In reply to: Thank you for the information! Some notes from reading bios: posted by MPG
Saw this article from two years ago that says Walton's salary was raised from $225,000 to $400,000. Don't know what Aoki was making, but would have to think it was closer to 225K than 400K. Would ND be willing to really pony-up to get him or any other coach with similar experience?
At least 9 college coaches make over $1 million - 5 of them are in the College World Series. I'd say that's a pretty good indicator.
Best coaches = have highest salaries = get their teams to the CWS
Article linked below
ND will have to vastly increase the money its spends on the program, both for coaches' salaries and to improve Frank Eck.
Otherwise, what is the point?
To go 24-30, 13-17 in the ACC into infinity? To have 150 lonely, quiet souls in the ballpark?
I agree, going 24-30 is not fun and that has been the case the last couple of years, but to drop the program??? I mean c'mon, that is a little bit drastic isn't it? They are still somewhat new to the ACC (and although not an excuse), they just need to figure out a way to win. And they are on the path to doing that starting fresh with a new coach. Yes, they do need to upgrade some facilities, but I'm not sure the program has gotten to a point where the school needs to legitimately think about dropping it.
One NCAA Tournament appearance in all of that time (2015, unless my old age causes me to forget others).
Have you seen the near empty, lifeless stands at Eck on TV?
Have you watched ND get beat by every MAC team it played this season?
ND baseball, once a top program, has been left to die on the vine.
My comment was meant to be hyperbole, but not by a lot....
I was on the 2015 team and even that year the seats were empty (so need need to watch on TV???). Did fans show up in 2015 when we finished 17-13 (T-2nd overall) in the ACC and only lost a single midweek game. Nope. It's a process and "dropping the program" doesn't solve a single one of your issues.
Do you think hiring a new coach alone will change the trajectory of ND baseball?
I don't.
ND got pretty good crowds until 2006. Then, the program went into the crapper. It is still there.
Regarding the Eck, do you rate it higher than 13th out of 14 ACC venues?
I have to watch home games on TV, since I live in Baton Rouge.
But, I drove 7 hours every year to watch ND play in San Antonio, so I saw you there in 2015.
It's hard to put money into a program that isn't winning. I agree that you need to invest in the program on the front-end to aid in winning, but they have actually done that to an extent. Turf field in 2014, Padded walls in 2017, $2M team room in 2018, occasionally taking a charter to an away series. So they are slowly putting some money into the program and they continue to make strides, but again, it is difficult to do that for a program that isn't winning. And I think if you can invest in one single thing, it is putting $ towards the coaching staff. I don't think you would see giant crowds at a Michigan baseball game. And back 10 years ago, they didn't have the greatest facilities either. However, they have continued to build various pieces of their program, and most importantly, they started by investing in a head coach who has done an unbelievable job there.
If ND just hires a coach on the cheap, the program will continue to wallow in its mire.
Forgive the hyperbole, I am just a frustrated fan who has watched or listened to every ND baseball game since 1997, lives and dies with the baseball team and has been dismayed by the downward trajectory of the program since 2006.
No need to apologize. No one is happy when the team isn't succeeding. I can tell you that no one directly involved with the program is happy about it either. Everyone deserves better, especially the fans. You continuing to be a fan and sticking with it through these rough years is much appreciated. Although a former player, I am now a fan as well and hoping to see things turned around!
contender for Omaha or drop it and add women's hockey. Either way, I am tired of hearing the Northern school weather excuse.
Doesn't Title IX require proportionality when it comes to athletic scholarships for men & women?
You can be better than 1 to 1, just not worse.
Removing baseball, would just reduce the number of mens scholarships, but that doesn't mean we can or cannot offer more women's scholarships, but the baseline number needed would now be lower.
Theoretically, if we dropped baseball and put all that money towards women's hockey, we'd be fine.
It's not like we don't have the $$$$
Might be able to bring back wrestling in that scenario, too
Title IX. If there is an issue with proportionality then Notre Dame can add men's wresting which is another sport in which competition is held indoors.