Old Titan Posted June 15 Author Share Posted June 15 14 hours ago, ORUTerry said: That’s not quite the story I heard…. Do tell… The only thing I would add is a prevalent rumor that TU no longer thought they could win with formerly-successful Gene Shell as coach, they were particularly frustrated with losing several games a season to up-and-coming crosstown rival ORU (I think they were 0-6 vs. ORU in their final campaign), and they felt the easiest way to rid themselves of Shell and the expense of baseball was to just eliminate the program altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 On 6/14/2024 at 9:40 AM, Idig32 said: So their new AD is a former baseball player (a sport TU doesn’t have) who is a football guy? I guess we’ll just keep beating them in the sports that really matter. Seriously, though, he seems like a decent hire, albeit a risky one. I’m surprised that Dickson didn’t have someone on his staff that he was grooming to replace him. That would seem to have been a more logical, less risky move. I’m sure the challenges of running the smallest D1 FBS athletic department are going to be very different from the challenges he saw at Texas A&M. TU found a guy that was out of a job (new AD came in and cleaned house) that doesn't have experience being a head guy as a D-1 AD. This is the job that TU has become. Justin seems like a nice enough guy, but the TU job has become the job of "affording what you can buy at the candy store" rather than getting the best candidate that could cost you a price in the mid-$000's. If Justin can come in and not knowing a soul, but just by being the AD at the University of Tulsa, raise the funds needed to get better talent - both on the field and in the office - then he will make more money; otherwise, he will be the head guy looking for a better assistant's job at a P4 school in the next 3-5 years. We have been there before with some of our coaches, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titansforever Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 Just saw this on the Tulsa World's site: Tulsa athletic director Rick Dickson announced Tuesday that the University of Tulsa's Athletics Endowment Fund received a $30 million donation from an anonymous donor. “I am deeply grateful that I can wrap up my career as a collegiate athletics director by announcing this important gift, which will leave UTulsa Athletics on sound financial footing for generations to come,” said Dickson in a press release. “There is no way to thank these donors enough for their leadership, generosity, and commitment to our shared alma mater.” The endowment's funds will cover scholarship student-athletes' tuition fees indefinitely. Donations help make certain financial limitations are not a hindrance to any student-athlete's ability to succeed in the classroom or on the field. The donors are former letterwinners and student-athletes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 4 Author Share Posted July 4 11 hours ago, titansforever said: Just saw this on the Tulsa World's site: Tulsa athletic director Rick Dickson announced Tuesday that the University of Tulsa's Athletics Endowment Fund received a $30 million donation from an anonymous donor. “I am deeply grateful that I can wrap up my career as a collegiate athletics director by announcing this important gift, which will leave UTulsa Athletics on sound financial footing for generations to come,” said Dickson in a press release. “There is no way to thank these donors enough for their leadership, generosity, and commitment to our shared alma mater.” The endowment's funds will cover scholarship student-athletes' tuition fees indefinitely. Donations help make certain financial limitations are not a hindrance to any student-athlete's ability to succeed in the classroom or on the field. The donors are former letterwinners and student-athletes. This is a strangely-worded announcement. It appears what they're trumpeting is the total amount pledged in a fundraising campaign for endowed athletic scholarships. It's not one big "anonymous" gift to spend from a Boone Pickens-type donor. It's presumably promises from dozens - even hundreds - of "former letterwinners and student-athletes" who will apparently remain unrecognized publicly, at least for now. The announcement also lacks details of how much of the $30 million is actual gifts right now, as opposed to how much is promised in the future. While $30 million is an impressive amount to announce for any fundraising effort (even if it's non-binding pledges), that figure might possibly represent a projection over a long period of time, and may include financial instruments such as insurance policies, annuities, etc., with TU's athletic scholarship fund earmarked as the eventual beneficiary. Theoretically, endowing scholarships at some point in the future should free up dollars within the Athletic Department for facilities upgrades, coaches salaries, recruiting budgets, travel, guarantee games, etc. But the question is, "When?" Or, more specifically, "How soon?" Realistically, it may merely slow down the bleeding for a while of trying to play D-1 football when you really can't afford to anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUSwagger Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 On 7/3/2024 at 11:08 PM, Old Titan said: This is a strangely-worded announcement. It appears what they're trumpeting is the total amount pledged in a fundraising campaign for endowed athletic scholarships. It's not one big "anonymous" gift to spend from a Boone Pickens-type donor. It's presumably promises from dozens - even hundreds - of "former letterwinners and student-athletes" who will apparently remain unrecognized publicly, at least for now. The announcement also lacks details of how much of the $30 million is actual gifts right now, as opposed to how much is promised in the future. While $30 million is an impressive amount to announce for any fundraising effort (even if it's non-binding pledges), that figure might possibly represent a projection over a long period of time, and may include financial instruments such as insurance policies, annuities, etc., with TU's athletic scholarship fund earmarked as the eventual beneficiary. Theoretically, endowing scholarships at some point in the future should free up dollars within the Athletic Department for facilities upgrades, coaches salaries, recruiting budgets, travel, guarantee games, etc. But the question is, "When?" Or, more specifically, "How soon?" Realistically, it may merely slow down the bleeding for a while of trying to play D-1 football when you really can't afford to anymore. Wow…. Lots going on here…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roll Eags New Era Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Not sure if anyone saw this, but thought I would toss this in here... Not sure what the motivation or reasoning is behind an extension that goes through 2029, but okay I guess? Winning 5 games in his first season and then 16 the following year and then losing his best player to Memphis. Just not seeing the reason to extend yet. Not a big fan of this guy anyways. My first guess is the new AD doesn't want to rattle the cage with anyone or make any fans upset if someone likes the guy. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 I agree it seems like a weird time to extend him, especially for so long. I could understand if his contract was expiring next summer that the new AD would want to give him a year or two extension just to give him some breathing room, but this long of an extension doesn’t make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 I doubt that the AD made the decision to extend the contract. He hasn't been around long enough to put the quality of the work being done by Konkol in comparison to the extension of the financial commitment being made. I would think Carson and, on his way out, Dickinson made the decision to get this contract done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Heard this news at a dinner party Saturday night as I have friends whose son is on the team. I was also surprised he was extended so early in his existing contract based on what he's accomplished so far. Friends' kid is happy because he chose TU because of Konkol, duh, and is pleased that Konkol should be there for the player's time at TU. In another interesting note, the father pays $9.99 a month for some insiders message board where folks attending practice share thoughts and, I guess, other insider information is shared. I told him that at orusports.com I get all of that inside information for free from the likes of @eagle88 @Old Titan @Bogus Smith and other well informed, local fans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceManSpiff Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 3 hours ago, Otis 83 said: In another interesting note, the father pays $9.99 a month for some insiders message board where folks attending practice share thoughts and, I guess, other insider information is shared. I told him that at orusports.com I get all of that inside information for free from the likes of @eagle88 @Old Titan @Bogus Smith and other well informed, local fans. That model may have made sense 20+ years ago when finding recruiting information / player reports online was almost impossible. Now every recruit has a mixtape video due to smartphones and YouTube - plus post-game press conferences are often streamed as well. Not sure how Chris Harmon has kept it going... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 36 minutes ago, SpaceManSpiff said: That model may have made sense 20+ years ago when finding recruiting information / player reports online was almost impossible. Now every recruit has a mixtape video due to smartphones and YouTube - plus post-game press conferences are often streamed as well. Not sure how Chris Harmon has kept it going... They are sheep....they just follow whatever they have always done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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