UC Davis Athletic Director Leaves

[SaxCat]

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_det ... o?id=11196

The academic reputation of the Athletics here is sterling, and aside from football the performance is very respectable in most sports. The only downside to his reign is that athletics has very little presence on campus or in the region. I've been out here for three years and have to go out of my way to find evidence of college athletics on this campus. It will be interesting to see if the emphasis on academics will stay with a new AD.

[SonomaCat]

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_det ... o?id=11196

The academic reputation of the Athletics here is sterling, and aside from football the performance is very respectable in most sports. The only downside to his reign is that athletics has very little presence on campus or in the region. I've been out here for three years and have to go out of my way to find evidence of college athletics on this campus. It will be interesting to see if the emphasis on academics will stay with a new AD.

I know it's virtually impossible in the current state budget situation (for those who don't know, the state budget has been cut quite dramatically in recent years, especially in education, and Brown is very resistant to increasing spending now that tax revenues are back up and instead is trying to build a surplus/rainy day fund to protect against future dips in the economy), but I think Davis eventually needs to step up and go FBS and eventually try to become a member of the Pac 12 (or at least MWC). With their alumni base (wealthy) and ability to tap the Sacramento and Bay Area markets, I think they could be very successful when they ultimately make that jump.

[Cat Grad]

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_det ... o?id=11196

The academic reputation of the Athletics here is sterling, and aside from football the performance is very respectable in most sports. The only downside to his reign is that athletics has very little presence on campus or in the region. I've been out here for three years and have to go out of my way to find evidence of college athletics on this campus. It will be interesting to see if the emphasis on academics will stay with a new AD.

I know it's virtually impossible in the current state budget situation (for those who don't know, the state budget has been cut quite dramatically in recent years, especially in education, and Brown is very resistant to increasing spending now that tax revenues are back up and instead is trying to build a surplus/rainy day fund to protect against future dips in the economy), but I think Davis eventually needs to step up and go FBS and eventually try to become a member of the Pac 12 (or at least MWC). With their alumni base (wealthy) and ability to tap the Sacramento and Bay Area markets, I think they could be very successful when they ultimately make that jump.

Not many years ago I would have agreed with you as to their ability to make the logical progression athletically. I much prefer the house remodel versus building from scratch analogy. To me, remodeling is similar to taking a kid with poor teaching of fundamentals at the high school level. The coaches have to first break the bad habits they were taught in high school and then somehow teach them the correct fundamentals. Same applies to program building. I don't know what affiliation Davis still has with Berkley, but to get rid of that aura that still exists is going to be difficult. There are several schools that started their athletic programs from scratch in the last twenty years that have had great success in a very short period of time to even assume a school so set in tradition can move forward quickly as Davis would have to do. The MWC? That staff and faculty would never be caught dead associating with those schools. Their academic standing will see them drop football completely before allowing their school that affiliation.

[SonomaCat]

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_det ... o?id=11196

The academic reputation of the Athletics here is sterling, and aside from football the performance is very respectable in most sports. The only downside to his reign is that athletics has very little presence on campus or in the region. I've been out here for three years and have to go out of my way to find evidence of college athletics on this campus. It will be interesting to see if the emphasis on academics will stay with a new AD.

I know it's virtually impossible in the current state budget situation (for those who don't know, the state budget has been cut quite dramatically in recent years, especially in education, and Brown is very resistant to increasing spending now that tax revenues are back up and instead is trying to build a surplus/rainy day fund to protect against future dips in the economy), but I think Davis eventually needs to step up and go FBS and eventually try to become a member of the Pac 12 (or at least MWC). With their alumni base (wealthy) and ability to tap the Sacramento and Bay Area markets, I think they could be very successful when they ultimately make that jump.

Not many years ago I would have agreed with you as to their ability to make the logical progression athletically. I much prefer the house remodel versus building from scratch analogy. To me, remodeling is similar to taking a kid with poor teaching of fundamentals at the high school level. The coaches have to first break the bad habits they were taught in high school and then somehow teach them the correct fundamentals. Same applies to program building. I don't know what affiliation Davis still has with Berkley, but to get rid of that aura that still exists is going to be difficult. There are several schools that started their athletic programs from scratch in the last twenty years that have had great success in a very short period of time to even assume a school so set in tradition can move forward quickly as Davis would have to do. The MWC? That staff and faculty would never be caught dead associating with those schools. Their academic standing will see them drop football completely before allowing their school that affiliation.

UC-Davis has essentially the same affiliation with Cal as UCLA does.

As for conference affiliation ... I'm not sure the MWC is really seen as a step down academically from the Big West or (I hate to say it) the Big Sky Conferences.

[grizzh8r]

Good point BAC. Academically speaking, UCD would have at least a peer (if not a superior) in AFA. CSU is a good school as well. Utah State is generally considered pretty good too, right? Of course I'm trying to compare schools with similar ag and/or engineering curriculums as UCD. I honestly don't know what their other strong departments are...