Templeton

[RutherfordBHayes]

I believe I saw a thread recently praising Larry Templeton and his tenure as AD. During his time, we had Sweet 16/Final Four, Sherrill's run/SEC Division Champs, and multiple CWS. I didn't have time to reply to that thread and didn't want to hijack it.

In 1987, Templeton was promoted to AD. Rockey Felker was football coach, Ron Polk was baseball coach, and Richard Williams had recently been promoted from Assistant Coach to Head Basketball Coach by previous AD (I believe).

-1989, he hired Jerry Henderson for Women's Basketball
-1991, he chose Bill Curry to be Head Football Coach (vetoed by Pres Zacharias who chose Jackie Sherrill)
-1995, he hired Sharon Fanning for Women's Basketball
-1998, he promoted assistant coach Pat McMahon (Polk's decision)
-1999, he promoted assistant coach Rick Stansbury
-2002, Ron Polk came back
-2004, he hired Sylvester Croom

 

[MSUDC11]

Fanning did a pretty good job, McMahon wasn’t here long and had Polk’s players so he’s difficult to judge, but everybody else on that list didn’t work out well at all.

 

[RutherfordBHayes]

I love Sharon Fanning. But she had 7 losing seasons out of 17. She had 4 seasons over .500 in conference, finished 3rd twice, and had an SEC record of 96-141. But that’s Templeton’s best hire. I can’t give him any credit for baseball; Polk ran that show.

 

[Philly Dawg]

Stansbury was hired over Templeton’s objection and MacMahon left because Templeton interfered in his fund raising. Some good things happened during his tenure, but it would be hard for nothing good to have happened over that period of time.

 

[patdog]

From what we were when Fanning was hired, she did an incredible job. She put MSU women’s basketball on the map.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Templeton continously crapped on MSU to get his SEC job....piss on em...

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

The biggest difference between now and the Templeton era to me is the perception. Mississippi State is no longer perceived as a bottom feeder nationally. While we are not confused with A&M's and Ohio State's of the world, it is commonly accepted that Mississippi State has nice facilities, passionate fans, and competitive athletic programs... It's not just about the influx of SEC money. Fogelsong, Byrne, and Mullen (3 outsiders with big brash balls) convinced us and the world we are relevant and need to act like it.

 

[wtw2400]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Slive basically push Croom onto Templeton and he just went with it?

 

[Drebin]

The biggest difference between now and the Templeton era to me is the perception. Mississippi State is no longer perceived as a bottom feeder nationally. While we are not confused with A&M's and Ohio State's of the world, it is commonly accepted that Mississippi State has nice facilities, passionate fans, and competitive athletic programs... It's not just about the influx of SEC money. Fogelsong, Byrne, and Mullen (3 outsiders with big brash balls) convinced us and the world we are relevant and need to act like it.

This is a perfect analysis of the situation. Templeton is the reason for the perception problems we had during the Templeton era. Our perception changed when our attitude changed as our leadership changed. Attitude reflects leadership.

Unfortunately, we have too many in our fanbase who came up during that era and think that's the way it always will be. I recognize them because I came up during that era, too. I just always thought we could do better, and the last decade has proven and should prove to everyone that we can, and we have, and as long as the right people are in place, we will.

 

[patdog]

Some people believe that, but no one really knows. Croom certainly wasn't forced on us though. He even turned us down once, which would have been plenty to satisfy Slive even if the rumor was true (which there's no real indication it was), and then Templeton went back and begged him to take the job.

 

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

The biggest difference between now and the Templeton era to me is the perception. Mississippi State is no longer perceived as a bottom feeder nationally. While we are not confused with A&M's and Ohio State's of the world, it is commonly accepted that Mississippi State has nice facilities, passionate fans, and competitive athletic programs... It's not just about the influx of SEC money. Fogelsong, Byrne, and Mullen (3 outsiders with big brash balls) convinced us and the world we are relevant and need to act like it.

Comparing A&M with Ohio State is as unequal a comparison as comparing us with Alabama.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Comparing A&M with Ohio State is as unequal a comparison as comparing us with Alabama.

Resources. Alumni. Not football titles.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-65-power-five-schools-slideshow-wp-191443165.html

For those who don't feel like clicking A&M has the largest athletic budget and Ohio State is 3rd. Ohio State is 9th in athletic department success and A&M is 10th.

Definitely a fair comparison of athletic departments, but if you are talking football only, it would not be close.