Please email Pat

[MYHATINTHERING]

academic brilliance does not mean you are brilliant nor have common sense.

 

[BlockR]

Pony up or shut up.

this is where some of you are 100% wrong and way off base. Its NOT the job of the fan base to pay for Pat Hobbs mistakes.
He and Ash get a decent amount of money to do their jobs. right now NEITHER are doing their jobs.
So when someone in charge of an administration fails to do their jobs its the fan base job to pony up to fix their failures?
DONT THINK SO.Im not and neither will 1000s others.
Enjoy November when the stadium is filled with more fans of another school and the media blasts it all over the NYC market.
MAYBE Hobbs will wake up then before he gets swept out with his boy ASHERROR.

 

[BlockR]

lets spill some truth:.
Schiano was interested in coming back somewhat after the Flood disaster.
Hobbs had a go thru person contact Schianos agent.
Mr Hobbs didnt like being told that Schiano was interested in Canes before RU and Hobbs got his shorts all in a knot and stormed off claiming he wouldnt consider hiring Schiano back or Fleck any longer and wanted a clean break from Schiano ties.
So we get ASHERROR and Schaino still not looking to ever working for Hobbs after his little hissy fit last go around.
Its working out so good that Hobbs didnt hire Schiano or Fleck!
maybe time for Hobbs to head back to Seton Hall.

 

[Scarlet_Monster]

Just wrote a page 3 letter email to Pat Hobbs. Doubt it does anything, but the more he hears dissent he has to start second guessing things.

 

[bethlehemfan]

We're paying Ash about 2 mil a year. If you think we're getting a significant upgrade for 3 mil a year, you're mistaken.

A quality coach, a guy who's going to a) win games, b) recruit out of the gate and c) generate media buzz and therefore attendance, starting in Year 1, is going to cost at least 5 mil a year plus 3 mil for staff, for a total of 8. That's 10.2 mil out of pocket for buyout + replacement, for 4 years.

Not sure about that.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

lets spill some truth:.
Schiano was interested in coming back somewhat after the Flood disaster.
Hobbs had a go thru person contact Schianos agent.
Mr Hobbs didnt like being told that Schiano was interested in Canes before RU and Hobbs got his shorts all in a knot and stormed off claiming he wouldnt consider hiring Schiano back or Fleck any longer and wanted a clean break from Schiano ties.
So we get ASHERROR and Schaino still not looking to ever working for Hobbs after his little hissy fit last go around.
Its working out so good that Hobbs didnt hire Schiano or Fleck!
maybe time for Hobbs to head back to Seton Hall.

well they both need to grow the fk up and get to the table.

 

[G- RUnit]

Maybe time to email President because this is Pat’s mess. Setting program back decade. Maybe time for Pat to go.

 

[read option]

Pony up or shut up.

Again with the expectation that fans will spend their hard earned money and take a chance on what’s been proven to be a complete failure.

Why would anyone with a brain “pony up” for this disaster of a football program? That’s asking people to flush their money down the toilet, which is completely unfair to do.

Instead of putting it on the fans you don’t want to hear from, why don’t you venture into reality and see this situation for what it is: a complete train wreck with almost no survivors and those that lived are on life support.

The HC needs to go but hasn’t yet because of finances and no other reason. Financially, if we could fire him we probably would have after today’s loss. The only reason he is here is money and everyone except unfortunately those who control the situation realize that.

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

Gentlemen, there is no math that supports firing Ash after this season. Everyone who touts the "empty seats" angle is either overstating or just plain ignoring the numbers.

Absent a donor buyout *and* donor-led subsidy of a significantly upgraded coaching staff - so figure something like $20 million, total - there's zero appetite among Barchi & BOG to throw good money after bad just for the sake of "winning".

So Flood was only fired because of his extracurriculars? How about Julie?

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Again with the expectation that fans will spend their hard earned money and take a chance on what’s been proven to be a complete failure.

Why would anyone with a brain “pony up” for this disaster of a football program? That’s asking people to flush their money down the toilet, which is completely unfair to do.

Instead of putting it on the fans you don’t want to hear from, why don’t you venture into reality and see this situation for what it is: a complete train wreck with almost no survivors and those that lived are on life support.

The HC needs to go but hasn’t yet because of finances and no other reason. Financially, if we could fire him we probably would have after today’s loss. The only reason he is here is money and everyone except unfortunately those who control the situation realize that.

it was a stupid response for sure but for 'ponying up', I suggest emails, calls and no attendance. It's the very least we can do

 

[Debtbubble]

If it’s $51 per season ticket, per game. RU lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,500,000 a year in ticket sales since 2015. Approximately 10,000 tickets.

This year sales were about 22,500. Next year will be worse. At 1-11 it could drop to 18,000?

That’s around another 1,600,000 a year lost.

Could Schiano get you back to 30,000 season ticket sold? That's an extra 3,000,000 to pay Schiano and 2,100,000 to buyout Ash.

But there is no money?

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

What is the best email for Hobbs?

I also got a call, once during dinner and once while driving looking for donations. Hope to get them when I can talk for a few minutes and let them know if Ash is not fired I'm not renewing and my donations are done across the board.

 

[BlockR]

Students 'we Suck"
https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2018/10/rutgers_student_section_blackout.html

 

[RU4Real]

So Flood was only fired because of his extracurriculars? How about Julie?

If you recall, Christie intervened in the Julie madness specifically because Rutgers was getting bad press and Christie didn't want that albatross around his neck on the eve of a Presidential run.

If Flood and Julie had failed in quiet anonymity, nothing would have been done.

 

[Knight Shift]

Again with the expectation that fans will spend their hard earned money and take a chance on what’s been proven to be a complete failure.

Why would anyone with a brain “pony up” for this disaster of a football program? That’s asking people to flush their money down the toilet, which is completely unfair to do.

Instead of putting it on the fans you don’t want to hear from, why don’t you venture into reality and see this situation for what it is: a complete train wreck with almost no survivors and those that lived are on life support.

The HC needs to go but hasn’t yet because of finances and no other reason. Financially, if we could fire him we probably would have after today’s loss. The only reason he is here is money and everyone except unfortunately those who control the situation realize that.

OK. For once we agree. So what is the point of bac's original post? What are we going to e-mail Hobbs? Restate the obvious? Maybe he should e-mail Barchi?

 

[RUJohnny99]

Sadly in Barchi's twisted mind being the laughingstock of college football actually cements his opinion that football should bot be a sport at Rutgers.

Maybe he’s tired of pissing away good money after bad like the rest of us.

Let’s be honest. Rutgers is only in the conference to get a piece of that Big Ten jackpot, and the Big Ten only invited Rutgers to get a piece of that NYTV money. Everybody gets their money whether 54,000 come to the stadium or 10,000 come to the stadium.

 

[Scarlet_Monster]

My ridiculously long letter to Hobbs

Dear Athletic Director Pat Hobbs,


I'm writing you this as a plea, because despite your willingness to proclaim Chris Ash as "Your guy", it's become apparent to the fanbase that he is anything but "the guy".


My family has been part of Rutgers athletics for decades, and each time we thought "Well, it can't get any lower than this", and yet somehow it always does. Just when things start going right for our alma mater, we turn into Charlie Brown and success is the football that Lucy pulls away at the last second.


We've been season ticket holders in football since the 70s, and myself bought my own tickets when I was beginning my Undergraduate studies at Rutgers back in 2006. I guess you can say that throughout my Undergraduate and then Graduate studies I saw more success than my Father and his Uncles did throughout the majority of their entire lives. It's not to say that I haven't also been apart of the low points, those including the final days of Doug Graber, Terry Shea's entire tenure here, the early years of Greg Schiano, the Kyle Flood debacle which destroyed the foundation of what Greg Schiano spent a decade plus building, to now Chris Ash. Who took that foundation that was pretty much rubble, and dropped a nuclear bomb on it. It's amazing how quickly Rutgers went from resembling a competent D1-A Power 5 Conference football member to now looking like a Pop-Warner squad helmed by a man who is in a consistent struggle of either looking confused or completely constipated on the sideline.


The bulk of the hardcore fanbase thought Terry Shea was as bad as it could get, and then Kyle Flood who got the job by being pretty much the only member of Schiano's coaching staff whom he didn't bring with him to Tampa Bay somehow eclipsed the ineptitude. Well, Chris Ash in true "You haven't seen anything yet" fashion decided to bring the ineptitude up to 11.


The comparisons are numerous, both Ash and Shea were "late" to getting to Rutgers. Both had glowing letters of recommendation to the greatest coaches of their generation, Shea had Bill Walsh, and Ash had Urban Meyer. Neither had recruiting chops, nor the personality to thrive in this part of the country. This is New Jersey, this is where we eat our own. Look around the country, how many other State flagship Universities would have their local paper writer story after story on why that University is bad and should feel bad, even if nothing bad was happening.


Chris Ash came to the job and belittled anything and everything Rutgers accomplished prior his arrival. He joked about how bad our facilities were, how we didn't have x, y, or z. He used this as an excuse to the early struggles. He alienated the players who were recruited by previous coching regimes because they weren't up to "snuff" according to him, and that it was a 3, then a 4, then a 5, and now I believe we are up to a 6 year rebuild. There isn't a faster way to lose a locker room than to tell the men who committed to "THE UNIVERSITY" not a "COACH" that they aren't good enough and won't amount to anything until they are long gone.


I remember Chris Ash's first press conference. He gloated about how he was going to bring an exciting Power Spread offense to the banks of the Raritan, and bring along a hard nosed blue-collar defense that isn't afraid to get into the opponent's face. Well, how much of that actually happened? Chris Ash had to plead with Tom Herman to take Drew Mehringer off his hands when his "exciting, futuristic" Power Spread offense couldn't even fall forward for a 1 yard gain. He then goes out and hires Jerry Kill who accomplished a myriad of things at Minnesota, but let's be honest. He never was a true offensive mind, nor was he the steady play caller for the Gophers as well. That Power Spread offense? Well, that was gone, Ash did a complete 180 and went to this slow, plodding offense that was 3 yards and a cloud of dust. In true Rutgers fashion, another OC comes in and leaves, this time because of health issues Jerry Kill had. Ash in his third attempt brings a familiar name back to Rutgers in John McNulty. So let's get this straight, the man who promised us a cutting edge, exciting Power Spread offense we now are back to the retro-esque Pro Style offense that demands top notch recruits, and perfect execution to get the job done. It's understandable for the offense to be behind the defense because of the constant change of coordinators, philosophies, etc. However, this leads to the biggest problem, the defense.


For a coach who is a defensive mind first and foremost to have so many struggles installing a defense is truly frustrating. The defensive coaching staff as a whole has stayed the same, and the philosophy has as well. So this is where things get really ugly, an offense cobbled together by John McNulty in a few months is in a much better spot than the defense that Chris Ash has been putting together for the last THREE YEARS! The running joke of a previous coach at Rutgers, that being Doug Grabar was "Hey Oug where is the D?" Making fun of how badly his defenses tended to be, the difference was his offenses more often than not did enough to keep Rutgers in most games. The advantages Chris Ash has over every pretty much every other man who was a Head Coach for Rutgers is astounding. Terry Shea, as bad as he was, if he had the academic support team Chris Ash has, and the monetary support as well might have actually been a decent coach.


I assume you have experience in basic finance. Does the sunk-cost fallacy mean anything to you? The buyout of Chris Ash's contract may seem exorbitant, but it might be worth it to spend that money up front versus keeping him here, while making no progress, all the while season ticket membership take a sharp decline again, just as it has every year under Chris Ash. The amount of money you would lose with the season ticket membership taking a nosedive, single game ticket sales, sponsorships, donations, and most of all basic interest in the football program and university. You do realize that having a competent, exciting athletic program makes money for the university. Do you know the increase of applications a school like Appalachian State had after it upset Michigan? Or the increase of applicants for the University of Central Florida had after their storybook season last year? The oldest slogan in business is that you have to spend money to make money, can't be more true.


Today Rutgers lost again, this time to an Illinois squad that hasn't won a Big Ten conference game in over 700 days. This was perhaps Chris Ash's last and best chance to get a win this season, as the schedule does anything but get easier for him from here on out. I truly expect the month of November to be amongst the worst college football I've ever seen especially when you are facing a murderers row of opponents. If Rutgers scores more than 14 points in that entire month I will be gobsmacked.


I just ask you to take all things into account. Don't buy into false hope, that set Rutgers back when during a cold November night, a Kyle Flood lead team backed into a win against USF and made Rutgers bowl eligible. Julie Hermann tried to garner donor support to dispose of Kyle Flood, but she couldn't drum up enough support. My Father, Uncles, and myself answered the call, we may not have a wallet like Greg Brown or Jeff Towers, but we were willing to put up a decent chunk of change to have change occur. It was just disappointing that others weren't willing to answer the call. Couple that with the fact Rutgers is a small time operation that couldn't fire someone who got a team bowl eligible. The cracks were showing then and there, and that extra year of time Kyle Flood bought himself set this school back more than you'd believe.


Now the fanbase is cheering such simple things as actually getting a first down prior to the second half, not getting shut out, not giving up 50+ points. That is how low the bar has fallen. It's just frustrating to see the progress other varsity sports at Rutgers has made versus how far the football team has regressed. You made the right call with Coach Pikiell, not every decision pans out, there is no harm in admitting you made a mistake. Do the right thing, survey the scene, because just know this. Every single school in our conference, and near us proximity wise is going to negatively recruit against us every single day Chris Ash is still in power. Cut your losses, cast out a wide net, and don't fall in love with the first person who might give you a decent interview.


Myself, and my family are now at a crossroads with Rutgers Football. The gameday experience has nosedived, the product on the field is an even bigger disaster. We truly believe that Rutgers has potential to be a sleeping giant when it comes to athletics, but the vision isn’t there. Look at the recruits Schiano was pulling in when we were stuck in a floundering Big East. Could you imagine the caliber of athlete he could sell Rutgers on with the same advantages that has been bestowed to Chris Ash? Instead, we are now fighting with lower tier MAC schools for talent along with Patriot League schools. Which is hilarious in a sad way because when Greg Schiano took the job, he said our facilities, support, and pretty much everything else was on par with a Patriot League Conference member from his playing days at Bucknell.


Sincerely,


Peter xxxxx

Rutgers SAS '10

Rutgers Graduate School of Education '11

 

[DHajekRC84]

Hobbs was walking thru the 2nd row of Scarlet today.I grabbed his hand and said hi. I grabbed it tighter and pulled it towards me and said we better win today.

He smiled. So did I.But I at least sent my message up close and personal FWIW.

Not my mess. Not my job to fix it. Imagine being a kid at 20 and being told "we're going Big time" and now a senior at 60 years old and go nearly ZILCH to look back on? They owe me 40 years of falls. (AKA FAILS)

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

If you recall, Christie intervened in the Julie madness specifically because Rutgers was getting bad press and Christie didn't want that albatross around his neck on the eve of a Presidential run.

If Flood and Julie had failed in quiet anonymity, nothing would have been done.

Well I recall it was Fall 15 but not that aspect. Did the state fund those buyouts?

In any case, what is happening now is not anonymous- of course it's not NCAA related but there is a pretty good argument we are the worst p5 program and then you have the credit card thing on top of that.

 

[Letitrip]

We're paying Ash about 2 mil a year. If you think we're getting a significant upgrade for 3 mil a year, you're mistaken.

A quality coach, a guy who's going to a) win games, b) recruit out of the gate and c) generate media buzz and therefore attendance, starting in Year 1, is going to cost at least 5 mil a year plus 3 mil for staff, for a total of 8. That's 10.2 mil out of pocket for buyout + replacement, for 4 years.

Would normally agree with this - but with Ash we could get an upgrade for about 75k per year. And that is not a joke - Ash is and absolute train wreck.

 

[Retired711]

OK. For once we agree. So what is the point of bac's original post? What are we going to e-mail Hobbs? Restate the obvious? Maybe he should e-mail Barchi?

I think if I were going to e-mail anybody, it would be Barchi. After all, he's Hobbs' boss. I am not sure, but I believe he can be e-mailed at [email protected]. My advice is to avoid hyperbole, and to state the facts as you see them. I would also check my e-mail to him for grammar and spelling; you want to come off like someone who benefited from his education at Rutgers.

I have to say that I don't think it will do any good. It was Hobbs and (probably) Barchi, not some lawyer, who made the decision to give Ash an extension without an opt-out clause. No doubt that is what Ash wanted. Hobbs and Barchi were willing to take the chance of poor performance in the early years of the extension. So they are not going to be swayed by the fact that the team is unwatchable.

To me, it is a waste of a Saturday afternoon to watch the team on TV. I feel for those of you who attend games. I particularly feel for those of you who remember the Shea days, and who thought the program had hit rock-bottom then, and who thought that would never happen again.

 

[Retired711]

Well I recall it was Fall 15 but not that aspect. Did the state fund those buyouts?

In any case, what is happening now is not anonymous- of course it's not NCAA related but there is a pretty good argument we are the worst p5 program and then you have the credit card thing on top of that.

I can guarantee you that the state legislature does not give us money to buy out coaches. We have enough trouble getting money to pay for the costs of instruction.

 

[bac2therac]

In his deranged mind, and I am not kidding I am dead serious when I say this, he thinks that the B1G brought us in for our academics.

Barchi is an idiot, there are people on this board who think he cares about athletics...well they are flat wrong and have been wrong....this is a guy that refused to even consider spending a penny on a basketball practice facility...even going as far to get into a back and forth argument with Lesniak in the paper. His views on athletics are embarassing

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

I can guarantee you that the state legislature does not give us money to buy out coaches. We have enough trouble getting money to pay for the costs of instruction.

That was my guess, but just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something.

Best we hope for is 1M of Murphy's personal riches on a buyout I think

 

[Retired711]

Barchi is an idiot, there are people on this board who think he cares about athletics...well they are flat wrong and have been wrong....this is a guy that refused to even consider spending a penny on a basketball practice facility...even going as far to get into a back and forth argument with Lesniak in the paper. His views on athletics are embarassing

Was Lesniak going to raise money to fund that facility? I sure don't think so. It is cheap to attract votes calling for a facility without helping with the funding.

 

[bac2therac]

you wanna stop season ticket sales drop and attendance bleeding..go hire Schiano...that would happen if McCormick was President.

Schiano is the only hire that can immediately stop the money bleed and fans leaving in droves

 

[bac2therac]

Was Lesniak going to raise money to fund that facility? I sure don't think so. It is cheap to attract votes calling for a facility without helping with the funding.

Barchi didnt want it at all. He hamstrung Julie about the issue from the get go saying WE WILL NOT SPEND ONE CENT ON IT

 

[Retired711]

Gentlemen, there is no math that supports firing Ash after this season. Everyone who touts the "empty seats" angle is either overstating or just plain ignoring the numbers.

Absent a donor buyout *and* donor-led subsidy of a significantly upgraded coaching staff - so figure something like $20 million, total - there's zero appetite among Barchi & BOG to throw good money after bad just for the sake of "winning".

A number of posters have said we've lost 10,000 season tickets sold. The problem is that measures from the 2015 peak when we first joined the B1G, and so playing B1G teams were a novelty. My impression is that season ticket sales are about where they were at the end of the Big East years.

 

[Retired711]

Barchi didnt want it at all. He hamstrung Julie about the issue from the get go saying WE WILL NOT SPEND ONE CENT ON IT

You missed my point entirely, which is that Lesniak was calling for a facility that he wasn't going to SPEND ONE CENT ONE. (see, I can yell too).

 

[Letitrip]

you wanna stop season ticket sales drop and attendance bleeding..go hire Schiano...that would happen if McCormick was President.

Schiano is the only hire that can immediately stop the money bleed and fans leaving in droves

Totally agree with this. Best "and" safest choice. Only realistic coach who has both.

 

[krup]

Gentlemen, there is no math that supports firing Ash after this season. Everyone who touts the "empty seats" angle is either overstating or just plain ignoring the numbers.

Absent a donor buyout *and* donor-led subsidy of a significantly upgraded coaching staff - so figure something like $20 million, total - there's zero appetite among Barchi & BOG to throw good money after bad just for the sake of "winning".

You are choosing to ignore the math. Using an average of $400 per season ticket for the ticket + seat gift (which is low) every 1000 drop in season tickets is $400,000 a year lost.

We are down over 8000 a year in season ticket sales since Ash was hired. Over $3,000,000 a year lost (without even counting parking and concessions) with a lot more to come next year.

 

[bac2therac]

imo, it would have been better off to stay in the AAC...I firmly believe that a 8-4/9-3/10-2 program would be bringing in solid numbers and support. Its about winning and not the teams you play. RU would have alot of fans onboard if they were contending for the AAC every year even going 8-4...winning matters

 

[bac2therac]

You missed my point entirely, which is that Lesniak was calling for a facility that he wasn't going to SPEND ONE CENT ONE. (see, I can yell too).

but the state did kick in $25 million didnt they

 

[RU4Real]

Here are the season ticket sales for the last 4 years:

2015: 31,168
2016: 28,478
2017: 23,812
2018: 22,337

 

[bac2therac]

almost 9K lost in just 3 years....its ALOT

that number almost assuredly is going below 20K next season...book it

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

At 15K next year per game as far as season tickets, the question is what does the number look like on a new hire if Ash has a 4 year record of 9 and 39??

I think it's not winning as much as playing sound football. If RU just plays sound and fundamentals in football, you have 40K most games regardless of the opponent.

The litmus test is how far the RAC fell under Eddie Jordan and how many casual fans decide to reconsider supporting basketball....we lost a lot of fans in basketball that invested their support in football instead. The question is whether that fandom gets redirected towards basketball or even wrestling.

 

[read option]

Here are the season ticket sales for the last 4 years:

2015: 31,168
2016: 28,478
2017: 23,812
2018: 22,337

I’m curious as to where you found those numbers? Not saying they are wrong.

 

[JoeRU0304]

Well, if he’s as brilliant as everyone says then find a way to make RU football a member for all sports except football and move football to The Colonial Conference. If not, give the money back and bow out of the B1G all together. This is effing embarrassing.

Couldn’t agree more Boogie. Don’t enter the Indy 500 if all you have is a f******* bike and $5.


Joe P.

 

[RU4Real]

I’m curious as to where you found those numbers? Not saying they are wrong.

They were sent to me.

 

[Retired711]

but the state did kick in $25 million didnt they

This story says that Lesniak sponsored legislation to provide $25 million in tax credits (presumably to the companies doing the construction), which wouldn't have directly given anything to Rutgers, but would subsidize the cost of construction. The story does not make clear whether the legislation passed. In any event, the project cost over $100 million. https://www.onthebanks.com/2017/10/...-rwjbarnabas-health-ray-lesniak-steve-pikiell