GMU, Hewitt part ways

[MasonFanatic]

According to USA Today, we are 110th in Athletics Revenue. If you scroll down and click on George Mason, you get some nice historical numbers for revenues and expenses that you can toggle between: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/

 

[Walter]

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mason-dreamers
I wonder if the university asked this group to take down their funding site that uses the university's name to support illegal aliens getting taxpayer money to pay for college?

 

[GSII]

In 2006, Mason spent $12.6M on athletics. In 2013, they spent $22.1M.

Thanks. Seems like most of increase in budget came from student fees, likely from higher enrollment volume. Also, about a 1 million avg in rights fees.

Here is a more detailed budget from state.
http://www.apa.virginia.gov/reports/GMUNCAA2013.pdf

 

[gmutom]

If the school gets the same amount of money even while making bad decisions (or doesn't make good ones) they will never change their behavior.

Understanding human nature as well as I do, I'd agree with this premise if we didn't have a new president and AD. The two of them have no behavior to change, because neither of them made the decisions that got us into this hole.

What they need to do is change the culture, and that starts with finding the money to fire Hewitt while also funneling even more money into our flagship program. And once we have a new coach in place, it's incumbent on all of us here to up our game financially — even if it's only $50 or $100 a year.

 

[TwoFootTackle]

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mason-dreamers
I wonder if the university asked this group to take down their funding site that uses the university's name to support illegal aliens getting taxpayer money to pay for college?

I don't think using the name (e.g., "a student group at George Mason University") is a problem in this case because it appears to be a private group not connected to the school.

I don't usually approve people going off-topic on this board and advocating for a political position, but in this case I appreciate you highlighting a worthy cause.

 

[Raider_SPE]

Just tossing this out there, since the other method was shot down. . . . . Fan based Social Media campaign to show the AD your displeasure with the coach. Donate $3.01 (or another specific number) to the Patriot club. The question is, are there enough fans that care enough to do it.

 

[wijg]

The two of them have no behavior to change, because neither of them made the decisions that got us into this hole.

I think that is all the more reason for the fan base to assert there desire to focus on and ensure basketball is successful. Using your logic, they only know a Mason basketball team that is a complete failure. There is a culture at Mason that seems to treat the AD, and more importantly basketball, as a toy, or charity instead of the marketing arm and revenue generator it could be. There is an attitude that success would be nice if it just happens, but decisions aren't made based on that. Look at our history. I am guessing that most of us thought that the Coach L years and the final four run were the turning of a corner. It is becoming more and more likely that it will just be the exception to the rest of the Mason basketball history, rather than the new story.

Unfortunately, I also have less and less confidence that our fan base actually demands this of our program. Take the people on here. I would guess we are close to a 50/50 split on eliminating the extraneous sports programs required by the NCAA/A-10. Any effort by the fan base to encourage the AD is pretty soundly derided on here. It is no wonder that anyone that tries do anything to push our AD in the right direction seems to disappear into the shadows. If the die hard basketball fans are split like this, how much do the casual fans demand a successful basketball program?

Unfortunately for most of us on here, the market (our fan base) usually gets what it demands and deserves. If the AD has any difficulty finding a way to pay for a new coach, I doubt it will happen. There is really no reason for them to do so.

 

[gmutom]

There is a culture at Mason that seems to treat the AD, and more importantly basketball, as a toy, or charity instead of the marketing arm and revenue generator it could be. There is an attitude that success would be nice if it just happens, but decisions aren't made based on that.

While I understand why you keep getting caught on our history, all that matters now is what Cabrera and Edwards do moving forward. Unlike Merten, I think Cabrera is too business savvy to not understand the goldmine that is college basketball. And unlike TOC, Edwards is too smart to see athletics as a side door to the university.

I have no reason to believe these two men won't dramatically change how we approach athletics, including possibly cutting several sports in order to pump more money into men's and women's basketball.

 

[KAOriginal]

What they need to do is change the culture.......

This is our long standing problem at Mason, and other schools, especially when it comes to hoops. Our basketball culture is defined based on our 1 successful, legendary coach.

If we had had tradition, expectations, the follow up hire may have looked differently. But like most schools we went after the next name or flavor, who more than likely could care less about the school, tradition, etc.

Despite the academic situation...look at UNC and the other blue bloods. While the coaches may change, may or may not have ties, there are expectations of how the program is run, how people fit in, etc. A recent microview of that is vcu...while the coaches changed with their slight nuances....the feeling, the character, the AD Dept behind scenes....invest in the culture and make it the same feeling season after season, night after night.

Until we do that...we will have more and more of this disoriented mess we have seen.

 

[wijg]

While I understand why you keep getting caught on our history, all that matters now is what Cabrera and Edwards do moving forward. Unlike Merten, I think Cabrera is too business savvy to not understand the goldmine that is college basketball. And unlike TOC, Edwards is too smart to see athletics as a side door to the university.

I have no reason to believe these two men won't dramatically change how we approach athletics, including possibly cutting several sports in order to pump more money into men's and women's basketball.

While I agree with you and hope you are right, I have seen little that would give me the same level of confidence you have. The A10 move was pretty much a no brainer and the replacement of some under performing coaches is also promising, they weren't tough decisions. Again, I hope you are right, or that finances aren't as big an issue as I have been lead to believe so it is not a tough decision.

 

[Walter]

While I agree with you and hope you are right, I have seen little that would give me the same level of confidence you have. The A10 move was pretty much a no brainer and the replacement of some under performing coaches is also promising, they weren't tough decisions. Again, I hope you are right, or that finances aren't as big an issue as I have been lead to believe so it is not a tough decision.

Exactly right! None of us know what Cabrera's vision is for basketball or if Edwards will get it right with the hire. Neither has a track record on these matters.

 

[Dawgs99]

Cabrera got it right when he moved us to the A10 after old fart Merten pussied out, that move took some level of guts for a guys who had zero experience in college athletics. The business man inside of him will continue to push our basketball program in the right direction. Also in regards to BE, I have no doubt that he has his eyes set on a bigger job in the not too distant future....but first he needs to be a massive success here to show his worth to a bigger school. This means winning in the schools flag ship sport and improving the athletic facilities and experience for the student athletes.

 

[Walter]

Cabrera got it right when he moved us to the A10 after old fart Merten pussied out, that move took some level of guts for a guys who had zero experience in college athletics. The business man inside of him will continue to push our basketball program in the right direction. Also in regards to BE, I have no doubt that he has his eyes set on a bigger job in the not too distant future....but first he needs to be a massive success here to show his worth to a bigger school. This means winning in the schools flag ship sport and improving the athletic facilities and experience for the student athletes.

A10 was a no-brainer decision. Only Merten would have passed on it.

We will find out soon. I hope you all are right about AC and BE.

 

[Dawgs99]

The A10 was a no brainer for basketball, not so sure it was for all sports. Some level of thought and risk had to be weighed before jumping.

 

[wijg]

Cabrera got it right when he moved us to the A10 after old fart Merten pussied out, that move took some level of guts for a guys who had zero experience in college athletics. The business man inside of him will continue to push our basketball program in the right direction. Also in regards to BE, I have no doubt that he has his eyes set on a bigger job in the not too distant future....but first he needs to be a massive success here to show his worth to a bigger school. This means winning in the schools flag ship sport and improving the athletic facilities and experience for the student athletes.

I think the A10 move was one of his easiest decisions. We had finished collecting the lion's share of our NCAA earnings from the CAA.

As for BE and success, what was his success at his former school? BEs biggest success was in fundraising, which will be a welcome achievement if he can do that at Mason. If I recall correctly, no real success in basketball while he was there and his new hire is struggling, to say the least. He is doing no better, or slightly worse, than the previous guy. Hopefully, he isn't gun shy on replacing basketball coaches. I just wonder how much he knows about basketball to know the coach is the problem and to hire a good new coach.

 

[Dawgs99]

The coach BE hired was widely regarded as a great hire when he poached him from IUPUI, time will tell if it works out. I guess I'm just not a perpetual debbie downer and walk around with a negative outlook. Almost everything we (including me) complain about is directly tied Merten and TOC's leadership. You gotta give this new administration time to show you what they can and can't do, instead of looking for reasons to doubt them. Also fundraising is a huge part of being a successful AD, certainly nothing to gloss over when talking about someones accomplishments. We all just have to wait and see.

 

[gmujim92]

Jasick can prove to be a good hire for Jacksonville even though he's struggling early in his tenure.

As we've seen, all coaching successions are not created equal.

Hewitt inherited a top-50 (and that's very conservative) program from Larranaga and destroyed it.

Gregory took over a bottom-tier ACC program from Hewitt and hasn't been able to elevate it.

Without knowing the quality of the talent left over after Jacksonville fired Cliff Warren, there's no way to accurately judge Jasick -- and by extension Edwards -- without giving him a few years.

 

[wijg]

The coach BE hired was widely regarded as a great hire when he poached him from IUPUI, time will tell if it works out. I guess I'm just not a perpetual debbie downer and walk around with a negative outlook. Almost everything we (including me) complain about is directly tied Merten and TOC's leadership. You gotta give this new administration time to show you what they can and can't do, instead of looking for reasons to doubt them. Also fundraising is a huge part of being a successful AD, certainly nothing to gloss over when talking about someones accomplishments. We all just have to wait and see.

Two comments on this.

1. I am not trying to be a downer, but can see how you might see it that way. I am hopeful that AC and BE are the right people. Their actions to date seem to be consistent with that, no outright bonehead decisions, but nothing really that has been a true test, either. There just seems to be some overconfident statements in their abilities that are yet unproven that can overcome the Mason culture. I suspect they will fail their first test (firing him before the longevity bonus). We should all know within about 3 weeks if they have passed the biggest test, though. I am hopeful, but I have not seen enough to be able to make the confident statements that some on here are making.

2. "Wait and see", that has been the Mason fan base attitude for decades and it has not gotten us the greatest track record. It has been a sea of failure with an island of success. Hence my passion about wanting a fan base that is active and demanding of the AD. I would hate for the established culture at Mason to infect the new guys, if they are what we hope and think they are.

 

[wijg]

Jasick can prove to be a good hire for Jacksonville even though he's struggling early in his tenure.

As we've seen, all coaching successions are not created equal.

Hewitt inherited a top-50 (and that's very conservative) program from Larranaga and destroyed it.

Gregory took over a bottom-tier ACC program from Hewitt and hasn't been able to elevate it.

Without knowing the quality of the talent left over after Jacksonville fired Cliff Warren, there's no way to accurately judge Jasick -- and by extension Edwards -- without giving him a few years.

Wasn't saying it was or wasn't a good hire. It just has not been a slam dunk, but it might turn out OK. But it also can't be used as an example of BE's success, yet. I was just trying to be realistic in pointing out that the one definite success for BE that I can point to has been fundraising. Hopefully he does that at Mason and it makes future decisions like the current Hewitt one much more easy to make by making the finances much less of a factor.

 

[KAOriginal]

2. "Wait and see", that has been the Mason fan base attitude for decades and it has not gotten us the greatest track record. It has been a sea of failure with an island of success. Hence my passion about wanting a fan base that is active and demanding of the AD. I would hate for the established culture at Mason to infect the new guys, if they are what we hope and think they are.

Amen. Unlike other schools..that has been our MO for a long time.

If the fan base is not active, and the AD is not held responsible or made to feel pressure, then we can battle Fordham each year for the cellar and call it a day.