No comprendo. Nowhere did I say the head coach didn't need wrestling knowledge and experience. It could work, but it's always best to have someone knowledgeable about what they're managing. A good head coach will know how to manage the process of developing wrestlers. A good staff will allow him to assign responsibilities to assistants, measure progress, and make necessary adjustments. His attention should be more toward that process than teaching the kids on the mat, but it does not preclude him from instructing. A coach with name recognition and accomplishments, like Hahn or Boroughs, would hopefully know how to develop his wrestlers and accomplish it through his assistants. With the right person at the top, Ashnault, Labs, and one more highly skilled assistant will be an enormous improvement. That's what I'd like to see at Rutgers.
Damion Hahn was first choice not Ashnault
- Thread starter RUSpider
- Start date
You probably know who I am…this sport at the D1 level is very competitive. When my son became a RU wrestler he had his ups and downs. I mentioned that because it encapsulates everything you talk about in the SG era. If it was not for SG relationship with my son…his success would not have happened. IMO he brought out the talent to succeed at this level. Ok one time you can say lucky…two times under different assistant coaches…that’s all SG.
I honestly believe SG would love to correct the ship. Realistically if you are looking for us to be an Iowa or PSU from a tournament championship not happening. However it is definitely possible to get more AAs. Not for nothing we are already considered a D1 wrestling powerhouse. SG has the wrestling know how to get that done. The first move is AA was great. Labs is huge. Another accomplishment all American is huge.
IMO.
I honestly believe SG would love to correct the ship. Realistically if you are looking for us to be an Iowa or PSU from a tournament championship not happening. However it is definitely possible to get more AAs. Not for nothing we are already considered a D1 wrestling powerhouse. SG has the wrestling know how to get that done. The first move is AA was great. Labs is huge. Another accomplishment all American is huge.
IMO.
Loved watching your son...one of my fav RU wrestler. I hope he is doing well and successful in life.You probably know who I am…this sport at the D1 level is very competitive. When my son became a RU wrestler he had his ups and downs. I mentioned that because it encapsulates everything you talk about in the SG era. If it was not for SG relationship with my son…his success would not have happened. IMO he brought out the talent to succeed at this level. Ok one time you can say lucky…two times under different assistant coaches…that’s all SG.
I honestly believe SG would love to correct the ship. Realistically if you are looking for us to be an Iowa or PSU from a tournament championship not happening. However it is definitely possible to get more AAs. Not for nothing we are already considered a D1 wrestling powerhouse. SG has the wrestling know how to get that done. The first move is AA was great. Labs is huge. Another accomplishment all American is huge.
IMO.
I'm a big believer in been there done that. I've always said I have no problem with Goodale being the head coach and figure head of the program. But he needs top notch assistants if he wants to continue in that regard. Our assistant coaches are basically day in and day out workout partners for our wrestlers, so they need to be top notch. Recruiting is another aspect of this, who do you think recruits would rather work with Ashnault a National Champ or Pollard a 3 yr. starter at Rider? We don't have the resources for a large number of SKWC resident athletes, so this is how it has to be.
The results haven't been there; I said the exact same with our upper weights when Leonardis was assistant coach. Great guy, but our upper weights just weren't getting the job done. So, a change needed to be made, which Goodale did and they improved. It's no different in this situation. Pollard was a plan C move after striking out and elevated from the SKWC as a last resort. I applaud Goodale for his efforts, however he failed in getting a top-notch assistant coach. He needs to remedy that situation.
Your son was outstanding, a fan favorite, and initiated the current era of Rutgers wrestling. Will always be thankful for Anthony.You probably know who I am…this sport at the D1 level is very competitive. When my son became a RU wrestler he had his ups and downs. I mentioned that because it encapsulates everything you talk about in the SG era. If it was not for SG relationship with my son…his success would not have happened. IMO he brought out the talent to succeed at this level. Ok one time you can say lucky…two times under different assistant coaches…that’s all SG.
I honestly believe SG would love to correct the ship. Realistically if you are looking for us to be an Iowa or PSU from a tournament championship not happening. However it is definitely possible to get more AAs. Not for nothing we are already considered a D1 wrestling powerhouse. SG has the wrestling know how to get that done. The first move is AA was great. Labs is huge. Another accomplishment all American is huge.
IMO.
It has been over a decade since his first AA. His 2014 AA was the only one accomplished without Donny as a coach. Scott has not moved the needle without Donny. Look what Donny, Buxton, and Rivera accomplished in 2 short years.
I respect your loyalty to Scott. He deserves it. I believe he wants to right the ship. He hasn’t been able to. A college head coach is about results. This is where Scott has fallen short for many years. The team that spends the 6th most of all D 1 wrestling teams should not finished worst than 30th in the country. With our resources, facilities, and being in a top area for high school wrestling, we need to be a consistent top ten team.
Nail meet hammer. The change that needs to happen is at the top. And with the assistants mentioned and another HL accomplished, you are looking at a top 5 team, landing Burroughs as HC and in few years Rutgers would be NC contender. The level of recruit changes drastically and the RTC would likely attract higher level talent, which means steel sharpens steel the room completely changes. PSU laid the blue print and Okie state is right there, the biggest battles aren’t at NCAA but winning a starting line up spot , it’s a given you’ll likely AA and are NC contender if you make it out of the gauntlet. And the success continues in the summer because goal is to be one of the best wrestlers in the world not win a dual.
I don’t disagree with the second part of your statement. Where i think the issue is the talent we get as wrestlers compared to other top BIG wrestling programs. They obviously get the top tier talent. We had a glimpse of that with AA and NS. Now with AK. However Iowa, Psu, Okie st, Osu and Nebraska get these types of talent all the time. With the goal of winning it. We get 3 thru 8 tournament type wrestlers possibly if we are lucky.
Is it SG or can the recruiting process draw that top level talent. I know besides Knox who I believe is a win for us and a couple of other incoming wrestlers…but we been down this route before.
You can have a SG. The question and I may be answering it. How do we consistently get the AS, NS and AK of the wrestling world.
Well then don’t expect to be a top team. NJ is one of the richest states in the Union. It’s not as though it can’t be done it’s a matter of will to win and priority. Okie state, smaller and poorer university system, turned away an Olympic bronze medalist in Coleman Scott to go with David Taylor, handed him $1M. And 2 years later they are the first school in history to have 3 freshman ncaa champs and they were all true freshman. And have the best current US wrestler in their RTC in Zahid Valencia now.
they didnt say in 5 years, they said now, and they dont aim to be a top 10 team or be an AA. The whole mentality is off imho, Goodale has you convinced being top 10 is the goal? Or being an AA is the goal? The bottom line steel sharpens steel and the room isn’t built starting with the staff for steel.
Last edited:
Having 1 or 2 top tier talent guys every blue moon isn’t going to cut it because the room itself isn’t strong enough to develop the talent. NS was coming from the toughest room in the nation and was already there. AA , was AA as a freshman and now imagine his improvement in a much tougher room. While he did win NCAA put him in different room at he may have grown faster.
I don’t. Everyone knows AA is the biggest name in Rutgers wrestling history. Don’t think Burroughs would want that around, especially if AA has head coaching aspirations. It’s essentially keeping the school’s plan B on the same staff.
Results within the program and quality/recognizable name coaching will help draw better talent. Goodale is an awesome coach who has developed plenty of good wrestlers and gotten them on the podium. But the highest, quality wrestlers don't choose Rutgers out of HS consistently. Why? I have to think credentials of the coaching staff are huge in decision making. High school senior: pick between Brands, Sanderson, Goodale, Taylor, Ryan as your head coach. Now, consider ancillary staff and RTC residents in those programs. Where are you NOT going if all are an option? Leftovers who dont go to Iowa, PSU, OK state, OSU now have Cornell, VA Tech, North Carolina, Stanford, ASU, Missouri, etc to choose from. Hell Columbia might out recruit Rutgers soon. Top notch wrestlers want name brand, top notch coaches.
As much as AA is a beloved darling to the Rutgers community, I cant ever see him taking anything away from JB. If JB were HC, I'd have to think his staff would easily trump AA's accomplishments and they still wouldnt take anything away from JB.
Why wouldn’t JB want AA on his staff if he ends up doing a good job??
When DT took over the HC at Okie state he kept some on staff from John smith era and added a few of his own.. what do u mean JB’s staff would easily trump AA’s accomplishments— like his college accomplishments?? Many have pointed out being elite wrestler doesn’t always = elite coach, vice versa.. from what I recall, when Ash was here our guys had nice ankle picks and were a lot tougher from top… another thing I noticed is I don’t think anyone on Taylor’s current staff was an NCAA champ(Kennedy, Gilman, Caldwell, Pearsall).
If Meyer Shapiro was in a different room then Cornell he may have grown faster, said no one.. his results gotten worst year over year and no one dares blames the elite staff at Cornell for that? So who knows if AA woulda grown faster in a diff room… did Dean Peterson grow faster in Iowa room?? They are lightweight University aren’t they?? I mean it’s ultimately on the athlete..
The main thing is having something to draw the elite blue chip recruits(JB?)… the reason Iowa hasn’t been “able to develop” compared to PSU/Okie state.. is bc they been recruiting the #20-40 guys while PSU/OSU get majority of the top 10 p4p.
Peterson missed a lot of time with injury at Iowa. Its hard to know if health and nissed time factored in. Some Iowa guys actually showed up pretty well at National Tournament. There was evidence of some development with a few of their big name guys.
You must not be familiar with Rutgers history. Again, where's the $ coming from? Everyone would love to have JB here and be a top 3-5 team every year competing for trophies. Give us your plan to find the $. Just saying NJ is a wealthy state so it should happen has no connection to reality. OKST has funded athletics far more for decades and has huge donors, whereas Rutgers has been significantly underfunded and far fewer donors.
I still thought Hobbs was doing a great job, regardless of whatever everyone says.Liked Tim Pernetti better, but he got all jammed up.
Hobbs was a disaster. The new AD has been a lot better, but it’s gonna take time to dig out of the shitshow Hobbs left.
Well, there's money coming in from somewhere for wrestling as evidenced with Knox's arrival and some lesser but good gets in Ungar and multi-year potential, big man Herrera. As long as Zinn keeps interested in wrestling, more more could become available and/or start flowing into the program with improved success.
He handed out contract extension like they were candy putting the athletic department in the mess it currently faces. Even giving his mistress, a raise while losing. NIL, he raised $0 and wanted no part of it. He even went so far as to actively have his compliance department hamper the two NIL collectives at the time.
Last edited:
Leonard this excuse was reasonable 10 years ago but not now. Every team is finding ways to get $$. We re located right next to the financial capital of the world and can’t find a single big time donor ? Bloomsburg has a billionaire donor, Little Rock has a big time donor, hell Binghamton has been grinding and putting together some $$ but us in the shadow of Wall Street are reduced to asking middle class New Jersians for donations. That’s on the staff and the AD for not making enough connections , it’s 2026 the coaching staff needs to be able to find the money.
His attitude towards nil set back bascially every sports program
Yeah we have some $ but nowhere near the top teams we want to compete with. And certainly not enough to hire JB and everything that goes with that.
Again, where's the $ coming from? Just saying it should be there doesn't magically make it so. Overall, the entire University struggles to get donations and gets the lowest donations in the B1G and compared to other peers. Sure would be nice to find those donors but we haven't found enough.
Where is it coming from? The point is it is all around you. NJ is a rich state, it’s one the richest in the country by every metric, actually take a look at the numbers, this idea of hard grimey NJ is a fallacy it’s very wealthy, has a large university system with a large population. Much higher than an Iowa, Oklahoma , Nebraska and so on … you keep saying where , and I’m not even including the NY population and the amount of overall wealth. If you can’t find money in this part of the country you should give up in life. Honestly, I don’t even comprehend the thought process at all. It really makes it clear why this is happening fans don’t even know the basic demographics of their own state. Acquiring money in NJ is not the problem it’s the attitude. And even with all that said Rutgers is 6th in terms of spending even with what ir is spending it’s really underachieving in terms of the next step … and that comes down the staff is not starting with the top is not right to make that leap.
I don’t need a history lesson, we are talking about today. If you can’t find money in this area there is something wrong with you as an executive.
This isn’t true. The metro area does not care about college sports for the most part. There’s 9 pro sports teams here that take priority for anyone but the die hards.
Lots of agenda-driven posts here IMO.
Zinn has been here lest than a year, and we are already seeing a significant upgrade in incoming talent. Bring in the right talent, and suddenly Goody might seem like a far better coach.
this is so Rutgers. Expect our coaches to compete with the big guys, but don't give them the money to do so.
Ever hear of bigger-time football? lol
Zinn has been here lest than a year, and we are already seeing a significant upgrade in incoming talent. Bring in the right talent, and suddenly Goody might seem like a far better coach.
this is so Rutgers. Expect our coaches to compete with the big guys, but don't give them the money to do so.
Ever hear of bigger-time football? lol
No one is expecting (big boys)PSU or Iowa results fr.. ppl gotta stop saying that lol.. just asking to produce at the lvl relative to the resources we got… the key word is maximizing our potential with what we got… mighty Little Rock been outperforming RU w what they got. Apparently, RU spent 6th most $$ yet yields 30th+ finishes at nationals.. no AA in 3/4 years.. make that make sense.
Goody has been coach for almost 20 years , he’s had top 5 recruits , the team spends the 6th most in resources apparently. We know exactly what Goodale is as a coach and no number of new recruits is suddenly going to morph him into the next tier of guys
Except your post is also agenda driven. lol.
Defending him on $ argument yet we spend top 10 level $ and finish 30+ at Nationals.
So no plans, just do it because there's so much $ in the area that it must be easy. If it were that easy, we'd have the $ already.
OK enough of this Rutgers spends the 6th most. A lot of these head coaching salaries are supplemented by boosters. Scholarships funded by you guessed, it boosters. NIL which isn't part of this bullsh*t list by some random guy, once again boosters. All this money doesn't show up in this random guy's list. Rutgers foots the entire bill.
None of you looked at the methodology used in this tweet, I did. Yet you all cite it. The list is a fabrication of travel expenses, facility expenses, coach's salaries, scholarships and administrative costs. It does not include NIL. There is no possible way he could get all these figures and he even states in the methodology that it's estimated, what that really means, his best guess. That's what you're citing
Example: How do you put a price tag on facilities? What portion of the APC or the RAC gets attributed to Gymnastics' or Wrestling or Women's Volleyball, how about Men's and women's basketball?
It's a made up list by some random guy in his basement, not some trusted news source, but since it's on the internet, it must be true. I guess the old adage is correct, repeat something long enough and eventually everyone will believe you.
None of you looked at the methodology used in this tweet, I did. Yet you all cite it. The list is a fabrication of travel expenses, facility expenses, coach's salaries, scholarships and administrative costs. It does not include NIL. There is no possible way he could get all these figures and he even states in the methodology that it's estimated, what that really means, his best guess. That's what you're citing
Example: How do you put a price tag on facilities? What portion of the APC or the RAC gets attributed to Gymnastics' or Wrestling or Women's Volleyball, how about Men's and women's basketball?
It's a made up list by some random guy in his basement, not some trusted news source, but since it's on the internet, it must be true. I guess the old adage is correct, repeat something long enough and eventually everyone will believe you.
Last edited:
The following table was posted 16 months ago on the basketball forum - (7) Estimated Size of Each B1G NIL Purse - Forums, but should still be fairly accurate. RU is last in NIL collective fundraising, last in donations, and second to last in ticket revenue in the Big Ten. If we assume the X post that shows NCAA wrestling program spending that was posted last month is accurate, it showed spending for RU Wrestling as #6. At best, this list was misleading by design since it did not say what went into those calculations (such as the depreciation of our nearly $90M APC, which would be a very big component of the $3M) and it failed to bring donations to light, which would not be included in a school's operating expenses when the money is given to their designated collective and then given to coaches, NCAA athletes, RTC coaches, and RTC resident athletes. Does anyone honestly believe Oklahoma State was able to hire David Taylor and his staff, pay the team's NIL tab, fund the Cowboy RTC coaches, fund the RTC resident athletes, etc. for only $2M more than what RU supposedly "spent" in FY2025?
| School | 2023 Conf | 2024 Conf | Collective Funding * | Total Support | Ticket Sales | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 9,311,667 | 56,656,994 | 15,693,517 | 40,963,477 |
| Indiana | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 13,631,160 | 82,939,020 | 21,278,997 | 61,660,023 |
| Iowa | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 9,698,730 | 59,012,087 | 26,416,829 | 32,595,258 |
| Maryland | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 3,735,112 | 22,726,352 | 12,735,792 | 9,990,560 |
| Michigan | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 16,357,054 | 99,524,766 | 55,266,135 | 44,258,631 |
| Michigan State | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 13,035,471 | 79,314,544 | 25,178,673 | 54,135,871 |
| Minnesota | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 7,171,424 | 43,634,648 | 19,252,536 | 24,382,112 |
| Nebraska | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 7,973,918 | 48,517,435 | 38,946,701 | 9,570,734 |
| Northwestern | Big Ten | Big Ten | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Ohio State | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 20,253,400 | 123,232,149 | 59,649,921 | 63,582,228 |
| Oregon ** | Pac-12 | Big Ten | $ 10,623,807 | 64,640,729 | 24,357,945 | 40,282,784 |
| Penn State | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 13,793,489 | 83,926,716 | 44,678,657 | 39,248,059 |
| Purdue | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 5,510,579 | 33,529,207 | 16,617,614 | 16,911,593 |
| Rutgers | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 3,624,816 | 22,055,252 | 13,049,333 | 9,005,919 |
| Southern Cal ** | Pac-12 | Big Ten | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| UCLA ** | Pac-12 | Big Ten | $ 5,919,423 | 36,016,831 | 17,494,361 | 18,522,470 |
| Washington ** | Pac-12 | Big Ten | $ 9,406,794 | 57,235,798 | 29,198,790 | 28,037,008 |
| Wisconsin | Big Ten | Big Ten | $ 8,982,406 | 54,653,602 | 38,117,093 | 16,536,509 |
It's not all or nothing/either or. Not all fans are saying Rutgers should compete with Penn St, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio st, or Oklahoma st.
Most are saying Rutgers is in a good enough position to compete with and/or beat Wyoming, Columbia, Penn, Princeton, Indiana, Little Rock, American. West Virginia, Air Force, Pittsburg, Rider, Navy, Purdue, Oklahoma, Maryland, and George Mason.
Most are saying Rutgers is in a good enough position to compete with and/or beat Wyoming, Columbia, Penn, Princeton, Indiana, Little Rock, American. West Virginia, Air Force, Pittsburg, Rider, Navy, Purdue, Oklahoma, Maryland, and George Mason.
Head to head is good. When it mattered most though, Rutgers finished behind those programs and it wasn't because of finances.
The blue bloods have more money. That is indisputable. What about the other teams that finished ahead of Rutgers? Rutgers tied with Utah Valley and George Mason in 2026. Do they have more money? Or did they do the same with less? Is money in the way of finishing ahead of those programs listed?
The blue bloods have more money. That is indisputable. What about the other teams that finished ahead of Rutgers? Rutgers tied with Utah Valley and George Mason in 2026. Do they have more money? Or did they do the same with less? Is money in the way of finishing ahead of those programs listed?
Why shouldn’t Rutgers be competing with PSU, Nebraska, Ohio state , and Iowa? If George Mason is your measuring stick then no doubt about it Goodale is not the guy.
It’s not my job to come up with plan, it’s the executives that are running the school and the AD and I he HC. And if you can’t find the money in this state and area then you are failing at your job. Saying the money is not there is ridiculous the money is all around you. The issue is not money it’s the personal. Period.
Crazy to think RU had enough $$ to get 3 transfer(Pinto, Cotton, Catka).. sign recruiting classes better then all the teams you listed(on 2nd paragraph) w ranked wrestlers all over PA,NJ,CA.. yet all those teams did better… $$ to get transfers, sign multiple top 10 recruiting classes.. yet production is = tied to Utah Valley and George Mason.. let that sink in .. yeah I’ll say some teams are def doing more with less… RU doesn’t got $$ of blue bloods but doesn’t seem like RU has been maximizing the ROI w the $$ they do have and that’s a problem.