[AATL]

Evidently, that was the final nail in the coffin for Don Brown: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/592990 ... red-umass/

[TH Spangler]

Evidently, that was the final nail in the coffin for Don Brown: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/592990 ... red-umass/

To bad, cause he had those guys playing good football.

[JK37]

Good football, but still 2-8. Unfortunate.

[Ill flame]

Interesting that they didn't even give him 3 full seasons which is exactly what they did to the previous guy. Maybe its time for their administration to look in the mirror and wonder why all of their coaches are failing. Also who would want that job if they don't even get 3 full years to rebuild the program before getting canned?

[Purple Haize]

I'm a finance guy. I started in LU's finance dept in 2009 and worked for one of the smartest people I've ever known during the explosion of revenue / investment in campus. It was exciting, but I learned quite a bit about Cost / benefit analysis and ROI. Athletics as a whole doesn't do well in either category, but there's a perceived benefit that is difficult to define, but you know is there from things like campus cohesion, marketing/brand recognition, etc. From the founding, our school has had athletics as a primary focus because Jerry Sr. saw the ability of athletics to reach people in a way that he personally was unable.

I say all that for the following: it is clear we have spent a large amount of our God given resources on athletics and continue to annually. We are in a conference where LU's annual budget is nearly two times higher than the league average. LU's budget is over $20M, or more than 40% higher than the SECOND highest spender (FIU). Our coaching staff is the best paid in the G5 and we have some of the best facilities if not the best in all of G5. What I keep asking myself is, are we seeing the payoff on the field? Last year was an unequivocal yes, but this year? I think we'd all have to say the answer is no. I get the excuses of issues on scheduling, going long periods without playing and the delays we've had. That's hard to swallow though when I think about the considerable advantages we have over the teams we're playing for a resource perspective. It was always going to be difficult to match the achievements of last years team and I get that; however, the product we have put on the field this year is worse than I think anyone could have imagined. There are chemistry issues, attitude issues, a lack of leadership, and at times it seems like we're just going through the motions and expecting a W. We lost to the WORST team in FBS this year and almost lost to the 2nd worst this past weekend. My takeaway from that game was that WE didn't win it, UMass lost it. That game was there's for the taking and we got lucky that the wind pushed that FG attempt wide right not once, but twice.

There’s something to be said about going through ‘the struggle’ and the hardships. LU had some tough times but their assent from Big South to Fiesta Bowl was lightening fast and avoided a lot of the struggle. LU athletic success currently is not built on a historical foundation. It is built on money. Looking at it in terms of wins, losses, Bowl Bids, NFL players etc you see a lot of success. IMO what is happening is that the foundation is in need of catching up with the results

[Humble_Opinion]

Fully agree with your framing there PH. Our financial success has afforded us a lot in a short amount of time, but as the saying goes, "money can't buy you everything."

[Purple Haize]

Fully agree with your framing there PH. Our financial success has afforded us a lot in a short amount of time, but as the saying goes, "money can't buy you everything."

It’s about ‘earning’ something as opposed to being ‘given’ something. Us old heads realize how far LU has come back in January. Seeing what the financial support has been able to do was truly amazing. Who’d have thought LU would be at one of the Big Boy Bowls on New Years Day? I expressed to one of the players what that meant to a lot of us and he seemed to understand. I don’t think they all do. Or the fans. Earning something. Forging traditions etc count for something. LU has not been in a position or had time to do that. They will, they just are not there yet.

[Humble_Opinion]

One of the traditions I'd like to see start are sellouts. This team has earned the support of the LU community. I think the thing that makes it hurt is that our success has really only occurred recently at the 'highest level', and many alumni and even some of the current student base have ties or allegiances to other schools. Continuous sustained success will change that.