FIRE WALT BELL!

Get ready for some MACtion
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Steve81
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by Steve81 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:31 am

Liberty has bowl tie-ins. New Mexico, UMass, and UConn do not. Having a bowl tie-in whether through conference or other deals is important.
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Re: DON'T FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:37 am

Gotta see what happens after a 2nd full year. Need to see a positive trajectory, even if the record still isn't great.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by McKinney » Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:58 am

I don't think football folding is a nonstarter. I'd hate to see it, don't see it under this admin, and would hope it's only a very slim possibility if we had a trigger-happy AD & Chancellor & President.

But I guess my main opinion on it was I don't think there'd be any beneficiaries from it shutting down. There are limited to no "reinvestment" possibilities.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by eldonabe » Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:45 am

Steve81 wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:45 am
Camby4Life wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:16 am
philosopher wrote: Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:07 pm Nothing to offer other than to thank everyone: it has been an entire week.since anyone posted on this thread. :lol:
Thank you for bumping this thread back to the top. It’s just perfect, including the all caps title. It will remain here until Bell can win another game.
So glad you guys take the time to piss over the football program. Even with your great posts and advise have not helped the basketball program do more than a one and done this century. Perhaps you should band together and start a consulting firm based on your sage advise and knowledge how it has propelled basketball and other sports to the promise land.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by ZooMass84 » Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:36 pm

McKinney wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:58 am I don't think football folding is a nonstarter. I'd hate to see it, don't see it under this admin, and would hope it's only a very slim possibility if we had a trigger-happy AD & Chancellor & President.

But I guess my main opinion on it was I don't think there'd be any beneficiaries from it shutting down. There are limited to no "reinvestment" possibilities.
So you actually think there is a chance of football folding? as horrendous as the last 9 years have been, I think there is zero chance of football folding.

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by McKinney » Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:14 am

ZooMass84 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:36 pm So you actually think there is a chance of football folding? as horrendous as the last 9 years have been, I think there is zero chance of football folding.
I think it would spoil Bamfords career so not under him. I don't think the move would negatively impact Subbaswamy or Mehan. But it also wouldn't be advantageous. So not under this admin.

Under another admin? If we've gone 20 years without success (which I'd put more weight on burning money vs alumni participation rate than on wins/losses) and a new President, Chancellor, and/or AD are in charge could I see them saying "the experiment was a failure" and considering their options? I wouldn't put it at zero. Not outside the possibility that a committee could form, research, and persuade the higher ups.

I think it nearly happened a few years ago with the faculty Senate and we just happened to have a Chancellor who valued FBS football (and its institutional value in fundraising, etc.) and silenced it.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by ZooMass84 » Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:23 am

McKinney wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:14 am
ZooMass84 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:36 pm So you actually think there is a chance of football folding? as horrendous as the last 9 years have been, I think there is zero chance of football folding.
I think it would spoil Bamfords career so not under him. I don't think the move would negatively impact Subbaswamy or Mehan. But it also wouldn't be advantageous. So not under this admin.

Under another admin? If we've gone 20 years without success and a new President, Chancellor, and/or President are in charge could I see them saying "the experiment was a failure" and considering their options? I wouldn't put it at zero. I think it's slim that admin really give it that much thought. But not outside the possibility that a committee could form, research, and persuade the higher ups. I think it nearly happened a few years ago with the faculty Senate and we just happened to have a Chancellor who valued FBS football and silenced it.
OK that's new on me. I didn't know that a UMass President or Chancellor actually entertained that notion. The faculty Senate has zero influence on anything and is always against football or sports in general. The Max Page thing I thought was ridiculous, but even at Eastern Michigan Univ their faculty Senate said the same thing.

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by KahunaK » Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:35 am

McKinney wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:14 am
ZooMass84 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:36 pm So you actually think there is a chance of football folding? as horrendous as the last 9 years have been, I think there is zero chance of football folding.
I think it would spoil Bamfords career so not under him. I don't think the move would negatively impact Subbaswamy or Mehan. But it also wouldn't be advantageous. So not under this admin.

Under another admin? If we've gone 20 years without success (which I'd put more weight on burning money vs alumni participation rate than on wins/losses) and a new President, Chancellor, and/or AD are in charge could I see them saying "the experiment was a failure" and considering their options? I wouldn't put it at zero. Not outside the possibility that a committee could form, research, and persuade the higher ups.

I think it nearly happened a few years ago with the faculty Senate and we just happened to have a Chancellor who valued FBS football (and its institutional value in fundraising, etc.) and silenced it.
A couple of things to keep in mind. UMASS went FBS under Chancellor Holub who had grand plans for UMASS. He wanted UMASS to be like a Big 10 school which included FBS (and got UMASS into the MAC- Big 10 lite) and becoming a member of the AAU. In order to attain the latter, he really needed a medical school attached to Amherst. He tried that and was fired for it. Swamy inherited this and his goal is to be a top 25 public university. In order to achieve that, UMASS needs all the publicity it can get which includes having the football team play major universities around the country (Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, SEC schools, etc) as well as having UMASS scores on ESPN. The only public schools in the top 25 that do not have football teams are from the UCal system (and they have a bunch). My guess is that Swamy would be ok as long as UMASS gets to .500 soon, is not an embarrassment to the university, and the financial pressures do not get out of hand. Remember Swamy comes from the Univ. of Kentucky which really hasn't had much football success.

IMO, UMASS should be FBS or D3. In between seems like no man's land. Though I do miss the games against UNH, URI and Maine.

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by McKinney » Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:33 pm

ZooMass84 wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:23 amOK that's new on me. I didn't know that a UMass President or Chancellor actually entertained that notion. The faculty Senate has zero influence on anything and is always against football or sports in general. The Max Page thing I thought was ridiculous, but even at Eastern Michigan Univ their faculty Senate said the same thing.
The faculty senate's role is to produce recommendations for the Chancellor to approve and implement. Including university resourcing concerns. As the executive, the Chancellor can reject these recommendations, but you would figure (good governance) they value the input on some level.

But you may be right. I don't have first hand knowledge. And maybe their opinion is worthless in practice.
Last edited by McKinney on Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by McKinney » Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:40 pm

KahunaK wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:35 amSwamy inherited this and his goal is to be a top 25 public university. In order to achieve that, UMASS needs all the publicity it can get which includes having the football team play major universities around the country (Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, SEC schools, etc) as well as having UMASS scores on ESPN. The only public schools in the top 25 that do not have football teams are from the UCal system (and they have a bunch). My guess is that Swamy would be ok as long as UMASS gets to .500 soon, is not an embarrassment to the university, and the financial pressures do not get out of hand. Remember Swamy comes from the Univ. of Kentucky which really hasn't had much football success.
UCal has a bunch of schools not in FBS. But they also of course have Cal and UCLA in the Pac-12.

Yes, I certainly hope that Swamy's eventually successor follows as a like "visionary" and "steward of growth" that UMass and Massachusetts need.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by ZooMass84 » Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:11 pm

KahunaK wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:35 am
McKinney wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:14 am
ZooMass84 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:36 pm So you actually think there is a chance of football folding? as horrendous as the last 9 years have been, I think there is zero chance of football folding.
I think it would spoil Bamfords career so not under him. I don't think the move would negatively impact Subbaswamy or Mehan. But it also wouldn't be advantageous. So not under this admin.

Under another admin? If we've gone 20 years without success (which I'd put more weight on burning money vs alumni participation rate than on wins/losses) and a new President, Chancellor, and/or AD are in charge could I see them saying "the experiment was a failure" and considering their options? I wouldn't put it at zero. Not outside the possibility that a committee could form, research, and persuade the higher ups.

I think it nearly happened a few years ago with the faculty Senate and we just happened to have a Chancellor who valued FBS football (and its institutional value in fundraising, etc.) and silenced it.
A couple of things to keep in mind. UMASS went FBS under Chancellor Holub who had grand plans for UMASS. He wanted UMASS to be like a Big 10 school which included FBS (and got UMASS into the MAC- Big 10 lite) and becoming a member of the AAU. In order to attain the latter, he really needed a medical school attached to Amherst. He tried that and was fired for it. Swamy inherited this and his goal is to be a top 25 public university. In order to achieve that, UMASS needs all the publicity it can get which includes having the football team play major universities around the country (Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, SEC schools, etc) as well as having UMASS scores on ESPN. The only public schools in the top 25 that do not have football teams are from the UCal system (and they have a bunch). My guess is that Swamy would be ok as long as UMASS gets to .500 soon, is not an embarrassment to the university, and the financial pressures do not get out of hand. Remember Swamy comes from the Univ. of Kentucky which really hasn't had much football success.

IMO, UMASS should be FBS or D3. In between seems like no man's land. Though I do miss the games against UNH, URI and Maine.
AMEN again!!! I know that as Chancellor Lombardi said "We're too big to be small and too small to be big". We're making progress in the USNWR and the AAU status may or may not ever come true. Are you saying that the idea of moving the medical school from Worcester to Amherst was being kicked around by Holub?

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by cox'n » Mon Mar 29, 2021 5:08 am

ZooMass84 wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:11 pmAre you saying that the idea of moving the medical school from Worcester to Amherst was being kicked around by Holub?
I think that is part of the reason why the opened the Springfield med school campus. https://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-arch ... ty-health/

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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by Old Cage » Mon Mar 29, 2021 6:47 am

^ My recollection is that your medical school has to be within a certain distance of the flagship, and that the Springfield area made the cut.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by 69MG » Tue Jun 01, 2021 8:52 am

Good move by Bell. Or maybe a bad move if Jim is his replacement in waiting.
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Re: FIRE WALT BELL!

Post by Jack » Tue Jun 01, 2021 10:32 am

Bell isn't being replaced... he's too busy actually improving this football program by recruiting and developing good football players. Coach Reid is another example of Coach Bell making another great addition to the program. GO UMASS !!!!!

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