Post
by Steve81 » Sun Apr 12, 2026 9:33 am
My beliefs are the issues with men’s basketball and football are different. On the basketball side do think your extreme dissatisfaction with our AD is appropriate as funding for basketball has been funded well, but not at the top of the A10, because those teams do not have FBS football. That said, except for northern NE, and a few north Mountain States and South Dakota have FBS football. We are the flagship and it’s appropriate to have a public FBS program.
While agreeing with you in terms of the AD and being responsible, don’t see it with other sports. Men’s soccer with limited funding has done very well at times. Hockey, field hockey, women’s basketball all have done well. The AD hired Frank with a boat load of money, and Frank’s team has not recruited completely and we have seen MAC programs do a far superior job. Frank recruited and should have know the issues with them. How frustrated out of our minds are we, seeing other teams drive into the elbow and foul line area and score. Our guards are beat with the first step, but this part is what drove me insane. They would penetrate to the same elbow foul line area and not shot and pass the ball. WTF.
With NIL era this is correctable. Miami’s success and watching other teams, there is good basketball and recruiting potential, as other teams in the MAC have done it.
Now with posting on the football forum and it is a football forum; the funding is getting there but still a fraction of what UConn spends on football. But I blame the chancellor area with the lack of past success. We had a Chancellor that did not communicate and build support and did what he wanted. He was push out for that. But he thrusted UMass to be FBS and there was a backlash of opposition and institutional funding was cut and not increased to support FBS football. I don’t know who hired McCutcheon but scheduling almost exclusively Power teams was crazy. He hired Molhnar, who chased players away and we never got close to the scholarship limit until the transfer rule changes.
The next chancellor Swampy did nothing to help the budget deficient football operated at and we continued to hover FCS coaching salary level. We were independent and a career killer to any ones Head Coaching career. We now have Chancellor Javier Reyers that has been good to football and supportive of our AD securing MAC FBS money that has allowed us to hire additional coaches as special teams that had been terrible and other areas. (Noting Miami has 7M NIL money wo we are not at the top of the MAC.) Disappointed with last year’s lack of success, but happy Ryan was able to hire Joe, who believed he could tackle this tough job and not kill his career.
Make no apologies for asking you all not to transfer your anger of Bamford on the football forum, because his short comings are primary with men’s basketball. He has always, until 2024-25 not had the funding to support successful FBS Football. The money is controlled by the Chancellor and higher. You guys are right and to have the visceral anger about his responsibility and execution for basketball. The money is there and buy games are the opposite. We pay lower D1 teams to play us at home. Frank maybe set in his ways, but he is not stupid. I don’t follow recruiting closely there, but we need quicker, bigger guards that can shoot, including the mid-range game.
Also believe Coach H will start showing progress this year and hope it snowballs in a good way. We have seen this snowball the wrong way for over a decade. Phommachanh was our last good QB, who drove for a TD at Auburn and on the second drive all the way to the red zone, got injured and was never the same. I’m cautiously optimistic about Pope, since injuries can happen and we need to protect him.
From personal experience you can turn a blind eye to attacks against the football program or personally for so long until you need do something about. I was at Fort Knox for basic training and there was a guy riding my ass until I got fed up enough, grabbed him and pinned him to the barracks wall with my fist at his face. Also believe if you hear a lie long enough, people start believing. So, when some transfer Ryan Bamford failure with men’s basketball at the football program, I defend football. I believe the issues are with the Chancellor and above, which has final become positive and look forward to success and don’t believe it’s hopeless as long as Ryan is here.
Be proud of the present and look to the future.
