FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[miac952]

When Dr. Sullivan was hired, the BOT declared that she would oversee a sea change at UST during her tenure. UST has been in the quiet phase of a huge fundraising campaign for some time, with the first part dedicated to scholarships announced last year. There's lots of endowed stuff yet to be announced. .

With Doug Hennes' death and Steve Fritz's retirement, she has two of the most high profile jobs at UST to fill.... it will be an intriguing process for sure.  Wanna bet ole Sid "recommends" Mark Dienhart for the job? I doubt Mark will be considered outside of Sid's column.  A name that piques my interest (albeit very very much a long shot) is UST alum John Schneider. Highly unlikely, but would be an interesting hire for sure.  My money is on a D1 assistant AD  from one of the schools Rev mentioned. Having/not having a football program is not a deal-breaker.

John Schneider's current pay is $4.25 MILLION a year with Seahawks. He would have to make it 40 years in this job to make what he makes as GM in one. This is a $90k to $130k a year job, depending on experience. He is one of the 2-3 most respected GM's in the NFL. One of the most powerful individuals in the NFL isn't walking through the doors to run a DIII athletic department. They may give him a quick call and ask for a name or two.

Dienhart isn't coming back either. He basically ran the school for President Dease and then got caught in the wash of new leadership. This is an important position to fill but expectations need to be tempered a bit. Whoever mentioned Dan O'Brien is spot on with the type of candidate. And BTW Dan O'Brien is one of the most genuine guys around. Check out a bit about what his son has battled while playing football as a walk on with Fleck's gopher team. A spectacular story and family!!

There are a handful of Tommie alums in non-revenue coaching positions or working their way up as Assistant AD's at the D1 level. I suspect you might have two way interest with some of those individuals as well.

[MiacMan]

When Dr. Sullivan was hired, the BOT declared that she would oversee a sea change at UST during her tenure. UST has been in the quiet phase of a huge fundraising campaign for some time, with the first part dedicated to scholarships announced last year. There's lots of endowed stuff yet to be announced. .

With Doug Hennes' death and Steve Fritz's retirement, she has two of the most high profile jobs at UST to fill.... it will be an intriguing process for sure.  Wanna bet ole Sid "recommends" Mark Dienhart for the job? I doubt Mark will be considered outside of Sid's column.  A name that piques my interest (albeit very very much a long shot) is UST alum John Schneider. Highly unlikely, but would be an interesting hire for sure.  My money is on a D1 assistant AD  from one of the schools Rev mentioned. Having/not having a football program is not a deal-breaker.

I thought about Schneider as well, but nobody leaves an NFL job on their own. It's a true good ol' boy's club. Once you're in the club, you're good to go for life or as long as you want it to continue. Besides, he'd take about a 10-fold pay cut.

[sjusection105]

John Schneider's current pay is $4.25 MILLION a year with Seahawks. He would have to make it 40 years in this job to make what he makes as GM in one. This is a $90k to $130k a year job, depending on experience. He is one of the 2-3 most respected GM's in the NFL. One of the most powerful individuals in the NFL isn't walking through the doors to run a DIII athletic department. They may give him a quick call and ask for a name or two.

That's it?  I was under the impression UST burned $100 bill in their central heating system. $90K-$130K doesn't get you much of a UST lifestyle.

[SagatagSam]

Although, Villanova has flagshipped basketball to a national championship level, so that's a whole other animal.

Villanova also has an FCS Football National Championship ('09).

I know this because I married into Nova Nation and my wife was a football athletic trainer on their national championship run.

Also, my in-laws got a good chortle out of the idea that UST views itself as a "peer institution" to Villanova.  None of them had ever heard of the place.  One of my in-laws asked, "St. Thomas? Isn't that school located in the Virgin Islands or something?"

To be fair, they had barely heard of SJU before they met me ("They've got that football coach that's been there for like 100 years, right?")  However, I don't think anyone wearing red tinted glasses on this board is making the assertion that SJU is a "peer institution" to any of those schools.

[miac952]

Although, Villanova has flagshipped basketball to a national championship level, so that's a whole other animal.

Villanova also has an FCS Football National Championship ('09).

I know this because I married into Nova Nation and my wife was a football athletic trainer on their national championship run.

Also, my in-laws got a good chortle out of the idea that UST views itself as a "peer institution" to Villanova.  None of them had ever heard of the place.  One of my in-laws asked, "St. Thomas? Isn't that school located in the Virgin Islands or something?"

To be fair, they had barely heard of SJU before they met me ("They've got that football coach that's been there for like 100 years, right?")  However, I don't think anyone wearing red tinted glasses on this board is making the assertion that SJU is a "peer institution" to any of those schools.

Villanova can only be considered a peer institution based on it being a catholic university with similar enrollment in a big city. The comparisons stop quickly at that point. And this is coming from a UST guy.

Steve Fritz's successor wont be dealing with the Philly police department and Mayor to shut down the city for a victory parade, nor will he be restructuring his basketball coaches contract to $5 million per to keep away NBA suitors from taking him. Nor will he/she be signing a shoe contract that pays the school upwards of $6 million a year.

[jamtod]

Although, Villanova has flagshipped basketball to a national championship level, so that's a whole other animal.

Villanova also has an FCS Football National Championship ('09).

I know this because I married into Nova Nation and my wife was a football athletic trainer on their national championship run.

Also, my in-laws got a good chortle out of the idea that UST views itself as a "peer institution" to Villanova.  None of them had ever heard of the place.  One of my in-laws asked, "St. Thomas? Isn't that school located in the Virgin Islands or something?"

To be fair, they had barely heard of SJU before they met me ("They've got that football coach that's been there for like 100 years, right?")  However, I don't think anyone wearing red tinted glasses on this board is making the assertion that SJU is a "peer institution" to any of those schools.

Villanova can only be considered a peer institution based on it being a catholic university with similar enrollment in a big city. The comparisons stop quickly at that point. And this is coming from a UST guy.

Steve Fritz's successor wont be dealing with the Philadelphia police department to shut down the city for a victory parade, nor will he be restructuring his basketball coaches contract to $5 million per to keep away NBA suitors from taking him.

I think any of the references to peer institutions have to be seen in the light of long term planning, not current national standing. A number of UST's academic programs could compare well to a place like Villanova, Dayton, or SLU. Particularly in the Business and Philosophy departments, maybe others that I am less acquainted with.

[Pat Coleman]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

[sjusection105]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

So, who are UST peers? Other MICA institutions or the other institutions the Rev. has listed?

[jamtod]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

So, who are UST peers? Other MICA institutions or the other institutions the Rev. has listed?

Yes.

[Pat Coleman]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

So, who are UST peers? Other MICA institutions or the other institutions the Rev. has listed?

Carleton and Macalester wouldn't necessarily list MIAC institutions as their peers, for, reasons, and I think the same can be said for St. Thomas. Because of their institution size, they can consider themselves in a different category.

Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins isn't really the same as other Centennial Conference schools. Tufts isn't the same as other NESCAC schools. Ithaca isn't the same as other Liberty League schools.

[sjusection105]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

So, who are UST peers? Other MICA institutions or the other institutions the Rev. has listed?

Carleton and Macalester wouldn't necessarily list MIAC institutions as their peers, for, reasons, and I think the same can be said for St. Thomas. Because of their institution size, they can consider themselves in a different category.

Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins isn't really the same as other Centennial Conference schools. Tufts isn't the same as other NESCAC schools. Ithaca isn't the same as other Liberty League schools.

A different category, yet only paying $90K to $130K to find an upper echelon AD?
I'm not in the know about AD pay, but doesn't this seem light? This coming from a guy who has spent his entire adult life in the private sector. 

[jamtod]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

So, who are UST peers? Other MICA institutions or the other institutions the Rev. has listed?

Carleton and Macalester wouldn't necessarily list MIAC institutions as their peers, for, reasons, and I think the same can be said for St. Thomas. Because of their institution size, they can consider themselves in a different category.

Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins isn't really the same as other Centennial Conference schools. Tufts isn't the same as other NESCAC schools. Ithaca isn't the same as other Liberty League schools.

A different category, yet only paying $90K to $130K to find an upper echelon AD?
I'm not in the know about AD pay, but doesn't this seem light? This coming from a guy who has spent his entire adult life in the private sector.

I don't recall who suggested the $90-130k range, but that seems incredibly light to me. I don't know what basis was used for that estimate.

[USTBench]

Regardless of what one might think of the choices of whom UST sees as peers, defining peer institutions extends beyond athletic prowess or athletic affiliation.

Like I said. Villanova's hoops team is a whole other animal. Similarly with Georgetown (non-scholarship FCS),  Marquette (no football team), Creighton (no football), Villanova has decided to put all their eggs in the hoops basket about 50 years ago, and haven't looked back.

Outside of that, they're all Catholic institutions, with about 6K-7K undergrads, 3K-4K post-graduates, in urban areas, with about a $400 million to $700 million endowment. Sounds somewhat familiar.

I think when SJU rubes hear "peer institution" they think "Get a load of this guy. He thinks UST should be in the Big East."

Not what Rev was saying. But UST had a goal to go from being a regionally recognized university to a nationally recognized university and they are in the process of implementing that strategy, and those are absolutely the schools they are looking to emulate. I think everyone recognizes it's a process, and there is the question of how you manage athletics if that's the trajectory you want to go, because it used to be you could flagship one sport and play Division III in everything else, that's not the case anymore. Schools like RPI, Union, Colorado College, Johns Hopkins, have been grandfathered-in. I'm not sure that everyone even knows Georgetown has a football team, but they do, just like Butler, Valpo and Drake, they just hung their hat on hoops.

If you walked around any one of those campuses and saw their athletic facilities, you would think you're at a DIII school. there's a reason why Villanova, Drake, Georgetown, Marquette play the bulk of their games off-campus at local NBA or municipal arenas.

IF, and that's a big IF, UST decides to go on to Division 1, the way that would make the most sense would be to join the Pioneer League in football and play a non-scholarship schedule against the likes of Valpo, Dayton, Drake, Marist and Davidson, and join the Horizon League in everything else and play Detroit Mercy, Oakland, IUPUI, Wright State, Green Bay, etc.

Now, the question is, does that really move the meter for anyone? Not me. You'd basically be playing for the hope of getting a #15 seed in the NCAA tournament where if you'll most likely get stomped by 30 by Duke or Kentucky, and in football you'd be playing for the honor of getting stomped by NDSU in the first round of the FCS playoffs. I'd rather play St. John's in numerous things throughout the year and try to win National Championships.

To me, the only way it'd be even remotely worth it, is if they could convince SJU/CSB to do the same thing, pump in enough money to join the MVFC for football and Summit League in everything else, and I really don't see that happening at all.

SOOOOO...I'm happy where they're at.

[SJUrube]

Can't recall ever speaking to Coach Fritz but one thing I noticed was how consistently he was at UST sporting events. I realize this is part of the job description but I'm not sure how often I can recall seeing other ADs at a three team track meet (to be fair I don't know how many other MIAC ADs I could pick out of a lineup).

I haven't seen it posted here but Reusse wrote another good one about Fritz, Coach Smith and old days of of Johnnie v Tommie hoops. http://www.startribune.com/fritz-and-smith-have-hoops-stories-to-share-from-hot-box-and-rat-hall/492960701/

[faunch]

Do you really want UST to go D1? You guys love to complain about how UST has gone about superseding SJ2 in academics and athletics. If we're in an entirely different division, what will be left to occupy your time?

Never said I want them to move up however with the comparison to schools that are D1 maybe it's time to piss or get off the proverbial pot? Shouldn't peer school comparisons include every aspect of the college / university (academic offerings, athletics offerings, religious affiliation, location, enrollment, etc..)? Yes U$T have many things in common with Dayton, San Diego and Villanova however one striking difference is that they all play D1 athletics.
Considering this is a football forum it would seem logical to address U$T's place in D3 athletics if they wish to be compared to the aforementioned institutions.