A new and better FBS thread

[Professor Chaos]

maybe but there are a lot of admin people in this world that are scared to take chances.. how much job pressure is there on a AD with a football team that goes undefeated every year? not saying that our guys are like that and don't know them but things like that happen everywhere in business.

How much pressure was there on Larsen to make the right decision and do it quickly last December in regards to where to go with a football head coaching hire? He aced that test.

[NDSUguy]

How much pressure was there on Larsen to make the right decision and do it quickly last December in regards to where to go with a football head coaching hire? He aced that test.

stress? aced test? the incumbent was right in the wings waiting for the opportunity. now, if all of the coaches left and he had to find a non-ndsu guy then that would be acing the test. this...not so much.

[Professor Chaos]

stress? aced test? the incumbent was right in the wings waiting for the opportunity. now, if all of the coaches left and he had to find a non-ndsu guy then that would be acing the test. this...not so much.

It's easy to say that in hindsight. He did this in all in about 48 hours the week of a semifinal playoff game. I didn't think Entz was as no-brainer of a hire as you apparently did. I admit I was wrong but Larsen deserves credit for steering the program through an incredibly seamless coaching transition in an incredibly short timeframe.

[tolnabison]

stress? aced test? the incumbent was right in the wings waiting for the opportunity. now, if all of the coaches left and he had to find a non-ndsu guy then that would be acing the test. this...not so much.

Entz could of went to Kansas St and made 500k a year as defensive coordinator? Instead he is making 380k as a head coach. Entz had to make the choice also.

[Christopher Moen]

the gap will increase and this dynasty isn't going to just end anytime soon.. what are we now 128-8 or something when the dynasty began? lets say 50 odd games left in treys career- what's the over under on record even with the fbs schools? 45-5? so that puts us with at least 10 out of 12 titles and roughly a 170-15 in 12 seasons

NDSU will remain the only serious option for talent to go to. so we wont just drop off like the 1980s when know one outside the tristate ever heard of us after all those titles in D2.

Treys senior year 2022-23 at the worst they need to have a plan to jump even if its independent.. we will for sure have done everything remotely possible in FCS at that time.

How many times does it take to explain to you that winning/dominating has fairly little to do with the decision to move from the FCS to the FBS? NDSU could win all its games for the next decade or century and still be FCS if the actually problems for NDSU being stuck at this level don't change. Don't blame the winning (and therefore, degrading the players and staff's achievements), administration or loyal fans for why NDSU is FCS. Blame the lack of support and funding.

Solving problems aren't done by blaming the results.

[MankatoBison]

How many times does it take to explain to you that winning/dominating has fairly little to do with the decision to move from the FCS to the FBS? NDSU could win all its games for the next decade or century and still be FCS if the actually problems for NDSU being stuck at this level don't change. Don't blame the winning (and therefore, degrading the players and staff's achievements), administration or loyal fans for why NDSU is FCS. Blame the lack of support and funding.

Solving problems aren't done by blaming the results.

I would agree- Just because you're good at football- doesnt mean you're ready to jump as a program (funding facilities conference etc). however I think success is an indicator that you DO have those things. We do have good funding, and facilities (no conference). To this point, we are in a better spot with funding and facilities than MANY who have jumped before us- many of which who have been successful and many more who have NOT been successful. Even the most successful Programs in FCS who had moved up moved up with less funding, and less success on the field (BUT THEY HAD A CONFERENCE).

Success on the field doesnt necessarily mean you're ready, but it is a symptom of having the right "vitals" to jump. There's defnitely not a lack of support and funding. Out of pocket donations to the athletic program are virtually the best in the FCS, correct? Last I heard, we would be top half of the MAC right now when it comes to Booster club donations. If we had just a median Student fees for athletics (not suggesting we should, just stating a fact) our athletic budget would be more than sufficient for MAC.
People act like we're light years away from the funding side, and its simply not true.

To me it all comes down to a conference- and thats the hardest one to fix because we dont have control. NDSU has done a great job of improving the rest of the "vitals" over the last decade to make us more attractive for a potential jump.

I dont think the P5 will break off, but I think once the playoff expands there will be a conference shuffle that will likely affect NDSU. who knows

[56BISON73]

The world of athletics administrators is very small. They all know each other. I guarantee at least casual conversations have taken place over a beer at a hotel bar at an NCAA event between our administration and those associated with schools and/or conferences where the Bison could land. They all know who NDSU is and what they could do for their conference. If any of the G5 conferences discuss expansion I'm sure NDSU is at least a part of the conversation. They may not rank high due to proximity but as far as an educational institution, athletic performance, and possibly even market are not likely negatives.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Been say this for years.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I remember Gene Taylor telling me the biggest surprise he had in the transition was all of the administrative and academic changes and duties that needed to be done. All of the internal work that nobody really sees or knows about.

I remember that too. People have to think about that. Universities are here for a reason. Not just to field athletic teams. Eventhough that is what most of us old timers see when we interact with our alma mater these days. Public Universities are pretty damn vital to the growth and innovation of our State and region.

[Christopher Moen]

I would agree- Just because you're good at football- doesnt mean you're ready to jump as a program (funding facilities conference etc). however I think success is an indicator that you DO have those things. We do have good funding, and facilities (no conference). To this point, we are in a better spot with funding and facilities than MANY who have jumped before us- many of which who have been successful and many more who have NOT been successful. Even the most successful Programs in FCS who had moved up moved up with less funding, and less success on the field (BUT THEY HAD A CONFERENCE).

Success on the field doesnt necessarily mean you're ready, but it is a symptom of having the right "vitals" to jump. There's defnitely not a lack of support and funding. Out of pocket donations to the athletic program are virtually the best in the FCS, correct? Last I heard, we would be top half of the MAC right now when it comes to Booster club donations. If we had just a median Student fees for athletics (not suggesting we should, just stating a fact) our athletic budget would be more than sufficient for MAC.
People act like we're light years away from the funding side, and its simply not true.

To me it all comes down to a conference- and thats the hardest one to fix because we dont have control. NDSU has done a great job of improving the rest of the "vitals" over the last decade to make us more attractive for a potential jump.

I dont think the P5 will break off, but I think once the playoff expands there will be a conference shuffle that will likely affect NDSU. who knows

If you don't believe the reasons why I have stated for being the reasons why weren't not getting FBS conference invites, then I can't help you.

FBS conferences aren't asking NDSU to join because they're afraid of them. Like the Jimmy Buffett song (If the Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me) alludes to, the State of North Dakota has work to do if NDSU is ever going to be a viable candidate to get an invite.

In regards to the P5 break off, again, as I have stated numerous times, it has already been done.

[BigLakeBison]

The plan in summary:

1. Fund and build the IPF
2. Grow basketball funding/program
3. Lay the ground work for the next football stadium

Those are occurring currently to various degrees and we are progressing. No disagreement from me there. However, these are major investments that will take time and money to come to fruition.

Where I do have more concerns is that I believe the market is changing faster than the current administration or anyone, including myself, was expecting. It is being dismissed that the past two games were an anomaly because of hunting/harvest/cold weather. That is plausible and a definite possibility. However, the trend goes back further than that. Professor Chaos, you were on this forum last year pointing out the dip in playoff attendance last year specifically. This isn't something that is only caused by hunting/harvest/cold weather. This is a result of the perceived lack of competition in FCS. How does the administration address this and find ways to overcome that perception. Step 1 above can likely be achieved with or without any major changes as it sounds like a fair amount of the fundraising for the IPF is in place. However, Step 2 and Step 3 are absolutely contingent on continued fan support, fundraising, and buzz around this program. What happens if the perceived lack of competition contributes to a quicker decline in fan support and fundraising resulting in Steps 2 and 3 not being achieved. No one here is questioning the commitment of the current supporters/donors of the program. My concern is that CAS, 56BISON73, Professor Chaos and others like them have helped to build what we see now, Thank you. However, they are not the ones that will take us to the next level alone. We need the newly acquired fans that hopped on the bandwagon in the past decade to continue to grow their loyalty in order to push the schools academic and athletic brand to new heights. I'm worried that is not possible with FCS in it's current state. We better hope that SDSU, UND, JMU, Montana, Montana St. and others are willing to chase us down. If they are not, unfortunately this trend is going to continue.