Miami again has no teams in the Big Dance- when were we last in the NCAA Tourament? I cannot remember that far back! While the men’s program appears to have a positive path forward the women’s program has been totally ignored- a coaching change was needed last year and this season evidenced even more reasons to bring in a new staff yet again no change. The hockey program is a total train wreck ( yes worse than East Palestine ) - we again were not only last in the Conference but showed no measurable signs of improvement. Our baseball team is headed toward not only another losing season but perhaps one of the worst seasons in the program’s history. Our VB team I believe only won one conference match last year and our football program has absolutely pissed away opportunities have 8-9 + win season records over the last two years( no AD oversight here inexcusable ). Yes congrats over the last two years to field hockey , softball and the swimming program BUT Miami is nowhere near where it should be in the athletic area. The President and AD need to put together a plan to turn around where we are. I plan to write my letter to the Board of Trustees this week- hopefully others on this site will also communicate with the BOT- our present state of affairs in the athletic area needs policy oversight and BOT intervention!
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The Board of Trustees hold the nuclear option.
Definitely not too soon for a good East Palestine joke…
I deleted my other replies, but this will be my last post on this:
This is just an, “I want to speak to your manager post.” It’s lashing out with no discussion value. I’d love to see a, “what needs to change for the athletic department to succeed” post. If you want to write a letter to the BoT, just write it. My opinion is addressing the letter to the North Pole would get the same result, but that’s just my opinion from my brief interactions with them.
If fixing Miami athletics was as simple as writing a letter, don’t you think it’d be done by now? Instead, @CalOHawk wants to let a group of people who can’t name the WBB, MBB, hockey, baseball, or volleyball coaches determine the fate of the AD.
If the BOT truly cared a new basketball arena would already be built, or Millet at least would have had a MAJOR overhaul. Also our head coaches salaries would not be towards the bottom of the conference and they would have a much larger assistant coach salary pool. Miami athletics operates on a smaller budget because that is what they are given by the BOT-sure they will put the university with an ever increasing debt to rebuild every building on campus but all athletic buildings have to be paid for by donations before they are built. In my opinion the BOT is the cause of a lot issues and I am not sure they are capable of every being worth a darn.
Brad Bates has a plan for Millett!
Our Board of trustees is at the heart of the decline of athletics at Miami. Everybody else answers to them, who do they answer to? They don’t seem to give a damn about sports.
I have been holding them responsible for over a decade now. So the anger against AD’s and coaches should be much more focused on these people. They are the ones who have de-emphasized sports.
Jive - I am surprised by your responses. I am a big Steele supporter and I believe finally the men’s BB program is headed in the right direction- it is too bad that it took so long make a change in the program. The point of my post is that the overall direction of athletics at Miami needs a close policy review. Salaries for coaches , a proper basketball facility, an independent review of our hockey program, and many other broad policy issues need to be reviewed. Board of trustees and board of directors are not to run day activities of entities of they represent BUT they are responsible for the overall direction of the entity they represent. From my perspective I do not see the vision and planning in place to make our athletic program a " value add " to the University. Miami can and should do better. Maybe letters to the BOT will not have any impact but simply complaining on this site certainly will not result in any needed change. I and others on this site can name all of our coaches and I believe we have a good understanding of the state of Miami athletics. Perhaps a better response to my post would have been to urge those on this site to use what ever connections they have with the BOT to review and support a plan to help Miami athletics succeed.
Money would be #s 1,2,3,4,5 and in that order.
BOT hasn’t cared before and they aren’t going to start caring because people write letters. They have had a chance to do better and they haven’t.
“People have job responsibilities, family responsibilities, and volunteer responsibilities”
So true. And sometimes more!
I’m just going to throw this out there. We were at Miami the weekend of February 17, 2023. My daughter had a “Make it Miami” event. Trying to convince her to come to Miami over the 5 other schools she has been admitted to. (Great event). What was on the front page of the Miami Student, main headline? “Miami Facing Budget Deficit”. I forget the number, but it was in the millions. Much as I would like to take massive amounts of explosives to Millett Hall, I don’t see it happening unless one of you big time sports bettors hits it big and makes a significant donation.
They operate on this budget because this is what the BOT are willing to charge the students for it. Bigger budget means higher student fees. Dorm and residence hall renovations have been paid for through student fees. They could offset some of the cost of a new Millett with a new student fee.
How popular is adding or increasing student fees these days? Not very.
The Governor.
Yes, but who does number two work for?
They had no problem adding an Armstrong Student Center Fee when they couldn’t afford to build it so they have no problem adding fees. Last I checked when my daughters went to Miami it was the highest cost public school in the state, the BOT has no problem over charging.
Who could forget the infamous “who is Jack Owens?” comment that someone on the BoT made in Mobile back in 2019.
Difference being Armstrong had overwhelming support from ASG and the student body in general. Does a new basketball arena have that?
Well both my daughters were there at the time it opened and neither of them or the roommates and a majority of their dorms used Armstrong or really cared about. The Hodge family cared about it more than anyone else.
I’d have to disagree with that. What makes the BOT able to ignore sports is in part the lack of concern from alumni.
I’ve looked into addressing the Board in person, but hard to get info as to how to do it or if it’s possible. As I’ve mentioned before, I would ask them to their faces how they can justify the thousands of empty seats year after year, decade after decade, then plead poverty when asked about lack of sports success.