Very nice article on Richard Giannini - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jan 15, 2006

Very nice article on Richard Giannini

Date: Jan 15, 2006

There's a good, funny article!

Giannini says his #1 goal is to educate and graduate athletes.
How's that grad rate going to look when the effects of slack academic standards hit the football team and when Eustachy's transfers and players who went to Europe factor in?

Giannini says his #2 goal is to run a clean program, free of discipline issues.
Four words: Hi Hat 2000. One more word: McCaleb

Giannini says his #3 goal is winning championships.
Next...

Actually, the article does a nice job of creating starting points to track Giannini's ineffectiveness.

Was there any mention about the failed bond issue? How about his lashing out at the community following the failed bond issue? Didn't see that either.

Date: Jan 15, 2006

Is he really applying for the Georgia Tech AD job?

Date: Jan 15, 2006

Giannini uses Louisville as an example of what could be.

Through their facilities, escalating revenue and donations, it was able to raise its budget to $40 million and advance the program.

"That's why they left the conference," Giannini said. "The reason Louisville got better is they had people donate their football stadium, people that bought their tickets and the revenue kept going up. They could build all the facilities they wanted and pay the top coaches.

"That's what we've got to do to. If we want to get to that level, we have to just keep working and keep working and getting more people involved and trying to raise more revenue and sell more tickets. If we do that, this program will be fine."

_____________________________________________________________________-

Louisville KY, population: 256,000; U of L student population: >22,000

Hattiesburg MS, population 45,000; USM student population <14,000

U of L and UK are the two largest public universities in KY. USM more closely resembles Western Kentucy in size and history with one obvious exception: football.

Date: Jan 15, 2006

You could make a lot of comparisons between USM and WKU, and some I could make would get me in major trouble on this board. I'll just say that I felt that WKU was more intellectually and academically oriented than USM and let it go at that.

Date: Jan 15, 2006

Major Distinction wrote:

Hattiesburg MS, population 45,000; USM student population <14,000

Actually, the estimated population of the Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2004 was 117,731, according to the U.S. Bureau of Census. I suspect that it's currently closer to 140,000, with all the Katrina-fugees & construction workers in town.

None of this in any way negates the rest of your post, BTW.

After observing UL for many years, I think that's the last institution in America that most USM sports fans really aspire to emulate. I think the pet name on EagleTalk for UL is "Loserville."

Date: Jan 15, 2006

Gianniny let Lu Harris go, he brought in Eustachy and McNelis. Not a good HR person.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

In the article Gianniny says that he is going to stay in Hattiesburg at USM till the end of his career. If a faculty ever said anything like that to a newspaper, he/she would never see another raise from a USM administrator. Athletics must be a different world --- RG just got a huge raise.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

Invictus wrote:

Actually, the estimated population of the Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2004 was 117,731, according to the U.S. Bureau of Census. I suspect that it's currently closer to 140,000, with all the Katrina-fugees & construction workers in town. None of this in any way negates the rest of your post, BTW.

Yep, it's always tough to make such comparisons. The figures M.D. was using are probably just within municipal boundaries. But even if we compare Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Louisiville still brings a whole lot more to the table than does Hattiesburg. The Louisville MSA is upwards of 1.3 million according to one source. That is roughly ten times the people and resources that Hattiesburg could muster to support USM.

It doesn't matter. Gianinni's bogus comparison will play well with the delusional. Those of us who have been aroung awhile remember the "we could be like them" song sung about Florida State and Virginia Tech, too.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

Between the Lines wrote:

There's a good, funny article! Giannini says his #1 goal is to educate and graduate athletes. How's that grad rate going to look when the effects of slack academic standards hit the football team and when Eustachy's transfers and players who went to Europe factor in? Giannini says his #2 goal is to run a clean program, free of discipline issues. Four words: Hi Hat 2000. One more word: McCaleb Giannini says his #3 goal is winning championships. Next... Actually, the article does a nice job of creating starting points to track Giannini's ineffectiveness. Was there any mention about the failed bond issue? How about his lashing out at the community following the failed bond issue? Didn't see that either.

Let me preface my post by saying that I am disatisfied with USM athtletics except for baseball right now. Although I am disatisfied, I don't think Giannini is the problem. Of the three goals, I would argue that he has been successful in two of the three. . The graduation rates are good compared to other programs, especially bowl teams. The program is relatively clean. McCaleb may have gotten in trouble, but compared to other programs, it is very clean. The High Hat incident was dealt with swiftly and severely. I doubt Florida State, LSU, or Alabama would have dismissed starters for going to an off limit club. Obviously, championships are not as plentiful as hoped. Coaches and players, in all sports, are the reason why we haven't won championships. Now, it is his job to find the right coaches, so he is a variable in the equation, but not the only one. People seem to have a problem with Mr.G. I think he has done a pretty good job. Not great, but pretty good.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

I would say one problem with USM athletics is the athletic training for most sports. How many times have you seen USM start out fast and competitive, only to wear down and give up before the game is over? That's not coaching folks, that's athletic training. If there's a place to start a house cleaning in the athletic department, it's the athletic trainers for football and basketball.

StillAnEagle wrote:

Between the Lines wrote:
There's a good, funny article! Giannini says his #1 goal is to educate and graduate athletes. How's that grad rate going to look when the effects of slack academic standards hit the football team and when Eustachy's transfers and players who went to Europe factor in? Giannini says his #2 goal is to run a clean program, free of discipline issues. Four words: Hi Hat 2000. One more word: McCaleb Giannini says his #3 goal is winning championships. Next... Actually, the article does a nice job of creating starting points to track Giannini's ineffectiveness. Was there any mention about the failed bond issue? How about his lashing out at the community following the failed bond issue? Didn't see that either.
Let me preface my post by saying that I am disatisfied with USM athtletics except for baseball right now. Although I am disatisfied, I don't think Giannini is the problem. Of the three goals, I would argue that he has been successful in two of the three. . The graduation rates are good compared to other programs, especially bowl teams. The program is relatively clean. McCaleb may have gotten in trouble, but compared to other programs, it is very clean. The High Hat incident was dealt with swiftly and severely. I doubt Florida State, LSU, or Alabama would have dismissed starters for going to an off limit club. Obviously, championships are not as plentiful as hoped. Coaches and players, in all sports, are the reason why we haven't won championships. Now, it is his job to find the right coaches, so he is a variable in the equation, but not the only one. People seem to have a problem with Mr.G. I think he has done a pretty good job. Not great, but pretty good.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

Let me clarify something in the post. You are talking about the strength and conditioning program, not the athletic training. The athletic training program would deal with getting injured players back on the field, not really keeping them in condition at the end of games.

Date: Jan 16, 2006

The CL recently had a summary of football recruiting (commitments) to date for OM, MSU, and us side by side, and we sure looked like the poor step child on this one in terms of commitments and quality to date (though some recruits seem solid). In the last weekend of NFL play, OM had a boatload of grads dispersed across playoff teams, and we had one or two grads as far as I could tell. So, recruitment seems to be a challenge for us. Eagletalkers, any thoughts on this? What will our talent pool look like this year?

Date: Jan 16, 2006

Mitch wrote:

The CL recently had a summary of football recruiting (commitments) to date for OM, MSU, and us side by side, and we sure looked like the poor step child on this one in terms of commitments and quality to date (though some recruits seem solid). In the last weekend of NFL play, OM had a boatload of grads dispersed across playoff teams, and we had one or two grads as far as I could tell. So, recruitment seems to be a challenge for us. Eagletalkers, any thoughts on this? What will our talent pool look like this year?

USM currently ranks #63 in recruiting (rivals.com), while MSU is #40 and Ole Miss is #18.

Date: Jan 17, 2006

You're right, I stand corrected. But the strength and conditioning coaches are clearly not doing a very good job and preparing some of these athletes to compete for 40, 60 mins or so. Some of those players are a bit undersized as well.

Robin wrote:

Let me clarify something in the post. You are talking about the strength and conditioning program, not the athletic training. The athletic training program would deal with getting injured players back on the field, not really keeping them in condition at the end of games.

Date: Jan 17, 2006

What a dud AD he is. No backbond. His wife runs him.

Date: Jan 17, 2006

Justice wrote:

What a dud AD he is. No backbond. His wife runs him.

Didn't they protest when those two professors were on the ropes?