We're arguing abour replacing the air filter when the whole AC is out...

[Political Hack]

Come on, dude. You obviously have an ax to grind.

Our athletic department is just fine right now.

then you're not very intuitive. I sat there and got butchered so the people I have an ax to grind against could skate? think about how stupid that is.

[601Dawg]

Great post. However, I have to agree with PM too...Mullen's shitastic in game coaching has nothing to do with Scott. But I agree, this is a Stricklin problem as well.

We are ONE PLAY, ONE from being 5-2 (2-1) in the SEC.

I really agree with Hack 100% it aint Mullen its the AD. Stricklin has no backbone and is as spineless as it gets b/c he dont want to make anyone upset with him.

Stricklin is the one who stands behind Bracky and refuses to ease him into early retirement.

Stricklin is the one who made a bad hire with Rick Ray.

Stricklin is the one who don't have a clue what in the hell he's going to do with the future of our baseball program

IMO he's in WAAAAAYYYYY over his head.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

What world are you living in? Do you just see what you want to see?

We are ONE PLAY, ONE from being 5-2 (2-1) in the SEC.

I really agree with Hack 100% it aint Mullen its the AD. Stricklin has no backbone and is as spineless as it gets b/c he dont want to make anyone upset with him. Based on what? He fired Stans, and that pissed off TONS of people

Stricklin is the one who stands behind Bracky and refuses to ease him into early retirement. You may have a point here, but I still think everyone has too conveniently pinned all our issues on one person

Stricklin is the one who made a bad hire with Rick Ray. What? This is the dumbest ****ing thing I've heard in a while. Please tell me exactly how the hire was so clearly bad that you can state it as a fact?

Stricklin is the one who don't have a clue what in the hell he's going to do with the future of our baseball program seems that we are moving forward there as well

IMO he's in WAAAAAYYYYY over his head.

just ridiculous

[CadaverDawg]

We are ONE PLAY, ONE from being 5-2 (2-1) in the SEC.

We are 2 plays from being 2-5 (0-3) in the SEC. If BG catches an easy pass they beat us. If Kentucky breaks a market tackle, they beat us. And no way you can pin all of the coaching blunders on Stricklin. Stricklin didn't run Russell on 3rd and short, put Bell in punt formation in the end zone, go for it on 4th and long with minutes remaining, shit the bed against Auburn, etc.

I am questioning Stricklin more and more each day, but Mullen in no way gets a pass. I'll be honest, your post is a little absurd IMO.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

So I am guessing that you give Stricklin a lot of credit for next years favorable schedule then?

Or blame the Ninja for scheduling GT and WV when we needed easy wins during the Croom and early Mullen years? Guess some people only see what they want to see.

[SignalToNoise]

Or blame the Ninja for scheduling GT and WV when we needed easy wins during the Croom and early Mullen years? Guess some people only see what they want to see.

WHAT?!

Am I missing sarcasm here? LT scheduled those games, not Byrne.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

WHAT?!

Am I missing sarcasm here? LT scheduled those games, not Byrne.

ok, then for not buying us out of them? the specifics weren't the point, but whatever

[Political Hack]

WHAT?!

Am I missing sarcasm here? LT scheduled those games, not Byrne.

LT definitely scheduled the West Virginia series... not sure about GT. Just more proof that we're dealing with LT2 here.

[Political Hack]

ok, then for not buying us out of them? the specifics weren't the point, but whatever

with all that money the football program was making under Croom?

[coastdoglover]

You are entirely correct Hack. Most people don't have the sense to see the forest for the trees. Can anybody actually see us having to hire a new coach? That would be scary as hell under the current situation. I like our AD but he should be in marketing and not where he is. Other folks are starting to wake up and see it too but if anybody thinks we are making progress they haven't paid attention. Basketball will be as bad or worse than this and we do have talent in football and we don't have enough sense to use it properly and are totally undisciplined on the field. Burning two Freshmen's redshirt in the 7th game is inexcusable. The stadium will get more empty as we go along and it will back to LT, apathy and people being po'd. We are our worst enemies, not any opposition.

Replacing Dan Mullen, when he continues to win games despite the odds, is the equivalent to replacing the filter when your AC compressor goes out.

We've got bigger problems with this administration. They've got no backbone. It's an "MSU, Bible belt, nice guy, don't want to get our hands dirty, do it the right way even though everybody else refuses to, happy for not being last" type of mentality that's brought us to where we are. CDM is making his share of mistakes, but if you think changing coaches under this administration is going to get us to the promise land you're fooling yourselves. We've got bigger problems and they need to be addressed first and foremost.

Ninja + CDM = New Year's Day Bowl and packed stadiums... in short order.
Strick + CDM = More fund raising for the school while struggling to reach bowls when we can't fill our seats.

I'll let you figure out what changed in that equation...

Bottom line is that our leadership is piss poor. I know I keep coming back to the schedule, but this is a shining example of the worst kind of mistakes you could ever make as an AD. There are very few things to a single football season that are more important than correctly managing the schedule.

1) Scheduling Okie State for a pre-season pay day when it means you could miss a post-season pay day, the recruiting bump that goes with playing in a bowl game, the extra practice, the bowl streak, the bowl sales revenue, etc... was dumb. Losing two starters for the year and not having the option to play Tyler Russell during Auburn was also a result of this terrible decision. Oh, and it was a LOSS. Scheduling a loss when you could schedule a win isn't smart. And this one scheduling mistake actually cost us two wins.
2) We scheduled Bowling Green as a night game for homecoming. We may have our hands tied here based on the TV contracts, which is understandable, but if we do, we need to revisit that ASAP. Homecoming games do not need to be at night... and if they are, they need to work with the city to make sure the bars don't close down too early. Also, we should try our damndest to make sure that's always a day game. Empty stadiums look like crap on TV, but they look worse to recruits and other visitors who are attending the game... including the TV crews who will decide when they're coming back.
3) Scheduling a Thursday night game against our worst SEC opponent of the year during fall break is about as dumb as you can get. I don't think it needs an explanation. Way to go.
4) Getting bent over by the SEC office for a SC away game after you were told you're getting Vandy... being so sure about it that you tell the fan base... scheduling Oklahoma State based on your confidence in this... and then getting the ole' LT oopty oop. Really? That's gutless. If it wasn't locked in, we shouldn't have went after the kickoff game. If you had a firm commitment, you should've forced them to keep it. Either way, it was either stupid or spineless.... neither of which is acceptable.
5) Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving... with either four or five wins on the schedule, due in part to the rest of the boneheaded scheduling decisions is pitiful. If it's four, OUR son-of-a-bitchin' stadium is going to fill up with Rebels on national TV. For that to even be a possibility at this point is enough to clean house in the Bryan Building.

We have opened our door to LT part two and everyone is yelling at the head coach because of it. We're arguing over whether Dan Mullen will be fired... what we should be asking ourselves is whether or not he's going to be willing to stay here and compete with the rest of the SEC and boneheaded gutless decisions our AD continues to make.

Keep your eye on the ball... and fix the damn compressor before you change the filter.

[cheewgumm]

this BS scheduling issue is like begging to eb thrown into the briar patch.

Or blame the Ninja for scheduling GT and WV when we needed easy wins during the Croom and early Mullen years? Guess some people only see what they want to see.

[smootness]

LT definitely scheduled the West Virginia series... not sure about GT. Just more proof that we're dealing with LT2 here.

Dude, we're not scheduling series here. It was one game, and it was because we had to fill the spot at the last minute. Stricklin decided to take a chance, and it didn't work out.

As I have already stated, he agrees with you on scheduling philosophy. He went against it once, it bit us, and he probably won't do it again.

You come across as ridiculous by continuing to try to use the Oklahoma State game to prove that Stricklin is LT2.

[Political Hack]

Dude, we're not scheduling series here. It was one game, and it was because we had to fill the spot at the last minute. Stricklin decided to take a chance, and it didn't work out.

As I have already stated, he agrees with you on scheduling philosophy. He went against it once, it bit us, and he probably won't do it again.

You come across as ridiculous by continuing to try to use the Oklahoma State game to prove that Stricklin is LT2.

I've got other bullets in this gun, but I've chosen not to use them because it's not public information. Either way, screwing up 3 of our home games, the kickoff game, and the SEC east away game is more than enough to prove the point. He's not doing a good job moving the football program forward. period.

[engie]

I've got other bullets in this gun, but I've chosen not to use them because it's not public information. Either way, screwing up 3 of our home games, the kickoff game, and the SEC east away game is more than enough to prove the point. He's not doing a good job moving the football program forward. period.

Yep. People are gong to have to see the rest of this story at some point though... because it is enough to change their minds about Stricklin...

[smootness]

I've got other bullets in this gun, but I've chosen not to use them because it's not public information. Either way, screwing up 3 of our home games, the kickoff game, and the SEC east away game is more than enough to prove the point. He's not doing a good job moving the football program forward. period.

All we know is that you have reason to have a personal issue with the administration. If you won't tell us what you know, then don't even bring it up.

If all you can give me is Oklahoma State, then it's not going to change my mind.

[smootness]

Yep. People are gong to have to see the rest of this story at some point though... because it is enough to change their minds about Stricklin...

And where did you get this information?

[Political Hack]

All we know is that you have reason to have a personal issue with the administration. If you won't tell us what you know, then don't even bring it up.

If all you can give me is Oklahoma State, then it's not going to change my mind.

I just brought up Okie State, SC/Vandy, BGSU, Kentucky, and the Egg Bowl.

If I truly want to grind an ax I'd set aside any regard I have for the program and grind away. I'm not going to do that... ever. But I will voice my opinion about what I think is best for the program, and right now Stricklin thinks he's being politically savvy and helping by throwing away W's for $. We had another AD that did that and we ended up with zero fund raising ability, terrible attendance, a tarnished brand, and an embarrassment of a football program. Cashing in short term gains in spite of long term financial stability is terrible mismanagement. If nothing else, I hope that pointing this out will help him recognize that and positively influence future decisions. I don't see him being on the hot seat, so that's about all I can hope for.

[Todd4State]

And I want to add:

LT scheduled GT. I remember them announcing the dates that we were playing West Virginia and GT on the same day. The reason Byrne didn't buy out of those games was because it would have been more costly than just playing them- and we probably would have ended up going to La Tech or somewhere like that.

Ole Miss doesn't want to play the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving. There's a reason it's a one year deal. In the future it's going to be LSU and Texas A&M on Thanksgiving. Jackie has said as much himself- and I'm pretty sure he is still connected to A&M goings on. It does seem like our fans are more open to playing the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving- which I never really have understood outside the superstition of "we won a couple of Thanksgiving Egg Bowls in the late 90's."

[Todd4State]

this BS scheduling issue is like begging to eb thrown into the briar patch.

Yeah- because Croom won all the OOC games he was supposed to win.

[ScottH]

No it isn't.


We have undoubtedly the worst compliance department in the conference.

Nope.

We have undoubtedly the worst compliance department at any NCAA level.