Back when cutting sports seemed like the abyss...

[ZippyRulz]

40 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Was the golf team's home course, Firestone CC?  I can't imagine what that cost the university.

 

I'll give them an ounce of credit and assume we weren't paying an exorbitant amount at whatever course(s) we were using.

[jupitertoo]

I'm sure Title IX prevented the elimination of one more sport to reach 16.

 

I wonder about the mention of scholarship reductions.  Guessing football and soccer both will lose a handful of scholarships - football  may more than a handful.

 

Personnel cuts will impact marketing and communications, I would guess.  Perhaps an associate AD or two as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DannyHoke]

37 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I think the fact that the AD can sit down and in two weeks come up with a plan to cut $4.4 million/23% of the budget is a pretty strong sign they've been living above their means and that there wasn't a lot of deep thinking or budgetary planning going on up to this point.  I get that the COVID-19 crisis pushed this along but these are decisions that should have been on the burner for the last 3 to 5 years.

 

First, $4.4m is not 23% of the budget. unless our budget is $18m. 

 

Second, I'd love to see the financials of how women's tennis, men's golf and men's cross country add up to $4.4m.  

 

Third, this is no where near a prudent action that sets Akron Athletics up for long term success.  This is not the last of the cuts, maybe not this year, but in years to come as the overzealous spending for no return is going to continue to be an issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DannyHoke]

1 hour ago, ZippyRulz said:

Best wishes to those athletes affected and thanks for representing. Hopefully they can either finish out at UA or find another program they will like.

 

When baseball was cut a few years ago Akron honored the scholarships for the remainder of those impacted athletes time on campus.

 

I am told this is NOT the case with today's cuts. The athletes from women's tennis, men's golf and cross country are all out, effective immediately. No transition plan.

 

 

[LZIp]

8 minutes ago, jupitertoo said:

I'm sure Title IX prevented the elimination of one more sport to reach 16.

 

I wonder about the mention of scholarship reductions.  Guessing football and soccer both will lose a handful of scholarships - football  may more than a handful.

 

Personnel cuts will impact marketing and communications, I would guess.  Perhaps an associate AD or two as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football has been something like 10 under the limit for at least last year and this year due to NCAA limitations.

[morris buttermaker]

4 minutes ago, jupitertoo said:

I'm sure Title IX prevented the elimination of one more sport to reach 16.

 

I wonder about the mention of scholarship reductions.  Guessing football and soccer both will lose a handful of scholarships - football  may more than a handful.

 

Personnel cuts will impact marketing and communications, I would guess.  Perhaps an associate AD or two as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im sure Title IX plays into it... but Im fairly certain you need to maintain the full compliment of scholarships in FBS... that is why I think its important to drop to FCS  (85 vs FCS where you can set your number not to exceed 63).. then you can go to say 50, and drop some other sports.. you can sponsor sports and not fund them, which is what the University should be moving towards. at D1 once in FCS I think the D1 requirements are 14 sports

[zippy5]

10 minutes ago, DannyHoke said:

 

First, $4.4m is not 23% of the budget. unless our budget is $18m. 

 

Second, I'd love to see the financials of how women's tennis, men's golf and men's cross country add up to $4.4m.  

 

Third, this is no where near a prudent action that sets Akron Athletics up for long term success.  This is not the last of the cuts, maybe not this year, but in years to come as the overzealous spending for no return is going to continue to be an issue.

 

 

I don't think this was the "I told you so" post you were hoping to write today, eh?

[kreed5120]

7 minutes ago, DannyHoke said:

 

First, $4.4m is not 23% of the budget. unless our budget is $18m. 

 

Second, I'd love to see the financials of how women's tennis, men's golf and men's cross country add up to $4.4m.  

 

Third, this is no where near a prudent action that sets Akron Athletics up for long term success.  This is not the last of the cuts, maybe not this year, but in years to come as the overzealous spending for no return is going to continue to be an issue.

 

From how I understood the wording is that 4.4 million figure doesn't represent 23% of athletics overall costs. It represents a 23% reduction in direct institutional support. Pretty much they subtracted revenue generated from overall costs then reduced costs by 23% of that. 

[Spin]

8 minutes ago, morris buttermaker said:

Im sure Title IX plays into it... but Im fairly certain you need to maintain the full compliment of scholarships in FBS... that is why I think its important to drop to FCS  (85 vs FCS where you can set your number not to exceed 63).. then you can go to say 50, and drop some other sports.. you can sponsor sports and not fund them, which is what the University should be moving towards. at D1 once in FCS I think the D1 requirements are 14 sports

Dropping to FCS adds travel expenses to conference games. 14 programs flying to the Dakotas every year runs up a heck of a bill.

[zippy5]

12 minutes ago, morris buttermaker said:

Im sure Title IX plays into it... but Im fairly certain you need to maintain the full compliment of scholarships in FBS... that is why I think its important to drop to FCS  (85 vs FCS where you can set your number not to exceed 63).. then you can go to say 50, and drop some other sports.. you can sponsor sports and not fund them, which is what the University should be moving towards. at D1 once in FCS I think the D1 requirements are 14 sports

Let's talk dollars. How much money do we save in chopping 22 scholarships? And how much do we lose without buy games and MAC TV money?

[kreed5120]

2 minutes ago, Spin said:

Dropping to FCS adds travel expenses to conference games. 14 programs flying to the Dakotas every year runs up a heck of a bill.

Not to mention reduced payouts from P5 schools, no FBS playoff pool money, and no tv money. The TV deal alone pays 833k per year. At 35k per scholarship that alone is enough to fund 23.8 scholarships, which makes up the difference between FCS and FBS.

[Cykron]

All in all, this seems like it would be a relief to fans who post here.  Now, I wonder about the timing of the announcement.  The university put itself under a lot of scrutiny and essentially begged the fan base to get all riled up wondering what would come.  The football program didn't need casual fans wondering for a week or so about whether it was going to be significantly cut back or eliminated.

[morris buttermaker]

Once you cut the scholarships on football it allows you to cut more sports (title IX) and defund more... you saw what getting rid of 3 teams did today... The rest of the MAC will follow -- its just math. none of their programs are sustainable 

Edited May 14, 2020 by morris buttermaker

[dre22era]

Not sure how the university survived having to pay for my $0 scholarship and two pairs of shoes over my 5 year Akron XC career. I’m sure cutting cross country will save millions ??? https://t.co/p7Gam9uOn1

— Jeremiah :^) (@jerryfitz96) May 14, 2020

[dre22era]

The university of Akron just cut three sports that equals the budget of phone calls for the football team - Men’s XC, men’s golf, and women’s tennis. This makes NO SENSE! Your football team is losing money hand over fist!!! XC is essentially FREE. #badmath

— Fred Kieser (@fred_kieser) May 14, 2020

[dre22era]

THe worst thing the University of Akron has EVER done is not hiring Jim Tressel as their President. I don't see Youngstown State cutting sports programs.

— michael harris (@michael42388118) May 14, 2020

[NWAkron]

11 minutes ago, Cykron said:

All in all, this seems like it would be a relief to fans who post here.  Now, I wonder about the timing of the announcement.  The university put itself under a lot of scrutiny and essentially begged the fan base to get all riled up wondering what would come.  The football program didn't need casual fans wondering for a week or so about whether it was going to be significantly cut back or eliminated.

They anti football crowd are a small vocal minority who offer nothing other than complaints.  President let it be known a week ago that football was staying.

[Cykron]

2 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

They anti football crowd are a small vocal minority who offer nothing other than complaints.  President let it be known a week ago that football was staying.

 

 

Not surprised that football was staying, but I am surprised that football didn't take some cuts.  If spun better, this could have be done in a manner that made it seem like investment and prioritization of football for which public opinion has been faltering.

[dre22era]

4 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

They anti football crowd are a small vocal minority who offer nothing other than complaints.  President let it be known a week ago that football was staying.

Kind of hard to defend football when we bought a mediocre coach to come in and win 0 games 

[NWAkron]

2 minutes ago, Cykron said:

 

 

Not surprised that football was staying, but I am surprised that football didn't take some cuts.  If spun better, this could have be done in a manner that made it seem like investment and prioritization of football for which public opinion has been faltering.

I think there are a lot more cuts out there.  These are just the teams.

[clarkwgriswold]

4 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

They anti football crowd are a small vocal minority who offer nothing other than complaints.  President let it be known a week ago that football was staying.

 

The anti-football crowd has some similarities with the football crowd-  they are both small and a minority.

[Spin]

21 minutes ago, morris buttermaker said:

Once you cut the scholarships on football it allows you to cut more sports (title IX) and defund more... you saw what getting rid of 3 teams did today... The rest of the MAC will follow -- its just math. none of their programs are sustainable 

I am all for the MAC cutting scholarships. Maintain your FBS status, take your payday whooping (or two), go to the Podunk Bowl when you have a good year, take the TV money, and have a self-sustaining program. IF the whole conference does same. 

[Spin]

15 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

They anti football crowd are a small vocal minority who offer nothing other than complaints.  President let it be known a week ago that football was staying.

Many forget football still gets more butts in the seats even in a bad year. And more TV and advertising money. Those jealous of its budget don’t consider that.

[dre22era]

19 minutes ago, Spin said:

I am all for the MAC cutting scholarships. Maintain your FBS status, take your payday whooping (or two), go to the Podunk Bowl when you have a good year, take the TV money, and have a self-sustaining program. IF the whole conference does same. 

Exactly why i hate that shitty conference 

Content with the culture of being mediocre 

[Sergeant Zip]

1 hour ago, DannyHoke said:

 

When baseball was cut a few years ago Akron honored the scholarships for the remainder of those impacted athletes time on campus.

 

I am told this is NOT the case with today's cuts. The athletes from women's tennis, men's golf and cross country are all out, effective immediately. No transition plan.

 

 

 

Will student-athlete scholarships continue to be provided?

 

Unfortunately, the current financial situation does not allow the University to be able to continue to offer and provide athletics scholarships to current student athletes in the sports of men’s cross country, men’s golf and women’s tennis moving forward.  However, the University is required to provide the agreed upon scholarship to the incoming student athletes that had previously signed an offer for the upcoming year should they matriculate to The University of Akron.

 

https://www.uakron.edu/redesigning-ua/athletics-faq-05-14-20