UND Fan

Agree to a degree but a good AD: -- knows who the larger donors are -- acknowledges donors/supporters when he is in the same room with them or meets them on the street -- accompanies the above folks once in awhile when they meet with donors (whether it means a trip to Bismarck or for a lunch in GF)

I know there were a couple '19 OL on campus: Kyle Downs, 6'3", 260, Monticello (Monticello), MN Cody Smith, 6'4", 250, Eagan (Eagan), MN

I know there were MM supporters. Mike is a good friend of mine and I think he will be a good AD someday!

I know quite a few major donors and have a few observations: -- While they really like Mike and most like a UND pedigree, they didn't think Mike was ready for this job. Most think Mike will make a good AD someday in the future. -- I think most are apt to give more with the assumption that Chaves will be more hands-on, personable, etc. than Faison. -- With the optimism that Chaves may bring to the department, coaches, community, fans, etc., the number of donors will likely increase. I have told Kennedy and DeAnna Carlson Zink that I expect a 20% increase in donations after the first year of a new AD being in position. That may be a little optimistic - I hope not!

Nice statement from EWU's pres: Statement from EWU President Dr. Mary Cullinan Regarding the Departure of Athletic Director Bill Chaves, who will be leaving EWU for the same position at the University of North Dakota: "On behalf of Eastern Washington University, I extend my sincere thank you to Bill Chaves for ten great years of service to EWU Athletics. I wish him the very best at the University of North Dakota in this exciting next chapter of his professional career. "Under Bill's leadership, EWU produced numerous winning teams, led by outstanding coaches who served as great mentors. And our student-athletes have excelled in the classroom, achieving a GPA of 3.0 or higher for 31 straight quarters. Eastern is committed to building on this success to ensure a vibrant future for the athletic department. "I will be working with Bill Chaves immediately to implement a transition plan as the university begins the process of finding a new athletic director. Details on that plan, including interim leadership and a time table, will be made public when details are finalized within the next several days. Eastern will greatly miss Bill Chaves, who has created a lasting legacy for this university. I wish him excellent continued success."

Anyone know if ISU made it to GF?

Thanks for posting this. He was my preference. At watching this, he is absolutely my preference!

Thanks for doing your homework on this. I didn't think it was possible that he could only be making $120K.

F - Jones S - Pogo

I fully agree that he could have done much more to help raise $. Too many feel that raising funds is not an AD’s job. It needs to be!

I know and like Mike and while I know he would work his rear off, I am not sure he is quite ready for the job. Being successful at the job would require him (due to his limited experience) to surround himself with talented assistants. I have some concern whether Mike has the contacts/knowledge to know who can handle specific duties. IMO - he can not rely on some who are currently in the department.

You are correct, Steve was not interested and did not apply.

As you can see by my prior posts, I am not a Faison fan at all. But.... he was handed a budget. All programs (except hockey) were continually underfunded. I don’t know where he could have found the $ to help FB to any great extent!

I would think that we could hear of more commitments at any time. Regarding new offers as they relate to older offers. I am sure some of the older offers have been rescinded but I would guess we would still be happy as heck to land some of prospects offered prior to the early signing date.

Anyone attend this? If so, your thoughts?

Mike would not torpedo the AD - he is not that type of guy and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt UND. In fact, under this scenario, Mikeshould do all he can to assist the AD as he might be the front runner for the job 4-5 years from now. I don’t think he will get it this time due to lack of experience.

The difference is that anyone/everyone who had direct contact with Bunning saw right through him within a couple of minutes!!

I fully agree with each of gundy's comments in the previous few posts including the one above. Faison did a lot of very good things but he did very little to solidify relationships with fans/donors. In fact, he was often aloof and "chose" not to speak to donors when given the opportunity. I have witnessed this more than once. A personable, genuine AD who understands the importance of fundraising will help generate a lot more $ for the athletic department.

I would say that this list of committee members is quite impressive!!

Again, I agree with everything you just said. There have been Big Sky coaches who readily have said positive things about Jones over the last few years - solely for the purpose of his being retained. He is not respected for his coaching around the league but they sure have hoped he wouldn't be replaced.

We may not win 10 games this year.

I agree with all of the above.

New offer (his first): CB/WR Marcus Vaughn Jones, 6'3", 195, 4.6 Omaha (Creighton Prep), NE

Thanks to those of you who donated to assist our FB program for a specific need. With the help of quite a few FB alums, we have just recently surpassed the $5K needed to fund the knee braces. I had hoped that we could raise enough to pay for the concussion caps as well. If any of you can assist, please reread the above for the details and go to: http://act.undalumni.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=1130 I thought this might develop into an annual "ss.com" campaign to assist the program with needs that are outside of the FB budget. However, interest among ss members wasn't overly high. I may try again this fall. If anyone has any ideas as to how we could be more successful, please feel free to let me know (here or by PM). Thanks again!

Do you honestly believe that there are private donors that would ante up that kind of $? If you do, send me a PM and I will provide you with some interesting info.