Chip: P.J. Fleck will get special treatment from Mark Coyle on scholarships, spending – and that's the right call

[BleedGopher]

per Chip:

Football teams could have more than 100 players on scholarship next season. Some undoubtedly will stick to 85 because of the extra cost in a tough economic climate, but rest assured that others — perhaps many in Power Five leagues — will exceed that limit since they have the option.

The NCAA provided the same eligibility relief for spring sports earlier this year after those seasons were canceled. The Gophers allowed seniors to return, but Coyle held firm on scholarship limits per sport.

The coaches were told to stick to their usual limits.

Don't be surprised if he rules differently for Fleck and football, despite steep revenue losses for his department and criticism levied at him for the September decision to eliminate three men's sports (tennis, gymnastics, indoor track and field) after this school year.

This special allowance for Fleck from Coyle will be the right decision, one that also will be unpopular and viewed as unfair by some.

Giving Gophers football special treatment is the right call, even if it looks unfair

Other Gophers head coaches heard "No" on extra scholarship spending this year. P.J. Fleck will hear "Yes." These types of decisions, while inconsistent, are necessary for the University of Minnesota to remain competitive in athletics.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Some guy]

I’d cut football and keep tennis

 

[Some guy]

I’d cut football and keep tennis

NOT



-Borat

 

[GoldenRodents]

Do not muzzle the ox while he treads out the grain.

 

[RememberMurray]

First, the Administration at the U makes a move that some of the usual suspects get angry about —cutting men's tennis, gymnastics and indoor track and field — presumably to protect the football team, while meeting Title IX mandates.

Next, a fairly prominent member of the local sports media defends(!) decisions made in favor of the football team, characterizing these moves as, "the right call".

Does anyone else feel like this is a breakthrough moment? This is not how things have worked at the U since, ohhhh... the 1970s!

Have the University — and the local sports media types — finally seen the light regarding football at the U?

 

[MGGopher]

Finally somebody who gets it. Thank you, Chip.

 

[Mulligan]

First, the Administration at the U makes a move that some of the usual suspects get angry about —cutting men's tennis, gymnastics and indoor track and field — presumably to protect the football team, while meeting Title IX mandates.

Next, a fairly prominent member of the local sports media defends(!) decisions made in favor of the football team, characterizing these moves as, "the right call".

Does anyone else feel like this is a breakthrough moment? This is not how things have worked at the U since, ohhhh... the 1970s!

Have the University — and the local sports media types — finally seen the light regarding football at the U?

Scoggins grew up in the SEC and has always seen the light. One of the few around who is objective about the Gophers. Not a click bait type.

 

[Some guy]

First, the Administration at the U makes a move that some of the usual suspects get angry about —cutting men's tennis, gymnastics and indoor track and field — presumably to protect the football team, while meeting Title IX mandates.

Next, a fairly prominent member of the local sports media defends(!) decisions made in favor of the football team, characterizing these moves as, "the right call".

Does anyone else feel like this is a breakthrough moment? This is not how things have worked at the U since, ohhhh... the 1970s!

Have the University — and the local sports media types — finally seen the light regarding football at the U?

Yeah. And the media members ripping it are either born pre 1960 or are trying to make arguments that are irrational (whatever person who claimed title ix in sports shouldn’t pit women’s sports against non revenue men’s sports) because there is no way it doesn’t pit them against each other

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

If income from football were to drop over the years... it will be MORE unfair to those other sports funding wise.

 

[Some guy]

If income from football were to drop over the years... it will be MORE unfair to those other sports funding wise.

Yeah, some people don’t get it.

They want to spite their face long term by cutting off the nose short term

Or something like that

 

[GopherDog1]

Yeah, some people don’t get it.

They want to spite their face long term by cutting off the nose short term

Or something like that

We hear ya cluckin' big chicken!

 

[Thomasthetank]

Biting the hand (football) that feeds you (non revenue sports) is ridiculous.

Protect the football team at all costs. That's the only thing keeping this whole thing afloat.

 

[Plato]

MN's football team falls short of funding the rest of the AD each year and a fee was placed on the students to make up the difference between FB revenue and expenses and the costs of 'non revenue' sports..
BB revenue is also falling.
Granted the cluster that this year makes any judgements difficult but Fleck is fielding a team now that has not performed as well as last years team and the players are now mostly his recruits.
So expanding the squad is just increasing mediocrity and adding expenditure without much hope that it will increase revenue..

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

MN's football team falls short of funding the rest of the AD each year and a fee was placed on the students to make up the difference between FB revenue and expenses and the costs of 'non revenue' sports..
BB revenue is also falling.
Granted the cluster that this year makes any judgements difficult but Fleck is fielding a team now that has not performed as well as last years team and the players are now mostly his recruits.
So expanding the squad is just increasing mediocrity and adding expenditure without much hope that it will increase revenue..

How will you feel after Fleck beats your favorite team for the 2nd time in 3 years this weekend?

 

[Some guy]

MN's football team falls short of funding the rest of the AD each year and a fee was placed on the students to make up the difference between FB revenue and expenses and the costs of 'non revenue' sports..
BB revenue is also falling.
Granted the cluster that this year makes any judgements difficult but Fleck is fielding a team now that has not performed as well as last years team and the players are now mostly his recruits.
So expanding the squad is just increasing mediocrity and adding expenditure without much hope that it will increase revenue..

For sure. I would not try to help football.

the team wasn’t as good as we wanted. Cutting resources compared to the competition will surely fix the issue. Good idea.

 

[hungan1]

Money talks. Programs make up for the net revenue needs in a combination of student fees, advertisement, the share of Big Ten Network & other sports network income, and gate receipts, etc...

The reality that Covid-19 exposed in the college landscape is that revenue streams are important for D1 college athletic programs. Mark Coyle will loosen up the rules a little bit if necessary to protect the biggest potential revenue generator for Gopher Sports. ADs are in tight positions at many colleges.

There is nothing fair about non-revenue sports being cut. My heart goes out to those kids whose programs are eliminated.

If the Gopher football program tanks, will more potential cuts possibly follow? They are not the behemoth that Michigan and tOSU are which have deep pockets and strong alumni support.

Put the revenue producing sports in the best position to succeed for the sake of other programs. Does this even sound right? It doesn't sound fair alright.

If Gopher Football falters miserably it will impact all of Gopher Athletics. Basketball (men's & women's) need to succeed. Other programs can/will succeed and retain the coaches to remain competitive across the board.

The Gophers are in the middle of the pack at $48.9 million dollars in gross revenue in fiscal year 2019. Rutgers is at the bottom at $25.4 million dollars while while tOSU is second at $89.9 million dollars. Michigan is tops at $105.9 million dollars. Khaki pants will remain as long as the alumni boosters are happy. He seems like a favorite son. If it was some other coaches, they would have sent them packing right away.

If the Gophers hopefully start winning titles, how much will that impact the revenue stream?

Every Big Ten program's gross revenue for last fiscal year

The Big Ten was a money-making machine, and the gross financial numbers show which programs demonstrated the most value.

247sports.com

 

[GopherFanatic19]

Football brings in the money. You have to spend money to make money.

the sports cut don’t make any money except take money away.

Those sports should hit up one of the many deep pocket boosters to help them.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

FWIW - the U of MN does not just need FB to succeed. It badly needs Men's Basketball and Men's Hockey to be revenue generators.

part of the issues with the U's athletic budget is the drop in attendance and revenue at Men's Hoops and Men's Hockey. Hockey attendance is way down from the glory years - that is a significant loss of revenue. Men's Hoops attendance has also trended down in recent years.

And - to be fair - the U has not helped its own case with some moves that alienated long-time fans, including increases in required donations, etc.

so yes, a strong FB team with good attendance supports a lot of the non-revenue sports. But other revenue generators need to do their part.

Assuming there are fans in the stands for FB next year, it becomes even more important for the Gophers to have sell-outs or near sell-outs for all games, especially conference games.