those were all internal choices. never understood why we did not do an outside search as we were a highly respected team with top notch facalities at that time.
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those were all internal choices. never understood why we did not do an outside search as we were a highly respected team with top notch facalities at that time.
Two words - Bill Marolt.
Bill was/is a great ski coach. Not such a great athletic director. He was blessed by having two of the best coaches in the history of the school running two of the big three programs he oversaw. The things he could have done to bring this athletic department out of the dark ages and into the 21st century are mind boggling. He could have brought back baseball, wrestling, swimming, etc. He didn't. He rested on the laurels at a time when we could have been taking a HUGE step forward.
Lt.Col.FrankSlade
Well-Known Member
Isn't it pretty rare for a coach to retire and one of his assistant coaches to NOT get the job?
I can't think of that happening too many times, if ever.
Lt.Col.FrankSlade
Well-Known Member
No offense, but I believe you are kidding yourself if you think Marolt could have "brought back" baseball, wrestling, swimming, etc.
With the fiscal situation as it was at CU during Marolt's tenure, and with the impositions of Title IX, I don't think there was any way for those programs to come back, just as I don't think there is any way they will come back now. There just isn't enough money for it.
No offense taken, but consider this - we had a national championship caliber football team and NC caliber women's BB team at the same time. In the hands of a skilled marketing & fundraising person (like Mike Bohn, for instance), that combination is $$$. Money that could have laid the foundation for the return of those sports. As it stands, we're going to need another 5-10 years of consistent fundraising in order to bring them back. If that effort had started in 1990, we'd be there now.
I remember the locker room after the ISU game. I expected everyone to be happy(Salaam 2k) but when i saw Matt Russell bawling. It freaked me out. Of course i was pretty young back then. But I remember being kind of numb to the news. A sad day I'll never forget. :sad1:
I think we would have been in the mix for at least one mNC had Mac stayed. Neu went 10-2 with Macs players twice. NU was very, very good in that same span and that challenge probably would have motivated more strong recruiting and assistant coach hires.
In 96 Florida won it all going 12-1 after losing to FSU in the regular season then beating them in the rematch. The Buffs were 10-2 that year and only 12 points from going undefeated (see below). Mac would have won both those games and had we won out we would have played FSU for all the marbles.
1996 10-2 (Big 12)
Date Opponent Result Score Notes
August 31 vs. Washington State (5-6) W 37 19
September 7 @ Colorado State (7-5) W 48 34
September 14 vs. Michigan (8-4) L 13 20
September 28 @ *Texas A&M (6-6) W 24 10
October 12 vs. *Oklahoma State (5-6) W 35 13
October 19 @ *Kansas (4-7) W 20 7
October 26 vs. *Texas (8-5) W 28 24
November 2 @ *Missouri (5-6) W 41 13
November 9 vs. *Iowa State (2-9) W 49 42
November 16 vs. *Kansas State (9-3) W 12 0
November 29 @ *Nebraska (11-2) L 12 17
Beyond that who knows but I suspect we would have been a lot better off than we were under Neu and Barney.
In 96 Florida won it all going 12-1 after losing to FSU in the regular season then beating them in the rematch. The Buffs were 10-2 that year and only 12 points from going undefeated (see below). Mac would have won both those games and had we won out we would have played FSU for all the marbles.
1996 10-2 (Big 12)
Date Opponent Result Score Notes
August 31 vs. Washington State (5-6) W 37 19
September 7 @ Colorado State (7-5) W 48 34
September 14 vs. Michigan (8-4) L 13 20
September 28 @ *Texas A&M (6-6) W 24 10
October 12 vs. *Oklahoma State (5-6) W 35 13
October 19 @ *Kansas (4-7) W 20 7
October 26 vs. *Texas (8-5) W 28 24
November 2 @ *Missouri (5-6) W 41 13
November 9 vs. *Iowa State (2-9) W 49 42
November 16 vs. *Kansas State (9-3) W 12 0
November 29 @ *Nebraska (11-2) L 12 17
Beyond that who knows but I suspect we would have been a lot better off than we were under Neu and Barney.
Lt.Col.FrankSlade
Well-Known Member
College sports were much different in the 1990's than they are today. Fundraising at CU is non-existent. Sure, the school might raise a couple million dollars - but it is not on the level that would be needed to bring six team sports (mens and womens) back to CU.
Taking a look at the CU foundation's annual report, for the year ended June 30, 2007, CU raised over $100MM in contributions. That's a lot more than a million here or there.
Fundraising for the athletic dept in 1990 was nonexistent. Fundraising today is far from it. Check the newsroom. There's an article talking about how Bohn is raising $10MM to fund the expansion of the basketball facilities. If we had a proactive AD back in 1990, we wouldn't need to go find $10MM to finance an expansion of the basketball facilities, because that would have already been done.
The idea that CU doesn't raise money is preposterous.
The athletic department was in a gigantic hole from the Fairbanks/Mallory mess. Remember that it took selling the name of the Events Center to get the money for Dal Ward, and that was after we won the national championship.
And we are not bringing back the teams Crowder had to axe in 1980. We have several million to pay back to the school, the bonds on the luxury boxes, and we have to drastically improve the facilities for the sports we actually have. When the AD floats the idea of selling the naming rights to Folsom Field to get money for a REVENUE program like mens basketball, do you really think we are going to add a bunch of sports?
Listen to you, all Mr. negative.
It's a long process, but as a Buff fan, I think you have to believe that at some point, we're going to be bringing those sports back. Fundraising at this level is a full time occupation. It's not just one project and then finis. That's where we differ from the Marolt years. I have the utmost confidence that Mike Bohn is going to find a way to fund additional sports at CU. But first, he has to start generating revenue from the basketball team. That's his first, and primary, responsibility at this point. The luxury boxes will take care of themselves. They're 100% sold at this point, so I'm not concerned about that.
Judith Albino.
She and Mac bickered over assistants pay. She thought they made too much. Neu got the job partly becuase he was the lowly (in terms of pay) coach eager to accept the promotion to 1st time head coach. A nationwide coaching search would have been expensive in terms of search and pay. A lot of people, myself included, thought Neu was too good to pass up.