[NU Sports] Our 2005 schedule in retrospect ...

[prplehaze at insightbb.com]

Exactly, it's a big part of the job, whether the coach likes it or not.  It
comes with the territory.  Granted, the AD has the primary responsibility for
the care and feeding of boosters, but coaches have to take care of their own
programs too.  If they want their particular programs to excel and get the money
they need for facilities and extras and all the things that make them
competitive on the national stage or even the conference stage, then they have
to make the effort to reach out to the alumni, boosters and fans who can and
will help to make that happen.  It may not be something that they want to do but
it is certainly something that they have to do and the sooner that Murphy sits
Walker down and demands that he do it, the better it will be for the future of
NU football.

I'm on record as not being one of the biggest Walker supporters around but I
will give him his due and congratulate him for a great season that has far
exceeded my expectations.  He deserves praise for that I think from everyone and
I'm thrilled by what this team accomplished.  I don't mean to belittle it or him
in any way by this thread.  I'm merely looking forward to what he and the
athletic department must do, in my opinion, to maintain and exceed what has been
accomplished this year.  

We all know we have an attendance problem and the media coverage we receive in
the Chicago papers makes me wonder if they even know where Evanston is, despite
the Medill degrees of many of the editors.  We need to penetrate the
consciousness of Chicagoland and that takes a constant media hammering from the
athletic department using every tool at its disposal, none more so than the head
coaches.  It's just part of the job and I hope that Murphy starts insisting on
Walker doing a show and other media appearances quickly.

Mark
--
Mark Ament
prplehaze at insightbb.com


>  Lloyd Carr isn't the most social guy either, but he also does a lot of
> speaking during the off season at Alumni groups around the country.  He
> understands that part of his responsibility is to promote the program to
> those patrons who have the money to support it.
> 
> >From what I've heard, RW could improve in this area too.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
> Behalf Of Michael Vance
> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 1:02 AM
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Our 2005 schedule in retrospect ...
> 
> Unless I'm wrong, this goes back to the University's (in)ability to properly
> market NU athletics.  I know that technically, the coach has to agree to do
> a coach's show, but whose job is it to pitch the idea to a local station?
> We had the Gary Barnett Show on SportsChannel way back when, and I think we
> even had the Randy Walker Show for a season or two after that.  Then it went
> to the Seven-Minutes-At-The-End-Of-The-Sunday-Sports-Show with Randy Walker
> for a season or two, then nothing.  I don't care when it airs (the old GB
> show was on at something like 3:00 in the afternoon and the Lloyd Carr Show
> is on Sunday morning last I heard), just get something on the air!
> 
> If we aren't doing it because RW doesn't like to do a coach's show, then Mr.
> Murphy needs to tell him how it has to be.  I don't want a media hound for a
> coach either, but a coach has to be able to sell his program, not just to
> recruits, but to fans as well.
> 
> If we aren't doing a show because we can't sell the idea of 30 minutes
> devoted to NU sports to any of the local broadcast or cable stations, then
> we've got serious marketing problems at the University.
> 
> -Michael
> 
> At 11/26/2005 10:11 PM, SjT \(Stephen J. Truog\) wrote:
> > > Finally you have to look at what RW is doing to generate revenue for 
> > > the program in the same ways that every BT coaches
> >
> >I know that's technically part of the coach's job, but I really think 
> >our problems run deeper than a head coach here. We've all discussed the 
> >factors ... many of which Walker is powerless to change (early start 
> >times, pro sports city, etc.). His teams are exciting and he's building 
> >a winning tradition. If that doesn't earn more fans in our situation, 
> >who knows what will (I see from the Stanford-ND game that Stanford is 
> >remodeling their stadium and shrinking it to 50,000 or so ... I don't 
> >think we need to shrink Dyche, but you see the problems they have in a 
> >pro market with many more alumni nearby than NU has ... on a side note, 
> >flipping channels, maybe our NC game at Nevada next year isn't a 
> >gimme).
> >
> > > because they generate a lot of money.  There are plenty of 
> > > no-nonsense all-football coaches who have figured out how to do this 
> > > (Carr, Tressel, Ferentz, etc.).
> >
> >Not sure I buy this. Carr walked into his situation and really hasn't 
> >had to do much (or done much) to deal with the off-field state of the 
> >program. And all Tressel did was beat Michigan (which was enough in
> >Columbus:) ). These guys all had ready-made situations to step into and 
> >really don't face the situation or circumstances Walker does.
> >
> >Again, I know you don't want a total a-hole who alienates fans ... but 
> >so what if the guy's not Mr.
> >Personality flashing a smile around town. The media may love that guy 
> >for 15 minutes, but the sword is double-edged and can turn fast (ask 
> >Barnett or Neuheisel). I don't want a snake-oil salesman. I want 
> >someone who builds a winning program, and if Walker does that by 
> >thriving on an "us vs. them" and tight-shipped atmosphere that doesn't 
> >exactly win him personality points, fine with me.
> 
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