Faison Press Conference 4PM

[UNDBIZ]

25 minutes ago, Sioux63 said:

Grand Forks is Hockey town USA, not a soccer town.

Judging by the attendance at the U18 tourney (going to lose REA, and by transitive property UND, a lot of money)  and the huge financial black hole UND women's hockey is, Grand Forks is UND men's college hockey town USA.

[UND Fan]

11 hours ago, Siouxphan27 said:

Yes, he could have done that.  And then what?  What does the "move on" part consist of?  Did Brekke know as much as Faison knew at that time about the future of baseball?   Let's say he did, then he has the same two options as Faison had;  tell the young man with a rich dad that baseball is inevitably going to be cut.  I'm not sure if that is the best way to basically break the news to the general public.  Or option two, he looks them straight in the face, takes their money that is designated for baseball, (not just an "athletic dept." donation as others have added to their posts to cloud the issue here) and dumps baseball a year later.

It was a unique situation.    If Faison has ever ignored general athletic dept donation emails, or sport-specific donations that were designated for sports that were not inevitably going to be cut, i'd be outraged like others are. 

 

 

Then you should be outraged, as am I!

[UNDvince97-01]

On 4/16/2016 at 11:19 PM, bincitysioux said:

I am not a "big time" donor, nor am I a former athlete.  So I suspect my "access" is the same as any other average Alum/Champions Club Member.  In the 7 or 8 years he's been here, I've probably emailed him half a dozen times, and he's replied to every one of them within a day.  One time he even sent me a hand written note when I voiced my concerns over the direction of the football program.  I've sat next to him on a football charter and shaken hands with him at a basketball game.  Pretty confident he wouldn't know who I was if I ran into him tomorrow, but in my experiences with him his communication skills are just fine.  

My biggest complaint about Faison is how long he's left the men's basketball program fall into the pits.  But with all the budget cutting going on by the higher ups above him, maybe that is why Brian Jones appears to be finding himself in the rare circumstance of entering a season with only one year remaining on his contract?  

As just some rube on a message board though, I am not 100% sure how to quantify great qualities of an AD, but I would point out that Faison handled the break up of the WCHA about as well as could possibly be expected, he got UND into the Big Sky (which rejected multiple other former NCC members),  he got the High Performance Center built, he's raised the football budget to be competitive within the Big Sky, he's overseen a national championship in hockey.

Seems like he hasn't completely run this place into the ground....................

His predecessors biggest accomplishment was doing 50+ push-ups on the sidelines at football games.  Did that make Buning a great communicator?

You understand why the discussion is being had right now, correct?  This isn't being discussed on here, on social media and in the local media outlets because he blew everyone away with exemplary communication skills that were relative to the sports being cut.  Talk about salt in the wound for the players and staff.

UND Baseball was proactively trying to secure its future with private fundraising, which they were going to do on their own.  And our great leader didn't even respond.  He then doubled-down with his deplorable, embarrassing, unprofessional quote in the paper that put EVERYTHING into perspective on how this guy operates.  This is not a one -time occurrence.  More like his M.O. - hence my problem with him as a leader.

Regarding your experience with him:  give yourself some credit, you apparently get attention that many others do not. 

I agree with you 100% on the mens basketball "leadership".

Another huge fault is his hyper-delegation of responsibilities and decision-making to people who are, let's say, not great at their jobs.  And ultimately all those decisions fall at his feet as the AD.

If there were anonymous reviews and ratings of Faison and his leadership team by the coaching staffs on campus, the only person I believe would get lower ratings than Faison is his chief delegate, Daniella "the bully" Irle, who likes to make threats to her coaches about Title IX compliance and policy.

I'm not sure what Tom Buning has to do with any of this.  He was unsuccessful as our AD, hence his termination.  I'm not sure how him doing pushups makes him a great communicator.  I'm also not sure how Buning's pushups and communication skills have anything to do with Brian Faison's ineptitude and laziness as our AD, which was just illustrated plain as day in the media.

Funny that you mention Buning though, because I was told he was working the UND crowd in Tampa as though he was still working for UND.

Faison wasnt able to start up the NCHC or hold his current national chair position for hockey because he is the national hockey savant from New Mexico.  He 'got us' into the Big Sky because they wanted us in the BSC.  He did hire Bubba for football, but that whole debacle on how it went down and how long it took to get there is well-documented.  We got the HPC done on our own.  I promise nobody donated to that project because of his personality or fundraising skills.

Certain things he's gotten done have been circumstantial....because he happened to be the AD at UND, at that time.

Clearly we disagree on him as a leader, which is fine.  I will leave it at that.

 

 

[UND-1]

4 minutes ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

You understand why the discussion is being had right now, correct?  This isn't being discussed on here, on social media and in the local media outlets because he blew everyone away with exemplary communication skills that were relative to the sports being cut.  Talk about salt in the wound for the players and staff.

UND Baseball was proactively trying to secure its future with private fundraising, which they were going to do on their own.  And our great leader didn't even respond.  He then doubled-down with his deplorable, embarrassing, unprofessional quote in the paper that put EVERYTHING into perspective on how this guy operates.  This is not a one -time occurrence.  More like his M.O. - hence my problem with him as a leader.

Regarding your experience with him:  give yourself some credit, you apparently get attention that many others do not. 

I agree with you 100% on the mens basketball "leadership".

Another huge fault is his hyper-delegation of responsibilities and decision-making to people who are, let's say, not great at their jobs.  And ultimately all those decisions fall at his feet as the AD.

If there were anonymous reviews and ratings of Faison and his leadership team by the coaching staffs on campus, the only person I believe would get lower ratings than Faison is his chief delegate, Daniella "the bully" Irle, who likes to make threats to her coaches about Title IX compliance and policy.

I'm not sure what Tom Buning has to do with any of this.  He was unsuccessful as our AD, hence his termination.  I'm not sure how him doing pushups makes him a great communicator.  I'm also not sure how Buning's pushups and communication skills have anything to do with Brian Faison's ineptitude and laziness as our AD, which was just illustrated plain as day in the media.

Funny that you mention Buning though, because I was told he was working the UND crowd in Tampa as though he was still working for UND.

Faison wasnt able to start up the NCHC or hold his current national chair position for hockey because he is the national hockey savant from New Mexico.  He 'got us' into the Big Sky because they wanted us in the BSC.  He did hire Bubba for football, but that whole debacle on how it went down and how long it took to get there is well-documented.  We got he HPC done on our own.  I promise nobody donated to that project because of his personality or fundraising skills.

Certain things he's gotten done have been circumstantial....because he happened to be the AD at UND, at that time.

Clearly we disagree on him as a leader.  I will leave it at that.

Lotsa sizzle in this one.  This is the beginning of the end for that regime, IMO. 

Faison had ZERO to do with the fundraising for the HPC, which we all know is pretty much the hardest part of getting a private facility built.  You can do anything you want if you got the money.  Mike Mannausau did the heavy lifting on that one since day one.

You want to thank somebody for UND having the HPC?  Thank the Champions Club, who is on their own and relied up on heavily by the athletic department.  Sadly, with very little help from said athletic department.

[UND-1]

---Here is the Big Sky state of our athletic department heading into the 2015-2016 season.

Big Sky All Sports Final Rankings - 2015

Overall Athletic Pts    Men's  Women's  Total

Northern Arizona        66.5 73.5  140

Sacramento State       51 78  129

Montana                     49.66 60.5   110.16

Montana State            51.66 56.5   108.16

Eastern Washington    55 49   104

Weber State                48.5 43.5   92

Idaho State                 36.33 51.5   87.83

Northern Colorado      26 50   76

Portland State             20 55.5   75.5

Southern Utah            34.5 34.5   69

North Dakota              22.5 38.5   61

 

 

[JohnboyND7]

On 4/16/2016 at 8:35 AM, Sioux63 said:

Everyone is saying women's hockey maybe cut next. What about soccer? Granted expenses are higher for hockey vs soccer. Soccer isn't a core sport in Big Sky. The soccer program has a large roster in comparison to most D1 programs. 22 girls are getting some sort of scholarship, the rest are walk-ons. As a side note, the players have been going to BF and DI for a couple of years to report some questionable coaching methods by head coach. Some of which could get university in hot water.  Yet, BF renews coaches contact even though he's only won a handful of games. Soccer might not be worth the headache for BF anymore? Grand Forks is Hockey town USA, not a soccer town.

Soccer is a pretty popular sport for girls I believe.  I'd think its a lot bigger than women's hockey.

[UNDColorado]

2 minutes ago, JohnboyND7 said:

Soccer is a pretty popular sport for girls I believe.  I'd think its a lot bigger than women's hockey.

And a lot cheaper.

[SiouxVolley]

11 minutes ago, JohnboyND7 said:

Soccer is a pretty popular sport for girls I believe.  I'd think its a lot bigger than women's hockey.

Women's soccer is required by the Big Sky.  It can't be dropped unless the school is Montana State, which long ago negotiated to have M/W skiing instead.  

[SiouxVolley]

32 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

---Here is the Big Sky state of our athletic department heading into the 2015-2016 season.

Big Sky All Sports Final Rankings - 2015

Overall Athletic Pts    Men's  Women's  Total

Northern Arizona        66.5 73.5  140

Sacramento State       51 78  129

Montana                     49.66 60.5   110.16

Montana State            51.66 56.5   108.16

Eastern Washington    55 49   104

Weber State                48.5 43.5   92

Idaho State                 36.33 51.5   87.83

Northern Colorado      26 50   76

Portland State             20 55.5   75.5

Southern Utah            34.5 34.5   69

North Dakota              22.5 38.5   61

 

 

Most Big Sky schools fully support M/W tennis, giving full scholarships to foreign players.  I for one like that fact the UND doesn't go all in for tennis and many other non-revenue sports in the Sky.  It's too bad they didn't rank revenue sports, because that's what we should care about.

[Sioux63]

10 minutes ago, SiouxVolley said:

Women's soccer is required by the Big Sky.  It can't be dropped unless the school is Montana State, which long ago negotiated to have M/W skiing instead.  

Women's soccer is not required by the Big Sky.  Here's the list:

Required Core Sports Each core member institution is required to participate in all of the following core sports: Women: basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis, volleyball. Men: basketball, cross country, football, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis. To meet the core sport participation requirements, each institution, in the core sports listed

[UND-1]

Just now, SiouxVolley said:

Most Big Sky schools fully support M/W tennis, giving full scholarships to foreign players.  I for one like that fact the UND doesn't go all in for tennis and many other non-revenue sports in the Sky.  It's too bad they didn't rank revenue sports, because that's what we should care about.

So the point of being in the Big Sky is to try and be good at 4 sports and suck at 10?  There are only four sports that bring in any money at all - Football, Basketball's and Volleyball.  

What Faison and Queen Irle are doing right now is what I said ^^^.  Problem is the "revenue" sports aren't taking first, either.  If that's the goal....

[zonadub]

4 hours ago, UND-1 said:

---Here is the Big Sky state of our athletic department heading into the 2015-2016 season.

Big Sky All Sports Final Rankings - 2015

Overall Athletic Pts    Men's  Women's  Total

Northern Arizona        66.5 73.5  140

Sacramento State       51 78  129

Montana                     49.66 60.5   110.16

Montana State            51.66 56.5   108.16

Eastern Washington    55 49   104

Weber State                48.5 43.5   92

Idaho State                 36.33 51.5   87.83

Northern Colorado      26 50   76

Portland State             20 55.5   75.5

Southern Utah            34.5 34.5   69

North Dakota              22.5 38.5   61

 

 

That's just plain sad

[darell1976]

7 hours ago, zonadub said:

That's just plain sad

It is but it says a lot of our athletics if you take out hockey. Football is rebounding nicely but some hiccups in basketball and volleyball. I take it we must suck in softball, tennis, track, and soccer to get a score like that.

[hoops44]

UND is a Hockey School NCAA D1 champs no other program at any other BSC comes close to UND hockey .UND hockey program by itself surpasses the cumulative success of any BSC school athletic program...so much for BSC  final sports rankings

[UND-1]

17 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Most Big Sky schools fully support M/W tennis, giving full scholarships to foreign players.  I for one like that fact the UND doesn't go all in for tennis and many other non-revenue sports in the Sky.  It's too bad they didn't rank revenue sports, because that's what we should care about.

1 hour ago, hoops44 said:

UND is a Hockey School NCAA D1 champs no other program at any other BSC comes close to UND hockey .UND hockey program by itself surpasses the cumulative success of any BSC school athletic program...so much for BSC  final sports rankings

If these posts are representative of how we want our athletic department run, then Faison and Irle should be given lifetime contracts cause they are doing an outstanding job of it. 

 

[petey23]

In ranking the only sports that really matter and that have a fan following, UND is right at the top of the Big sky conference so enough with the hand wringing.

Top Tier Schools

Idaho, Montana, UND, EWU, Weber State

Next Tier

Montana St., Idaho St.,

The Rest

Sac. State, UNC, Portland St., S. Utah

 

 

*before someone gets all excited....this is based on this past seasons results only

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by petey23
clarification

[Siouxper Slam 29]

I’ve been reading all of this stuff about Faison and how awful he is, and I want to throw my two cents in.  Although I realize some pretty terrible stuff has happened and everyone wants to point a finger at someone, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and believe they did the best that they could and what is best for the majority.  I’m not saying Faison or anyone else at UND is perfect or correct in their decisions, but I think that bashing people does more harm than good for everyone, fans included.

My understanding is that Faison tried to make as many cuts as possible, even going above the 10% reduction that the president wanted, but Schafer said that teams needed to be cut.  There was a formula or calculated method to figuring out how to cut expenses, not cut off revenue, stay compliant with Title IX, and impact the fewest people possible.  Baseball & men’s golf came out to be the combination that fit all of those categories the best.  It really sucks that teams had to be cut, especially ones that have had recent success and looked to be turning things around.  Would we be having the same argument if women’s hockey were cut instead of baseball?  WH is a revenue-generating sport (although not much) that is consistently in the Top 10 every year and beat two #1 teams last season.  If anyone else has a better idea that cuts more expenses without stopping revenue and you still are compliant with the NCAA/Title IX, submit your application for the next AD or UND’s CFO. 

The baseball fundraising letter situation: yeah, that was handled poorly by Faison, and he admitted it.  He should have at least answered the letter/email to explain why they can or cannot do anything and maybe find ways that can help.  Of course the fundraising situation as well as the announcement of cutting baseball & golf could have been handled better.  It isn’t easy for anyone.  Also, it’s a matter that is over and done with, nothing is going to change.

Think about the things that Faison HAS done well for UND: transition to Divison I and the Big Sky; helped create the most dominant conference in college hockey; pushed for better facilities for teams and recruiting; emphasized academics as the primary concern of student-athletes; brought back a fan-favorite coach (Bubba) that people believe in and get excited about; kept the best coach in college hockey with Brad Berry; and ensuring that student-athletes in the future will be able to afford their education by doing full cost of attendance for all sports.  It is easier to stew about the mistakes and bad decisions, but with everything he (and the rest of the administration) has done, don’t you think he is genuinely concerned about UND’s future and that he probably really does hurt from having to make these tough decisions?

One last thing to end my rant: students and community members have been complaining about cutting baseball and men’s golf so there are no administrators that need to take a pay cut.  That is garbage.  Schafer said every line item is on the table, so did Alice Brekke.  Athletics administration IS going to have salary reductions/job eliminations, guaranteed.  No one is exempt from the shortfall. 

 

Thank you for reading

[UND-1]

13 hours ago, Siouxper Slam 29 said:

My understanding is that Faison tried to make as many cuts as possible, even going above the 10% reduction that the president wanted, but Schafer said that teams needed to be cut.  There was a formula or calculated method to figuring out how to cut expenses, not cut off revenue, stay compliant with Title IX, and impact the fewest people possible.  Baseball & men’s golf came out to be the combination that fit all of those categories the best.  It really sucks that teams had to be cut, especially ones that have had recent success and looked to be turning things around.  Would we be having the same argument if women’s hockey were cut instead of baseball?  WH is a revenue-generating sport (although not much) that is consistently in the Top 10 every year and beat two #1 teams last season.  If anyone else has a better idea that cuts more expenses without stopping revenue and you still are compliant with the NCAA/Title IX, submit your application for the next AD or UND’s CFO. 

The very fact that Faison wanted to keep all sports and try and "cut expenses, etc" is alarming in itself.  This isn't D2 where the teams drive 300 or less miles to their road games.  UND needs to get in line with their current situation and that is to have less teams.  21 is way too many.  19 is too many.  UND is so compliant right now they could possibly cut a womens sport and reallocate the scholarships/roster spots to other women's sports and still be close.

Baseball and Golf didn't come out as the best choices.  They were the only choices.  Irle and Jeno made it crystal clear that Women's Hockey and Swimming and Diving were not going to be touched.  When they want to hammer home their argument, they use the term "Title IX" and everyone shuts up.  But coaches better not use that term or their job/future employment at the university will be threatened.  

Think about the things that Faison HAS done well for UND: transition to Divison I and the Big Sky; helped create the most dominant conference in college hockey; pushed for better facilities for teams and recruiting; emphasized academics as the primary concern of student-athletes; brought back a fan-favorite coach (Bubba) that people believe in and get excited about; kept the best coach in college hockey with Brad Berry; and ensuring that student-athletes in the future will be able to afford their education by doing full cost of attendance for all sports.  It is easier to stew about the mistakes and bad decisions, but with everything he (and the rest of the administration) has done, don’t you think he is genuinely concerned about UND’s future and that he probably really does hurt from having to make these tough decisions?

Everything you mentioned would have been done by whoever the AD was.  Does he get credit for it, yes. The FCOA decision was a good one for obvious reasons.  Hiring Bubba after extending Mussman was an upgrade, yes.  Berry was a no-brainer as he has shown he likes to promote assistants (edit: Mussman (by Brekke), Brewster).  

One last thing to end my rant: students and community members have been complaining about cutting baseball and men’s golf so there are no administrators that need to take a pay cut.  That is garbage.  Schafer said every line item is on the table, so did Alice Brekke.  Athletics administration IS going to have salary reductions/job eliminations, guaranteed.  No one is exempt from the shortfall. 

From the outside it seems as if everything is going to swell and BF runs a tight ship.  That's not the case and many within the athletic department would tell you that.  I honestly think he is a good guy.  But UND could have a much better AD, IMO.

I am glad somebody stuck up for BF on here and I am not responding at you, only about the topics.  He has done some good things in his 8 years at UND like you mentioned, no doubt.  

 

 

[The Sicatoka]

I'd like to see the sport offerings at UND align to the available facilities and the realities of the climate (and the sporting interests that come in this climate). I'd say this was a good first step. 

[siouxjoy]

7 hours ago, UND-1 said:

 

Slight clarification: Mussman wasn't hired by Faison.

Carry on.

[UNDvince97-01]

1 hour ago, siouxjoy said:

Slight clarification: Mussman wasn't hired by Faison.

Carry on.

Slight clarification.  He didnt say he hired Mussman.  He said he extended him.

Carry on.

[siouxjoy]

12 hours ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

Slight clarification.  He didnt say he hired Mussman.  He said he extended him.

Carry on.

Except the comment was:  Berry was a no-brainer as he has shown he likes to promote assistants (Mussman, Brewster).  

I read that as he promoted Mussman to head coach, which is not the same as extending him.

 

Not that it really matters. 

Carry on. 

[The Sicatoka]

Quote

 

Schafer said it was Title IX athletics regulations and league requirements that put those two particular teams on the chopping block. In the future, he hopes the university looks at the viability of funding 19 athletic teams—after the recent cut.

 

Preach on Rev. Schafer! 

If Montana State can make a special arrangement with the BSC to not carry a core sport (women's soccer) and instead have championship caliber alpine skiing teams, why can't UND make a similar arrangement. 

[Sioux63]

31 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Preach on Rev. Schafer! 

If Montana State can make a special arrangement with the BSC to not carry a core sport (women's soccer) and instead have championship caliber alpine skiing teams, why can't UND make a similar arrangement. 

But women's soccer is not a BSC core sport.

 

OPERATING CODE OF THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE The Operating Code of the Conference consists of directives as well as commitments of a contractual nature between member institutions, and all procedures and prohibitions of the Conference.

ARTICLE I RECOGNIZED SPORTS Section 1. Required Core Sports Each core member institution is required to participate in all of the following core sports: Women: basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis, volleyball. Men: basketball, cross country, football, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis. 

[Northcountry]

In Brian Faison'sremarks about how discontinuing men's golf and baseball and a $1.5 million increase in revenue, the athletics department would meet its required budget adjustments.  How much of a ticket price increase will be needed to add $1.5 million in revenue?  Are there other revenue sources that I do not know about that are reliable and sustainable (that seems to be a revenue prerequisite if the baseball donation rejection is the standard), other than ticket price increases?  At what point do increased ticket prices turn an arena into an empty void like has occurred at Yankee Stadium?  The revenue thing struck me and I hadn't seen any comment on it so I thought I'd ask.