iramurphy

The AC has doen a much better job of marketing for a number of years. They have done so for the school as well as their athletics. With their recent success in FB it has been a real boost free of charge. An article in Sports Illustrated years ago reviewed the studies done about the positive impact athletic success had on the schools enrollment and donations to the school not just the athletic department. At the time they used the Georgetown BB as the example. Were I the president of UND or the head of the UND alumni assn, I would meet with the Atheltic director, the head of enrollment services, the head of the Alumni office, my vice presidents and Deans. I would give them the responsibility of making clear to all UND faculty the importance of the UND brand and how UND athletics will benefit everything from enrollment to how well we can fund our Engr and Geography Depts. I would also assign a task force with the responsibility to return in early January with a comprehensive plan to make sure we reach all area prospective students, and we reach out to all of our present students to insure we keep them on campus. I would also invest in a competent marketing firm to assist us. Freshmen should be admitted to athletic activites at times and coordinate that with a social funcition of some sort. All of our athletic teams and coaches should be eating at the different dorms, fraternities and sororities to show appreciation for whatever support we get. There needs to be competition between dorms and greeks for attendence and support at these events. Attending UND and our atheltic events needs to be an event for our students. Enrollment services used to send admissions counselors to virtually every area of N. Dak and northern Mn. They don't do that anymore and even scof at the idea. We are losing our edge more by what we aren't doing than by what someone else is doing.

It isn't fair to judge either of these guys this year. Both have made similar mistakes. Bartels moved the team last week but still threw 2 ints and should have had a 3rd in the 1st half when he threw to 2 defenders who fought over it and neither got it. He also fumbled again but it bounced back up into his hands. He seemed to get to his reads quicker when he had time. They have both had good moments and both struggled. I don' t think Bartels would have been able to take the physical punishment Mollberg did in the previous games where he had no protection. Joe didn't have much of a chance at UNA and Bartels didn't have any chance in the previous 4-5 games. IF Bartels isn't the starter I believe he will leave. Mollberg will battle for the job but isn't going to spend 3 years on the bench. Don't blame either of them. I would play both of them the rest of the year because they both need to be evaluated.

Bringing a fire Muss sign is about the person carrying the sign. It does nothing to affect change. Any AD worth their salt isn't going to make a decision cuz some rube brings a sign. I would wonder what kind of life you lead that makes you feel better bringing such a sign. Coaches don't worry about what we say or post on a blog nor what some guy puts on a sign. Coaches are well aware their jobs are on the line. When you have been at a school for this long and the program regresses like we have this year and attendance drops and freshman enrollment for the school drops you already know you are in trouble. A sign won't change that. Faison is aware how most fans feel and that most fans seem to demand a change. It might be distracting to players and discouraging for potential recruits. Those recruits already are told by other schools there is a good chance their will be a change here but the signs will only create more negativity and we have enough of that already. We are free to try and bring a sign but we are also free to show some class and not kick a guy when he is down.

Why would you do that? It won't get him fired any sooner and you will wish you didn't. It will be a pain in the butt to carry around.

Don't need to get along with the AD nor like the AD, coach or president to donate. Doesn't help our programs to stop donating. When we do so, I believe we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Food for thought.

This will be the most important decision of Faison's career to date and will also be a reflection of Kelly's presidency. The success of our athletic teams (or lack there of) is an important part of the enrollment numbers for the University as an institution and donations for the University and Alumni Assn. For too many people, athletic teams provide the opportunity to associate with something positive and public that they feel a part of. That is why when college teams are successful enrollments increase and donations go up. I believe that is also why some people get so worked up over their favorite teams. Sicatoka is correct. This needs to be a national search and we need to hire best possible candidate. IF they have no ties to UND they will develop that relationship. Their are assistants with UND ties who can serve that role.

UND will need to be prepared to pay our assistants more. That was something Lennon worked for when he was here. We will need to pay a head coach over $200,000 with an upside for incentives for attendance, grad rates, GPA, no legal issues, championships, playoff appearance etc. Coordinators will need to get around $100,000. We need to get new practice facility done. Will take right people and a lot of work and dedication by players and the University support folks, but this team can be playoff competitive within 2-3 years if not next year. A good coach will demand a 3-5 year guarantee.

They had better think a lot of a student taking the time to call. I would ask you to come in and also talk about how to improve student attendence and any ideas you might have to improve the game day experience for students.

I will send PM. Have 4 Sec. 101 at face value.

You are flying airplanes now with the aviation students?

That's a cheap shot at the player and family. The Dad works very hard raising money for UND athletics. He was a very good BB player for UND when he played. His kid has earned his playing time and if someone doesn't see that they know nothing of BB. This smacks of the typical " other's success is cuz either they sucked up to someone, they knew someone, their family got them something or they came from the "right side of the tracks.". Doesn't pass smell test here. This kid works his tail off and he is a very good BB player for us. How much time are you spending at Judy's? (which should be on the National Registry, but that is for a different subject). That may be clouding your judgement.

You will see headphones at every level from HS to the pros in virtually every sport. It is a non-issue. These kids start interacting with fans too much and someone else will say they aer screwing around and dont' care and aren't focused The coaches have a beer after the game and will talk to fans and someone else says they are out partying. Otherwise they are too arrogant. Not sure about prime time coaches but you have a point. Good time for coaches to schmooze with fans for that 3 minute walk without having to waste a lot of time. That is part of the psychology of coaching that I think we lack. Don't get criticized for that when you are winning but it doesn't work welll then either.

No, I think it is difficult to run inside if the RB's can't break arm tackles. I am impressed with hard hard these guys run but I think we need to use some sort of read option run game and let Mollberg run. Heck, he is 230 lbs. Having said that Miller got a number of his yards against Montana State running inside. Improving our consistency in pass game will help the run and inproving our run game helps the pass. (Go figure). I need to be careful what I babble on about because I am sure ESPN will be reading this and want me on their show and I don't have time.

You didn't "watch him blow the call" cuz they haven't put in the read option. They should cuz he can run. He had a decent game yesterday. Poor decision on the pick but he stuck a number of passes into tight spots and through for 350 yds while getting pressured much of the time. We are fine at QB. Defense was better fundamentally but still gave up over 400 yds. we must eliminate the TO's and penalties. Long way to go. Need to get better each week No moral victories in this league.

Chavon Mackey might but only if he was the guy burned.

"Whoa" Sparky. Nothing here about anyone being grander than anyone.I'm not trying to portray anyone else as anything. Also not trying to pretend we don't need to move UND FB forward. Just ahve a different attitude and perspective. Maybe UND athletics shares their spread sheets with you but I wasn't aware UND FB was the financial "loser" you think is. Maybe it is but maybe it isn't. It shouldn't be hard to find out but don't forget to include the $$$$ donated to UND FB through the UND FB alumni to offset costs of scholarships and facilites. It is substantial. We also donate to other sports. We are all on the same team. Spread sheet should include that and I don't believe that is included in Alerus figures. Not pretending the poor attendence isn't a problem and I have no idea what the spread sheet for expenses and revenues at the Alerus is for UND FB but UND FB is very important to UND. I believe the recent drop in the Fr population is partly due to UND's FB, MBB, and WBB struggles and the fact that we have't had the same level of success in hockey. This is asituation that doesn't need finger pointing and in fighting.

REA has been a great boost to UND athletics. There was never a "promise" of a stated amount of money. I haven't seen a spread sheet for UND athletics but last time I saw an accurate summary UND FB wasn't losing $$. You may not be old enough to remember when UND FB supported hockey and a number of other sports. UND MBB and WBB have been profitable in the past. The Englestad gift guarantees UND hockey will be profitable and it should. The gift was also to help other UND sports. We did have some issues with the previous REA guy who was let go. He didn't want to do anything for UND athletics. (was an AC guy). Iwabucci guy, if you don't like other Sioux sports then go enjoy hockey. I was around when hockey needed FB and as athletes we had a great relationship with each other and had the same fan base. Hockey will need FB and other sports to be maximize chance of continued success. For those whinign about FB you can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. Donate $$ with a note to Kelly you want this program turned around now. Encourage all area kids to attend UND athletes or not. Don't need to see tax returns. No one is doing anything illegal and unless your name is Englestad it is none of our business. Just say thanks and enjoy.

Google the word. Lee Bohnet wrote a book a few years ago documenting UND athletics including FB. UND was a conference power for years, played and won a number of D2 bowl games and played in 2 National Championship games winning one. From the Red Jarret teams of the 1930's or the Fritz Pollard teams (Olympic athlete who played FB here and whose Dad was the first black head FB coach in the NFL) to our dominance over our pals from the south over the years including our 10-3 record over the last 13 contests I think we have had an excellent program. I am not into comparing us right now with other excellent programs cuz I think we need to "right the ship" first.

I would diagree with those who don't think we can recruit to UND. We have a long and storied tradition of excellence with UND FB and UND athletics. The facilites are excellent and are getting better. UND is an outstanding academic institution with Alumni excelling in all walks of life from outer space to Hollywood, to the CEO offices of Cargill and Buffalo Wild Wings. Our graduates have excelled in the fields of Law, Medicine, Engineering, Business, Aviation and Entreprenureship. We have excellent programs in the Liberal Arts and Sciences and many grads have excelled over the years as educators. We offer graduate programs in many of those fields of study. We have a beautiful campus and the cost of an education at UND is still a bargain. We belong to one of the premier FCS conferences in the country and playing for UND will take you as a student athlete to Montana, Washington, Utah, Oregon, California, Idaho, Arizona and Colorado on a regualr basis. You will make lifelong friends not only with your teammates but with the other UND students. Those students and UND alumni offer connections which can be very helpful in whatever career path you eventually choose. You will get a first rate education. If you are good enough to play here you be one of the players who leads this team back to a position of National prominence and that can be more special than sitting around talking about what some teams did before you got here. If you as a coach can't sell a kid on the UND experience you don't belong here and maybe don't belong in coaching. We will get this thing turned around. Go Sioux!

If a HS coach does that he is hurting his own athlete. Needs to grow up. If he has a problem with a college coach he needs to tell the college coach to grow up. Doesnt' ahve to say it in those words but communication goes both ways and if I am a college recruiter and you or you atheltes don't like my style then tell me so I can improve. If I don't improve, tell my AD.

Twin Cities are a major source of recruting. It is our bread and butter but we have more than one loaf of bread. We are now starting to get some kids again. I believe one of the reasons Belmore was let go was his last year we didn't the kids out of the cities.

first int was terrible throw and he should have tucked ball and run. Second he got hit but shouldn't have thrown. Solid game otherwise. Had 3-4 dropped passes again. They need to add a running dimension to his game. Ran out of trouble a couple of times. He didn't get sacked today. last pass was big time throw to ice game. C+ down from B cuz of Int's.

Tackling is still poor. Discipline is still unacceptable. Can't have 14 penalties. Either some of these guys are not very smart or don't care, but as a coach, if you can't teach discipline you can't coach. Not the progress I hoped to see but a win is a win. 5th game where wide receivers are jumping. They should be going on the snap and don't need to know snap count. Basic fundamentals Who is the receivers coach this year? We also had 3-4 dropped passes again. I would have these receivers after practice each day making sure they watch the ball into their hands. watch them warming up. They don't do it there and they don't do it on passes they drop. They need to do that every pass they catch in practice or games. I would also have all defenders after practice working on form tackling and wrapping up. Again, basic fundamentals. We have a ways to go. Chest bumping looks stupid no matter who does it. Best kept for Pop Warner FB.

If these receivers want to play in the NFL, they need to catch the ball. If they are 10 yds or more away they need to catch whatever is thrown. They also need to make sure if they don't catch the ball ,no one does. Watch the NFL QB's. They put the ball where the receiver can catch it. The good ones go get it and many are not thrown perfectly. If they can't get to it, they make sure the defenders doesn't get it. I haven't seen anything in the home games that shouldn't have been csught cuz it was thrown too fast, but your point is well taken. You also need to throw the ball with touch. Both of our QB's can throw the ball. The O-line needs to give them time. I would also try and get some roll out options and run pass options for Mollberg. He has made some Fr mistakes but he is our best chance to win and I think can become one of our all time greats. I am glad Muss has decided to go with one guy. Whomever he chooses needs to be able to play without being afraid to make a mistake. They just need to make sure if they make a mistake they learn and don't make the same mistake twice. Defensively we may need to challenge our CB's to play man. Not sure if the secondary is understanding the coverages and if that is a problem go to man coverage and everyone should know who is responsible. Otherwise can't miss takcles and both sides need to eliminate penalties. We win this weekend. I believe these kids and coaches have the will to win and no better time to start than now. Kids can't let coaching issue affect them, just go play. Coaches can only deal with what they have control over so worry about the pressure at the end of the season.Go Sioux.

I don't agree there isn't talent. I also agree we need to continue to upgrade. Oline played better last week and I would want to build on that. I would think they might consider utilizing Mollberg's running ability to create something else for the Def to worrry about. They should have some sort of run pass option with our RB's and Jackson off of his running plays where Mollberg can either pull the ball and run, hand off or pull the ball and pass. Might create some match problems for the defense. He ran for over 1000 yds in HS running veer option plays and now weighs 230lbs. He has used his athletic ability to excape the rush better than Bartels. This team can win games but it has to be a different focus and intensity. Doesn't need to come from the coach, can come from team leaders. Who the hell wants to lose. This should be the team that takes us to the next level. I never thought that level would be lower than last year. We are 4 games in and there is still time for kids to show why they play FB. I expect them to win Saturday.