasn't in control of. That's why he couldn't "fix" it midseason last year. The renegotiations with learfield after we bought out tier 3 TV rights from them for the SECNetwork is logically something that could have spurned the ability to make the changes...


don't brag about volleyball and tennis "supposed" accomplishments while more important ones are going from dumpster fires to nuclear hell holes. tangible enough for you?
The only thing that isn't sunshine and rainbows right now is men's basketball. Baseball and football are at or near all-time highs. Women's basketball at an all-time high. Softball looking good. Men's tennis ranked preseason. Women's golf spending time at #1 and ranked highly. Etc... Volleyball was bad -- Strick just removed the coach.


4th quarter traditions? "don't stop believing"? why not copy the pussie assed neil diamond song like Pitt? that shit sucked engie. people who can't distinguish a romantic moment with their better halves and a 17ing football game need to be left out of determining what's best for a winning football atmosphere.
You are prettymuch the only person in the fanbase that feels that way. Someone should tell South Carolina, Virginia Tech, etc that all of their traditions suck ass**


I 17ING CARE!.. I want MSU displayed and NOT a 17ing COMMERCIAL!!!
Who are these guys in purple and gold with all the national champions signs in this big, bad ass ballpark!??!***


justifying paying Ray 1 million to run MSU'S b'ball program a year tells us you don't have the 1st 17ing clue about running a SEC program
Where is this alleged justification?

I give you credit -- when you go full retard -- you leave the reservation.

[preachermatt83]

Basketball.
Aggressiveness with hiring big time football assistants.
increased visibility on the baseball stadium, to include actual timelines and construction details.
compliance.
football scheduling is abhorant. Thursday home games during spring break are the coolest.
volleyball.
post football game traffic.
signing Dan to an extension would be nice.
etc
etc
etc

He hasn't done a horrible job, but he hasn't done anything impressive yet either. Mullen and Cohen building those two programs are due to Byrne and the success they have generated as head coaches. the basketball facility was due to Byrne. I seriously don't know what he's done except steer the wheel while the car's on cruise control.

I'm also fairly confident that I'm not the only one that knows this, and people a whole lot more important than me have stronger opinions on his performace. If anyone thinks he's got 100% job security right now, you're kidding yourself.

^^this

[rabbitthedawg]

Be careful what you wish for!

[engie]

Basketball.
Aggressiveness with hiring big time football assistants.
increased visibility on the baseball stadium, to include actual timelines and construction details.
compliance.
football scheduling is abhorant. Thursday home games during spring break are the coolest.
volleyball.
post football game traffic.
signing Dan to an extension would be nice.
etc
etc
etc

He hasn't done a horrible job, but he hasn't done anything impressive yet either. Mullen and Cohen building those two programs are due to Byrne and the success they have generated as head coaches. the basketball facility was due to Byrne. I seriously don't know what he's done except steer the wheel while the car's on cruise control.

I'm also fairly confident that I'm not the only one that knows this, and people a whole lot more important than me have stronger opinions on his performace. If anyone thinks he's got 100% job security right now, you're kidding yourself.

This is what I was talking about and asking for. Valid criticisms of things he's actually done/not done. I don't firmly disagree with any of these, and agree with most.

- Couldn't agree more on football assistants. This has been my biggest constant complaint with Stricklin.

- Couldn't agree more on basketball. This was his biggest mistake so far. Is it unforgivable? We'll see if he gets to make the next hire or not and how that goes and decide from there. I'll say that, personally, I wish he wasn't the guy making that decision. And it has less to do with what I perceive as ineptitude and more to do with what I perceive as cheapness.

- I'd say he can't give timelines on baseball because he doesn't have the kickstart $$ yet and doesn't know when he'll get it. I'd imagine the day he cracks $20 mil or gets close enough that the extra exposure from firm plans will put us to that point, we will see exactly what you ask for. And the people pledging the serious $$ probably already have a much better idea.

- I don't see how we can really put Bracky on him. Byrne housecleaned the department of the old way. And Bracky persisted basically alone from that era. If Byrne couldn't touch him, Strick can't touch him. And we've shown before the power structure at MSU that attributes compliance directly to Keenum with no AD oversight. One could argue that Strick ought to wield the "power" along with Keenum to get this done, but we've never actually seen this. At minimum, Keenum needs 60% of the blame for Bracky.

- Football scheduling in 2013 was terrible. I lost my mind when it was initially announced. He admitted a mistake. He has not persisted in that mistake, but made changes. He's done as well with the mandatory power5 scheduling in the future as we could possibly ask.

- He reassigned Hazlewood. It may not be fixed yet -- but he's trying. Did it happen too late? Possibly. But better late than never.

- We'll see if postseason traffic persists as a problem next year. It's a major logistical hurdle to try to clear midyear. Was the plan bad? Yes.

He has been FAR from perfect. We all agree on that. But he's also a first time AD. Mistakes are expected. Could we hire better now with our new $$? Absolutely. But I'm willing to keep giving him a chance as long as he doesn't become steadfast and defiant in obvious mistakes, and to this point, he's done about as well as he possibly can to admit and fix those mistakes. As long as prompt fixing is going on, I'll stay on the fence...

[Political Hack]

I agree with most of that. Keenum does get at least 60% of that blame, if not more.

We got bent over by the SEC after taking Ok State and killing one of our weekend games in the regular is an issue. Everyone's on TV every weekend. There's no excuse for Thursday games anymore unless they're on the road and comes off a bye week.

the baseball stadium expansion has been discussed since the ninja was around. it's taking FOREVER. I understand possibly wanting to get the football stadium paint dry first, but not having a timeline and not finalizing detailed plans seems incredibly noncommittal to me. You don't announce something unless you plan to do it...

however, I don't think he should be fired right now... but if he doesn't show up with a rock star at the Hump next season, it'll be time.

[engie]

I agree with most of that. Keenum does get at least 60% of that blame, if not more.
Agreed


We got bent over by the SEC after taking Ok State and killing one of our weekend games in the regular is an issue. Everyone's on TV every weekend. There's no excuse for Thursday games anymore unless they're on the road and comes off a bye week.
Agreed on this too. I don't care if we play every road game to non-elite destinations(read, places I don't plan to visit) on Thursday. But I don't want to give up home games for that.


the baseball stadium expansion has been discussed since the ninja was around. it's taking FOREVER. I understand possibly wanting to get the football stadium paint dry first, but not having a timeline and not finalizing detailed plans seems incredibly noncommittal to me. You don't announce something unless you plan to do it...
It was discussed in a very different, much more mild tone early in the process. Byrne said we needed to blow it up -- but he didn't make any plans toward actually doing it. There were Strick interviews as late as the 2013 baseball season saying that Dudy Noble wasn't broken and that "something needed to happen with the bleacher area and facade", but only discussing renovations on a much, much smaller scale that what we ended up going with, even to the point he was rumored to be pretty close to an announcement. This was when I was banging the drum the loudest. Baseball was still "dead" at MSU at the time. His tune didn't change until the regional and Omaha run when we took 20k people there. Someone either changed it for him or he realized that the fanbase was, in fact, a sleeping giant that had been shoehorned with the red tape unwelcoming aristocracy that Dudy Noble had become. After the Regional and Omaha was the first time the "MSU deserves the best and we're going to make that happen" ideal began to come out of his mouth. So, he really hasn't been working on THIS build but a year and a half. In that time, he held town hall meetings on what people want from Dudy Noble, hired tremendously on architects, got them consultants, released renderings and pricing structure, and began fundraising toward reality...

June 2013 - Stricklin says he plans to make Dudy Noble the best stadium for the best fans in college baseball again
Oct 14, 2013 - architects hired
Aug 12, 2014 - renderings released

I agree that he runs a little behind on stuff, and is probably lacking in his future projectability and "planning for success" at times, but I can't complain much when it gets done in the first class nature that everything he's built thusfar has been done. I thought he was 2 years behind on Davis Wade -- but it's hard to complain about that now that it's done. Dudy Noble was "behind" before he was ever hired. At least he's fixing it right....

[BoomBoom]

All I know is that he laid the biggest turd in SEC history hiring Ray and the 1M per year to boot was icing on the cake. maybe I became spoiled with the Ninja. all this b'ball shitfall coupled with the advertisements during football games coupled with the state farm logo during baseball games tells me he has no 17'ing clue as to how to run an athletic program. Bracky still being in charge of compliance and not having lawyers who have OUR best interests at the forefront in charge also speaks loudly. I'm just ready for a change. Can Newton U hiring the ex Vol coach and we have to endure THIS shit? since when does cam newton U get to pull this shit off and we have to "be careful"?

I'm sick and 17ing tired of other programs in our area getting to do whatever in the 17 they want to while we suck shit playing "nice".

I want an AD in charge who doesn't accept bending over and thinking we can't operate under same rules of conduct that others operate under. 17 this shit. we deserve to operate EXACTLY how others operate.

you either WANT to win or you DON'T want to win. You either are SICK of losing or you ACCEPT it. the choice is clear.

if you want an employee that never takes a misstep........you'll have one that never takes a risk.

[campshelbydog]

I don't think that Stricklin should be fired, but I do think that the SEC money that we now receive makes him look like some sort of financial genius when in reality he hasn't done anything financially that a halfway competent AD should be able to do financially. Our giving has increased in football because of Dan Mullen, not Stricklin. Our giving in baseball has increased because of Cohen, not Stricklin. However, our giving in basketball is in the toilet directly because of a hire Stricklin made. Yes, he has done well in hiring coaches in sports that no one cares about, and he gets credit for that. He needs to be given total control for this next basketball hire. If he fails miserably again, he should be fired. There are plenty of people that can manage the type of money that we are now bringing in regardless of fan support or private giving. It comes down to winning. Win and the giving will increase. Lose and it will look like it does now in basketball. If we don't trust him to hire a winner, he needs to go because anyone can manage this huge budget that we have. We need someone that can hire winners.

[Dawg61]

All I know is that he laid the biggest turd in SEC history hiring Ray and the 1M per year to boot was icing on the cake. maybe I became spoiled with the Ninja. all this b'ball shitfall coupled with the advertisements during football games coupled with the state farm logo during baseball games tells me he has no 17'ing clue as to how to run an athletic program. Bracky still being in charge of compliance and not having lawyers who have OUR best interests at the forefront in charge also speaks loudly. I'm just ready for a change. Can Newton U hiring the ex Vol coach and we have to endure THIS shit? since when does cam newton U get to pull this shit off and we have to "be careful"?

I'm sick and 17ing tired of other programs in our area getting to do whatever in the 17 they want to while we suck shit playing "nice".

I want an AD in charge who doesn't accept bending over and thinking we can't operate under same rules of conduct that others operate under. 17 this shit. we deserve to operate EXACTLY how others operate.

you either WANT to win or you DON'T want to win. You either are SICK of losing or you ACCEPT it. the choice is clear.

Still on page 1 of this thread but I had to say that this is a phenomal post by Bully13. I couldn't agree more.