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Is Engstrom Committed to Excellence in Football?

PlayerRep

Well-known member
I noticed a bit of discussion on this point in another thread, and thought I'd start a thread on the subject. I've wondered the same thing since Engstrom fired Pflu/O'Day, and after hearing that Engstrom didn't know much about football or athletics and was mainly an academic who became an administrator. Everyone seems to agree that Engstrom wants a clean program, whatever that means. But does that mean that any coach who has ever had a significant issue somewhere (not matter how long ago), is automatically disqualified at UM? At what point does Engstrom's goal of a clean program take precedence over a commitment to excellence and success in football or athletics? I can't imagine that Haslam isn't committed to success in football, but I wonder how much he is hamstrung by Engstrom.

Any thoughts?

By the way, I liked all of the leading candidates, including Stitt. It seems like the search has veered in some odd directions at times, and I'm curious as to why that occurred. And yes, we know that it's possible to have a clean program and be successful. And no one is suggesting that UM not have a clean program.
 
It is not possible to have a clean program in college football, just the nature of the beast...every day someone is breaking the NCAA laws somewhere...and the big boys are just the best at cheating....wouldn't have it any other way.
 
No he is not.

I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department. Probably considers it a necessary evil. I think he would be fine with a 6-5 team that is squeaky clean, that he never has to worry about or deal with.

As far as having a clean program, I think any time you have 100 students that are college age, a couple of them are going to get in some trouble. Can't think of a single institution that hasn't happened at. Military Academies, Ivy League, Religious schools, etc. May not be bad kids. Bad decisions.
 
grizpack said:
No he is not.

I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department. Probably considers it a necessary evil. I think he would be fine with a 6-5 team that is squeaky clean, that he never has to worry about or deal with.

Interesting. If true, that would be even worse than I feared. Thx.
 
grizpack said:
No he is not.

I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department. Probably considers it a necessary evil. I think he would be fine with a 6-5 team that is squeaky clean, that he never has to worry about or deal with.

As far as having a clean program, I think any time you have 100 students that are college age, a couple of them are going to get in some trouble. Can't think of a single institution that hasn't happened at. Military Academies, Ivy League, Religious schools, etc. May not be bad kids. Bad decisions.

I don't know whether he is or not. I am just curious as to why you think he isn't other than opinion. I know he is at the fundraisers and some GSA events and at least puts on an outward face of supporting it. I don't have any idea whats in the heart of the man however.
 
I don't know why we even have this conversation...ummmm let me think..is the guy who single handedly crippled and almost destroyed the most storied program in FCS history "all in" for Griz football??????? why is this a question? Was Hitler "all in" for Jewish equality???
 
BadlandsGrizFan said:
I don't know why we even have this conversation...ummmm let me think..is the guy who single handedly crippled and almost destroyed the most storied program in FCS history "all in" for Griz football??????? why is this a question? Was Hitler "all in" for Jewish equality???
I gotta agree with BLGF. He didn't seem bothered at all after the 2012 season or anything leading up to it. I think he could give a rats ass about football. I'm now wondering if he's ever even been to a game.
 
Even if he was committed to excellence and success in football, and I see that a number of you don't believe he is, I wonder if he would know how to get to excellence and success. In fact, I wonder if he has a clue about what it takes to be a highly successful program.
 
PlayerRep said:
Even if he was committed to excellence and success in football, and I see that a number of you don't believe he is, I wonder if he would know how to get to excellence and success. In fact, I wonder if he has a clue about what it takes to be a highly successful program.
Good question. I for one have no answer to this. I do know someone that knows him who might give some insight on this. I'll have to bring this up to him cuz it's pretty interesting.
 
Well he apparently isn't confiding in you PR, which is to his favor.

He seems to have hired a pretty decent AD, he fired a certain administrator that contributed to the "problems" of a program that believed winning at any cost was the norm.

Its time to get over the firing of a coach and an AD. There are many on multiple levels who played the game, who believed it was necessary for the long term stability of the program. We shall see. The coach was given a second chance elsewhere and has been unemployable since, the AD thinks he still is the AD, just in temporary exile to be returned at some point. So it appears those folks may be right.

He took decisive steps to fix a program that was NOT being well viewed nationally or locally, We shall see how it plays out. Coincidental or not. RE and KH are looking pretty good right now. Funny how in one thread you believe the rich and super rich will hold their $$ over a coach hire, but gave them in spite of RE for facilities.

His goal is to move up, whether that is excellence or not I don't know.
 
grizpack said:
No he is not.

I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department. Probably considers it a necessary evil. I think he would be fine with a 6-5 team that is squeaky clean, that he never has to worry about or deal with.
If that is true why would he allow spending money on new capital projects for football and athletics? Seems like if you wanted a crappy team you would place high hurdles that makes these projects impossible, like making the projects include a new art building (similar to how Dennison made football pay for 1/4 of the new science building).

I don't know the man, but my impression is Engstrom is more likely to want to improve the football program to allow a move to what he considers a "peer" conference than he is to want to have a bad football program.

I have no idea if he has the expertise to get UM to that level. Time will tell.
 
NLGrizFan said:
BadlandsGrizFan said:
I don't know why we even have this conversation...ummmm let me think..is the guy who single handedly crippled and almost destroyed the most storied program in FCS history "all in" for Griz football??????? why is this a question? Was Hitler "all in" for Jewish equality???
I gotta agree with BLGF. He didn't seem bothered at all after the 2012 season or anything leading up to it. I think he could give a rats ass about football. I'm now wondering if he's ever even been to a game.
He entertains every game in the President's box. Wine and cheese. Beer for the few low-lifes invited. No cheering allowed.
 
grizpack said:
No he is not.
I still don't think he gives a rat's ass about football, other than it pays a lot of the bills for the athletic department.
He has been advised that football pays a lot of bills beyond the AD, as well. So he "gives a rat's ass" about maintaining revenue flow. It's not in his interest to screw FB in spite of continual faculty pressure to do so.
 
Seems to me the answer to this question should come from Mr. Engstrom himself. I am sure if you to approach him and ask this question, he would give you a no BS answer. I have spoke him with at several GSA dinners and I have always got my questions answered.
 
reinell30 said:
Seems to me the answer to this question should come from Mr. Engstrom himself. I am sure if you to approach him and ask this question, he would give you a no BS answer. I have spoke him with at several GSA dinners and I have always got my questions answered.

Is that before or after you blow him?
 
kemajic said:
NLGrizFan said:
BadlandsGrizFan said:
I don't know why we even have this conversation...ummmm let me think..is the guy who single handedly crippled and almost destroyed the most storied program in FCS history "all in" for Griz football??????? why is this a question? Was Hitler "all in" for Jewish equality???
I gotta agree with BLGF. He didn't seem bothered at all after the 2012 season or anything leading up to it. I think he could give a rats ass about football. I'm now wondering if he's ever even been to a game.
He entertains every game in the President's box. Wine and cheese. Beer for the few low-lifes invited. No cheering allowed.
Not even a "golf clap"? :eek: ;)
 
I know Royce and his wife Mary very well. He has asked us to donate more money to the University for various causes. Our past donations have been for student athletes and mostly sport activities concerning the University. I can't go further as it isn't important now.

We have had discussions about the importance of a great football program as it relates to the entire school. At one of our meetings he got shot completely out of the saddle by one of the wealthy donors and this man shamed Royce for his lack of understanding in dealing with potential gifting. Further, this man brought up his alma mater and pointed out how well his football team was doing that season. Royce was dumbfounded to say the least.

I have a very good friend that thinks highly of Royce and he has mentioned to me that Royce is finally coming around to the importance of football to our university. I am on the sideline concerning that but up until a year ago I felt football was below any serious consideration with Royce. Sitting in his box at the games I understand he needs to visit with all and as such he can't pay much attention to the details of the game. I much preferred George, the past president, as he was and still is into the football games.

My guess is that Royce might be catching on, but football is not big on his list right now.
 
Umista said:
I know Royce and his wife Mary very well. He has asked us to donate more money to the University for various causes. Our past donations have been for student athletes and mostly sport activities concerning the University. I can't go further as it isn't important now.

We have had discussions about the importance of a great football program as it relates to the entire school. At one of our meetings he got shot completely out of the saddle by one of the wealthy donors and this man shamed Royce for his lack of understanding in dealing with potential gifting. Further, this man brought up his alma mater and pointed out how well his football team was doing that season. Royce was dumbfounded to say the least.

I have a very good friend that thinks highly of Royce and he has mentioned to me that Royce is finally coming around to the importance of football to our university. I am on the sideline concerning that but up until a year ago I felt football was below any serious consideration with Royce. Sitting in his box at the games I understand he needs to visit with all and as such he can't pay much attention to the details of the game. I much preferred George, the past president, as he was and still is into the football games.

My guess is that Royce might be catching on, but football is not big on his list right now.
Hopefully he catches on soon. Kinda makes me wonder if he ever even heard of Griz Football in the FCS. How could someone ignore the money maker of anything that you do in life? The thought of this seriously makes me wonder about the longevity of Griz Football. :?
 
Thanks for the excellent post Umista. I don't think the learning curve for RE is as high as you might believe. Remember that in 2013 the conference bball tourney was here and Royce bought ALL of the tickets for the student section out of his own pocket (probably Main Hall slush fund actually) and gave them away free to the students. I've seen him at many games walking the walk, talking with fans, parents, kids and really enjoying the atmosphere. There are others here who have been in the box with him during football games and they've reported that RE actually cheers the Griz and enjoys the entire game experience, and I don't doubt what the posters report they are seeing. I would say he "gets it" with basketball and he is learning about the importance of football.

as for you knotheads and the Nazi comparisons - knock it off
 
tnt said:
Well he apparently isn't confiding in you PR, which is to his favor.

He seems to have hired a pretty decent AD, he fired a certain administrator that contributed to the "problems" of a program that believed winning at any cost was the norm.

Its time to get over the firing of a coach and an AD. There are many on multiple levels who played the game, who believed it was necessary for the long term stability of the program. We shall see. The coach was given a second chance elsewhere and has been unemployable since, the AD thinks he still is the AD, just in temporary exile to be returned at some point. So it appears those folks may be right.

He took decisive steps to fix a program that was NOT being well viewed nationally or locally, We shall see how it plays out. Coincidental or not. RE and KH are looking pretty good right now. Funny how in one thread you believe the rich and super rich will hold their $$ over a coach hire, but gave them in spite of RE for facilities.

His goal is to move up, whether that is excellence or not I don't know.
Maybe if you edit this 1 or 2 more times, you might eventually get it right. Plain and simple RE was in way over his head and made some foolish decisions based on fictional writing. He was not a leader during this time, thus I don't have much respect for RE. That said I do believe he has come to realize he was an idiot when it came to athletics. RE now realizes the importance of Athletics and wants a successful program but not (as others have stated) at the expense of any drama. RE would love an image guy like ASH which I am afraid we are getting. I believe he hired a lap dog AD to help him do this. I don't believe RE would have let his lap dog hire Hauck. If he fired RP for the little he did wrong without considering the good things he was doing-(IMO included cleaning up after Hauck), there is no way he was going to hire Hauck. I also believe Stitt is a risk. I hope I am wrong, but I see him as a Stitt-ASH clone.

I was personally hoping for Pease or Baldwin or even RP-whom wasn't considered.
 
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