I'm not ignoring that fact. I'm just softening the message for the apologists here who are unwilling to make any acknowledgement of leaderships role in our current situation. DB's stance that FCS was where NDSU best fit is a major factor in them misreading the tea leaves of the college football landscape. If the president has this opinion, it would be very unwise for anyone else at the University to spend meaningful time on exploring an FBS move. I believe that eventually even DB had to acknowledge that more time needed to be spent on the possibility but by then they were behind the curve and didn't really have a coherent and organized plan. They were and are in my opinion too reactionary.
There's that strawman again. I'm sure you think I'm one of them, but that's absolutely not true. I've never said DB was a good president. He may have been the best we could get at the time though. The Chapman/Taylor combo was a once in a lifetime event that most schools never get at all. You can't use them as your baseline.
Another thing you appear to be completely unable to comprehend is that without an invite FBS is a bad move. Without an invite staying FCS is most definitely the right thing to do. You take DB's comments out of context and focus on what you want to hear so you have a person to blame instead of the larger situation.
I would hate to be the new president right now. Seems like a good enough guy but he has some tremendous headwinds between enrollment, budget cuts and the football/conference/level debacle.
Get your BB tickets now!!!