1. NMSU as an institution has mishandled athletics and has put the program in a precarious situation. Blame the Regents, past presidents and the administration as a whole.

2. Dr. McKinley Boston also has mishandled many aspects of the program, although many things have been beyond his control.  If Aggie Nation could vote he would get a vote of no confidence.

3. The community and Aggie Nation have failed to support the program at the level needed. Las Cruces lacks many of the resources (population, high incomes, and corporate base) adding to the program's woes.  The community wants a championship program but are only willing to pay high school prices. The community will jump on the bandwagon, but only if the teams beat UNM and UTEP and are undefeated.

4. No one anticipated the conference changes and everyone was gung ho for joining the WAC at the time.

5.  Most of us are NOT in favor of dropping down to a lower level in football. While some say drop down, many of us would rather see NMSU drop football all together than take a submissive role to UNM and UTEP.

6. UNM and UTEP have really screwed us over the decades and they hope NMSU athletics goes away.

7. Aggie Nation has lost a lot of confidence in football coach DeWayne Walker. Yes, he's been dealt a bad hand, but his leadership is being questioned.

8.  NMSU needs new leadership at all levels.

9.  NMSU needs to change the modus operandi of athletics and should consider a complete review and overhaul of all aspects including branding.

10. We are hoping things will work out, but right now we just don't know. We are all very concerned about the future of NMSU athletics and are feeling very uncomfortable.

funag wrote: Sure buddy! I am sure there is no waste on the academic side at NMSU! None what so ever!!

KrimsonKrazy wrote:

1. NMSU as an institution has mishandled athletics and has put the program in a precarious situation. Blame the Regents, past presidents and the administration as a whole.

2. Dr. McKinley Boston also has mishandled many aspects of the program, although many things have been beyond his control.  If Aggie Nation could vote he would get a vote of no confidence.

3. The community and Aggie Nation have failed to support the program at the level needed. Las Cruces lacks many of the resources (population, high incomes, and corporate base) adding to the program's woes.  The community wants a championship program but are only willing to pay high school prices. The community will jump on the bandwagon, but only if the teams beat UNM and UTEP and are undefeated.

4. No one anticipated the conference changes and everyone was gung ho for joining the WAC at the time.

5.  Most of us are NOT in favor of dropping down to a lower level in football. While some say drop down, many of us would rather see NMSU drop football all together than take a submissive role to UNM and UTEP.

6. UNM and UTEP have really screwed us over the decades and they hope NMSU athletics goes away.

7. Aggie Nation has lost a lot of confidence in football coach DeWayne Walker. Yes, he's been dealt a bad hand, but his leadership is being questioned.

 

8.  NMSU needs new leadership at all levels.

 

9.  NMSU needs to change the modus operandi of athletics and should consider a complete review and overhaul of all aspects including branding.

10. We are hoping things will work out, but right now we just don't know. We are all very concerned about the future of NMSU athletics and are feeling very uncomfortable.

detnm wrote: Mayfield69 is acknowledging reality. The Aggies have not been successful in the modern era of college football since unlimited substitution created a high-dollar landscape for the sport. FCS would allow us to look within the state and El Paso for athletes and reduce the cost for athletics overall. When NMSU needs $12 million to match faculty salaries of UTEP and $4 million of the general fund is going into athletics, you wonder why faculty and staff have abandoned our teams? Sorry for being a troll, but reality is reality.

KrimsonKrazy wrote: While NMSU may be in a pickle, why have other other insitutions of similar size, market, conference affiliation, etc.---Utah State, LA Tech, Arkansas State---managed to keep their head well above water.

NMSU isn't trying to be a BCS school---just trying to compete with similar schools.

IndyAg wrote:

detnm wrote: Mayfield69 is acknowledging reality. The Aggies have not been successful in the modern era of college football since unlimited substitution created a high-dollar landscape for the sport. FCS would allow us to look within the state and El Paso for athletes and reduce the cost for athletics overall. When NMSU needs $12 million to match faculty salaries of UTEP and $4 million of the general fund is going into athletics, you wonder why faculty and staff have abandoned our teams? Sorry for being a troll, but reality is reality.

I agree with you in the sense that with the way we are currently conducting our business, it is not working.  There just isn't enough money available to support both.  The question I have is, are there other methods that can be employed to help fund both.  Are there key positions that we can invest in (that we aren't currently) accross the board (ie, athletically, and academically) that can attract the right talent that has the expertise necessary to find the funding sources necessary for both D1 athletics, and funding Faculty Salaries?  I guess at a high level, what we need to consider is, have we invested in the right positions to get us going down the right path.  I haven't been convinced that we have, but that's just my opinion.

GO AGGIES!!!

detnm wrote:

KrimsonKrazy wrote: While NMSU may be in a pickle, why have other other insitutions of similar size, market, conference affiliation, etc.---Utah State, LA Tech, Arkansas State---managed to keep their head well above water.

NMSU isn't trying to be a BCS school---just trying to compete with similar schools.

I would question if the similarities are really as great as we think. I once thought Middle Tennessee was just like us -- similar size town, 35 miles from Nashville where Vanderbilt is-- but they have major industry such as Nissan, and are surrounded by many other towns. We are surrounded by desert and our economic base is largely government. I think if you look at these similar institutions, you will find they have advantages that NMSU does not.

While I am on board re the poor coaching and its relationship to the Aggies shockingly inept football program, it is clear to this nearly worn out alum that the fundamental problem (other than money) is recruiting...and it has been for many decades. The talent and depth on this year's team, and on many previous, is extremely poor. The brutal fact is, that even UTEP and UNM (two of the worst teams in NCAA D-1 history), consistently beat out NMSU for talent...and for many of the same marginal FBS recruits. When one also considers that NMSU is in one of the worst recruiting territories in the U.S. for FBS football players, if not the worst, you have a recipe for 50 plus years of futility...i.e., the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, and expecting results.

Sadly, nobody in authority with any credibility and honest realism knows how to fix it. Actually, nobody does, even some of the geniuses on this board.  Yes, throwing a few more million a year at football will improve things...but only minimally and very slowly. And considering those few millions must come (at least until there are a few winning seasons....chicken or egg?) from the NMSU general fund, Aggie football has an intractable, if not impossible, problem.

The response that a Boise or Kansas State did it, so can we, is but a diversionary fantasy. Both schools have larger fan bases, huge money and solid corporate backing compared to NMSU. NMSU simply does not have the donor base, local or regional business community, or stable of sugar daddies to do the job.  And the notion that the Governor and/or legislature is going to approve a big boost in athletics funding, while in the midst of a bad economy, is just another fantasy. 

Solutions? Realistically, there are no good ones, but there is one workable one. NMSU could drop to FCS in football. Could  the Aggies be competitive in the lowly Sun Belt, which is a small drop down from the WAC? Possibly, but it's far from certain. NMSU was competitive before, but the SBC schools have all improved and added budget since then. And every one of those schools is in better recruiting territory than NMSU.

Could the Aggies be competitive in the CUSA or MWC in football? It's almost certain the answer is NO!--even with a new and sustained $3-4 million a year (on top of the present $4 million a year athletics subsidy from the general fund) for at least 5 years (aka, the Mike Martin Plan). And the resulting damage to academics and faculty, who are underpaid and have been without real raises for years, would be severe and long lasting. That leaves the Big Sky (let's not even bring up dropping football, though some say it’s a better option).  Few alums, boosters, or NMSU administrators want to entertain the Big Sky…but it is a solution...at least for the next decade or so until NMSU can generate a winning tradition.