Tuesday Tidbits

'11 Football ACC & Other ACC Teams Baseball College Football Tom O'Brien11

August 16, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Mon. practice report: O’Brien talks individuals

How’s the precision of the offensive line?

It’s better now. It was good, [Duran] Christophe went down and it got bad. It’s starting to get better. You only get better when you get cohesion. I think they took a little bit of beating the last scrimmage but they won’t get the same opportunity to run the ball – we ran the ball better last scrimmage. They’re going to have to run those balls Saturday against a stacked defense, trying to get the ball back with a lot of people so we’ll see how they do then.

At Boston College, you had a reputation for building those big offensive guys. Is it harder to get those linemen down here or did it take longer than most people realize to build those lines up there?

I think it took a while. I say all the time, people always remember the last five years, not the first five years that I was there. It takes a while. I think the biggest thing right now is, over the past couple years, we lost [Denzelle] Good, Sam Jones and we lost [Torian] Box this year. You keep losing guys like that and that sets you back, it’s tough to replace those kind of guys when you go forward. Hence, when we got here, we had to start signing [Junior College] guys and things like that to fill in. We’re still getting the development going but I think we’re on track. Certainly, there are some guys up front right now that have a chance to make an NFL football team if they continue to work at it.

GoPack.com
Opening STATEment: Episode 6

DAY 13

The weekend offered a brief rest period for the sore muscles the Wolfpack may have developed over the first two weeks of practice, as Saturday marked this season’s media day, Meet the Pack Day, and team photo session. Players arrived Saturday morning and suited up for a marathon photo shoot that included individual shots, the 2011 team picture, and photos of virtually every other relevant combination of players that NC State media relations could dream up (seniors, position units, players from North Carolina, etc.).

Media day quickly followed, as the press stockpiled sound bites and footage to fill newscasts in the upcoming weeks.

After lunch, the Pack headed out to the stadium concourse for Meet the Pack Day, signing autographs and mingling with their loyal fan base in what has become a cherished tradition for many of the players. In this episode’s video feature, Opening STATEment follows Dean Haynes through this rigorous, but rewarding, day.

FORMER STATE PLAYERS

Audio
Wilson is all Badgers can talk about

NC STATE BASEBALL

J. MIKE BLAKE (N&O)
Rodon won’t sign with Brewers

The North Carolina high school baseball player of the year will be matriculating to N.C. State.

Left-hander Carlos Rodon, who led Holly Springs to the state 4A title last season, will not sign with the Milwaukee Brewers, according to his mother Julie Rodon.

ACC TEAMS

BARRY JACKSON (MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS)
NCAA eyes Miami over alleged gifts and favors

Perez said Shapiro has given the NCAA the names of “well over a dozen but less than 100” former football players who accepted his gifts.

Shapiro, during interviews with The Miami Herald in 2010, mentioned Devin Hester, Randy Phillips, Jon Beason, Antrel Rolle and Kyle Wright among former players he had close relationships with. He also spoke of being close with Clint Hurtt, Miami’s former recruiting coordinator who left after the 2009 season to take a job at Louisville. Shapiro has said he took players to dinner and bought them gifts.

When Shapiro presented his allegations to The Miami Herald in August 2010, he was asked if he had evidence to support them. He said he could provide pictures of players at his home and other photographs that would suggest he was paying for their gifts and services, but did not offer any financial records to corroborate his claims
But Perez, asked Monday if Shapiro has evidence to support his allegations, said, “Absolutely. He has different photos, phone records, credit card statements and bills.”

Perez said she has given evidence to the NCAA but declined to elaborate. “They asked for proof, but I can’t say what I sent them,” she said. “But they obtained a lot of documentation.”

Jim Young (ACCSportsJournal)
Swofford, ACC, Quietly Studied 14- and 16-Team Models Last Year

ACCSports.com:
What do you mean by the culture and family? Many coaches say their program is a family, but few coaches actually achieve that closeness.

Swofford:
In our league, when we talk about that tradition of a family culture, it starts with relationships within the league among the ADs, among the presidents and the faculty representatives, among the coaches. It has to do with a respect for each other, a general level of trust, a belief that the fundamental value system is the same from one school to the next, a buy-in to the academic-athletic balance of this league and a willingness and ability to make decisions that are in the collective best interest in the long run, as opposed to individual institutional best interests in the short run.
I think we maintain that extraordinarily well.

ACCSports.com:
Is that reflected in the fact that there are very few ACC schools that go on probation, which would be a different standard but a related standard?

Swofford:
It is, and that has to do with the integrity of the programs. I think this league has been built on a tripod, if you will, of athletics, academics and overall integrity.
There are bumps in the road, there have been bumps in the road, there probably will be bumps in the road. Any time you do something that is at the human level this is at, and the interest level, you’re going to have people that periodically make some mistakes or do some things that you’d rather they not do or make mistakes you’d rather they not make.
But when you look at this league from a relative standpoint over the last decade, or over the last 15 years, we’ve had far fewer NCAA major violations than any other conference. It’s not even close. And that’s the way we’d like to keep it. That’s what our schools expect of each other. When there is a problem, there’s an expectation that that institution will deal with that problem immediately, emphatically and effectively.

UNC FALLOUT

Tar Heel Fan (Tarheelfanblog)
Football News And Notes

• Donte Paige-Moss is back on the practice field after being out for a “medical issue” which no one has said what it is.
• Also on the field is safety Brandon Ellerbe who finally received clearance from the NCAA. The secondary is an obvious area of need for this team and having as many bodies back there as possible would help

EXPANSION
For now, we’re mired in semantics, but this thing ain’t over. Texas A&M has its sights on seceding from the Big XII; but questions remain.

CBSSPorts.com:

Monday was an eventful day for developments on Texas A&M’s conference affiliation. The Aggies appear to be at least one step closer to joining the SEC, but Texas A&M’s president didn’t set a timetable on change, nor even confirmed that Texas A&M would be leaving the Big 12.

— The Texas State House Committee on Higher Education canceled a hearing scheduled for Tuesday that would have involved officials from Texas A&M, the SEC, and the Big 12.

Committee chair Dan Branch had said that making any conference moves without meeting with his committee first would be “inappropriate,” but according to Kirk Bohls, Branch postponed the meeting because Texas A&M had yet to “complete anything.” Branch added that the hearing may re-convene at a later date.

— As expected, the Texas A&M Board of Regents authorized Loftin to “take all actions relating to Texas A&M University’s athletic conference alignment.”

ESPN.com:

“We’ve made no decision about terminating our relationship with the Big 12,” Loftin said. “This is all about what is best for Texas A&M, along with … visibility for us and our athletes and financial resources. That’s what it’s all about. I think anybody in my shoes would have exactly the same kinds of concerns.”

He said there is no timetable for any decision and any realignment by Texas A&M will take place after a “lengthy” process. He acknowledged that Texas A&M had approached the SEC, which has won the last five BCS championships in football but on Sunday reaffirmed its 12-school membership while leaving the door open to expansion.

“There is no bid,” Loftin said. “There has never been a bid to invite us into the SEC at any time in the past and if it were to occur in the future, we would certainly want to evaluate that.”

It seems plausible that the “timeframe” will be determined by whomever the 14th member is, as it seems unlikely the SEC, if it expands, will go from 12 to 13, but rather 12 to 14 (or 16). This could certainly change, but sources say the SEC will only expand outside its existing footprint, which includes Virginia and/or North Carolina.

Meanwhile, we’re wondering how the Big XII will react (Kansas City Star):

While Texas A&M is welcome to remain in the Big 12, Kansas State president Kirk Schulz said today that the conference should aggressively pursue options if the Aggies leave.

“It would be foolish for the Big 12 Conference not to do some contingency planning,” Schulz told The Star on Monday.

“That’s why I think we’re pushing hard to keep A&M, but we’re really looking at as if they decide to depart, who do we want to add? I look at those as parallel, not, ‘Well, we’re going to wait until we hear from A&M and then look at what to do next.’ We really feel like we need to be ready to go.”

Should Texas A&M defect from the Big 12, presidents and athletic directors from the conference’s other nine schools have told Schulz they plan to look at adding teams that will return the Big 12 to a 10-or 12-team league.

“That is the clear direction that the board of directors wants to move in,” Schulz said. “The chances of seeing a nine-member Big 12 for any length of time are pretty small.”

Possible targets have been rumored to be Air Force, Houston, Louisville, and even TCU (which plans to join the Big East in 2012). There have been reports that Memphis has serious corporate backing from FedEx to facilitate a move to a BCS conference, so perhaps they’re an option as well.

Don’t forget to go on over to the SFN Forums and join the many discussions as we await September 3rd.

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."

'11 Football ACC & Other ACC Teams Baseball College Football Tom O'Brien

11 Responses to Tuesday Tidbits

  1. BJD95 08/16/2011 at 7:16 AM #

    Very funny remarks from Swofford, given that GT is already on probation, FSU having just had their knuckles rapped over academic misdeeds, and the Holes and Canes both staring at a serious “timeout” in the near future.

    Some people like to make the easy assumption that if you’re not any good on the field, then it must be because you are doing things “the right way.”

    Oops.

  2. TOBtime 08/16/2011 at 7:40 AM #

    Swofford is about the biggest sanctimonious piece of crap in the ACC. “As opposed to individual institutional best interests in the short run” should say I’m all for anything advancing the ACC (making me look good) as long as it benefits my alma mater (the hole) in the process.

    Prince tassel-loafers has spoken.

  3. gotohe11carolina 08/16/2011 at 9:14 AM #

    just out of curiosity but what do these schools do with all this windfall of profit they generate from sports? does some of that money go back into the school or is it just put right back into athletics? if it goes right back into athletics why does it even matter how much revenue your sports teams generate if none of that money finds its way to the lecture halls? I love my wolfpack sports as much as anyone here, but what does it rightly matter for the average student? my tuition doubled while I was at state meanwhile I got larger classes, couldn’t print for free anymore and all the while payer more money into the student services which in part goes to pay for my football and basketball tix. I guess if this money were going to pay for more professors and top level research I’d be in favor of us finding a bigger slice of the pie but as it stands I just don’t know where the money is going.

    is there any transparency in this process? it should be public record right?

  4. baxter 08/16/2011 at 9:37 AM #

    Most institutions operate in the red, not the green when it comes to athletics.

    Per the NCAA finances database:
    2009-2010
    NC State:
    Operating Rev – $49,459,002.00
    Operating Expenses – $45,880,314.00

    UNC:
    Operating Rev – $72,825,407.00
    Operating Exp – $72,685,335.00

  5. BJD95 08/16/2011 at 9:42 AM #

    The more revenue you take in, the better facilities you can have and the more scholarships you can offer outside of the revenue sports (in theory).

  6. baxter 08/16/2011 at 9:43 AM #

    From a 2007 article:
    http://coia.comm.psu.edu/News%20of%20interest/College%20athletics%20budgets%20are%20bulging%20but%20their%20profits%20are%20slm%20to%20none%20-%20Sports%20Business%20Journal%2018%20June%2007.pdf

    “Petr’s report stated that of the 117 colleges in Division I-A, the average total revenue per athletic
    department was $35.59 million and the average total cost was $34.57 million.
    That is, it appears as though the average I-A athletic department ran a $1.02 million surplus. Not bad.

    What’s missing? Lots.

    First, the total revenue figure includes student fees allocated to athletics. This sum amounted to an
    average of $2.46 million an institution in 2004-05, up from $1.425 million in 2000-01.
    Second, the figure also includes what is called “direct institutional support,” such as outright budgetary
    grants or services provided to the department. These amounted to $2.985 million in 2004-05, up from
    $2.525 million in 2000-01.
    Third, the revenue figure also includes direct government support to athletics, but Petr’s report gives no
    data on this category. Overall, the sum of athletic department revenue from these subsidies came to an
    average of $7.69 million a school.
    If we subtract this allocation from the total revenue average, we find that the average I-A athletic
    department generated $27.9 million in revenue in 2004-05. This means that without the institutional and
    government subsidies, the average department ran a deficit of $6.67 million.
    Put differently, 95 of the 117 I-A schools lost money on their intercollegiate athletic programs when
    subsidies are excluded”

  7. gotohe11carolina 08/16/2011 at 10:07 AM #

    so from the data its safe to assume that athletics are more of a burden than a benefit? I just don’t understand I guess. I would’ve thought that that institutions wouldn’t really bother if there weren’t money to be made. are there any figures including merchandising? maybe that’s where the deficits are being made up. I’ll confess my complete ignorance here. I just want to understand how the current financial situation benefits the schools much less any subsequent models that increase costs like a countrywide conference structure.

    is athletics really just like the schools owning a boat?

  8. tapinpar 08/16/2011 at 10:08 AM #

    From Swofford:
    “When there is a problem, there’s an expectation that that institution will deal with that problem immediately, emphatically and effectively.”

    What amazes me is how there is no follow-up question to that comment in the vein of “So, do you feel all member institutions (e.g. the current UNC situation) are living up to this expectation?”…

  9. VaWolf82 08/16/2011 at 10:15 AM #

    Analysis of “average” numbers is fraught with problems. What’s true for BCS schools isn’t necessarily true for the smaller conferences. Whether that difference is “good” or “bad” is immaterial. The differences could easily sway any conclusions that are reached when looking only at the average numbers.

    There is no logical reason to subtract student fees from the athletic dept budget and then draw conclusions. Students get free or reduced seats to the sporting events and it makes sense to spread that cost out.

    As far as money from state taxes, that is an issue between the politicians and the tax payers of that state. Personally, I wouldn’t want my tax money to support athletics while cutting budgets to the university. But my opinion (or yours) shouldn’t be used to dictate policy to another state.

    To answer a different question…I’m not aware of any athletic dept that subsidizes the university. However, it has been shown over and over again that successful athletic programs amount to millions of dollars in free advertising targeted at prospective students. The cases that come quickly to mind are UNC (post Jordan), VT (post Vick and before dog fighting), and Appy State (after several I-AA national championships).

    This advertising advantage is completely ignored by these NCAA analyses because they look at prospective students as a zero-sum game. The fact that in some cases kids learned about a particular school because of athletics is meaningless to these analyses, but it should be in the fore front of an individual university’s strategic plans.

  10. projectwentynine 08/16/2011 at 12:10 PM #

    “Prince tassel-loafers”

    hahaha That guy is terrible.

  11. packalum44 08/16/2011 at 12:32 PM #

    “Most institutions operate in the red, not the green when it comes to athletics.”

    Firstly the numbers are not audited nor consistent among institutions so I they are likely materially misstated. Secondly BJD makes a good point…athletic programs are not in the business of retaining earnings, at least not in the long run. Just because a program is spending every dime they makes, if well spent, like on scholarships, facilities etc…then that’s fine. That’s what they’re supposed to do.

    Also these numbers don’t account for donations through athletic clubs which have to be looked at in tandem to gain holistic insight into a program’s revenue and standing.

    Bottom line is that the Pack has been under-performing any way you look at the numbers, and Yow’s strategy is to grow the top line, whereas FlubberGut was taking the lazy approach and just cutting costs.

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