2200 days of Brad Edwards

[JBiggs]

I don't know who all is on Twitter, but Petey pointed out that Goodman's article was edited and he removed that quote. I think that head coach realized the stupidity of it and asked him to remove it. Like Herndon said, if we don't belong in the A10, then more than half the league doesn't. They gonna learn this season.

 

[Masonfan3]

Be a middle of the road program in the A-10 in the past 2 years (our 4th and 5th in the conference?).

We're 18-18 in conference over the past 2 years, which makes us slam average. If we don't belong in the a10, then fully half the conference doesn't belong in the a10.

It's f'n ignorant.

if the coach is any of Richmond, Dayton, Duquesne, GW, La Salle, UMASS, Fordham, St. Louis or vcu, they can eat s*&^ and die, because we finshed as good or better than them.

While I don't disagree with you, all of those teams you listed (except Duquesne and Fordham) have won the A10 or have played in the tourney the past 5 years. We may be moving in the right direction but don't forget we did finish with an RPI of 123 and 198 over the past two seasons. While we finished average in the A10 we played a bad OOC schedule and lost to some pretty bad teams the past two seasons.

 

[mkaufman1]

I don't know who all is on Twitter, but Petey pointed out that Goodman's article was edited and he removed that quote. I think that head coach realized the stupidity of it and asked him to remove it. Like Herndon said, if we don't belong in the A10, then more than half the league doesn't. They gonna learn this season.

Lol I guess all of us bombarded Jeff with commentary on Twitter as much as we bombarded Andy Katz when he said Mason would be 9th.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

While I don't disagree with you, all of those teams you listed (except Duquesne and Fordham) have won the A10 or have played in the tourney the past 5 years. We may be moving in the right direction but don't forget we did finish with an RPI of 123 and 198 over the past two seasons. While we finished average in the A10 we played a bad OOC schedule and lost to some pretty bad teams the past two seasons.

What does that have anything to do with Herndon's post? The question is performance in the A10 releative to other A10 teams. OOC is irrelevant to this point.

 

[Masonfan3]

What does that have anything to do with Herndon's post? The question is performance in the A10 releative to other A10 teams. OOC is irrelevant to this point.

Herndon listed teams that we finished better than and I directly responded that the majority of those teams have either won the A10 or been to the NCAA tournament since joining the conference, something we haven't. I also said that I don't disagree with him but I can understand if people outside of Mason think that way because we haven't done anything yet since joining the A10. Finishing 4th in a down year for the conference is something to build on, but not something I would brag about. The OOC schedule is relevant because if we would have had a decent OOC schedule, then maybe we could have had a chance at the tourney. Personally, I hope other teams/coaches take us lightly because it will make it that much sweeter when we beat them. But until we win more than 2 games in the A10 tourney in 4-5 years, I don't know how much talking we can really do. But, the good news is we have a coach and a group of guys that should continue to lead us in the right direction.

 

[GMUSig03]

I think it's worth mentioning how a lot of our teams that have recently not been that strong are currently in the upper echelon of the conference:

Men's Volleyball - won regular season Eiva title for first time either ever, or in forever
Women's Volleyball - currently 4th in conference and likely to finish there
Women's soccer - 4th place in regular season
Men's soccer - currently in 3rd place
Baseball - 2nd place regular season and lost in conference tournament final
Men's basketball - 5th last year with NCAA hopes this year
Women's basketball - WNIT last year for first time in forever
Softball - 4th

Hopefully it's not a fluke and this is all evidence of Brad's acumen for spotting quality coaches. I think all but baseball and men's soccer are Brad hires (or close to it).

 

[Falco]

Herndon listed teams that we finished better than and I directly responded that the majority of those teams have either won the A10 or been to the NCAA tournament since joining the conference, something we haven't. I also said that I don't disagree with him but I can understand if people outside of Mason think that way because we haven't done anything yet since joining the A10. Finishing 4th in a down year for the conference is something to build on, but not something I would brag about. The OOC schedule is relevant because if we would have had a decent OOC schedule, then maybe we could have had a chance at the tourney. Personally, I hope other teams/coaches take us lightly because it will make it that much sweeter when we beat them. But until we win more than 2 games in the A10 tourney in 4-5 years, I don't know how much talking we can really do. But, the good news is we have a coach and a group of guys that should continue to lead us in the right direction.

I thinks it is worth noting that you normally do not place 5th when finishing 500 in conference play as shown by the 2016-17 season where Mason finished 7th.

Nonetheless a 500 record shows you belong. But like you said, it’s easy to understand why people outside of Mason feel like we haven’t proven anything yet.

 

[Washingtonian]

An article I references in the Dave Paulsen thread discusses briefly the contract of Brad Edwards:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...2c4ba982ed4_story.html?utm_term=.1b61eceea786

Athletic Director Brad Edwards earns $300,000 in base salary. He arrived at the university last summer and signed a five-year deal.


He is also eligible for bonuses contingent on academics and the success of the 22 athletic programs. If George Mason athletes collectively earn a grade-point average higher than the undergraduate student body at large, Edwards receives a bonus of 5 percent of his base salary. A collective GPA that exceeds 110 percent of the student body average earns him another 1 percent bonus.

Edwards’s bonuses for teams winning A-10 titles and participating in the NCAA tournament are up to $12,000 annually.

If fired, Edwards would receive half of his base salary for each remaining year.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Not really sure why any of you are on the "fire Brad" train. I get the frustration with Paulsen but we're lightyears ahead of where we were under TOC. Program infrastructure is far better and he's made several tangible improvements to gameday atmosphere.

 

[gmujim92]

Brad deserves a raise. The end.

 

[GMUSig03]

Brad deserves a raise. The end.

He was just extended and went to Capt. Pells to celebrate, I assume/hope that he got one.

Not only have their been the improvements referenced by SAE4 above, but the sports programs across the board seem to be performing at much higher levels than we are traditionally used to (keep an eye out for the women's basketball team the next year and year after).

 

[TweederGMU]

He was just extended and went to Capt. Pells to celebrate, I assume/hope that he got one.

Not only have their been the improvements referenced by SAE4 above, but the sports programs across the board seem to be performing at much higher levels than we are traditionally used to (keep an eye out for the women's basketball team the next year and year after).

We like to celebrate at Capt. Pells as well! Excellent choice Bradley!

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Brad deserves a raise. The end.

This in spades. He is superior to all of his predecessors and has done more with our resource base than his predecessors.

He deserves a raise, an extension, and a limo full of college coeds with daddy issues and questionable morals.

 

[TweederGMU]

This in spades. He is superior to all of his predecessors and has done more with our resource base than his predecessors.

He deserves a raise, an extension, and a limo full of college coeds with daddy issues and questionable morals.

I hear he has a limo packed with the Masonettes ready to go to Hollywood Casino

 

[Five Two]

Lauren Bird has been announced as Director of Advancement:
https://gomason.com/news/2019/1/31/athletics-lauren-bird-named-director-of-advancement.aspx

 

[mkaufman1]

Lauren Bird has been announced as Director of Advancement:
https://gomason.com/news/2019/1/31/athletics-lauren-bird-named-director-of-advancement.aspx

 

[GSII]

IS this a new position? I thought Darrel Green was doing this?

 

[GMUSig03]

IS this a new position? I thought Darrel Green was doing this?

Yes, new position. Darrell was hired as an Associate Athletics Director, Special Assistant to the Athletic Director: "In this role, Green will work with the department's senior leadership to build and enhance internal and external relationships, engage in fundraising initiatives and collaborate and communicate with constituents across the community."

Bird is a college sports fundraising professional, totally different skill set and responsibilities.

 

[mkaufman1]

Bird is probably doing more of what Jen Montgomery was doing, although it sounds like they restructured the position.

 

[Herndon]

I know I am coming in late on this one, but I am not 100% convinced on Edwards yet. While there has been positive movement on several fronts, I think a lot of it was extremely low hanging fruit that the previous AD (and president combo) completely bungled. The Addidas deal and Eagle Bank deal both seem like no-brainers to me, things that should have already been done and while it is a good sign that Edwards did them, it just shows he is not completely incompetent.

We have seen what appear to be good coaching hires and that is excellent, but that seems to me to be a minimum requirement for the job (even if the previous guy wasn't the best at it).

On the fundraising front, I have heard a lot of talk in the right direction which is great to see since the previous AD and president combo couldn't even get the talking part right. But, in terms of actual fundraising, I haven't heard of any big wins yet and know of an easy six figure opportunity that was completely missed. Edwards had already made a huge impact at his previous job (raising $3M for their new stadium) in less time (22 months). He made significant fundraising strides at his other colleges as well. Unless I have missed it, I haven't seen huge progress at Mason on this front yet.

So, I think there are some positive signs, but I still want to see some significant movement, especially on the fundraising front. I am waiting for a sign that we aren't just the guy with no water in the desert that has seen a watery mirage. Hopefully we are being led out of the desert instead. I am just not 100% convinced yet, even though I am cautiously optimistic.

So, 4 years in, how are we doing?

clear wins (to me):
Paulsen
EBA naming
EBA jumbotron
Practice Facility
?others?