thoughts on Moats hire

[BleedMaroon]

We have Roan thread, would rather see a Moats thread.

Was able to see some EKU people and alumni in my neck of the NKY woods because of fathers days this weekend and was great to hear some thoughts on the hire pertaining to football.

1) I didn't realize the admins at Missouri St were not "big fans" of athletics and how that has held them back BIG TIME. The first thing the college did was move to FBS once their president left. Moats was pretty much navigating the college athletics realm by himself and he is going to come in and run this program very well.

2) Background is in finance which is something we drastically need to raise funds for a new RKS.

3) I was told to expect a different approach in regards to marketing and fan experience. "don't be shocked to see a refresh for athletics with branding and also jerseys".

Excited about our future.

[dljordaneku]

ADMIN NOTE: SINCE THIS TOPIC IS ABOUT ATHLETICS AS A WHOLE AND NOT JUST FOOTBALL, I MOVED IT TO THE GENERAL BOARD.

dj

[Sae]

they might do something with uniforms but I'd be surprised, we just signed Nike and did new uniforms for every sport this year, can't see burning the cash for all new again, maybe I'm wrong.

[RollKerns]

I think anybody starts to get stale from their partnership after 15 years or however long it was. But also every leader is going to have flaws that an outsider can find to poke at. On the CSNBBS board (which I can STILL not make an account on) they mostly said he was a really good man who did some things really well and was weak at others. I think he seems like really strong at budgeting and finance, but that he is not the personable slap back please donate here types. If you hire a good staff then your flaws should be their strengths. I am really excited to see what he can do can go from there. I -still- think Kelly Wells would have been my personal top choice but the experience speaks for itself. I just am so all in for FBS I can barely stand it. I think I would rather be 6-6 in the FBS then 11-0 in the FCS. I just want to be in the show. If he gets us there then he's the best we've ever had.

[DannyHopesGhost]

Like all new hires, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they actually perform in the role. But will say I think Roan was an overall strong AD who made some missteps along the way, Covid did not help (didn’t help anyone), but some of his more glaring missteps were not Covid related. They were self inflicted. Having said that, I like Matt very much personally and wish him well.

What I want to see from Moats is transparency on some issues such as plans for the football program’s future. In order, I would personally love it if he laid out his vision:

1) Future of RKS. Upgrades, etc.
2) plans for increasing donor base while still not losing touch with the small donors.
3) Vision (if any) for what a future looks like with the changes in FBS/FCS that are currently going on.

Uniforms and all that stuff, frankly is way down my list. I say that because I know the kids like all the flashier stuff and I’m sure there are people in tune with that who will work on it, but I’m just fine with whatever as long as we aren’t Oregon with freaking neon highlighter crap or a maroon field. Too gimmicky.

[BleedMaroon]

Could not agree more. It’s going to be different to see ALL eyes on rks. All other athletic upgrades are going to be finished. Rks due to structural issues will have to addressed so it’s not like “we may get something”. It’s more of a definite. Rks doesn’t have much time left.

If moats can get both large and small donors on board with his vision instead of the general public being kept in the dark and if the state is willing to bond a portion of it, I’m going to be thrilled. Luckily with only the home stands (and maybe the end zone by the bypass) needing to be new, the price tag might not be as scary as I think.

[DannyHopesGhost]

My biggest worry is the university focus on the medical school (but we NEED it). That will pull resources away from RKS when it comes to the legislature because of UK and UL putting the screws to the legislators. UK already got caught basically trying to take money from UPike and Pikeville Medical center to grow themselves and State Senator Wheeler wrote the bill to protect them and other rural hospitals and schools. That will require finessing the legislators to not turn their eyes away from EKU, and frankly, McFaddin and UPike’s President should get in a room together and hash out their vision for growing their respective colleges without impacting UK/UL. Those two schools are controlling the narrative (i.e. “spending money on medical schools there will be a failure! We are established!”).

Moats needs to be laser focused on growing the athletic department budget thru revenue sharing, donors, etc to beat back the argument from uninformed academics (professors who can’t see the forest for the trees) that athletics “steals money from the students”. If the UAC can’t be the vehicle to do that, he needs to be using his little black book and calling conference presidents and having those conversations. Upgrades to RKS will show we are serious about the commitment to moving up, but the on field performance will be the make or break aspect. Is Walt and current staff the answer to improve? I’m not sure now, based on some of his off season decisions that he can help us make that leap. And I like Wells personally. But the truth is the truth.

[Steve 82]

The updated capital expenditure request included $40M in agency bonds for maintenance of Begley. This request was for FY 24-25.

[Sae]

The updated capital expenditure request included $40M in agency bonds for maintenance of Begley. This request was for FY 24-25.

40 million is a bunch of money but I'm not sure what all that would cover, I'm sure in today's cost that would not cover a tear down/rebuild. I'm not an engineer, but the parts that need help are tough, the concourse is falling, the inside of the building seems in really bad shape and needs an elevator to the press box, other than dressing up concessions/bathrooms, I'm not sure what can be done to the all concrete structure. It will be interesting to watch and see what the plan is.

[Steve 82]

The updated capital expenditure request included $40M in agency bonds for maintenance of Begley. This request was for FY 24-25.

40 million is a bunch of money but I'm not sure what all that would cover, I'm sure in today's cost that would not cover a tear down/rebuild. I'm not an engineer, but the parts that need help are tough, the concourse is falling, the inside of the building seems in really bad shape and needs an elevator to the press box, other than dressing up concessions/bathrooms, I'm not sure what can be done to the all concrete structure. It will be interesting to watch and see what the plan is.

It is for maintenance. It did not say what the original filing did which was for $125M.

Last article stated Begley was still structurally sound for a good 20 more years. So it sounds like, at least based on this filing, the school is going to renovate and work on making ADA compliant. Would love to see something in the press on what is going down.