a 10 rating
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We were not in a conference at the time. Successful D1A football independents were common. He wanted the ability to create a booster funding organization but was blocked by The Fossil. He had vision, but again was blocked by The Fossil,he left. He was a very successful at his subsequent stops where the admin did not hinder athletics.
lets break down the different duties of the Ad and see where he might stand---the conference realignment D (but again how much of this is T-Joe----Budget B (substantial increase is happening)---Professionalism B (he is an AD with experience on the job and Walker was a good numbers guy)---Hiring A (great job)----Personality B (he makes the effort but obviously is no HUD)---Facilities A (compare our ongoing construction to any in the country)---Coordination of game day events A (he has this whole situation well in hand in all sports)----Attendance A- (great job of getting butts in the seats---Academic performance A (best this university has ever done and best in the state)----State comparisons of programs---A- (Football #2, basketball #2, softball #1, Baseball #1, WBBall quantum leap!!!! Overall I guess A- to a B+--------------What categories have I left out?????
I can't evaluate Scott Farmer as an AD. I don't have enough concrete information to determine his level of involvement in our successes, lost opportunities or outright failures. I'm also not real sure what his skills are in comparison to other ADs. From the pure "where were we before Scott arrived... and where are we now?" he'd have to be given high marks. Some of the issues that have occurred during his time at UL have bothered me. I struggle, however, to understand the facts... since so many have given contrary versions of what he's either said or done.
I do believe that Mark Hudspeth being such a refreshing grand ambassador for UL athletics (much less a great football coach) has masked and muted concerns that I believe would have surfaced in our athletic funding, facilities, and fan support launches. But, with Hud's great positive UL public persona, so much else has been assisted, even a bad AD could simply stay out of the way of the progress... and we'd keep improving.
Coaching abilities hasn't been an issue for several years... so I measure our AD right now by our funding work (not just whether our funds are improving - but are we maximizing our campaign), our facilities improvement progress (the little he may or may not control), and our conference affiliation (I want to know he's doing the legwork to build the bridge that will get us to the next better available membership). Winning games is on the coaches - and we're doing that - so the work of funding... and conference improvement... can be a main focal point of a good AD at UL.
4......more credit goes to the coaches for performance. He does get some of this. Also the Lotief issue last years was very poorly handled. Conference affiliation, comfort with Sunbelt etc, don't get me started.
If this were Feaux Farmer it would be tens all around. I have been one of this guy's most vocal critics. But facts are facts. This guy may end up getting a lot of credit for things which just happened while he was here. But he has to take some amount of the responsibility for this program going in the direction it has over these past couple of seasons.
First Hud is still here. Do you guys remember us arguing over whether Hud would leave after a year? And now we're going on four years of his regime. Next is the stadium expansion & the overall athletic improvement project. All these things are being done now in a timely manner. We can grudge on the guy for what happened with Lotief, but Lotief is still here. The softball program is one of the strongest in the country.
The men's baseball program had their best season ever & one of the strongest teams in ncaa history. Basketball began a turnaround. There was more great media coverage for this school this season than the past 40 years combined and not just locally regionally & nationally as well. You can't fake those things. You can't hide those things. I could care a less right now about all the other sbc members who abandoned this congerence. What have any of them done for themselves where they've gone except drag other conferences into the mud.
We've got to be honest with ourselves. Of all the things this school & this community had to do to become a bigger influence in college sports. The least important one now appears to have been conference affiliation. Do you people think a single sec fan can look themselves in the mirror today with a straight face & not have to admit that our baseball team was as good as anything they had going this season? They can spew all the sec garbage they want. But they know better. It isn't the conference you're in that defines who you are. It's what you do to represent the conference you're in that makes it what it is. And UL was one of the best schools in the nation this year in collegiate sports regardless of conference. And they had some hellacious achievements. And as much as I might hate to admit it. Scott Farmer had a lot to do with that. I give him a 9.
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