Coyle on finding a big fish donor: We’re still in the boat trying to find that big fish. We still have a hook in the water.

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Chip Q&A:

Q: You and P.J. Fleck are the longest-tenured AD/football head coach tandem in the Power Four. How has that stability benefited you?

Coyle: If you remember when P.J. got here, he talked about the importance of cultural sustainability. It’s amazing because when we hired him, after two or three years, people [said], “Well, he’s got the Notre Dame clause in his contract.” There’s no clause in his contract that he can leave to go there, no buyout, all that type of stuff. None of that exists. I still get asked that.

I’m grateful that he stayed here because I do think he has changed this place. The bar has risen here. It just says a lot about the continuity of our [athletic] program because football is such a visible part. It generates so much of our revenue. It’s been a big positive for us.


Q: Is there a big-fish donor out there? You see other schools that have those donors who are writing massive checks.

Coyle: We’re still in the boat trying to find that big fish. We still have a hook in the water.


Go Gophers!!
 

The Big Fish donor remains that elusive part of Gopher athletics success

However, if you took even a small fraction of what the Twin Cities area spends on attending and watching and supporting and sponsoring all the major league teams in the metro, it would blow away even what Ohio State and Texas are spending.

Just the gate from the T-Wolves 2 round playoff run would send the Gophers to another level if it was donated to U athletics. The salary alone for someone like Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid is higher than the entire U athletics budget for player compensation. That's mostly coming from a ton of smaller dollar sources not one whale donor.

So there's also probably a small dollar route as well. How can that be unlocked?
 


LOL

What a dishonest "answer".

The actual answer is "like at most schools, even at most p4 schools ... there is no such thing for the University of Minnesota and it's unlikely there ever will be".

The closest chance we could have had was Denny Sanford and we know what happened with that. That's gone. How much has Sanford, either himself directly or via naming rights deals by Sanford Health, contributed to athletics facilities for the Dakota schools? Nine figures I'm guessing
 
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The biggest bugaboo of major college athletics always has been and continues to be this insane idea that plain old fans should get to press down on the scales of fairness, not just with their thumbs but with their whole damn feet, by donating amounts of money that are not just relevant but give a school a signficant advantage over other schools.

It's just insane to think about a world where NFL teams get to spend an unlimited amount over the salary cap so long as it comes from fan donations to the franchise. That's f--king insane. Yet that's exctly what major college sports is.


I truly hope it is one day abolished, and that schools forcibly are only be allowed to spend money from TV/media rights deals, apparel deals, and gameday revenues. (Ideally with a hard cap, but who knows if we'll get there.)
 


fmlizard said:
The Big Fish donor remains that elusive part of Gopher athletics success

However, if you took even a small fraction of what the Twin Cities area spends on attending and watching and supporting and sponsoring all the major league teams in the metro, it would blow away even what Ohio State and Texas are spending.

Just the gate from the T-Wolves 2 round playoff run would send the Gophers to another level if it was donated to U athletics. The salary alone for someone like Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid is higher than the entire U athletics budget for player compensation. That's mostly coming from a ton of smaller dollar sources not one whale donor.

So there's also probably a small dollar route as well. How can that be unlocked?
Click to expand...
It may seem crazy to us, but there are a large swath of people who care somewhere between a decent amount all the way up to fervent supporters of various professional teams .... who literally don't give a crap about college athletics.

It seems like it shouldn't be possible. And yet, I would guess most of the people you describe above, for whatever reasons, fall into that.
 



GopherGrit said:
LOL

What a dishonest "answer".

The actual answer is "like at most schools, even at most p4 schools ... there is no such thing for the University of Minnesota and it's unlikely there ever will be".

The closest chance we could have had was Denny Sanford and we know what happened with that. That's gone. How much has Sanford, either himself directly or via naming rights deals by Sanford Health, contributed to athletics facilities for the Dakota schools? Nine figures I'm guessing
Click to expand...
The amount of shit that spews out of your keyboard is truly impressive.
 



Has the U considered pledging fealty to the president and throwing up a few gold painted statues around The Bank? There's gotta be some IRS money in that🤣🤣🤣
 


This will never happen for a variety of reasons and I am guessing there are clear rules (if the NCAA still has rules) against this, but I would love for the U to give me an option when I purchase my season tickets... do you want your mandatory donation to towards an NIL collective or the scholarship donation.
 

GopherGrit said:
LOL

What a dishonest "answer".

The actual answer is "like at most schools, even at most p4 schools ... there is no such thing for the University of Minnesota and it's unlikely there ever will be".

The closest chance we could have had was Denny Sanford and we know what happened with that. That's gone. How much has Sanford, either himself directly or via naming rights deals by Sanford Health, contributed to athletics facilities for the Dakota schools? Nine figures I'm guessing
Click to expand...
Isn't Sanford a CHOMO or did that go away?Probably best we aren't associated with his money
 



mngg11 said:
Has the U considered pledging fealty to the president and throwing up a few gold painted statues around The Bank? There's gotta be some IRS money in that🤣🤣🤣
Click to expand...
I don’t think the money ever goes the other way…
 


fmlizard said:
The Big Fish donor remains that elusive part of Gopher athletics success

However, if you took even a small fraction of what the Twin Cities area spends on attending and watching and supporting and sponsoring all the major league teams in the metro, it would blow away even what Ohio State and Texas are spending.

Just the gate from the T-Wolves 2 round playoff run would send the Gophers to another level if it was donated to U athletics. The salary alone for someone like Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid is higher than the entire U athletics budget for player compensation. That's mostly coming from a ton of smaller dollar sources not one whale donor.

So there's also probably a small dollar route as well. How can that be unlocked?
Click to expand...
If the Gophers were supported and tiered based on Student Body Size, we would be in the first tier with these schools

Texas A&M
Central Florida
Ohio State
Florida
Illinois
Purdue
Arizona State
Florida International
Texas
 

matt said:
The amount of shit that spews out of your keyboard is truly impressive.
Click to expand...
Sounds good, my friend! I invite you to place me on ignore and never respond to any of my posts ever again. Have a great day! :)
 

The Deliberate Stranger said:
Isn't Sanford a CHOMO or did that go away?Probably best we aren't associated with his money
Click to expand...
I don't know anything about that. Sanford isn't necessarily an end all, be all situation for Minnesota. More a commentary on Minnesota sports luck: "if the Gophers ever were going to get to have a shot at actually having a mega-bucks sports booster ... then of course they would somehow have turned down/shoo'ed away this person".
 

Also, since it seems that somehow some posters are imagining this: having a mega booster for sports ... has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the school. As in the actual institution. The thing that actually matters. N o t h i n g

So it's absurd to think or imply that suggesting that we'll never have such a booster is somehow a reflection/commentary on the school itself. Nonsense


You think because Cody Campbell is some psycho rich oilman trying to buy Texas Tech a natty ... that that means TT is a good school? LOL
 

GoldRush said:
Coyle using wax worms with a 1/32 oz jig?
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More like good old-fashioned Oscar Meyer Bologna fishing from our mumbler n chief.

Sometimes all you gotta do is drop a hook in the water.

Sometimes you have to actually fish, Mark. You know. Figure out where the fish are, maybe create a little structure in the pond to give them shade, a place to hang out. Then you know where they are and have a better chance of coaxing one onto the hook.
 

fmlizard said:
The Big Fish donor remains that elusive part of Gopher athletics success

However, if you took even a small fraction of what the Twin Cities area spends on attending and watching and supporting and sponsoring all the major league teams in the metro, it would blow away even what Ohio State and Texas are spending.

Just the gate from the T-Wolves 2 round playoff run would send the Gophers to another level if it was donated to U athletics. The salary alone for someone like Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid is higher than the entire U athletics budget for player compensation. That's mostly coming from a ton of smaller dollar sources not one whale donor.

So there's also probably a small dollar route as well. How can that be unlocked?
Click to expand...
I think it's an even bigger challenge than that. In the Twin Cities, the Gophers aren't just competing with pro sports for dollars, they're competing against the entire entertainment dollar.

Between the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Loons, a huge theater and arts scene, concerts, and countless other options, there's a lot of competition for people's time and money. I know from when I worked for the Timberwolves, and talking to friends that have worked for other teams, they never talked about the "Sports Dollar", it was always competing for the "Entertainment Dollar".

Unlocking more small-dollar support probably means figuring out how to stand out in a very crowded entertainment market, not just a crowded sports market.
 


Unregistered User said:
I think it's an even bigger challenge than that. In the Twin Cities, the Gophers aren't just competing with pro sports for dollars, they're competing against the entire entertainment dollar.

Between the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Loons, a huge theater and arts scene, concerts, and countless other options, there's a lot of competition for people's time and money. I know from when I worked for the Timberwolves, and talking to friends that have worked for other teams, they never talked about the "Sports Dollar", it was always competing for the "Entertainment Dollar".

Unlocking more small-dollar support probably means figuring out how to stand out in a very crowded entertainment market, not just a crowded sports market.
Click to expand...
I've tried to explain this to people for years who claim "It's a pro sports town." That's but part of the equation. There is only x amount of discretionary money to spend and it's spread around.
 

GopherGrit said:
Also, since it seems that somehow some posters are imagining this: having a mega booster for sports ... has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the school. As in the actual institution. The thing that actually matters. N o t h i n g

So it's absurd to think or imply that suggesting that we'll never have such a booster is somehow a reflection/commentary on the school itself. Nonsense


You think because Cody Campbell is some psycho rich oilman trying to buy Texas Tech a natty ... that that means TT is a good school? LOL
Click to expand...
What are you even talking about now?
 

GopherGrit said:
And a lot of people don't care about college sports here!!

I know, I know, crazy .. but actually true. That's part of where we live. Just is what it is.
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I think that's true to an extent.

But when the Gophers do well ... the bank fills up. There's demand, waiting for a trigger.

It won't be like the Vikings where they sell out almost by default, but if you get the fans going they do show up and get loud.
 


As TLC elegantly sang “don’t go chasing cash windfalls, stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to” or something
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I think that's true to an extent.

But when the Gophers do well ... the bank fills up. There's demand, waiting for a trigger.

It won't be like the Vikings where they sell out almost by default, but if you get the fans going they do show up and get loud.
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Agreed

Just that the topic was Coyle's (weak ass) response to landing a Gopher sports mega-donor.

As you say, people will show up for a Gopher winner. But that doesn't necessarily translate into (mega) donations.
 

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