LKGates wrote: ↑

May 17th, 2019, 12:13 am

The very fetching Mrs. LKGates and I attended the Portland road show. I'd guess about 15 - 20 in attendance. It was a great opportunity to interact one on one with the AD folks. No big surprises; nothing that hasn't been reported elsewhere on this thread. They mentioned that there are 1,500 alumni within 50 miles of Portland. They're resurrecting the alumni chapters, including one in Portland.

Andersen and Ragland did well, but Hartwell was the star of the show. He has a great grasp of the situation from top to bottom. He knows how many track and field athletes are going to the NCAA regionals, how many total student athletes graduated, our graduation rate and standing both in the state and the conference, he's very detail oriented. At the same time, he understands the larger forces working in college athletics, and he knows what needs to be done to advance our position. The guy really has a vision for USU athletics.

Well, since he has already claimed this site is the source of misinformation, I'm going to have a hard time believing this.

You need to update your image. Few of us USU fans are wrong on this forum but there are some who are misinformed.

He didn’t say it was wrong, but a misunderstanding/misquote. He didn’t call out anyone, I mentioned it because some question if the AD office is “watching”


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Eh. This is a fan board, not an official athletic department information outlet. People are entitled to express opinions, even dumb ones. I think each of us has a sense of who we trust for information, and opinions, which are two different things. I trust Aggies22 and Ratofallaggies, among others, for information. I trust HickAggie and USU78 for football opinions, some others for basketball opinions. I trust GameFAQSAggie for statistics and program history. Most guys are like me, just hanging out because we love the place, but with no special knowledge or expertise.

I’m with LK. Some of us hang out in a medium shirt, others in an XL.

Here is my report from the Portland road show:
Hartwell- Talked about how we were 1 of 5 fbs schools to finish ranked in both FB and MBB. We achieved that with a $35 million athletic budget. Next closest to us was Cincinnati with $74 million budget. Michigan has over a $200 million budget. We clearly do more with less however it is important we up our game.

GA- Thinks the OL has made great strides but need to continue to get better and stronger over the summer. Expects Shaq Bond to be a full participant in fall camp. Stressed how important it is to have good attendance. Said in his first go round here that in 2012 when we went on the road and beat La Tech and then came home to play Idaho in the season finale it was demoralizing when the stadium was mostly empty. Said he is going to continue to stress attendance and doesn't want to here excuses from the locals. Its 6 Saturday's/year.

Coach Ragland- Said he loves Logan but its not for everybody which is why they take their time in recruiting. Said he expects Alphonso Anderson to have the most immediate impact. Bairstow has a Div I ready body and a great pedigree. Thinks McChesney has the most upside of any of them but may not be right away. Loves his athleticism.

Not real well attended but they said they will keep coming to the PNW and trying to grow these events.

At our road trip in St George Hartwell was asked if YBU would consider coming back to the Mt West. He paused for a moment and said if it were up to Tom Holmo he would do it. He said in his opinion their fans base will not let them come back to the MT West. I agreed with the fans not wanting to come back but was surprised by his thought that Tom Would do it if he could.

The UofU USU home and home question was raised and Coach A said it will never happen with Wittingham as coach, and he is my friend he added.

The thought was that the legislature will have to make the Utah bums play us again home and home like several states do.

I'm going to write my legislator about the situation. It can't hurt.