Mortie68 wrote
UH BRIG
as part of your college education did you ever learn to consider a question as a question seeking opinions versus a statement of fact?
So here is a question for you BRIG, is Alden a great Athletic Department builder or not. Should I consider him the equal to the NU, UT or OU AD? Or am I better to consider him as very good at getting money into the system to help germinate flash growth but not long term on the field success? Which is it or is it both, IYHO?
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is Alden a great Athletic Department builder or not.
I would say he's very, very good. I would reserve the term "great" until we've seen if he can accomplish a few more things (Final Four for one, CWS again for the baseball team another), but that's just my take on the word great.
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Should I consider him the equal to the NU, UT or OU AD?
-NU: I would say equal is a good term for Alden and Tom Osborne, although I would give the edge to Alden for his teams' recent successes in the more glamorous sports (Football, Mens BBall, Baseball).
-OU: I think Joe Castiglione is the best AD in the nation (particularly with the non-revenue sports), and I think he's the best AD Mizzou has ever had, so no, I don't put Alden at that level. However, I don't think it's a huge gap. Please consider the resources available at each program...which leads us to...
-Texas: Asking if Mike Alden is a better AD than DeLoss Dodds is just silly on so many levels. (He's not, btw) For one, Dodds is one of the more legendary ADs in the country, and has been at his post for 28 years. For another, Dodds has the kind of resources available to him at UT that are akin to the Yankees in baseball. Texas always finishes in the top 10 in the Director's Cup standings. Mike Alden could be Jesus Tebow himself, and would never be able to match what Dodds has at UT.
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Or am I better to consider him as very good at getting money into the system to help germinate flash growth but not long term on the field success?
You can consider him whatever you want. Somehow, I doubt anything I've said will sway your opinion. Has Alden been good at bringing money into the program? Yeah, he has. (I don't know any of those figures) And with that, he's been able to pay premium prices for big-time, highly sought coaches. Say what you like about Gary Pinkel...facts are, a year ago this fan base was on pins and needles worried that Alden was going to lose Pinkel to Washington. Earlier this year, the same fan base was bracing itself for the seemingly inevitable loss of Mike Anderson to Georgia or Memphis. Mike Alden is the reason they remain at Mizzou.
Additionally, I think it's sadly often overlooked just how much rehabilitation and success Alden has had on the academic side of his program. Mizzou had the #1 APR (Academic Progress Rate) in the Big 12 last year, and EVERY individual athletic team at Mizzou last year had an APR above the national average - all 20 of them. The football program graduated 23 seniors. The basketball team graduated its seniors as well. Many athletes from Mizzou are being drafted to professional sports. Mizzou was the only school in the nation last year to have a 1st round draft pick in Football, Basketball, and Baseball.
As I said before, this won't change your mind, so you'll feel however you want to on it. But if you're asking me, I think Alden has shown definite long term progress with his program.
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