Originally posted by Lost Student
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The U of U is a utility and a poorly managed one at that. There are pockets of greatness but it is a generally mediocre place. We are seeing the gradual mean reversion back to reality.
That said, it has an incredible brand and following and Cougs must acknowledge that U of U had a superior brand value recently. Whether the school will capitalize on this before it erodes is to be seen (but not looking likely at this point).
I think there's validity to the idea that the U of U is deliberately scaling back its involvement in the escalating arms-race of college sports. I think the state of Utah considers the U football team to be an important rallying point for the residents all over the state, hence the attractiveness scheduling really bad teams out of conference. I also think the decision to keep Whitt and his staff, in many ways a smaller-profile coaching group than Bronco and co., shows a shift away from the normal obsession with growing athletic prestige.
Dare we suggest that Utah is doing the right thing for a publicly funded state university with an academic mission by focusing on things other than athletics? The track-record is there (discontinuing men's track and field and cross country). I believe that, in a generation or two, the Utah football team will be in FCS or D-3.
I think that's the direction they're going, but I suspect they'll stop short of FCS or lower. They may strive to be like UVU or the other small state schools: standing for something important and trying hard to be competitive, but accepting that they'll probably never be top-notch. That will take many people outside the U of U Board of Trustees a long time to accept.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the Utah Board of Regents sees Utah football (or basketball) the way most ardent Utah fans do. Time will tell.
That said, it has an incredible brand and following and Cougs must acknowledge that U of U had a superior brand value recently. Whether the school will capitalize on this before it erodes is to be seen (but not looking likely at this point).
I think there's validity to the idea that the U of U is deliberately scaling back its involvement in the escalating arms-race of college sports. I think the state of Utah considers the U football team to be an important rallying point for the residents all over the state, hence the attractiveness scheduling really bad teams out of conference. I also think the decision to keep Whitt and his staff, in many ways a smaller-profile coaching group than Bronco and co., shows a shift away from the normal obsession with growing athletic prestige.
Dare we suggest that Utah is doing the right thing for a publicly funded state university with an academic mission by focusing on things other than athletics? The track-record is there (discontinuing men's track and field and cross country). I believe that, in a generation or two, the Utah football team will be in FCS or D-3.
I think that's the direction they're going, but I suspect they'll stop short of FCS or lower. They may strive to be like UVU or the other small state schools: standing for something important and trying hard to be competitive, but accepting that they'll probably never be top-notch. That will take many people outside the U of U Board of Trustees a long time to accept.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the Utah Board of Regents sees Utah football (or basketball) the way most ardent Utah fans do. Time will tell.
And then you have FMCoug agreeing with LAU/dallasviking/solon on the inevitable demise of BYU sports with this little gem:
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