Strickland - just doing my part

[Hwy78dawg]

I know this is small/insignificant and nobody cares, but I just unfollowed Strickland on Twitter. My only way to stick it to the man. Thanks for your service, wish you well now I flash the middle finger

[Political Hack]

To each their own. I'm not mad at him for leaving. It's a profession for him. Not a passion. He's not a fan.

[ShotgunDawg]

To each their own. I'm not mad at him for leaving. It's a profession for him. Not a passion. He's not a fan.

I have different feelings

1. I shouldn't be mad at Scott because he made a decision that most any of us would make. Additionally, this move potentially puts Scott in line to be the SEC commish at some point in the next 20 years, & that would be a major positive for MSU. So it could be said that for MSU's future, this is one step backwards to take two steps forward.

2. My frustration isn't at Scott but with the situation. I am frustrated that somehow a pyramid of athletic programs was set up in the 60s & 70s & the barriers of entry into the upper layers of that pyramid are virtually impossible. No matter how much MSU fans care, how much money we put forth, or what we do, we cannot consistently compete at a high level because a certain segment of schools have a monopoly on winning that was set up long ago. It's truly frustrating. Being an MSU fan is likely the closest I'll ever come to feeling like many minorities do in our country. It's extremely frustrating to know that no matter what you do, your locked out. The structure of the system sucks.

3. How do we change the pyramid? IMO there are only two ways to change the pyramid, 1) is to cheat & get away with it long enough so you don't have cheat anymore. Calapari almost accomplished this at Memphis. 2) Have leaders be so committed to MSU that they sacrafice their own personal gain in order build continuity & grow MSU. You can never get mad at someone working for personal gain, but that doesn't mean it's not frustrating. What if Mullen & Stricklin would have been completely, 100% committed to MSU & never sought other positions? Where would our football program be right now? Would our recruiting be better? etc...

This are the type of arguments that run through my head. The system is what it is & it sucks, but I'm not sure how we ever change our place in the pecking order unless we have completely committed, difference making leaders that make it their unwavering, lifelong goal to make MSU a power. Scott did a wonderful job, but, for better or worse, he put his personal gain over MSU's gain. You can't be upset with him about that, but it is disappointing & frustrating.

[Hwy78dawg]

To each their own. I'm not mad at him for leaving. It's a profession for him. Not a passion. He's not a fan.
Yeah I may be wrong, I really do hate to lose him. I just hate to see us lose one of our own. I do think he did a great job for us. I still don't want to hear about his Florida awesomeness.

[PassInterference]

Shotgun, its about population and wealth. We are the poorest and one of the least populated states in the nation.

[archdog]

I know this is small/insignificant and nobody cares, but I just unfollowed Strickland on Twitter. My only way to stick it to the man. Thanks for your service, wish you well now I flash the middle finger

That's not how you spell his name. Dang.

[Hwy78dawg]

That's not how you spell his name. Dang.

So what is your point, I am an engineer, I never won the spelling bee, Dang**!

[RocketDawg]

Yeah I may be wrong, I really do hate to lose him. I just hate to see us lose one of our own. I do think he did a great job for us. I still don't want to hear about his Florida awesomeness.

But think of it this way ... when we hire someone who's not a graduate of MSU, we're "stealing" him from the other university. Wonder how they feel about that. I'm guessing it's not that big an issue. Should Saban be coaching FB at Kent State? No, because they can't pay him $10M a year.

Besides, i think we're better off in general if we get someone from the outside so we have an infusion of new blood. As an analogy, and I don't know if it's still this way but probably is, we always used to hear that you never wanted to get your PhD from the same school as your BS. And you don't get many professors with doctoral degrees from where they're teaching. Same rule of thumb for administrative positions I would think.

So I don't look at Scott as traitorous ... I wasn't all that happy when he was given the job when Byrne left. But I later grew to realize and appreciate that he was doing a pretty good job.

[PassInterference]

Who among you wouldn't go to work for one of the best companies in your industry, and maybe with a good raise.

The CL reported he was making $1M here. Also read he has bonuses up to $1M at Florida, so not sure about that. I know his elderly parents are an issue and they will surely be around better healthcare over there.

[Spiderman]

To each their own. I'm not mad at him for leaving. It's a profession for him. Not a passion. He's not a fan.

Yes, he is. We were in the same rush group when I met him as freshmen. He was a big fan.

I'm mad at him.

[thf24]

Who the **** is this Strickland guy people have been talking about for six years?

[bulldogcountry1]

I know this is small/insignificant and nobody cares, but I just unfollowed Strickland on Twitter. My only way to stick it to the man. Thanks for your service, wish you well now I flash the middle finger



I'm not mad at him, but I am pretty disappointed. Since even before he was hired, I've heard that MSU AD was his "dream job". If I had my dream job and was making over 500K, it would take a lot more than money to pull me away from home for a job with much more stress and expectations. Him leaving tells me it was never his dream job, so pardon me if I'm not willing to participate in the going away party.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Article below says this train left the station well before South Alabama. Also talks about how the Simmons situation nearly costs Stricklin the job....

http://www.gainesville.com/sports/20160927/pat-dooley-stricklin-right-fit-for-gators

I don't think everything printed in this article is true, as I'm quite confident it is skewed to protect the Gator brand. I'm sure they had other ADs turn them down before landing ours.

[BB30]

I have different feelings

1. I shouldn't be mad at Scott because he made a decision that most any of us would make. Additionally, this move potentially puts Scott in line to be the SEC commish at some point in the next 20 years, & that would be a major positive for MSU. So it could be said that for MSU's future, this is one step backwards to take two steps forward.

2. My frustration isn't at Scott but with the situation. I am frustrated that somehow a pyramid of athletic programs was set up in the 60s & 70s & the barriers of entry into the upper layers of that pyramid are virtually impossible. No matter how much MSU fans care, how much money we put forth, or what we do, we cannot consistently compete at a high level because a certain segment of schools have a monopoly on winning that was set up long ago. It's truly frustrating. Being an MSU fan is likely the closest I'll ever come to feeling like many minorities do in our country. It's extremely frustrating to know that no matter what you do, your locked out. The structure of the system sucks.

3. How do we change the pyramid? IMO there are only two ways to change the pyramid, 1) is to cheat & get away with it long enough so you don't have cheat anymore. Calapari almost accomplished this at Memphis. 2) Have leaders be so committed to MSU that they sacrafice their own personal gain in order build continuity & grow MSU. You can never get mad at someone working for personal gain, but that doesn't mean it's not frustrating. What if Mullen & Stricklin would have been completely, 100% committed to MSU & never sought other positions? Where would our football program be right now? Would our recruiting be better? etc...

This are the type of arguments that run through my head. The system is what it is & it sucks, but I'm not sure how we ever change our place in the pecking order unless we have completely committed, difference making leaders that make it their unwavering, lifelong goal to make MSU a power. Scott did a wonderful job, but, for better or worse, he put his personal gain over MSU's gain. You can't be upset with him about that, but it is disappointing & frustrating.

I actually think a program can buy its way to being elite. And no I do not mean buying recruits. If you have enough money you can keep good coaches and ads at your program. We would have to pay over market value to equal out any lost opportunity of taking over a "big boy" program. But, having a huge athletic budget can keep you up to date on facilities. Our football facility while nice is still behind a lot of programs. So, there is still stuff we can do to improve our odds of success.

[rbdog82]

Who among you wouldn't go to work for one of the best companies in your industry, and maybe with a good raise.

The CL reported he was making $1M here. Also read he has bonuses up to $1M at Florida, so not sure about that. I know his elderly parents are an issue and they will surely be around better healthcare over there.

His parents and siblings all live in Madison. I don't think anyone is packing up and moving to Florida except Scott.

[Johnson85]

To each their own. I'm not mad at him for leaving. It's a profession for him. Not a passion. He's not a fan.

I'm pretty sure he's a fan. Doesn't mean you can't do what's best for you and your family. Hell, I'd go work for Ole Miss for a $200k raise. I know fan is a derivative of fanatic, but you don't actually have to be crazy to be a fan.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

I am amazed at how many people never got this.

[gtowndawg]

I'm not mad, I really don't care. I'm 1000x more concerned about coaching right now and perhaps the new guy will finally apply some pressure to Mullen to make some changes. We shall see.

[Political Hack]

Yes, he is. We were in the same rush group when I met him as freshmen. He was a big fan.

I'm mad at him.

I know. He was and still will be. I promise he'll be pulling for us to win still.

But, to my point, he's got to separate his profession from being a fan when making decisions like this. I hope he did the same when he was our AD.

[maroonmania]

Article below says this train left the station well before South Alabama. Also talks about how the Simmons situation nearly costs Stricklin the job....

http://www.gainesville.com/sports/20160927/pat-dooley-stricklin-right-fit-for-gators

I don't think everything printed in this article is true, as I'm quite confident it is skewed to protect the Gator brand. I'm sure they had other ADs turn them down before landing ours.

Selfishly I wish that the Simmons ordeal had cost him the job. I thought Stricklin was the right fit for us and overall was what we needed as an AD. Now, whether he is AD at Florida or someday SEC commish, his focus will never again be about MSU athletics. I was hoping with Stricklin we would have stability in the AD office for years to come but I guess that was too much to ask for as an MSU fan.

[maroonmania]

I know. He was and still will be. I promise he'll be pulling for us to win still.

But, to my point, he's got to separate his profession from being a fan when making decisions like this. I hope he did the same when he was our AD.

No, not really. He doesn't have to separate those things. Its really all about the individual. I personally would rather make a few less dollars and guide a school I love than to just go to a bigger, higher dollar "other" program but everyone has to make their own choices. As an MSU alumnus and fan I would never be as fulfilled guiding some other generic school vs. guiding my alma mater. I mean he wasn't exactly panhandling on the street in Starkville and it would be hard for me to believe we would not have made some counteroffer to bump him up even more in salary even if we couldn't have exactly matched the FL offer. To each his own I guess.

[Johnson85]

No, not really. He doesn't have to separate those things. Its really all about the individual. I personally would rather make a few less dollars and guide a school I love than to just go to a bigger, higher dollar "other" program but everyone has to make their own choices. As an MSU alumnus and fan I would never be as fulfilled guiding some other generic school vs. guiding my alma mater. I mean he wasn't exactly panhandling on the street in Starkville and it would be hard for me to believe we would not have made some counteroffer to bump him up even more in salary even if we couldn't have exactly matched the FL offer. To each his own I guess.

The difference between what you can do for your family with $500-$750k versus $1M - $1.4M is pretty big. Even if he has some lifestyle creep and taxes, he should easily be able to sock away an extra $250k per year for his family. And that's on top of what I'm sure was already a healthy savings rate from making $500-750k per year in Starkville. Without kids, extra money wouldn't mean much to me once I had enough stashed to fund my lifestyle indefinitely. But with kids, you start looking at things differently and it's hard to pass up a lot of extra money that you know would give them and your grandchildren freedom later on.

[dogshiek]

I wish Strickland luck with his yes man position. I'm looking forward to the new opportunities for MY STATE!

[HSVDawg]

2. My frustration isn't at Scott but with the situation. I am frustrated that somehow a pyramid of athletic programs was set up in the 60s & 70s & the barriers of entry into the upper layers of that pyramid are virtually impossible. No matter how much MSU fans care, how much money we put forth, or what we do, we cannot consistently compete at a high level because a certain segment of schools have a monopoly on winning that was set up long ago. It's truly frustrating. Being an MSU fan is likely the closest I'll ever come to feeling like many minorities do in our country. It's extremely frustrating to know that no matter what you do, your locked out. The structure of the system sucks.

I certainly get your frustration and share many of the same feelings. But it isn't as simple as a few programs in the 60's and 70's decided to start heavily investing in their programs and now they are in the club now and forevermore. To build an elite college football program, you need two things in your favor over a very long period of time: a caring fanbase / alumni base and demographic and economic foundation to continuously be able to attract both talent and serve as a multiplier of financial investment and fanbase growth. By that second thing, I mean proximity to recruits and also proximity to (or immediate location in) major metropolitan areas and economic centers for attracting students. That leads to those students becoming alumni which leads to them donating money to football and having kids that grow up as fans of said school. In total, there are probably only about 15 programs in the whole country that have an ideal combination of those two factors that is required for sustained winning at a high level. MSU isn't the only one that doesn't have a seat at the table.

As far as the first thing (a caring, passionate, and invested fanbase), MSU didn't really get to that point until probably 1991 when Sherrill arrived and we started playing all our home games on campus. We've had some hiccups, but have exoerienced exponential growth in our program over that time. It is important that we don't lose sight of how far we've come in just 20 years. And if you think its easy, how come Iowa State, Washington State, and many other programs cut from a similar historical cloth as us are still languishing in obscurity? We need to continue that same growth over the next 20 years.

As far as the second thing (economic / demographic foundation for success), that is much more difficult and I don't know the answer to fixing that situation. We are in a relatively isolated location in the middle of the poorest state in America. You can blame that on everything from the Civil War to MSU locating itself in Starkville instead of Meridian to the SEC selecting both State and OM as charter members. It also doesn't help that we have one of the top 3 all time superpowers of college football history located 70 miles east of us. You mentioned that the "pyramid" was set up in the 60's and 70's, but there are teams that weren't even remotely relevant at that time that have broken through due to favorable demographics. Miami is a small private school that didn't give a crap about football until the early 80's, but due to being smack dab in the middle of the most fertile recruiting ground in the country they were able to start winning big as soon as they started caring. That is an advantage that we unfortunately will never have.

The only thing we can do is continue to make good hires in the Big 3. In football, many of our stumbles have been that we have never in our modern history made 2 good hires in a row. Never. We followed Bellard with Felker, followed Sherrill with Croom, etc. Who we follow Mullen with will go a long way in determining if we are able to continue sustained growth. If we replace him with a solid guy, and that coach has success and moves on, then we hire another guy that has success, suddenly MSU becomes known as a winning program and not just a school that only won when they had Dan Mullen or Dak Prescott or whoever. That needs to be our goal, but it will take some time to get there.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Is there a reason why so many people still can't simply type the man's name correctly? It seems those are the ones that are "truly" heartbroken and butthurt that he took another position....

I guess if our fans cared enough to know his proper name then maybe he would have stayed. I wouldn't want to stay where people were constantly calling me by the wrong name.***

[maroonmania]

The difference between what you can do for your family with $500-$750k versus $1M - $1.4M is pretty big. Even if he has some lifestyle creep and taxes, he should easily be able to sock away an extra $250k per year for his family. And that's on top of what I'm sure was already a healthy savings rate from making $500-750k per year in Starkville. Without kids, extra money wouldn't mean much to me once I had enough stashed to fund my lifestyle indefinitely. But with kids, you start looking at things differently and it's hard to pass up a lot of extra money that you know would give them and your grandchildren freedom later on.

If you are just trying to stockpile money to pass on then yes, that's a big difference. But if you are making $500-750K in Starkville, MS then for your immediate family's needs you can pretty much do whatever you want unless you are blowing through money wrecklessly somehow.

[Dawgface]

More power to him. I would have done the same thing. Life goes on for us too. We will be fine w/o him

[MSUDawg99]

No, not really. He doesn't have to separate those things. Its really all about the individual. I personally would rather make a few less dollars and guide a school I love than to just go to a bigger, higher dollar "other" program but everyone has to make their own choices. As an MSU alumnus and fan I would never be as fulfilled guiding some other generic school vs. guiding my alma mater. I mean he wasn't exactly panhandling on the street in Starkville and it would be hard for me to believe we would not have made some counteroffer to bump him up even more in salary even if we couldn't have exactly matched the FL offer. To each his own I guess.

I think along the same lines as you. To me, money isn't everything. Peace, happiness & good conscience is worth more. For instance, I wouldn't go be a stripper or porn star if the pay was ungodly amounts cause it would mean sacrificing my morals & getting an STD. I wouldn't go work for UM cause again, it would mean sacrificing my morals. If all you do is chase after money then I don't know what to tell you...I'm going to just leave my personal opinion out of that last part. I didn't say any of this to direct it at StrickLIN. I meant it as in, life in general. End rant.

[MSUDawg99]

If you are just trying to stockpile money to pass on then yes, that's a big difference. But if you are making $500-750K in Starkville, MS then for your immediate family's needs you can pretty much do whatever you want unless you are blowing through money wrecklessly somehow.

And seeing as how he started that financial program with our ATH's making them take the money class, then that shows you Scott is a very financially responsible individual. You can just tell by looking at him. He looks like a banker with that top button buttoned up 24/7 anyway.

[BHildreth3]

I still can't understand why people type the word S T R I C K L A N D. If you aren't sure how to spell it, Google the name first. Holy shit -- I'm glad we don't have to deal with Stricklin/Strickland anymore.

[BulldogBear]

I still can't understand why people type the word S T R I C K L A N D. If you aren't sure how to spell it, Google the name first. Holy shit -- I'm glad we don't have to deal with Stricklin/Strickland anymore.

Autocorrect?

[MSUDawg99]

I still can't understand why people type the word S T R I C K L A N D. If you aren't sure how to spell it, Google the name first. Holy shit -- I'm glad we don't have to deal with Stricklin/Strickland anymore.

Me too. Makes me want to bang my head on my desk everytime I see it. Unfortunately, there's still the Mullen/******* thing we gotta deal with. UGH!

It's M-U-L-L-E-N for the record. No S at the end.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Autocorrect?

Nope. See too many instances online of people spelling words based on how they sound, and this is a classic example.

Autocorrect can trip you up, so it is always a good rule to re-read before hitting that post button...

[RocketDawg]

I still can't understand why people type the word S T R I C K L A N D. If you aren't sure how to spell it, Google the name first. Holy shit -- I'm glad we don't have to deal with Stricklin/Strickland anymore.

Because the vast majority of people with a name that is pronounced that way spell it with -land. But you're right ... it should only take doing it once to get it right.

That said, I think the OP intentionally made the mistake as a joke.

[RocketDawg]

If you are just trying to stockpile money to pass on then yes, that's a big difference. But if you are making $500-750K in Starkville, MS then for your immediate family's needs you can pretty much do whatever you want unless you are blowing through money wrecklessly somehow.

You could live just about the same in Gainesville as in Starkville. There was a discussion on housing prices in Starkville on SPS a few days ago, and I looked up the cost of living in both towns. Starkville is 86 and Gainesville was 90 as I recall. Not a lot of difference. Housing is high in Starkville, so other things must be really low compared to the national average. Housing is probably high in Gainesville too ... typical college town. In larger towns, like Nashville or Atlanta, being a college town doesn't make all that much difference.

[Coursesuper]

I certainly get your frustration and share many of the same feelings. But it isn't as simple as a few programs in the 60's and 70's decided to start heavily investing in their programs and now they are in the club now and forevermore. To build an elite college football program, you need two things in your favor over a very long period of time: a caring fanbase / alumni base and demographic and economic foundation to continuously be able to attract both talent and serve as a multiplier of financial investment and fanbase growth. By that second thing, I mean proximity to recruits and also proximity to (or immediate location in) major metropolitan areas and economic centers for attracting students. That leads to those students becoming alumni which leads to them donating money to football and having kids that grow up as fans of said school. In total, there are probably only about 15 programs in the whole country that have an ideal combination of those two factors that is required for sustained winning at a high level. MSU isn't the only one that doesn't have a seat at the table.

As far as the first thing (a caring, passionate, and invested fanbase), MSU didn't really get to that point until probably 1991 when Sherrill arrived and we started playing all our home games on campus. We've had some hiccups, but have exoerienced exponential growth in our program over that time. It is important that we don't lose sight of how far we've come in just 20 years. And if you think its easy, how come Iowa State, Washington State, and many other programs cut from a similar historical cloth as us are still languishing in obscurity? We need to continue that same growth over the next 20 years.

As far as the second thing (economic / demographic foundation for success), that is much more difficult and I don't know the answer to fixing that situation. We are in a relatively isolated location in the middle of the poorest state in America. You can blame that on everything from the Civil War to MSU locating itself in Starkville instead of Meridian to the SEC selecting both State and OM as charter members. It also doesn't help that we have one of the top 3 all time superpowers of college football history located 70 miles east of us. You mentioned that the "pyramid" was set up in the 60's and 70's, but there are teams that weren't even remotely relevant at that time that have broken through due to favorable demographics. Miami is a small private school that didn't give a crap about football until the early 80's, but due to being smack dab in the middle of the most fertile recruiting ground in the country they were able to start winning big as soon as they started caring. That is an advantage that we unfortunately will never have.

The only thing we can do is continue to make good hires in the Big 3. In football, many of our stumbles have been that we have never in our modern history made 2 good hires in a row. Never. We followed Bellard with Felker, followed Sherrill with Croom, etc. Who we follow Mullen with will go a long way in determining if we are able to continue sustained growth. If we replace him with a solid guy, and that coach has success and moves on, then we hire another guy that has success, suddenly MSU becomes known as a winning program and not just a school that only won when they had Dan Mullen or Dak Prescott or whoever. That needs to be our goal, but it will take some time to get there.

That was well said, but don't forget, UNM has screwed us twice once in the 70's when bob Tyler began to complete and then again in the early 2000's. when we gain any success they come after us. They have held us down as much as they possibly could. It kills them to see us making any headway.

[Liverpooldawg]

In all honesty he is an athletic director. I don't care that much when you get right down to it. That being said he ain't ours any more by his choice. He needs to get off the campus and never come back. That certainly would be the case in the corporate world if he had left for a rival. He would have been escorted of the premises and had his credentials revoked. Why we evidently didn't do that is beyond me.

[DancingRabbit]

In all honesty he is an athletic director. I don't care that much when you get right down to it. That being said he ain't ours any more by his choice. He needs to get off the campus and never come back. That certainly would be the case in the corporate world if he had left for a rival. He would have been escorted of the premises and had his credentials revoked. Why we evidently didn't do that is beyond me.

Apparently he's going to be around for another month, probably at Keenum's request.

Florida wanted him to start 10/1 but Scott pushed it back to 11/1.

I'm disappointed but not bitter. I've defended him numerous times here and the other board over the years.

[Liverpooldawg]

Apparently he's going to be around for another month, probably at Keenum's request.

Florida wanted him to start 10/1 but Scott pushed it back to 11/1.

I'm disappointed but not bitter. I've defended him numerous times here and the other board over the years.

I'm not bitter either. I think he did a great job here, but he just joined a direct competitor. Business is business, he needs to be off campus yesterday. It doesn't speak well for Keenum that he isn't.

[the59dawg]

No, not really. He doesn't have to separate those things. Its really all about the individual. I personally would rather make a few less dollars and guide a school I love than to just go to a bigger, higher dollar "other" program but everyone has to make their own choices. As an MSU alumnus and fan I would never be as fulfilled guiding some other generic school vs. guiding my alma mater. I mean he wasn't exactly panhandling on the street in Starkville and it would be hard for me to believe we would not have made some counteroffer to bump him up even more in salary even if we couldn't have exactly matched the FL offer. To each his own I guess.

We did counter to at least $750K. Don't know if that included bonuses or not.