Megan Franklin, new UNI AD

[BCPanther]

I think we're at a point where we need to be pretty concerned about Dr Franklin.

She did 20 plus minutes with Cole today and it was, quite simply, a disaster. She had zero specifics, offered zero vision for anything that she wants to accomplish and actually gave off the vibe that she doesn't understand what FCS football is or where it fits in the grand scheme of things.

She didn't seem to have a real answer for what she envisions for her senior staff. She very obviously didn't contribute much or have any ideas for the future of sports at our level when discussed at Valley meetings.

https://1650thefan.com/2024/06/05/6-5-24-cole-company-podcast/

[UNIAlum95]

I think we're at a point where we need to be pretty concerned about Dr Franklin.

She did 20 plus minutes with Cole today and it was, quite simply, a disaster. She had zero specifics, offered zero vision for anything that she wants to accomplish and actually gave off the vibe that she doesn't understand what FCS football is or where it fits in the grand scheme of things.

She didn't seem to have a real answer for what she envisions for her senior staff. She very obviously didn't contribute much or have any ideas for the future of sports at our level when discussed at Valley meetings.

https://1650thefan.com/2024/06/05/6-...mpany-podcast/

This is really frustrating to hear. The administration looks like crap on this. They either botched the opportunity, with what from the outside looked like great candidates, or they hired someone because they thought she was great or DEI or whatever. I was prepared to drop from scholarship to a much lower PSC level this year and almost did but was strung along by the promise of revitalization of the department.

[UNIAlum95]

Yikes. Just listened to the podcast and that wasn't just bad. It was awful. For someone at this level you would expect a higher level communicator. That was a rambling, sometimes incoherent, interview with her. Props to Cole for a fantastic set of questions and a giant fail from Dr Franklin on her ability to answer any questions meaningfully. This was like asking a 5 year old to explain why the sky is blue. You get a lot of talk with absolutely no substance. If we were looking for her to carry this message out to bring in new donors, she's going to have to put a lot better foot forward than what has been shown so far.

Again thank you to Cole for asking all of the right questions. He set the table for her to show how she's going to move the department forward and she failed to deliver anything.

[SteinPizza]

I think we're at a point where we need to be pretty concerned about Dr Franklin.

She did 20 plus minutes with Cole today and it was, quite simply, a disaster. She had zero specifics, offered zero vision for anything that she wants to accomplish and actually gave off the vibe that she doesn't understand what FCS football is or where it fits in the grand scheme of things.

She didn't seem to have a real answer for what she envisions for her senior staff. She very obviously didn't contribute much or have any ideas for the future of sports at our level when discussed at Valley meetings.

https://1650thefan.com/2024/06/05/6-...mpany-podcast/

***I haven’t listened yet***, however, is it also possible she didn’t offer specifics on staff priorities or vision because she’s still in the planning stages? It sounds like she didn’t specifically mention the need for far more fund raising, which would be a huge red flag if she doesn’t recognize it. She can also “grow into” becoming better at interviews over time. Just looking for potential positives.

As for the future of FCS football and where mid-majors fit in college sports going forward, I doubt anyone can do more than guess at this point. This is all being driven by the Big Ten, SEC, a few TV networks, and court rulings. Nobody knows the next moves for any of those, and nobody else is driving the bus. From what I’ve read, there are still court cases pending which could further alter college sports as we know it now, and the momentum is all with the players, not the old guard NCAA or the school presidents resistant to major change.

[BCPanther]

***I haven’t listened yet***, however, is it also possible she didn’t offer specifics on staff priorities or vision because she’s still in the planning stages? It sounds like she didn’t specifically mention the need for far more fund raising, which would be a huge red flag if she doesn’t recognize it. She can also “grow into” becoming better at interviews over time. Just looking for potential positives.

As for the future of FCS football and where mid-majors fit in college sports going forward, I doubt anyone can do more than guess at this point. This is all being driven by the Big Ten, SEC, a few TV networks, and court rulings. Nobody knows the next moves for any of those, and nobody else is driving the bus. From what I’ve read, there are still court cases pending which could further alter college sports as we know it now, and the momentum is all with the players, not the old guard NCAA or the school presidents resistant to major change.

I hope you're right.

It wasn't the she didn't know the future of FCS football, that's ever evolving and I wouldn't expect her to have answers there. It's the fact that she seemed surprised that we have the lowest budget in the MVFC and that she doesn't seem to understand where FCS football sits currently.

It was basically 20 minutes of 'I hope everyone has fun and the post game snacks are my favorite'.

I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating.

[UNIAlum95]

I hope you're right.

It wasn't the she didn't know the future of FCS football, that's ever evolving and I wouldn't expect her to have answers there. It's the fact that she seemed surprised that we have the lowest budget in the MVFC and that she doesn't seem to understand where FCS football sits currently.

It was basically 20 minutes of 'I hope everyone has fun and the post game snacks are my favorite'.

I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating.

You are not exaggerating. It was really really bad. Very bad and I would encourage others to listen to it and not cringe when a completely reasonable question is asked and she answers another question that has no real connection to what was asked.

[clenz]

I hope you're right.

It wasn't the she didn't know the future of FCS football, that's ever evolving and I wouldn't expect her to have answers there. It's the fact that she seemed surprised that we have the lowest budget in the MVFC and that she doesn't seem to understand where FCS football sits currently.

It was basically 20 minutes of 'I hope everyone has fun and the post game snacks are my favorite'.

I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating.

*lowest budget*

WIU is gone now.

Murray was also below us as of 2022 reporting but I don't know what they will look like when first-year Valley numbers for them come out next summer.

[DomeIsHome]

Yikes. Just listened to the podcast and that wasn't just bad. It was awful. For someone at this level you would expect a higher level communicator. That was a rambling, sometimes incoherent, interview with her. Props to Cole for a fantastic set of questions and a giant fail from Dr Franklin on her ability to answer any questions meaningfully. This was like asking a 5 year old to explain why the sky is blue. You get a lot of talk with absolutely no substance. If we were looking for her to carry this message out to bring in new donors, she's going to have to put a lot better foot forward than what has been shown so far.

Again thank you to Cole for asking all of the right questions. He set the table for her to show how she's going to move the department forward and she failed to deliver anything.

I'm going to take...not the opposite...position on this, but a more mild one.

It was not a great, resounding interview from Dr. Franklin. But I don't think it was an absolute **** show disaster either.

More specific answers on a number of things, like the practice facilities and the Dome project, would have been nice. Those are the (obviously) big ticket items that everybody wants to know about right freaking now.

I thought her answer vis a vis NIL and UNI was good/covert enough. Community wants big time players to come to UNI? You better get your butt (and wallets) to UNI to support them.

There's some other stuff but I don't really feel like typing it out right now.

I will say that Blair did a great job with it, and that I was surprised that Dr. Franklin didn't make it into the studio to do the interview, but that's probably nitpicky. There are some advantages to taking interviews like this over the phone, though I'm not sure many of those were utilized.

Also, it is only her third week

[havok58]

Horrible interview by Franklin. As others have said, Cole asked some very good, specific questions and we got generic bland answers that anyone could have said. I believe her focus is primarily going to be on the student-athlete experience at UNI, which isn’t wrong, but for athletics, fundraising and everything else needed to keep UNI functioning she seems to be out of her league. Hopefully she will hire very competent people to fill the two executive positions (financial officer and revenue generator / fundraising), otherwise UNI is in a world of hurt.

I don’t know what criteria or the process Bowlsby and the search committee used to find candidates, but the fact that she was even on the list to begin with means they dropped the ball, or the AD job was one that not too many people wanted to apply for. I know that one or more on the interview panel chased away one of the favorite candidates with their attitudes, but I can’t believe that the pool was so shallow that UNI was left with Franklin as the remaining best of the rest candidate.

[MVCBeat]

Former UNI fundraiser Nate Christensen hired as the AD at Indiana State.

Also, FWIW, UNI athletics is hiring a couple revenue generation type positions. High level. I would imagine Ms. Franklin has identified the areas where her lack of experience needs a boost, and it is no coincidence these positions were posted shortly after her hire. If they can hit on those hires, we should be in good shape.

[BCPanther]

Former UNI fundraiser Nate Christensen hired as the AD at Indiana State.

Also, FWIW, UNI athletics is hiring a couple revenue generation type positions. High level. I would imagine Ms. Franklin has identified the areas where her lack of experience needs a boost, and it is no coincidence these positions were posted shortly after her hire. If they can hit on those hires, we should be in good shape.

I hate to be that guy but it isn't her. It's simply filling the job Nathanial Smith left to go to Illinois State.

[MVCBeat]

I would say yes and no. Nathanial Smith was an Assistant AD of Revenue Generation. The two jobs posted are for a Deputy AD of Revenue Generation and a CFO. These titles, at least on paper, seem to have more teeth than what Nathanial did. They are higher level positions. Replacing him, maybe, but seemingly at a higher level with more responsibility and (hopefully) freedom and latitude to do what needs to be done.

Or it could just be semantics.

[BCPanther]

I would say yes and no. Nathanial Smith was an Assistant AD of Revenue Generation. The two jobs posted are for a Deputy AD of Revenue Generation and a CFO. These titles, at least on paper, seem to have more teeth than what Nathanial did. They are higher level positions. Replacing him, maybe, but seemingly at a higher level with more responsibility and (hopefully) freedom and latitude to do what needs to be done.

Or it could just be semantics.

I'm just ready to see somebody aggressively in community the way that Pete Morris is on the university side.

Stop apologizing for UNI athletics existing!

[PantherAlum09]

Pete is so good and passionate at what he does. He's been great for the university.

['70 Grad]

Pete is so good and passionate at what he does. He's been great for the university.

Where does Steve Gearhart rank in all this?