WTKA Roundtable 6/15/2023: Baird Wasn't Waiting Comment Count

Seth June 15th, 2023 at 10:27 AM

Things Discussed:

  • Talking about how Michigan put their NIL program together the first time: in the 1890s. They were behind for awhile, but they got it done.
  • M-Power: Same story. Michigan is going to have the head coach educating donors on their NIL opportunities instead of having all these different collectives fighting each other.
  • Why it looks like this: Michigan didn't have a system in place like most schools. Every collective started on their own vision. Now we're at the point where we need to have a vision, and a case manager who can explain it all.
  • In the break: Was Michigan's attrition bad? Not really. Gemon Green is the only guy Seth really thought we should be able to hold onto. Erick All? Personal deal, might not be healthy next year, wasn't going to be better than Loveland, but would have been better than AJ Barner.
  • Back to NIL: Harbaugh wasn't going to wait around. They have a couple of weeks here when he's not coaching football.
  • What does basketball do? Seth: Someone will step up to be the sugar daddy.
  • Sam: Four head coaches on this staff.
  • Partridge got their asses in gear on this after seeing what they're doing at Ole Miss.

[Hit the JUMP for the player, and video and stuff]

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream.

We came on 5 minutes early and it's here. Segment 2 is here. You can watch the video here:

The Usual Links:

Are you talking about Ohio State Football brought to you by Saudi Arabia?

Comments

scanner blue

June 15th, 2023 at 11:13 AM ^

Did CR run out of bad joke material? He’s been fairly bland in his cold opens and obscure Russian Czarist leaders and dissidents references. 

ed. note : and this is coming from someone he named on air and then segued straight to deconstructing bowel movements?!? Be better Craig. 

scanner blue

June 15th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^

I’m definitely not a hater Randy. CR and I have talked at MGoMeets, Hockey, Basketball, softball etc. Heck we even both lived on Hinsdale in East Quad ( albeit 50 yrs apart). I want more Craig stories, especially in the off season. I might even read Alan Furst that Craig, for some reason, peruses at Yost during breaks. 

bluebyyou

June 15th, 2023 at 11:23 AM ^

I’m not sure how easy this is going to be from a funding perspective. Ira was talking about this earlier today and suggested an endowment scenario.  I’ve thought that would be the way to go for a while but it may not be anywhere near as easy to achieve for athletics as it would be for academics.

Blue Vet

June 15th, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^

Really? Other schools get greater donations for football or basketball than for academics?

Though we always talk about boosters and cheating, I assumed Michigan was simply on the higher end of academic donations, and not in a different order of things.

dragonchild

June 15th, 2023 at 1:54 PM ^

I'm surprised you're surprised.

Alabama's endowment is $1 billion. In terms of alumni investing in the academic side, that would put them dead last in the B1G by some distance.  Even Rutgers, at 14th, is at almost $2 billion.  USC and UCLA are at $7 billion and $5 billion, FWIW, so that would push a theoretical Alabama joining the B1G down even further.  Their donors are sports fans, first.

And they're not the exception.  Move Rutgers to the SEC and they'd be 5th.  Vanderbilt's endowment is larger than the rest of the SEC East Division combined.  Vandy's actually 2nd in the conference overall -- I'm surprised to see TAMU is 1st -- but then it falls off a cliff.  Florida's 3rd in the SEC with $2.3 billion and from there it gets hilariously sad.

I know endowments aren't everything, but it's a rough indicator of A) alumni population that are B) financially successful and C) loyal to the university, because you need all three to have money to throw at an endowment.  A small endowment indicates you're not investing in your students, because result is they're unsuccessful and/or detached from their alma mater.

funkywolve

June 15th, 2023 at 3:50 PM ^

Not arguing your B and C points but with the exception of Florida and A&M, SEC schools are on the smaller side of student population compared to the Big Ten.  The Big Ten only has 3 schools with less than 40,000 students.  The SEC only has 3 schools with more than 40,000 students.  

dragonchild

June 15th, 2023 at 7:21 PM ^

40,000 is a silly arbitrary threshold.  We're talking about maybe 25-35% more students for B1G schools with endowments of double or more.

Take let's say Michigan State, which has ~40k undergrads to Alabama's ~30k, so its endowment is maybe 33% larger?  Nah, it's quadruple.  So it's not like your insistence changes the math in any meaningful way.  I'm not cherry-picking here either; like I said the SEC is TAMU and Vandy and then basically everything else.  Look at, say, Iowa. . . still more than double Alabama's endowment and its student body is considerably smaller.

So, I mean, this is a sad whimper of a counter-argument.

Blue Vet

June 15th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^

I confess I felt naive writing my comment. 

My comment reflects my initial reaction when Seth mentioned it. I figured we were just doing the usual alma mater boasting.

But thinking about it, and now your info, makes it even more clear that pride in UM's academic stature is more than UM boosterism. 

iawolve

June 15th, 2023 at 1:43 PM ^

This seems crazy, but my first thought when I saw Craig is that he was dressed like General in the Revolutionary War. The small picture, the yellow on the shoulders, and the jacket made me do a double take since that idea made no sense. Unfortunately that says more about my old eyes than how Craig was dressed. :(

Seth

June 15th, 2023 at 1:54 PM ^

A general? Ha! Craig never ranked higher than Lt. Colonel, and that wasn't until after the War of 1812 was officially ended (not that Craig and his buddy Andrew Jackson stopped fighting it). Back during the Revolution I think he was still a lowly 2300-year-old 1st lieutenant.

philthy66

June 16th, 2023 at 8:43 AM ^

Who is going to be the first school to funnel tv money to the players? I guarantee if Michigan is the first, the NCAA will make another Harbaugh rule. But there’s an opportunity….