What in the holy hell did Scott Stricklin do to some of you?

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Originally Posted by Goat Holder

I swear I see so much damn vitriol thrown at the man and I don't think he deserves any of it. Most of it seems directed to the Rick Ray hire. For one, NONE of you know a damn thing that went on with that hire. We could have gotten turned down 10 times. And that wouldn't surprise me, since we had just fired what the country considered a successful coach (although we knew it had to be done). Shit, does no one give him credit for finally pulling the plug on Stans? And how do we know Rick Ray sucks? I think his coaching is OK, but just like every other coach, recruiting makes or breaks him. He needs three years at minimum.

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Let me preface this by saying that I have zero inside knowledge about anything, but living in Memphis, I listed to Gary Parrish in the afternoons on the way home from work. Gary is the lead college basketball journalist for CBS Sports. He was discussing Ray a month or two ago and said that he received several phone calls from coaches during our search asking whether they should pursue or return interest in our job. He told every one of them to a person that they shouldn't touch it because it had hit rock bottom and the next coach would have a nearly impossible time being successful. Those were his words as spoken on his radio show...

All of that to say, I don't know who we could have gotten, but he steered multiple candidates away because of where we had let the program get to (*Gary Parrish's own words).

Stricklin has already publicly addressed the video board, admitting it got out of hand and he regrets letting it go that far. He said there will be NO MORE COMMERCIALS during game play (meaning only pre-game and during halftime). All the sponsors will come from [silent] ads on replays, stats, etc. But no more commercials and dumb games during timeouts during the game. He said the only time we may still have to have commercials is between the 1st & 2nd quarter. If this comes to fruition, I'm very happy about it. You have to give the man credit for listening to people, admitting he was wrong, and making sure it gets fixed. We've yet to see that last step, but I'll commend him for the first two and give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise on this issue.

So here it is. We're not getting Byrne back, but that guy set us in a direction that MSU had never seen before and did it quickly. Most of what we have going on right now is a direct result of that momentum. Stricklin has not proven to me that he is someone that is not only going to maintain our current momentum, but someone who can help us take the next step.

What we are seeing now are obvious steps. DNF renovation is a no-brainer. How to pay for it and the logistics of everything is going to be interesting, but doing it is obvious. It's the same across the board. I shouldn't have to be excited that I don't have to piss on the floor at Davis Wade anymore. Come on.

My gripes:

1. Compliance. HUGE PROGRAM LIMITING PROBLEM in multiple sports. It might not be his call, but he is accountable.

2. Marketing and Communications. I thought we were trending upward here under Byrne but we are at near LT levels again. I can write an entire entry on this alone.

3. Game day atmosphere. Everyone else has gone trough this.

4. Basketball hire. I love Ray, but you can't disenfranchise the guys that make the program and expect to be successful.

5. Failure to manage Mullen when this season was on it's heals. I'll give Mullen and Stricklin credit for turning it around, but it was obvious from day 1 this season that something was up. Mullen was out there looking like a guy that hated his job, his boss, and his life. Something happened getting ready for Alabama that turned a switch on. The results may have been the same, but it looked to me like half the season was conceded. Mullen has not been the same since Byrne left. It's rumored that he and Strick do not get along. If I had to choose between the two, I'll take Mullen.

6. Leadership. I know people manage differently, but Strick is an operational guy. He executes plans. The world needs great operational guys. I'm one. People are not drawn to me and I do not inspire great visions, but I am extremely effective at execution and I get things done on time, under budget, and with more features than I am asked. I would be a really shitty athletic director.

Job of an AD:

1. Raise money- Scott gets an A
2. Facilities- A-....for people to think just throwing up million dollar expansions for all three sports in less than 5 years is feasible, are you serious?
3. Hire/Fire coaches- B- (pending)- for all the crap he gets for hiring Ray...the same people said "he don't have the balls to fire Stans" and this year "he don't have the balls to fire Mullenz"...ITS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH BALLS...the internet makes us all stupid sometimes. You have to look at the whole situation. Like others said earlier, Strick has made great hires in some of the other sports. The Ray hire is still pending.

Other thoughts:
Byrne was awesome because Templeton was so bad. Stricklin is not Byrne, but so what. He's doing a good job. I wish people would quit comparing the two. It doesn't matter.

The more Stricklin opens himself up for input...the more criticized he's going to be. That's part of being transparent. Its not like it makes his job easier.

I think he's learning the ropes some as a AD. But hey, you had Mal Moore at Bama hire 14 coaches (exaggeration) before he got to Saban. That AD at Florida has hired more duds than winners in the last 20 years. I just think people need perspective from time to time about how far Mississippi State has come in the last 10 years. There's a ton of positives.

I do wish he would slow down on the twitters and the Redmond situation pisses me off.

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Originally Posted by Outside Dawg

Let me preface this by saying that I have zero inside knowledge about anything, but living in Memphis, I listed to Gary Parrish in the afternoons on the way home from work. Gary is the lead college basketball journalist for CBS Sports. He was discussing Ray a month or two ago and said that he received several phone calls from coaches during our search asking whether they should pursue or return interest in our job. He told every one of them to a person that they shouldn't touch it because it had hit rock bottom and the next coach would have a nearly impossible time being successful. Those were his words as spoken on his radio show...

All of that to say, I don't know who we could have gotten, but he steered multiple candidates away because of where we had let the program get to (*Gary Parrish's own words).

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Exactly. And too many of our fans just cant seem to understand this.

he's listening to the fans and making changes when needed. outside of two or three glaring mistakes he's been pretty solid. If he'll continue to learn and grow as an AD, that would be the best situation for State. I don't see him leaving regardless of his level of success and I don't see us firing him barring someone walking in on him and Bracky playing kissy face in the weight room.***

All the complaints here are a bunch of speculation. It's like I figured....no real reason to hate him, just want to complain. Thanks for the insight.

SS has done a good job with a lot of things . Fundraising , 4 straight bowls , baseball NC appearance , marketing etc . My 2 biggest beefs are compliance and the basketball hire . I don't think he is on the hot seat or anything .

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Originally Posted by Goat Holder

All the complaints here are a bunch of speculation. It's like I figured....no real reason to hate him, just want to complain. Thanks for the insight.

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a lot on this thread is not speculation... however I do agree that there's no reason to hate him.

Bracky Brett has been our Head of Compliance since 2002, Stricklin's only been AD since what, 2010? Brett is not Stricklin's fault completely.

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Originally Posted by codeDawg

2. Marketing and Communications. I thought we were trending upward here under Byrne but we are at near LT levels again. I can write an entire entry on this alone.

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Pretty sure this was Stricklin's primary focus under Byrne so it's going to be tough spinning it that way.

I take it the mistakes are:

-Rick Ray
-Oklahoma State
-Redmond/Sidney/Thomas/etc.

Rick Ray is yet to be decided. And as I've said before, I don't think anybody wanted our job. Stans was considered successful. Similar to Ole Miss and Cutcliffe. Oklahoma State ended up OK, we are bowl eligible and everybody knows we earned it against a Top 10 sked. And again, it's one big game out of 5 years, maybe longer. Most of our AD thinks the Redmond situation worked out well. Sidney obviously turned out to be a joke. Fred Thomas, the European guy, who the hell really knows. Again, compliance is compliance and was there long before Stricklin was the head man. Bottom line, it would have happened to anyone.

And everyone talking about how our campus and AD treats recruits....it sure doesn't seem to be hurting us in baseball. Fact of the matter is, most recruiting is done by the sports program itself, not the girls, hosts, etc.

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Originally Posted by smootness

Pretty sure this was Stricklin's primary focus under Byrne so it's going to be tough spinning it that way.

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It doesn't matter if he did a great job then, it's awful now. As a leader and as the accountable person he should get someone competent into the role or take on more of the responsibility until he can. That's what being the man the man in charge is about.

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Originally Posted by Goat Holder

Bracky Brett has been our Head of Compliance since 2002, Stricklin's only been AD since what, 2010? Brett is not Stricklin's fault completely.

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Inherited problems are still your problems.

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Originally Posted by dawg21

Job of an AD:

1. Raise money- Scott gets an A
2. Facilities- A-....for people to think just throwing up million dollar expansions for all three sports in less than 5 years is feasible, are you serious?
3. Hire/Fire coaches- B- (pending)- for all the crap he gets for hiring Ray...the same people said "he don't have the balls to fire Stans" and this year "he don't have the balls to fire Mullenz"...ITS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH BALLS...the internet makes us all stupid sometimes. You have to look at the whole situation. Like others said earlier, Strick has made great hires in some of the other sports. The Ray hire is still pending.

Other thoughts:
Byrne was awesome because Templeton was so bad. Stricklin is not Byrne, but so what. He's doing a good job. I wish people would quit comparing the two. It doesn't matter.

The more Stricklin opens himself up for input...the more criticized he's going to be. That's part of being transparent. Its not like it makes his job easier.

I think he's learning the ropes some as a AD. But hey, you had Mal Moore at Bama hire 14 coaches (exaggeration) before he got to Saban. That AD at Florida has hired more duds than winners in the last 20 years. I just think people need perspective from time to time about how far Mississippi State has come in the last 10 years. There's a ton of positives.

I do wish he would slow down on the twitters and the Redmond situation pisses me off.

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The job of an AD is to lead the entire athletic department. Those three things are a few responsibilities that fall mostly on the AD. The AD is accountable for the success of the entire portfolio.

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Originally Posted by codeDawg

The job of an AD is to lead the entire athletic department. Those three things are a few responsibilities that fall mostly on the AD. The AD is accountable for the success of the entire portfolio.

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Well, then he's doing a darn good job right now. Our overall athletic department is in very good shape, better than we've ever been before.

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Originally Posted by smootness

Well, then he's doing a darn good job right now. Our overall athletic department is in very good shape, better than we've ever been before.

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I agree, we could do worse. I would give the entire department a solid C right now. It's not inspiring work, but it's not dark days, depressing.

Realize that LT had us in the Final 4, and winning the SEC West at one point in his career. There is more to it than W's and L's. You can't just sell W's, especially at MSU. You have to keep the boosters and fans engaged when things aren't going your way. You have to keep everybody rowing in the same direction. That's leadership. Otherwise, you are just managing a program.

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Originally Posted by codeDawg

I agree, we could do worse. I would give the entire department a solid C right now. It's not inspiring work, but it's not dark days, depressing.

Realize that LT had us in the Final 4, and winning the SEC West at one point in his career. There is more to it than W's and L's. You can't just sell W's, especially at MSU. You have to keep the boosters and fans engaged when things aren't going your way. You have to keep everybody rowing in the same direction. That's leadership. Otherwise, you are just managing a program.

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I just don't get how we can say it's only sitting at a C right now.

Is the football program in a place that it has rarely, if ever, been before? Yes. The foundation is there, we have taken a big step to a perpetual bowl program, now we're in position to take another step forward.

Is the baseball program in a phenomenal place? Yes.

Is the basketball program in a good place? No. But Stricklin made the move that an overwhelming majority of the fanbase wanted. Tough to now criticize him for that. Sure, the jury is out on the Ray hire, but it's hard to imagine any hire would have had us in great shape right now.

Are the other sports in a good place? By and large, yes. We look like we're about to start competing well in softball and women's basketball. The track program is pretty good. Tennis and golf seem to be in good shape.

Our revenues are increasing at a faster pace than you would expect. We are making proactive steps in improving the quality of our facilities and I feel safe in saying that at no point in our history have we competed as well in this department with the rest of the conference, especially once the baseball stadium is built. Is SEC money crazy right now? Yes, but we're doing what we need to with it and the rest of the conference still dwarfs us in revenues.

Our marketing is definitely better than it has been in the past. Some seem to believe we were better here under Byrne, but I'm not sure why. It's pretty much the saw strategy we had then.

And this is all happening at Mississippi State, whose athletic history has sucked. It just is what it is, and it is relevant. I can't think of any time in our history that we've been in as good a place overall. How is that a C?

Gary Parrish who has ties to Ole Miss. Any idiot coach who was seeking advice from him and expecting it to be objective is down right stupid. The bottom line is Stricklin did not have a solid plan to replace Stansbury and it buried our program so to speak. In hindsight, I think most of our fans would have rather had one more year of Stans had we known that Strick was going to take a blow torch to our already burning program. You don't force out a coach who had a 24-12 record the previous year when you don't have a solid plan to replace him and by that I mean already have an MOU in place and immediately announce your next hire a day after Rick retired. Was just bush league amateurish and made us look like idiots. Especially, when a dumpster fire program like USC got Martin.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

1. He almost screwed that up, but I have to give him credit for not being hard headed and listening and for now going forward and doing the right thing. It takes years to build a stadium, and we are only in the beginning phases. The baseball stadium issue is complicated by the lifetime seating licenses and the LFL. My guess is those two things were big reasons why he wanted to just renovate what we had to start with.

2. If he pulled the ads, it would have been a financial disaster for us. If I buy an ad for 100K for Todd4State baseball bats to be shown on the jumbotron and then they decide after much complaining about the large amount of ads from fans to pull my ad- MSU is going to owe me some money. And every other business that has ads on the jumbotron. It sucks that we all had to sit through that this year, but I understand why they weren't pulled other than that Hardee's ad with AJ McCarron's girlfriend. If it isn't better next year, then I will complain. I heard Slive wasn't real happy with the AdTron either.

3. We'll see how the Ray hire plays out. I bet our team improves as the year goes along. Maybe he could have done better there. I'm expecting 15-15 this year and then maybe the NIT next year.

4. That was a dumb PR move on his part even if it was a mistake and his fault.

5. Agree totally.

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1. Let's see where we end up. There are going to be significant changes. Some you wont like. Realize the seating issue isn't going away. It may change but it'll still have it's warts if I recall your objections correctly. Even if seat licenses are reworked, the new seating will be based on on Bulldog Club points. 5500-6000 seats dont go very far if you can buy 4-8 tickets depending your giving level. Better be well inside #2000 or so or have a buddy who is. The real divisive issue The LFL is going to be re-imagined. No ifs ands or buts.

2. You would be surprised how little the ads cost. The problem is the extent Learfield controls not just the Jumbotron but ALL things gameday.

3. Agreed. But damn it's going to be an uphill climb.

4. It wasn't meant as an apology BUT everyone in the frustration of the loss took it as one. Therefore, it takes a life of its on as an apology. Bottom line, Scott might need a Twitter filter.

5. Agreed in spades and squared to the 10th power.