On the Banks

The elephant in the room

2012-02-04T22:37:58Z

The elephant in the room

This thread from the Grease Truck forum is very, very interesting with regards to the ongoing topic of the athletic subsidies. I have been thinking some similar thoughts, but did not think raising them publicly would go over all that well...

So credit ondeadline for that, and noticing that Bloomberg's story (which I've probably read ten or so times over the past few months) actually has a link to RU's 2010 revenues and expenses report. How the heck do I miss something like that? That is very, very interesting reading, although grouping all of the general athletic expenses together provides a frustrating lack of closure. However, if anyone does have a copy of the 2011 report, that would be a useful refutation of Killingsworth, et al.

Several other Rutgers assistants who remain on the school's staff, including offensive coordinator...

2012-02-04T22:00:44Z

Several other Rutgers assistants who remain on the school's staff, including offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bob Fraser, are expected to join the Bucs' staff by early next week.

Goodbye, Frank Cignetti. Thanks for begin a legitimate FBS offensive coordinator. Greg Schiano owes you a debt for making the offense halfway decent enough to get him a NFL job this year.

Guess that means the only rumored departure who might still be in the mix for Rutgers is Jeff Hafley. Who it would be nice to keep, but is not a necessity. (Don't forget, most of his NJ success at Pitt came after Joe Susan left Rutgers, and Schiano mistakenly thought he could get by without another NJ-focused recruiter.)

Schiano reportedly will interview Mark Whipple for the Tampa OC job, which might mean that:

1. Cignetti will only be QB coach.
2. Any rumors of bad blood between Schiano and Whipple were unfounded, or at least not bad enough to be overcome by professional opportunity.

In other news, another report has Kyle Flood talking with Rob Spence for the WR coach job. That would be fine, although Spence was not a good OC at Syracuse or Clemson. Spence is one of a number of DI assistants who were on staff with Flood at Hofstra and Delaware, including Dan Quinn, Dave Brock, Dave Cohen, Warren Ruggiero, Raheem Morris, Bryan Bossard, Paul Williams, and former Rutgers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. I'm going to put a few lists together soon, throwing together pretty much anyone with ties to the area.

Rutgers/Louisville gamethread

2012-02-04T20:00:17Z

Unlike Providence and DePaul, Louisville is a genuinely good opponent. Therefore, Rutgers will win, or at least get pretty close. Right?

Rutgers at Louisville: Big East Basketball Preview

2012-02-04T15:51:38Z

After a disappointing effort, Rutgers tries to bounce back against #25 Louisville. Louisville is a bit beat up this year. After starting the year as a pre-season favorite in the Big East, they've plummeted in the rankings a bit. Peyton Siva is still a force to be reckoned with, and Rick Pitino teams always shoot the ball well from long range.

Tough match-up for Rutgers, on the road. Keys to the game after the jump...

1. Break the Press and Penetrate the Zone: The Cardinals have always pressed teams and forced turnovers. When they do, they make you pay with 3s in transition. Rutgers' young guards are going to have to play smart. When they get the ball over the halfcourt line, you have to penetrate at least to the free throw line. Myles Mack's teardrop worked early in the Providence game, and that would be a powerful weapon here.

2. Control Tempo: Rutgers needs to pick its spots to run and make lay-ups. At the same time, they need to play a grueling half court game, basically execute the gameplan they didn't against the Friars. Run Louisville players through screens and wear them out. Get fouled or make shots late in the shot clock. Exhaust Louisville so they don't have their legs at the end of the game.

3. Feed the Big Men: Gilvydas Biruta, Derrick Randall, and Austin Johnson have to get touches. Lay-ups, dunks, and 1s. They need to be in the offense. That will open it up for Eli Carter and Mack from deep later in the game. Don't be jacking shots, just to throw 'em up. Execute a smart offense. Get to the line.

4. Close Out: If the Cardinals are going to beat Rutgers, force them to do it from inside. Don't let Kyle Kuric get open and shoot the three. Force them to get the ball inside and battle with RU's big men. Close out on the three point shooters and make them uncomfortable.

5. Dane Miller, Dane Miller, Dane Miller: As he goes, so go the Scarlet Knights.

Game is available on SNY at 4 pm. Bounce back from the Friar game, please.

P.J. Fleck leaves NIU after one day, and the assistant coaching carousel keeps spinning

2012-02-04T14:31:12Z

P.J. Fleck leaves NIU after one day, and the assistant coaching carousel keeps spinning

If you think Rutgers fans are coming off as jilted lovers, this won't make any fans in DeKalb for their former favorite son. If one is resigning from an offensive coordinator job after one day, it could mean that Fleck could not bare to leave New Jersey. It is just speculation though, however, more likely is the possibility that Tampa just found a new WR coach.

By the way, it was also announced yesterday that John McNulty was promoted to QB coach in Florida, which may explain Schiano's possible interest in rehiring Frank Cignetti.

Schiano's hiring practices may seem odd from a NFL perspective, but they are not unprecedented. Let's look at Joe Philbin's new staff in Miami.

OC: Mike Sherman (2011 Texas A&M HC, obviously has a NFL history as well.)
QB: Ken O'Keefe (2011 Iowa offensive coordinator)
Asst QB: Zac Taylor (2011 Texas A&M assistant)
OL: Jim Turner (2011 Texas A&M OL coach, and oddly enough, the guy who followed Kyle Flood at Delaware)
DL: Randy Melvin (spent 2011 in CFL after being fired by Greg Schiano, previously bounced back and forth between college in the NFL)
DB: Lou Anarumo (2011 Purdue DB coach, notable mainly for being their NJ recruiter.)

One story yesterday had Melvin going to the Dolphins, which at least was useful as a basis for comparison. Both Schiano and Philbin are experimenting with mostly college staffs.

But wait! There's more! Another story today says that Melvin is going to the Bucs, not the Dolphins. That could be a simple geography mixup, or, Schiano is really dead set on only hiring former Rutgers coaches in Tampa. I lean towards the former, if only because Schiano let Melvin go a year ago (although that may not have been entirely deserved.) If he was going to hire a DL coach, wouldn't he go for one of the best ones in the country in Gary Emanuel? Even though Emanuel reportedly left because he was sick of Schiano forcing the staff to work crazy hours?

The Rutgers faculty resolution on athletic subsidies

2012-02-03T22:02:21Z

Note: I have been trading emails with Prof. Killingsworth on this issue. While we strongly disagree on the causes of the athletics subsidy, of the nature of the current crises imperiling the school, and on most (but not all) of this resolution, he is a decent, thoughtful man who cares as deeply about the future of Rutgers University as we all do. As all Rutgers alumni and New Jerseyans know, it is very important to maintain a level of collegiality within the confines of reasonable debate and discourse. I may try to interview Prof, Killingsworth in the future if our schedules permit it. He also pointed out that the resolution does not specifically mention football, although most of the resolutions supporters clearly equate football with the entire athletic department.

Below, the faculty resolution is reprinted in full.

We hereby call on the University administration and the Board of Governors to increase the transparency of the intercollegiate athletic budget; to reduce the University subsidy of the intercollegiate athletic program; and to put the question of compulsory student fees for athletics to a student referendum.

During fiscal 2010 – the last year for which complete figures are available – the University's total subsidy to the athletic program was $26.9 million: 42 percent of the total athletic budget. ($18.4 million came from University discretionary funds; another $8.4 million came from student fees.) This was over 50 percent more than the median for the 120 largest programs in the NCAA. Since fiscal 2005, the University has poured $135 million in student fees and discretionary funds into the program, and has spent hundreds of millions more to build or upgrade athletic facilities. In September 2011, the administration announced that the University's subsidy from discretionary funds for fiscal 2012 would be $1 million less than the fiscal 2011 figure. This is a step in the right direction, but it amounts to a reduction of only about five percent. Moreover, even after this cut, the fiscal 2012 subsidy paid via discretionary funds will be $500,000 higher than in fiscal 2010; and student fees will push the budget up by at least an additional $600,000 relative to fiscal 2010.

The Rutgers Athletic Director recently told Bloomberg that athletics doesn't make enough money to do without the University subsidies, and President McCormick has admitted that athletics will probably never make money for the University. This should come as no surprise: even previously obscure institutions like the University of Central Florida and Boise State now compete in athletics at the national level. As more and more institutions seek a piece of the pie, they drive up costs. And since other institutions don't want to be left behind, they ratchet up their spending on athletics still further. The result is an arms race with no nonproliferation treaty that imposes ever-higher costs on every school that participates.

In sum, as all these developments tell us, spending large amounts of money has not moved, and will not move, Rutgers to the top in athletics. Likewise, it is a delusion to think that the Rutgers athletic program would finally do better if only we spent still more money on it.

Even as the University has steadily increased its subsidies to the athletic program, both State government and the University administration have steadily reduced funding for the academic program. In the three fiscal years ending in June 2012, state funding for Rutgers fell by $29 million. Faculty and staff salaries have been frozen; academic departments have had to take away professors' desk phones; tuition and student fees have increased; doctoral program enrollments have been cut; class sizes have gone up; course offerings and hiring have been curtailed. Since departments can't afford to hire regular faculty, they increasingly have to make do with part-timers, adjuncts, and graduate students to cover their swollen enrollments.

The consequences of the University's cuts to the academic program were entirely predictable. In 1997, U.S. News & World Report ranked Rutgers sixteenth among undergraduate programs at major state supported universities; as of Fall 2011, Rutgers had slipped to a two-way tie for #25. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities (the "Shanghai ranking"), Rutgers fell from #38 (in 2003) to #59 (in 2011). In 1995, the National Research Council ranked eleven of Rutgers' graduate programs among the top 25 in their respective fields; in the latest rankings, released last fall, there were only eight.

Thus, the University administration and the Board of Governors have led the University into the worst of all possible worlds: a costly but unsuccessful athletic program, and an academic program under severe threat.

We therefore call on our colleagues and on faculty and student organizations to join with us in asking for new priorities and procedures concerning the athletic program:

There is a serious lack of transparency concerning the athletic program budget; this must change. At present, the athletic program budget is not disclosed for at least six months after the end of each fiscal year, and information on program expenditures and revenues is closely held. We ask the University administration to report annually to the faculty on its three-year plan for the athletic budget. The first such report, to be presented no later than April 15, 2012, would review the fiscal years 2011, 2012 and 2013, and would discuss, in particular, the projected University subsidy and student fee allocation for athletics in these years.
It is time to recognize that the athletic program budget is unsustainable and – in this era of financial stringency – imposes unacceptably large demands on the University’s resources. We call on the University administration and the Board of Governors to freeze the dollar amount of the University subsidy for fiscal 2013 at the level planned for fiscal 2012, and to reduce the subsidy amount in every subsequent fiscal year until, as of fiscal 2016, the subsidy is no more than $13 million (approximately $1 million below the average level of the subsidy during fiscal years 2005-2007).
We ask that the question of compulsory student fee allocations for the athletic program be put to a student referendum no later than April 15, 2012, and that in the absence of a majority vote these fee allocations be eliminated completely by July 1, 2013.

Why Rutgers Should Not Hire Tom Bradley

2012-02-03T21:21:15Z

There has been a lot of speculation about the possibility of Rutgers hiring Tom Bradley as their new defensive coordinator, and the majority of Rutgers supporters out there seem very excited about that possibility.

I am not excited at all by the possibility of Bradley joining Flood's staff.

First of all, let me explain that this has nothing to do with him as an actual coach, as I know he is terrific at his job.

Now, onto the reasons.

Bradley Wants to be a Head Coach- What's the point of hiring Bradley if the entire time he'll be looking out for other opportunities? Rutgers is a F.A.M.I.L.Y. and Bradley cannot be a part of that if he's half in and half out of the door.

Bradley Would Challenge Flood's Status- I worry that Bradley would challenge new coach Kyle Flood too much, to the point that Flood is focused more on keeping his job than actually winning games. Flood would likely know Bradley wants to be the Head Coach, so the added pressure is not needed.

Leave Us Alone, Penn State- I do not want any of Penn State's problems trickling into Rutgers territory. I don't know if he's clean, but if Bradley had anything to do with anything involving the Sandusky case, we're going to hear a lot about it. That's not going to be fun.

Keep It Inside- Rutgers hired their Head Coach from within, so why not hire the defensive coordinator from within? It all goes back to the F.A.M.I.L.Y. saying, if they really mean it they should promote from within.

Coaches Leave, No One Tells The Recruits - Only Grownups at RU are High School Seniors

2012-02-03T06:33:31Z

According to an inside source, Angelichio, Fraser, Hafley and Cignetti (as well as Jay Butler) will be joining Schiano in Tampa Bay. Now, as a caveat, I'm not a beat reporter with a big circle of sources. But, I trust this one source a lot.

Quite frankly, I've never been this pissed about Rutgers football ever. I get it - Schiano left for a great opportunity that moved quicker than anyone could have hoped. But, this is deliberate disrespect from Schiano and those that are leaving with him. The recruits were sold on the belief that most of the staff would stay intact. And, for those that are leaving now, it's cowardly to wait until after signing day to make this move. For Schiano, it's one thing to take your own lumps. But, he's now complicit in allowing others to breach their own trust with others.

I just spoke to a 2012 signee who will remain anonymous. He just confirmed that he was completely unaware of any pending or potential moves. In fact, his exact words were "shocked" if this was true.

I personally think it's also an absolute shame that after what the recruits went through, no one reached out to the recruits to keep them in the loop. They're already signed. They're not gonna go anywhere if they heard the news now or next week. They deserved to be kept in the loop either by the coaches that left or the current program. Quite frankly, if there was one class that was composed of grown ups, this is it. Give them the respect to be treated as such.

Here's the silver lining to this. The signee confirmed that while he thinks his classmates will be similarly "shocked," the 2012 class didn't sign with Rutgers because of the coaching staff. Schiano's departure taught them there are no certainties with coaches in the college game. He emphatically stated that he and his classmates committed to play with each other, represent New Jersey, and be a part of turning Rutgers into a national power.

I suggest every single Rutgers fan cheer your asses off on every play for these kids. They deserve it, because they showed integrity in the face of cowards and adversity. They saved Rutgers football - no one else.