Just how long do we wait for...?

[Havre66]

A truly dominant athletic department? Since the current theme here follows the beatdown we had in Flagstaff, it may be time to look a little deeper, ie:

We are the envy of the nation with our facilities but do not seem to produce competitive athletes in most of our sports, men and women. Think of it, we have the "Champions Center" but when have we produced a "champion" team in any sport? Where, across the whole athletic department, are we dominating anybody? In the Champions Center there are world class fitness facilities accompanied by a cushy lounge with comfortable chairs and couches with lots of TV's to watch, "fueling Stations" for athletes to obtain free food, drinks, snacks, etc. Oh, and there is the Coyle Recovery Center where they can receive first class therapy for injuries. Then there is the Academic Achievement Center or whatever it is called where athletes receive more babysitting and handholding so they can pass their coursework that none of the average students on campus can even sniff at. Don't forget the construction of the inflatable dome so that our athletes can stay warm and cozy during practice. God forbid they have to perform outside in the Montana winter. What happened to the grit and grim of college sports? Has the AD and his crony supporters created a country club atmosphere that cannot produce "CHAMPIONS"?

Flame away...

 

[Havre66]

What? No takers here? After this weekend's debacle I continue to question the pampered country club environment we have created for some of our players, like, say, our vaunted all senior-laden offensive front five.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Who are Haslam’s chronies?

 

[41>37]

As a Cat fan I hope you keep this regime in place forever. UM is Now a bottom tier Big Sky program. I got the ISU money line this week.

 

[The.Real.2506]

The thing is now I think MSU, Weber, Sac and Davis have somewhat comparable facilities. CP has a huge donation from the Madden Family and will have something nice in the near future. UM is obviously the leader in fan support but MSU is a close second. Sac has made huge strides recently but it remains to be seen if they can maintain it.

Having recently been there, SDSU has nice new facilities and a comparable athletic center and also has the Championship to go along with it. They have historically struggled with attendance but seem to have it now that they are winning, it will be interesting to watch going forward.

There are still a lot of 'have not's" in the FCS but there a many more "have's" than there were 10-15 years ago. UM has to realize that facilities alone wont get you a recruit, there is a lot of comparable competition on that front.

 

[get'em_griz]

The thing is now I think MSU, Weber, Sac and Davis have somewhat comparable facilities. CP has a huge donation from the Madden Family and will have something nice in the near future. UM is obviously the leader in fan support but MSU is a close second. Sac has made huge strides recently but it remains to be seen if they can maintain it.

Having recently been there, SDSU has nice new facilities and a comparable athletic center and also has the Championship to go along with it. They have historically struggled with attendance but seem to have it now that they are winning, it will be interesting to watch going forward.

There are still a lot of 'have not's" in the FCS but there a many more "have's" than there were 10-15 years ago. UM has to realize that facilities alone wont get you a recruit, there is a lot of comparable competition on that front.

For years (from my perspective), all Montana had to do to get the best recruits was say, "Look at our stadium! We never lose! Play in front of 20,000+ fans every home game!" We by far were the top destination and were able to coast along without trying hard to recruit. Other FCS programs didn't have that luxury. They had to be creative in their recruiting efforts, connecting with the athletes and really selling to them why a recruit should commit to their school.

As you said, there are quite a few FCS programs that have caught up, or are just about caught up to Montana as far as facilities go. And not only do they have the facilities, they don't rely on those facilities to recruit, but use them to enhance their recruiting. Montana appears to have not figured out that we can't out-recruit athletes by facilities alone anymore. At this point, our facilities should be icing on the cake instead of the main focus of our recruiting efforts.

 

[GrizRealist]

The thing is now I think MSU, Weber, Sac and Davis have somewhat comparable facilities. CP has a huge donation from the Madden Family and will have something nice in the near future. UM is obviously the leader in fan support but MSU is a close second. Sac has made huge strides recently but it remains to be seen if they can maintain it.

Having recently been there, SDSU has nice new facilities and a comparable athletic center and also has the Championship to go along with it. They have historically struggled with attendance but seem to have it now that they are winning, it will be interesting to watch going forward.

There are still a lot of 'have not's" in the FCS but there a many more "have's" than there were 10-15 years ago. UM has to realize that facilities alone wont get you a recruit, there is a lot of comparable competition on that front.

For years (from my perspective), all Montana had to do to get the best recruits was say, "Look at our stadium! We never lose! Play in front of 20,000+ fans every home game!" We by far were the top destination and were able to coast along without trying hard to recruit. Other FCS programs didn't have that luxury. They had to be creative in their recruiting efforts, connecting with the athletes and really selling to them why a recruit should commit to their school.

As you said, there are quite a few FCS programs that have caught up, or are just about caught up to Montana as far as facilities go. And not only do they have the facilities, they don't rely on those facilities to recruit, but use them to enhance their recruiting. Montana appears to have not figured out that we can't out-recruit athletes by facilities alone anymore. At this point, our facilities should be icing on the cake instead of the main focus of our recruiting efforts.

These are truthful words. UM football coaches can't take the lazy route anymore and still expect to get the best players. They have to actually sell their coaching, leadership and team culture (which all great programs have) and they just don't seem to want to do it. Chris Petersen got out of coaching because of the turn recruiting was making and how demanding it is throughout the whole calendar year. Seems like Hauck may be in that boat of just not wanting to adapt and put in the effort that is needed in todays climate of college football. Its ok if he doesn't want to adapt, but he should no longer be the coach if thats the case.

 

[horribilisfan8184]

Until the BOR decides to allow Montana schools to pay for and retain the level of coaches everyone dreams of recruiting, its hit and miss with projecting the up and comers, who will leave after gaining success at this level, unless you want to retread a previous coach.

 

[AZGrizFan]

For years (from my perspective), all Montana had to do to get the best recruits was say, "Look at our stadium! We never lose! Play in front of 20,000+ fans every home game!" We by far were the top destination and were able to coast along without trying hard to recruit. Other FCS programs didn't have that luxury. They had to be creative in their recruiting efforts, connecting with the athletes and really selling to them why a recruit should commit to their school.

As you said, there are quite a few FCS programs that have caught up, or are just about caught up to Montana as far as facilities go. And not only do they have the facilities, they don't rely on those facilities to recruit, but use them to enhance their recruiting. Montana appears to have not figured out that we can't out-recruit athletes by facilities alone anymore. At this point, our facilities should be icing on the cake instead of the main focus of our recruiting efforts.

These are truthful words. UM football coaches can't take the lazy route anymore and still expect to get the best players. They have to actually sell their coaching, leadership and team culture (which all great programs have) and they just don't seem to want to do it.

That's because there isn't any.

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

What? No takers here? After this weekend's debacle I continue to question the pampered country club environment we have created for some of our players, like, say, our vaunted all senior-laden offensive front five.

Because every school in the nation either has or wants what Montana has. The facilities aren’t the issue. This post is dumb as hell

 

[GrizzlyGreat]

A great read for this topic is Comfort Crisis by Mike Easter. He has some excellent insight into seeking increased comfort and how that works against a healthy, rigorous lifestyle. Critical read for all Griz sports teams and coaches at this juncture.

 

[MissoulaMarinerFan]

I'd like to point out a common mis-conception. The indoor bubble will not just be for football. Other athletics teams will have access to it as well (soccer, softball, track and field). It will also be available for intramural sports and renting out as well. Win-win. Gives our "non-winter" athletes space to train during winter and will add revenue (eventually) to the university - which is a good thing.