How does Foley do it?
- Thread starter HardeeWildcatFan
- Start date
We are not as far behind in football facilities, when compared to other SEC teams, as we are in the "minor " sports. See the link http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1710759-power-ranking-the-25-most-impressive-facilities-in-college-football/page/26 where we are ranked 18th in the nation (5th in the SEC) in FOOTBALL facilities as of July 23, 2013.
Have we fallen so far in TWO years?
As to throwing good (football) money at these lesser sports and neglecting football, how is it we lag behind in these "minor" sports when compared to our SEC brothers? Look at our baseball and softball facilities in particular. If you are accusing Foley of wasting money on these sports, then you must also criticize all the other ADs in the SEC for doing the same and who seem to be spending more on them than us. All but Vanderbilt offer most all the same sports as UF does. As to UF wasting money on Lacrosse, the only non-SEC sport funded by UF, virtually every other SEC school funds has at least one non-SEC sport. I guess they are wasting (taking away from football) money as well. Alabama and Tennessee both have rowing, Auburn, Georgia, A&M and South Carolina have Equestrian, Florida and Vanderbilt have Lacrosse, Kentucky and Mississippi have Rifle, LSU and South Carolina have sand volleyball and South Carolina has a third non-SEC sport with men's soccer.
It hardy seems to me that Foley is not doing anything different than our opponents are doing when it comes to spending on the non-revenue sports.
Only three sports have been started since Foley has been AD (Soccer, Softball and Lacrosse) which is on par with the rest of the SEC. These sports have added three national championships as well as 20+ conference championships. All have added prestige the athletic program at Florida. These sports were added, not because Foley likes women sports more than football, but to comply with Title 9 requirements.
Having said all this, I do believe that UF have fallen behind in this recent "Facilities Arms Race" and we need to step up the improvement of ALL facilities by changing our willingness to spend the necessary money in order to keep up, even it means going in debt occasionally. The IPF and the proposed changes to the O'Connell Center are a start, but improvements the baseball and softball facilities along with new athletic dorms are, in my mind, a must.
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Have we fallen so far in TWO years?
As to throwing good (football) money at these lesser sports and neglecting football, how is it we lag behind in these "minor" sports when compared to our SEC brothers? Look at our baseball and softball facilities in particular. If you are accusing Foley of wasting money on these sports, then you must also criticize all the other ADs in the SEC for doing the same and who seem to be spending more on them than us. All but Vanderbilt offer most all the same sports as UF does. As to UF wasting money on Lacrosse, the only non-SEC sport funded by UF, virtually every other SEC school funds has at least one non-SEC sport. I guess they are wasting (taking away from football) money as well. Alabama and Tennessee both have rowing, Auburn, Georgia, A&M and South Carolina have Equestrian, Florida and Vanderbilt have Lacrosse, Kentucky and Mississippi have Rifle, LSU and South Carolina have sand volleyball and South Carolina has a third non-SEC sport with men's soccer.
It hardy seems to me that Foley is not doing anything different than our opponents are doing when it comes to spending on the non-revenue sports.
Only three sports have been started since Foley has been AD (Soccer, Softball and Lacrosse) which is on par with the rest of the SEC. These sports have added three national championships as well as 20+ conference championships. All have added prestige the athletic program at Florida. These sports were added, not because Foley likes women sports more than football, but to comply with Title 9 requirements.
Having said all this, I do believe that UF have fallen behind in this recent "Facilities Arms Race" and we need to step up the improvement of ALL facilities by changing our willingness to spend the necessary money in order to keep up, even it means going in debt occasionally. The IPF and the proposed changes to the O'Connell Center are a start, but improvements the baseball and softball facilities along with new athletic dorms are, in my mind, a must.
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Foley isnt worried one way or another if Mac succeeds. He'll retire before the jury's out on Mac anyway, so its really a win win situation for him. If Mac succeeds, Foley can have his little "look at me I found another diamond in the rough, I outsmarted everyone" moment.
If Mac doesn't work out, who cares? Foley will be 65 and on his way to either retirement or a cushy job at SEC headquarters. Remember, 10 seconds ago this guy was "1,000 % certain" about Will Muschamp,its ridiculous that we let the same guy throw 5 mil a year at a nobody from Podunk.
Why else were Rich Rod and Mullen eliminated from contention before the search even started? Those big-name hires just don't make Foley look like a genius, and Foley's ego can't handle not getting the credit. It's probably killing poor Foley to see the Indoor facility going up.
If Mac doesn't work out, who cares? Foley will be 65 and on his way to either retirement or a cushy job at SEC headquarters. Remember, 10 seconds ago this guy was "1,000 % certain" about Will Muschamp,its ridiculous that we let the same guy throw 5 mil a year at a nobody from Podunk.
Why else were Rich Rod and Mullen eliminated from contention before the search even started? Those big-name hires just don't make Foley look like a genius, and Foley's ego can't handle not getting the credit. It's probably killing poor Foley to see the Indoor facility going up.
Of course it is. He talks Meyer into coming back for a year he didn't want to coach. Then he makes the worst football hire at UF in decades, then he gives him an expensive extension after one good season, which wasn't even necessarily resulting from good play. He then makes a promise in the second week of season 3 and sticks to it even after the most embarassing season in UF football history. Then he rides him into season 4, has to be talked into firing him, which he doesn't do, instead allowing him to resign, costing UF more money, and not even being smart enough to put in a clause protecting UF from his next stop and bam, there he is recruiting against us weeks later. So now, in his continuing quest to make UF into Bama East instead of using the talent in state he passes on a splash hire to spend even more money on a ridiculous buyout for another Saban-ite.
Best in the business.
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How many years did Suprrier work under Foley?
I remember every January from 1994 up to the day he left that Spurrier's name was mentioned for nearly every NFL opening. He finally saw what was the right fit when his long time friend Pepper Rodgers was on staff in.Washington.
Why does Foley not get credit for keeping Spurrier happy all of the years they worked together.
And as far as knee gate rumor. The Steve Orr Spurrier I know was never the shy one. He never bit his tongue. He spoke his mind.
Has Spurrier ever been quoted as saying he left because Foley didn't back him during Docket Knee Gate? Anywhere?
I remember every January from 1994 up to the day he left that Spurrier's name was mentioned for nearly every NFL opening. He finally saw what was the right fit when his long time friend Pepper Rodgers was on staff in.Washington.
Why does Foley not get credit for keeping Spurrier happy all of the years they worked together.
And as far as knee gate rumor. The Steve Orr Spurrier I know was never the shy one. He never bit his tongue. He spoke his mind.
Has Spurrier ever been quoted as saying he left because Foley didn't back him during Docket Knee Gate? Anywhere?
If football goes 8-4 next year but our new hire in basketball wins the NCAA championship...then in 2016 football goes 8-4(or similar) is Foley immediately on the burning seat?
If you read what's written there are two camps. Exclude football, Foley is great. Camp two will not be satisfied until football is in the conversation again. So at the end of the day can you overlook the dumpster fire of UF football since the end of '09 for a few Title IX titles or does he need football success?
Football is king at UF - everyone knows that. Donovan was a real big plus but we were excelling in that overall sports stuff a few years before Foley got here
...still more desirable than Foley hiring another football coach.
Football may be king to you and many others but UF is FAR more than that. The AD has a responsibility to the entire university.....not just those of us who focus totally on football.
You nailed it. Spurrier didn't leave because of Foley or anything that had to do with Foley. This is still one of the biggest myths in UF football lore.
He's right though. Football is not only king at UF, it's king everywhere. Only football and basketball are profitable from year to year. Now that doesn't mean any of the other sports are unimportant or shouldn't be celebrated for their successes, but they aren't possible without the revenue from the two major sports, football especially. There's a reason even traditional basketball schools and academics like Stanford are investing heavily in football, it's where the cash is.
Never did understand why you guys jettisoned Dave "Spanky" Hart. I guess he and the President at the time did not see eye to eye?
Look at Michigan St where clearly basketball is king, even they are jumping on and dumping loads of money into football after a few years of success. Football pays the bills
Duke is the same way. Hell even basketball power Kansas paid out 3M to Weis to come coach them hoping to build a big time program. Now again that doesn't diminish the other sports, but football pays the bills.
Spanky, lol. He did say that to SOS back in the day. Yeah, definitely some political issues swirling around back then. We certainly are lacking a visionary at the position now. We are fortunate to have Fisher and now Thrasher running most things. A strong university President and leader of the football program can carry the weight for a while.
The overwhelming majority of the fanbase and alums focus totally on football. Baseball and Men's Basketball get some notice but not a whole lot. The rest? Almost nobody notices anything else.
SOS did tire of fans expectations when losing a game or 2 was a major disappointment. However, Foley's non-support of him in knee-gate was the final straw.
I agree with your first part. Not sure about your second.
On the first part, Spurrier has no one to blame but himself. When he was hired, his message was something like 'I want Florida fans to have high expectations. There is no reason the Florida Gators should not compete for a championship every year and there is no reason fans shuld not expect just that.'
I wish I cold dig up the exact quote. I remember being thrilled when I heard it. And then he backed it up. And finally he whined about fan expectations when Florida was not doing that.
I think rumors of his dissatisfaction over knee-gate is way overblown.
Besides message board rumor over the years, where is this documented? I'm not trying to discredit anything you are saying.
As I said, the Steve Orr Spurrier never hesitated to say what he wanted. He never bit and still doesn't bite his tongue. Why has Spurrier never said this over the years?
Oh I fully admit it's more of an opinion than anything...but an opinion based on sports media reports and Foley's public statements on the matter back in the day.
SOS won't publicly say anything against Foley because in spite of knee-gate, I'm sure they remain close and good friends.
