GMU, Hewitt part ways

[GSII]

Here's why we should pay the 85k.....

B/C we were dumb enough to agree to it. Hell, TOC probably thought of it to guarantee cock gobbler's salary.

on the other hand, F him, fire his a** today!!

 

[wijg]

While I don't believe that Mason will fire Hewitt before the end of this season, it should be noted that Lamar fired Pat Knight during last season - see http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-cardinals-fire-coach-pat-knight-third-season:

"Pat Knight said there was talk of coaching the rest of the season and then being relieved, but he chose to leave now for a clean break."

Didn't we beat Lamar last year before he was fired? Coincidence?

 

[GSII]

After the past four years, Mason should sue Hewitt for damages. Anyone who takes a university program and mis-manages it this badly should gain little to nothing. But we all know that is not how it works and the 85k will be spent at the cost of doing stupid business.

 

[gmujim92]

Why would you even chance jeopardizing your next coaching hire/reputation over $85K?! New on this board but shocked at how badly some people here just don't get the business side of college athletics. Way over-simplified. We finally have a president and AD who are a great combo to change things and some of you can't stop fretting over $85K long enough to look ahead. Hewitt isn't going anywhere until after the A-10 tourney. Period. Moot point to continue that discussion. Move on to the next coach discussion instead and let's support Cabrera and Edwards to get that right! If they don't, THEN we can throw them to the wolves.

Those of you who have this attitude about wasting $85K clearly haven't been paying any attention to what has been going on in the General Assembly with regard to using student fees for athletics.

Considering that more than 80 percent of our athletic spending comes from student fees -- a number that will be cut if the politicians have their way -- I think we should be extremely careful about the optics of giving a "longevity bonus" to a coach who is almost certainly going to be fired less than two weeks later.

It would be different if most of our athletics budget came from TV money or donations, but that's obviously not the case.

The vast majority of this $85K belongs to our students and their parents. We shouldn't be wasting it -- and nobody here will be able to convince me that giving it to Hewitt is anything other than a huge waste.

 

[psyclone]

Those of you who have this attitude about wasting $85K clearly haven't been paying any attention to what has been going on in the General Assembly with regard to using student fees for athletics.

Considering that more than 80 percent of our athletic spending comes from student fees -- a number that will be cut if the politicians have their way -- I think we should be extremely careful about the optics of giving a "longevity bonus" to a coach who is almost certainly going to be fired less than two weeks later.

It would be different if most of our athletics budget came from TV money or donations, but that's obviously not the case.

The vast majority of this $85K belongs to our students and their parents. We shouldn't be wasting it -- and nobody here will be able to convince me that giving it to Hewitt is anything other than a huge waste.

So by that logic, how does the General Assembly view using mostly student fees to pay someone NOT to coach for a year while the school goes out to hire a new one?

 

[gmujim92]

So by that logic, how does the General Assembly view using mostly student fees to pay someone NOT to coach for a year while the school goes out to hire a new one?

Probably not very kindly.

But there's no need to compound the mistake of hiring an incompetent coach by giving him a "longevity bonus" two weeks before we fire his a**.

 

[GMUgemini]

Those of you who have this attitude about wasting $85K clearly haven't been paying any attention to what has been going on in the General Assembly with regard to using student fees for athletics.

Considering that more than 80 percent of our athletic spending comes from student fees -- a number that will be cut if the politicians have their way -- I think we should be extremely careful about the optics of giving a "longevity bonus" to a coach who is almost certainly going to be fired less than two weeks later.

It would be different if most of our athletics budget came from TV money or donations, but that's obviously not the case.

The vast majority of this $85K belongs to our students and their parents. We shouldn't be wasting it -- and nobody here will be able to convince me that giving it to Hewitt is anything other than a huge waste.

Considering that most state assemblies are antagonistic towards higher education to begin with who cares what they think?

 

[gmujim92]

Considering that most state assemblies are antagonistic towards higher education to begin with who cares what they think?

Didn't think I'd need to explain this to you, but we need to "care what they think" because "they" control how much funding we receive from the state.

Duh.

 

[GMUgemini]

Didn't think I'd need to explain this to you, but we need to "care what they think" because "they" control how much funding we receive from the state.

Duh.

They're going to continue to cut funding to their state schools no matter what we do, so again, who really cares? Load up on more international students and keep raising tuition.

 

[gmujim92]

They're going to continue to cut funding to their state schools no matter what we do, so again, who really cares? Load up on more international students and keep raising tuition.

I understand that much of the problem related to student fees was created by idiot politicians continuing to reduce funding for higher education -- believe me, I'm no fan of the GA -- but not all cuts are created equal.

Do we want to needlessly antagonize legislators and risk that when they sit down to discuss where they're cutting, they hit us harder than JMU, ODU or God forbid vcu?

Much easier, IMHO, to justify not paying a "longevity" bonus to a coach who we are preparing to terminate.

 

[GMUgemini]

I understand that much of the problem related to student fees was created by idiot politicians continuing to reduce funding for higher education -- believe me, I'm no fan of the GA -- but not all cuts are created equal.

Do we want to needlessly antagonize legislators and risk that when they sit down to discuss where they're cutting, they hit us harder than JMU, ODU or God forbid vcu?

Much easier, IMHO, to justify not paying a "longevity" bonus to a coach who we are preparing to terminate.

Aren't our student fees about half of JMU, ODU and vcu's? That should curry us some favor, right?

 

[A.-Siegfried]

I am still baffled at the people who think damn good coaching candidates are going to be scared off by Mason firing Hewitt (if they do) before March 1st. Do you honestly believe someone looking for an A-10 job is going to turn down an interview over that?

I don't get it...

 

[wijg]

Aren't our student fees about half of JMU, ODU and vcu's? That should curry us some favor, right?

Have you guys seen this? I am pretty sure it was mentioned on here recently:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=151&typ=bil&val=HB1897

It won't matter what the others are doing, all the schools are going to have to reduce the percentage their student fees make up the total budget of their athletic departments. If I am reading it correctly, we will need to reduce our subsidy of the AD from it's current level of about 77% down to 55%.

 

[GMUgemini]

Have you guys seen this? I am pretty sure it was mentioned on here recently:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=151&typ=bil&val=HB1897

It won't matter what the others are doing, all the schools are going to have to reduce the percentage their student fees make up the total budget of their athletic departments. If I am reading it correctly, we will need to reduce our subsidy of the AD from it's current level of about 77% down to 55%.

I do know about this, and I pointed out before that pretty much every division 1 state school in Virginia outside of UVA and Tech will have to make changes.

You will most likely get your wish if this goes through the GA. Mason will have to cut sports. As I said, our students fees are already one of the lowest in the state, so cutting them further doesn't make much sense. It'll have to be sports that get the ax (unless we can within five years somehow come up with a few extra million in revenue).

 

[gmujim92]

I do know about this, and I pointed out before that pretty much every division 1 state school in Virginia outside of UVA and Tech will have to make changes.

You will most likely get your wish if this goes through the GA. Mason will have to cut sports. As I said, our students fees are already one of the lowest in the state, so cutting them further doesn't make much sense. It'll have to be sports that get the ax (unless we can within five years somehow come up with a few extra million in revenue).

Our fees on a per-student basis are among the lowest in Virginia. As a percentage of total athletic spending, our fees are among the highest.

That's because our donor base is so pitiful.

If the GA takes action, we'll either have to reduce fees or increase donations so that no more than 70 percent of our athletic revenue comes from student fees.

Pretty sure it's around 80 percent now. That is sad. Edwards has a lot of other work to do that doesn't include firing Hewitt.

 

[Walter]

Then don't piss off donors by giving The Fluffer of Fairfax $85k

 

[GMUgemini]

Then don't piss off donors by giving The Fluffer of Fairfax $85k

Do you see how you don't even matter? Our fundraising is up 100 percent from 2005 and our subsidy is still over 80 percent.

 

[wijg]

Do you see how you don't even matter? Our fundraising is up 100 percent from 2005 and our subsidy is still over 80 percent.

That is going to have to come down to 55%

So, let me follow your "logic":
You don't want to shutdown any sports
You know how badly our AD budget is about to get screwed
You are for pissing off donors that we are in short supply of
And, you are for wasting more money

You seem to have calculator similar to our congress...

 

[GMUgemini]

That is going to have to come down to 55%

So, let me follow your "logic":
You don't want to shutdown any sports
You know how badly our AD budget is about to get screwed
You are for pissing off donors that we are in short supply of
And, you are for wasting more money

You seem to have calculator similar to our congress...

There is no logic, wijg. Just as there is no real logic in your being outraged that Edwards would be classy and follow protocol and wait to fire Hewitt after the season is over, thus pulling your donation (which is your right to do, but you are also screwing over the very team you profess to support).

My guess is there aren't enough of you willing to do what you say you're going to do to make much of a difference one way or another. Walter has already stopped donated, so he doesn't even count in the equation.

What I'm saying is, stamping your feet and walking out over $85,000 is petty and won't make much of a dent in the reality of the situation Mason is potentially facing. Firing Hewitt over $85,000 and keeping your donation is equally petty and again won't make much of a dent in the reality of the situation Mason is potentially facing.

What Mason needs to do is get this next hire right, get back into the NCAA's as fast as possible, and make the kinds of commitments necessary to get back there on a regular basis. All of this other stuff falls away if we are winning.

 

[wijg]

There is no logic, wijg. Just as there is no real logic in your being outraged that Edwards would be classy and follow protocol and wait to fire Hewitt after the season is over, thus pulling your donation (which is your right to do, but you are also screwing over the very team you profess to support).

My guess is there aren't enough of you willing to do what you say you're going to do to make much of a difference one way or another. Walter has already stopped donated, so he doesn't even count in the equation.

What I'm saying is, stamping your feet and walking out over $85,000 is petty and won't make much of a dent in the reality of the situation Mason is potentially facing. Firing Hewitt over $85,000 and keeping your donation is equally petty and again won't make much of a dent in the reality of the situation Mason is potentially facing.

What Mason needs to do is get this next hire right, get back into the NCAA's as fast as possible, and make the kinds of commitments necessary to get back there on a regular basis. All of this other stuff falls away if we are winning.

Unlike your logic, my logic is perfectly sound. I know our budget is about to be royally screwed. There is a place where our school could save a large chunk of money. I only profess to support the program if it is run in a manner that I deem to be financially responsible. I have never professed anything else. Wasting $85k is not financially responsible, so I won't support it.

So your logic is that since the $85k is not enough to cover the budget shortfall we should waste it anyways to be classy. Even if I bought your flawed logic that it is the proper and classy thing to do (which I don't) that still makes no sense. You don't save your way out of a big budget gap by ignoring all the little places where you could save it here and there. You find every little corner where you can save it, and $85k is a nice little corner.

When coaching candidates catch wind of the budget woes our AD is about to run into, people are going to wish we had an extra $85k laying around.

I can't wait until the school submits your plan to the legislature to close the subsidy gap: "We are going to win a lot of games in the NCAA tournament".