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Cohen Reality

BTA

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Jun 29, 2001
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@jhead34382 tried to calm the masses, and I thought I’d throw a few “talking points” at The Bunker regarding Cohen. Hell, we’re getting blown out at home YET AGAIN, so need to find something semi-productI’ve to do.

- first, I don’t think it’s a done deal. Whoops, nevermind…if it ain’t, someone’s gonna have some serious questions to answer at this point.
- next, Cohen is not being run out of Starkville. Frankly, to some degree, I think he’s a victim of his own success, but maybe not. I do think there are some folks that won’t be sorry to see him go, but from what I understand, that’s more about competing views of resource allocation than anything else.
- he’s evolved as an AD. Im not here to say he’s The greatest thing since sliced bread, but unlike an ADAG, he learned as he went and evolved through some of his weaker areas.
- Most specifically, he learned how relationships and engagement is THE job of the AD.
- He got several new and/or materially modified facilities done, and if you think AU is tight with the purse strings, MSU makes us look like drunken sailors in port for the first time in 2 years.
- I was told the biggest criticism of MSU folks, or their PTM, Is he will over-think things.
- He has “evolved“ on NIL. Frankly, one of the reasons I like Hartwell is his view of the importance of NIL and his leadership in the area. Cohen was a bit late to the party, but has since realized it’s here to stay and it would kill him/MSU if he didn’t start figuring it out…to that end…
- no one has told me this, but I believe it is a driving force and why he is considering leaving Starkville. To compete going forward, an athletic’s department will have to have access to material pools of NIL monies. While we got a late start, he would have that at Auburn, but he will not at Mississippi State. At its core, I think that’s why he is talking so heavily to AU.
- The other issue I know has caused some friction at MSU is funding for off the field staff in football. Given his background in baseball, he did not understand the real demands of running a top-flight football program and the fundamental challenges of trying to do so without, what has become the necessary, off the field support. As @Jay G. Tate has highlighted since last summer, AU finally woke up and embraced the cold hard reality, but MSU simply can’t compete in this arena.
- Lastly, big personalities don’t scare him, so if he is the guy, PTND, Rhule, etc., won’t scare him. Hell, he hired the weirdest, but undeniably successful, SOB in CFB, so if nothing else, take heart in that.

TBH, while he may not end up being the guy, I think he simply has come to realize what he’s up against in this new, more capitalistic era of intercollegiate athletics. He knows that fans are fans though, and while it might not be fair to get judged in comparison to schools with vastly more resources, you will be and you still get just as fired.

Now, back to Dumpster Fire of the Day, Sponsored by Bryan Harsin and the Idaho Potato Council
 
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