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  • #31
    Somebody want to pass that on to Nook.

    You can't frame it any better.
    #MACtion

    Comment


    • #32
      Thanks Clenz! Great write up focused on facts and reality. Too bad the right people aren’t talking about it. If The same were to occur in Ames or Iowa City, Harris would be out of a job.

      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by FOTY View Post
        Thanks Clenz! Great write up focused on facts and reality. Too bad the right people aren’t talking about it. If The same were to occur in Ames or Iowa City, Harris would be out of a job.
        It's one thing for us fans to sit on Twitter or here and say things like "It's clearly broken" and talk about all the issues we see.

        People, like blue, will look at that and go "That's just unrealistic fan expectations. Be realistic and you'll see everything is fine". That's why I went and I pulled David's own words, and the plan he created, to look at from an objective point of few. Not my expectations, not my reality, not my opinion. What were David's own, publicly stated, metrics for success for him in his role.

        When you look at where we are in relation exclusively to his words and ignore even any fan expectations you still can't call his time so far successful and healthy. He's failing, at least as far as anyone can tell, to meet even his own standards.

        Was his 5 year plan lofty? Yes.
        Did COVID hurt some? Yes.

        My issue becomes, again looking only at his own words that define success, is apparently COVID impacted UNI at a level that no other university in the country was hit. COVID might have slowed the progress other programs were making by a year, but at this point it's pretty clear they are all back to where they were before as far as moving forward. It not only slowed UNI, it slammed us into the strongest brick wall ever built at full speed.

        Even looking at the stuff that was pre-covid projects, what is the reason those were stopped before covid even happened? The track and field facility? The soccer field, which was supposed to be part of the TF upgrade. The team room for football disappeared in 2018 and was ignored as ever being a thing for a full year before David was pressed on social media about it and his only statement was "It was put on indefinite hold" even though we had been told that, like the track, funding was already done.

        I've asked dozens of times and I'll ask again: Why is UNI the one place where funding raising is so damn hard? Why is it the one place where it's accepted to just go "It's not easy so we nee to accept it". Why is UNI the one place that can't find anyone to sign on for sponsorships/donations? Why is Cedar Falls/Cedar Valley/380 Corridor so damn bankrupt compared to Brookings, SD, Vermillion, SD, Terra Haute, IN, Normal, IL, Murray, KY, Martin, TN, Jacksonville, AL, Youngstown, OH, etc.? How is Cedar Falls, and UNI, so immensely different from all of those other cities and schools that it's impossible to do anything here while at those places it's just the standard?

        Comment


        • #34
          I haven't said everything was "fine".

          And I'm not happy with DH's performance in fund raising and facilities development. Said that on PN many times.

          But some of you guys are so ridiculously negative that you ignore success and focus only on the gaps. I find that to be bull***t. It's childish and helps nothing.

          We have continued to be successful and punch over our weight on the field of play. Talented kids continue to see value in coming to UNI. It's undeniable.

          I wonder how many of the loudest negative voices on this site have proactively written a check to the UNI athletic department or PSC that has a comma in it?

          Raise your hands fellas. Talk is cheap.
          Winning is more fun than losing.

          Comment


          • #35
            Originally posted by Blue42 View Post
            I haven't said everything was "fine".

            And I'm not happy with DH's performance in fund raising and facilities development. Said that on PN many times.

            But some of you guys are so ridiculously negative that you ignore success and focus only on the gaps. I find that to be bull***t. It's childish and helps nothing.

            We have continued to be successful and punch over our weight on the field of play. Talented kids continue to see value in coming to UNI. It's undeniable.

            I wonder how many of the loudest negative voices on this site have proactively written a check to the UNI athletic department or PSC that has a comma in it?

            Raise your hands fellas. Talk is cheap.
            Hey champ, we shouldn’t have to “punch above our weight”. We are only asking to punch AT OUR OWN WEIGHT. God forbid one of our tremendous coaches ever leaves and you will see just how easy it is to “overachieve”…

            And the vast, VAST majority of the few people left posting on this site are the some of the very few people on earth that actually support UNI through thick and thin thru the PSC and through season tickets. Thats why we are actually demanding accountability, BECAUSE we care.

            Of all places to antagonize people with “OPEN THE CHECKBOOK CHEAPO!!!”, this place aint it buddy.
            UNI FIGHT

            Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
            iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck

            Comment


            • #36
              Interesting that David’s entire strategic plan is seen as “gaps” and not the foundation of how the department should be working.

              It’s our coaches ability to punch 7 levels above their weight that has kept the gaps plugged and make things look like everything is fine.

              Those plugs aren’t going to last forever. Just wait until they are gone and those leaks start to get faster and soon enough the full reality of everything starts to flood out.

              Comment


              • #37
                Originally posted by 06panther10 View Post

                Hey champ, we shouldn’t have to “punch above our weight”. We are only asking to punch AT OUR OWN WEIGHT. God forbid one of our tremendous coaches ever leaves and you will see just how easy it is to “overachieve”…

                And the vast, VAST majority of the few people left posting on this site are the some of the very few people on earth that actually support UNI through thick and thin thru the PSC and through season tickets. Thats why we are actually demanding accountability, BECAUSE we care.

                Of all places to antagonize people with “OPEN THE CHECKBOOK CHEAPO!!!”, this place aint it buddy.
                Nah. We will see real quick how easy it all is and how great we are when we have to have David hire a replacement for Jake. We are in such great shape as a department attracting a coach at that level should be a breeze and we should have 100000% faith in David to do it and totally not cheap out. I’m sure just any random coach can step in and do what Jake has done because it’s super easy to overcome the complete Grand Canyon we are in facility wise for those we are going against for recruits.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by 06panther10 View Post

                  Hey champ, we shouldn’t have to “punch above our weight”. We are only asking to punch AT OUR OWN WEIGHT. God forbid one of our tremendous coaches ever leaves and you will see just how easy it is to “overachieve”…

                  And the vast, VAST majority of the few people left posting on this site are the some of the very few people on earth that actually support UNI through thick and thin thru the PSC and through season tickets. Thats why we are actually demanding accountability, BECAUSE we care.

                  Of all places to antagonize people with “OPEN THE CHECKBOOK CHEAPO!!!”, this place aint it buddy.
                  So no...you haven't.

                  Please yell louder.
                  Winning is more fun than losing.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Originally posted by clenz View Post
                    Nah. We will see real quick how easy it all is and how great we are when we have to have David hire a replacement for Jake. We are in such great shape as a department attracting a coach at that level should be a breeze and we should have 100000% faith in David to do it and totally not cheap out. I’m sure just any random coach can step in and do what Jake has done because it’s super easy to overcome the complete Grand Canyon we are in facility wise for those we are going against for recruits.
                    It's actually amazing he gets the recruits he does. They take all their visits, see all the dedicated facilities, all the multimedia presentations, all the things prepared for them by an in house graphic designer and all of the shoes, gear, etc that everybody is dripping with. They come here and Jake gets to show them an arena that hasn't been touched since the day it opened with scoreboards we got for free, a video board from a now bankrupt advertising company that looks like it should be outside of a casino, a cold war era gym for practice that is shared with your average elementary ed major and a couple shirts that we most likely had printed at Shirt Shack.

                    It's embarrassing and it has to change.
                    #MACtion

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Originally posted by Blue42 View Post

                      So no...you haven't.

                      Please yell louder.
                      LOL

                      Literally show me your donation you coward. **** off
                      UNI FIGHT

                      Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
                      iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        The issue isn't 06, BC, myself, or anyone else on this forum and our donations. We cut checks every year. All of us have for a decade plus, plus tickets, merch, concessions, etc. I can't speak for those others, though I know they aren't any different, but I know I have gotten multiple people to become season ticket holders, PSC donors, go to more events, join the UNI Foundation, join the Friends of Gallagher, go to events (sporting and otherwise) they normally wouldn't have at UNI. I've spurred more conversation about UNI in a number of places because of what I wear and how outspoken I am about UNI that never would have existed without me there. It certainly feels like the general fans, like us, are doing more than the athletic department to do these things. That shouldn't be the case.

                        We were already invested before David got here. I can tell you I've had conversations with some LOOONG standing UNI fans, alumni, and donors who are actually cutting back on donations right now (arguments for merits on both sides) due to the direction of the athletic department. I'm talking people with "name power" behind their names.

                        Again, at this point I'm not even talking about us, or our expectations. I'm looking entirely at David's self set foundation for athletics department success. His baby. His plan. His strategy. His master strategic plan.

                        Take a look at these and tell me the issue is "06 isn't adding another comma to his donation this year" and not a failure on the part of David, and his athletic department, to accomplish his goals, and grow the athletic department profile.

                        $2 million in cash donations to PSC
                        Have we hit this? Are we close to this? If the answer to those questions is no (and it is) why? What has, or hasn't be done to get there? What has been tried and failed? Why has it failed? Was the plan of attack bad? Was it just missed opportunities? If opportunities were missed why were they missed and what is being done to make sure they aren't missed again? Every single aspect of the failure to get there has to be looked at. No one should be safe from extreme criticism for failure. The failed plan ultimately comes down to the leader. What action did they/did they not take to make sure it could succeed? People not in the right place? People not giving the right tools/access to tools? People not given the right training? That all falls directly to David and how he has the PSC run

                        2,000 PSC members
                        Have we hit this? Are we close to this? If the answer to those questions is no (and it is) why? What has, or hasn't be done to get there? What has been tried and failed? Why has it failed? Was the plan of attack bad? Was it just missed opportunities? If opportunities were missed why were they missed and what is being done to make sure they aren't missed again? Every single aspect of the failure to get there has to be looked at. No one should be safe from extreme criticism for failure. The failed plan ultimately comes down to the leader. What action did they/did they not take to make sure it could succeed? People not in the right place? People not giving the right tools/access to tools? People not given the right training? That all falls directly to David and how he has the PSC run

                        It doesn't help that Nathan Christiansen left UNI, and David Harris, to go to a peer institution in SDSU. A university that is run almost entirely by UNI people at this point and is getting more in donations for their version of rally in the valley than we get in an entire year at this point. If only we had someone like Justin Sell or Nathan Christiansen on our campus with the ability to put them in leadership positions...............


                        Increase season ticket sales in every sport at least 50%
                        Increase overall ticket revenue by 50%
                        Increase average attendance at each ticketed event by 50%
                        Explore and secure multiple new sources of revenue

                        None of those have happened, and again I understand COVID, but I don't understand how COVID has had 10 times the impact at UNI as anywhere else in our peer group for ticket sales and revenue. Maybe David actually addressing this compared to just hiding in his office would "calm" some of the mistrust and anger. Maybe David needs to look at how other universities have recovered and start to implement that in Cedar Falls.

                        To your case about "Look how successful the teams are". You're right. Somehow we are still having great success. I think we should win, or finish 2nd, in the all sports trophy this year. Why isn't that success translating to donations? Why isn't that translating to ticket sales? Ticket revenue? Sponsorships? Naming rights? Why, despite the success, is the athletic department struggling more than it has in decades?

                        Now, I can go back into my opinion which is my thoughts as well as having conversations with people at all levels of UNI support. I'm talking people at work who aren't UNI fans but will talk UNI with me, to people who will go to a game or two a year, to people like myself who are PSC members and go to games with season tickets for at least one sport, to people who are large donors, to people who are LEGACY UNI people. I'm not talking long time donors/ticket holders. I'm talking "legacy names" at UNI on both the athletic and academic side. I have a pretty good idea what the pulse is around the current state of the athletic department. It's not good. The legacy people are being driven away, almost intentionally it seems. It's radio silence from the department on anything. It feels like David having to talk to anyone is a chore and he hates doing it (what I was told by people who have talked to him at various events). You can see that when you see him at events as well. He sits in his seat, stoically, and doesn't interact with those around him. I've seen him walk through venues and he avoids talking to people.

                        He really seems to hate the public part of his job. Not everyone is made for jobs that require a ton of external communication. I'm one of those people. It's why I took a back office data/numbers/spreadsheet position where 99.9% of my communication is internal. I understand not really liking having to do that. The problem is the role of an athletic director is literally to do all of the external stuff. You need that personality. You need to shake babies and kiss ass. Maybe 25+ years ago the role was truly administrator and could be done from the office. That isn't how the college world works today. He worked under Jamie Pollard for a decade. His boss was, likely, the best example of it in the entire country. It would be one thing if he was the true back office kind of director and we were having all the success with donors, psc members, facilities, etc. We aren't having that. It needs to be examined why.

                        I can tell you that the President/CEO of my company is SUPER visible internally and externally. We are doing very well as a company, and a large part of it is how visible he, and the rest of the senior leadership team, are to everyone. How everything is communicated, details laid out and how they will impact everything, etc. They don't just sit in their office and do "important VP, CEO, CFO, CMO, COO, et. document work". They live the values they want every employee to live. They are out there with us pushing the change, pushing the values, pushing the products. It truly is a culture, and right now it's clear UNI has a culture issue and the stink of it is really starting to emanate to outside of the offices in the dome.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          As I keep saying, start putting a winning product on the field, court, mat, pool, etc and, voila, donations come in.

                          Here's betting that volleyball is pulling in some money, vis a vis basketball, correct? There's your only answer and it's independent of what an AD and/or coach can do.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Originally posted by 06panther10 View Post

                            LOL

                            Literally show me your donation you coward. **** off
                            Was that supposed to be an argument?

                            Just more childish rantings.

                            My money has been firmly placed where my mouth is. Happy to discuss that.

                            Made your contribution to the Dome project yet? They're still accepting them.



                            ​​​​​
                            Winning is more fun than losing.

                            Comment

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