From bcherry@mccallie.org Mon Nov 26 07:54:00 2001 POOR VANDY By Bill Cherry I grew up 25 miles from the Vanderbilt campus and have followed Vandy athletics, particularly football, for over 30 years. Many of my high school classmates attended Vandy, as well as my two daughters. The main reason for my sorry state of personal financial affairs. If you like CollegeCharlie, send me a dollar. What I ramble here about Vanderbilt can probably go for the Dukes and the Wake Forests of the college athletic establishment as well. Vanderbilt may be in the toughest competitive position than anyone in the nation. High admissions standards, a rigorous curriculum, and no phoney majors make it difficult to attract and keep athletes who can compete day-to-day in the SEC. Being the only private school in the shark infested waters of the Southeastern Conference makes no sense. They go out every Saturday and face athletes who had no chance of being admitted to Vandy, kids they could not even recruit. They may match up with some team's starters, but they do not have the depth to compete for four quarters. Their scholarship costs are at least eight times that at other conference schools and their fan base is no where close to Alabama or Tennessee. In fact the Tennessee Titans have eaten into Vandy's base. Nashville was hungry for a winner and the Titans are definitely winners. The financial high rollers who always want and enjoy the perks that go along with big bucks, are now running over one another to fork over $75,000-$100,000 for those Aldelphia Stadium sky boxes. Does Vandy even have sky boxes? Kids all over Middle Tennessee are wearing Titan jerseys - never wore Vandy jerseys. The 'Dores need to be winners and they cannot be in the SEC. Being a member of the SEC is prestigous and the conference revenue sharing package looms big. Last year each conference school received some $6.8 million in conference loot. That is definitely nothing to sneeze at. But why spend that $6 million to perpetuate frustration? About 30 miles down I-24 stands MTSU who is committed to building a big-time program. There are lots of MTSU alums in Nashville who may well spend their Saturdays in Murfreesboro rather than at Dudley Field. Doesn't matter if they are competing in the smaller Sun Belt Conference, the Raiders will still draw the fans if they are winners. They have a better chance of being big time winners than does Vandy. PEOPLE WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH WINNERS. When you get to the nitty-gritty it really doesn't make any difference if it is the SEC or the Sun Belt. People will follow a winner. It will not cost MTSU the big money to be winners that Vandy will have to spend. Athletes and coaches at Vanderbilt deserve a chance to be competitive. If they are to recover from the cellar, they will have to widen their recruiting base, thus being forced to spend more than the other State U conference members. The loyalists in Commodore country will have to dig deeper in their pockets to help recruit nationally. Of course, all things being equal, it is hard to get the attention of an SEC- quality athlete who is also a scholar from places like Indiana, Texas or Arizona when he knows (he is a scholar so he knows) he will lose more Saturday's than win. Why would a quality athlete leave Texas to go to Vandy? Which means they are left in the same snake pit with the bullies of the South and they won't win that recruiting war. One reason Stanford or Northwestern can be competitive at the national level is because of the population density in the immediate areas of the schools. There are more qualified athletes in the proximity of these two campuses. The media markets are also much larger than Nashville. The public school systems which produce candidates with acceptable SAT scores in both areas are also much better than Tennessee. Why does Vanderbilt remain in the SEC? Why stay in a conference where you are the doormat in all sports? MONEY? Vandy is the misfit of the SEC, but is willing to sell its soul for the money and the right to say they are in a major conference. Wake Forest and Duke stay in the ACC because of the MONEY, but they can compete in basketball. They are willing to sacrifice their other athletic programs for the big ACC basketball exposure. Vandy used to do very well in SEC basketball, but hasn't made it to the big show since 1994 under Eddie Fogler, who they immediately ran off because they would not pay him to stay. But is money the main motivation? Vanderbilt just purchased a very up-scale golf club in one of the most prestigious suburbs of Nashville. They recently spent -get this- $8 million remodeling the Chancellor's residence. So maybe money is not the issue. Then why hang on in the SEC? Times have changed. Bigtime college sports is far different than it once was. The Vanderbilt educational philosophy is not compatible with the other conference members. TV has changed everything, yet not so much at Vanderbilt. Tennessee will play on TV nine times this year. Vandy maybe three times. If you were a high school prospect, where would you want to go? How can one recruit SEC-quality athletes for Vandy when you have to tell them: - You will finish in the SEC football cellar every year. - When you play at home, the visiting team will have more fans there than you. - You will never play in a bowl game. - You will seldom play on TV. - You will have to take real courses and you will have to study. - Even people in Nashville won't know your name. - Your classmates will continually ask you why you are doing this. - If you stick it out, you will earn a real degree that means something. Another issue goes to the heart of college athletics. There was a time when athletes were loyal to their schools and teammates. Right now there are too many kids participating in college sports for ONE reason - to play at the professional level. Their loyalties are to themselves and their professional goal. As soon as they think they can get a fat contract, they are gone. Can't really blame them, but they should not have been in college in the first place. Most of these kids have no intention of staying in school for four years let alone getting a degree. Vandy's graduation rate among its athletes is the highest in the league. But how many wins does that get you?! This is sad. The SEC is a bigtime entertainment league. All those orange or crimson-clad fans really are not concerned about education and graduation. This attitude should be totally foreign to Vanderbilt. So foreign that they would distance themselves from it. Vandy should put itself in the position to offer ITS students quality athletics to complement the academic mission of the school. Vandy should offer men's and women's soccer; lacrosse; wrestling; crew, track, etc just like they do at Yale or Harvard. The athletic program should serve the athletic interests of the student body, not just a specialized selective group of students. Even the neighboring ACC offers these sports. In these days, Vandy finds itself in the wrong place, aligned with a group of schools with which they have very little in common. Who will take the Vanderbilt job? There is always someone out there who thinks he can get it done. For most of the brave one's who have tried, the Vandy job has been career-ending. Watson Brown is the head coach at UAB, but he was too young for the Vandy job anyway. DiNardo was able to move to LSU. For the rest, it was a used car sales job after life at Vandy. Oops. Forgot about Steve Sloan who worked a two-year miracle then moved to Texas Tech. The Commodore Bigwigs should make the salary $1 million as it is the hardest job in the SEC. Fairly easy to win at Florida and Tennessee, but Vandy is the greatest challenge. Besides, the only person who should take the Vandy job is a guy who can retire in five years. Hire Carlton Flatt. Nine state championships - the guy knows how to win. What would be wrong with Conference USA or even the Big East? At least Vandy would have a chance to compete. Bringing Miami or Syracuse or Tulane or Pittsburg to Nashville would be a new and fresh approach. Such a schedule would generate new excitement, new hope. The 'Dores would take just as many fans to West Virginia as they presently do to Georgia - and they would have a chance to win! When at Dudley Field, they would truly be the Home Team. The Big East conference share may not approach $6 million, but who cares. Vanderbilt is a progressive, great university. So why continue to live a miserable life in a Redneck athletic conference? Yeah, I said it. A conference that still considers men's soccer as that commie sport. http://collegecharlie.homestead.com/charlie.html Thanks, Bill Cherry Director of Athletics McCallie School 500 Dodds Ave. Chattanooga, TN 37404 (423)493-5539 FAX (423)493-5578