Can someone explain the booster situation

[WarEagle1982 449]

53 minutes ago, msza said:

Very interesting about colleges being literal 'poster children' for oligarchies, lol. I had never thought about it that way. In fact, I recall Noam Chomsky saying that a collegiate academic department is the closest thing to (pro-social) anarchy in the modern world. Talk about a different viewpoint!

This is the poster I am talking about 

[caleb1633 1,418]

37 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

That's true. But denying the big say and also losing the big $ is not always a good idea.

It's a fine line to walk here.

Agreed, but also consider that these individuals will likely be wealthy regardless of how well or poor Auburn football does. The only way they'll legitimately suffer financially would be due to their own businesses tanking. So they have a pretty limited downside and tremendous upside to meddling. I mean, Bobby Lowder took some heat for Jetgate, but he's still ultra-wealthy and has a say in the affairs of Auburn athletics. He caused a massive stink in 2003 and still got to enjoy all the fruits of the 2004 season, minus some fanbase hate; but you can endure the flack from us peasants when you have "f--- you!" money.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 hour ago, GreenTiger said:

That’s fair. Once Harsin gets his buyout do you think he will drag Auburn down in a ESPN interview? 

 

4 hours ago, AEAugirl said:

Who do you think writes the big checks?  The boosters.  That is the situation.

Its the same at every single college in America.  Auburn’s are no better nor worse than any other school.  The legend of Auburn boosters stems mainly from the days of Bobby Lowder yielding his power, and Jetgate kinda put it in the public eye. 

The people that tote the “meddling boosters” line never have an explanation as to why they don’t “meddle” in Bruce’s program nor can they say HOW they meddle.  

Thanks for this post. I've said it a million times but people still love to push the myth.  Auburn got in big trouble with the Bobby Lowder situation, and that put a stop to the kind of intense meddling that was taking place back then. The boosters at bammer....mainly the REC.....have enormous power over their athletic programs but people also think Saban doesn't have to appease them. He does in some measures, because they fund the recruiting. They'd turn on him in a Turdistan minute if he started losing consistently. They have far more influence than any Auburn booster ever has at any time. Booster funding is a necessary evil and their input is inevitable because they are giving millions to universities. They aren't going to give up huge sums of money without some kind of control over how it's spent, and in a way you can't blame them. It's all about managing and balancing their influence. And you are absolutely correct....Auburn is no different than any other university, except maybe bammer, in how they work with their boosters. 

[Dshep4au 266]

3 hours ago, tinman1 said:

Greg McElroy knows less about Auburn boosters than Harry the gate guard at Bryant Denny Stadium.  He gets his news from message boards and from a group of media folks who think they know what goes on at Auburn.  99% is pure gossip and speculation. 

And he is a bammer!

[Mikey 16,577]

4 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

Did the boosters not play a part in Jetgate? Who's plane were they on LOL

Yes, and that incident 19 years ago put an end to such an extent of booster interference.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

5 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Yes, and that incident 19 years ago put an end to such an extent of booster interference.

It absolutely did. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

12 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Yes, and that incident 19 years ago put an end to such an extent of booster interference.

Ok, if u say so

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

5 hours ago, msza said:

Interesting.

Greg McElroy (who I've always respected as an analyst) said as recently as yesterday that the AU "power brokers" have more power than the university president (around the one minute mark): 

 

Not discounting what you're saying but for the sake of conversation, this is a recent example of the spectre of the Auburn boosters.

 

What a hypocrite. The most powerful boosters in CFB are at bammer ...none other than the REC. He just loves to say something negative about Auburn when he can get away with it and still seem "unbiased and professional".  He's not unbiased at all. 

He's still big mad that T-Bell took him out. 

[TeamZero77 1,784]

3 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

I buy 80% of what you posted.  But make no mistake, a genius for finding and processing wood products , or playing guitar and singing, or play acting in Hollywood,  building a huge business or even being a great heart surgeon , does not make you a genius in any other subject. 

I never said it did. I said they got rich by being smart and that's true. 

The boosters don't run our athletics program, period. If they did, Bryan Harsin would've never been hired. Our AD runs the athletics dept. and Allen Greene hiring Bryan Harsin proves that. 

[JuscAUse! 1,404]

1 hour ago, TeamZero77 said:

I never said it did. I said they got rich by being smart and that's true. 

The boosters don't run our athletics program, period. If they did, Bryan Harsin would've never been hired. Our AD runs the athletics dept. and Allen Greene hiring Bryan Harsin proves that. 

I never said the boosters ran the program , and I agreed with almost all you said. I simply stated that they were smart people. In their specific fields. Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. I rarely agree with any body 80% of the time .

[au701948 998]

10 hours ago, tinman1 said:

Greg McElroy knows less about Auburn boosters than Harry the gate guard at Bryant Denny Stadium.  He gets his news from message boards and from a group of media folks who think they know what goes on at Auburn.  99% is pure gossip and speculation. 

I do believe you are totally right. I watched McElroy’s clip. It was a patented repetition of all that is spun by the State and Local media in regard to Auburn. Same old BS.

[au701948 998]

6 hours ago, Tigerbelle said:

What a hypocrite. The most powerful boosters in CFB are at bammer ...none other than the REC. He just loves to say something negative about Auburn when he can get away with it and still seem "unbiased and professional".  He's not unbiased at all. 

He's still big mad that T-Bell took him out. 

You are 100% correct.

[AU_Canoe 230]

12 hours ago, TeamZero77 said:

Every school has them. T Boone Pickens at Okie State, Jerry Jones at Arkansas, Bear Bryant Jr damn near runs the Alabama football program (atleast before Saban came). I don't buy into the rumor that the boosters sabotage the football program to get their way. Funny they don't seem to meddle in other sports at Auburn, just football. I'm just not buying it. 

The big boosters at Auburn are very successful in business. They didn't get to be uber rich by being stupid and making stupid decisions. And to hurt the football program, a program you give millions of dollars to, just to get your way and be in power, is not a smart decision. 

Don't believe the rumors.

Strings attached is definitely a thing. T. Boone Pickens and Gundy had their disagreements over meddling and it often spilled into the public. Is there nationwide interest in OSU drama? Maybe not to the pleasure of their PR department. You can easily google their back and forth. One of my Okie State friends used to joke that the only time Gundy would compliment Boone was when he wrote the check and at his funeral. Obviously, these are successful business people who made their (b)millions because of their acumen, smarts, desires, and passion, which often is attached to their ego and a sense that $$$ equates to control. I appreciate that donors provide support to AU but I am also realistic that strings are probably attached to some gifts.

AU booster meddling has historical precedence but it's not unusual in today's environment, as the pandemic showed that athletic programs are not financially sustainable without large infusions of $$$. 

[rockfordpi 91]

The boosters are the ones who INVEST money in Auburn University and Auburn Athletics.

The boosters are the ones the administration and fans come to with their hands out when millions are needed to hire a new coach and pay off a coach that needs to go.

The boosters are the ones the fans and media complain about when they want to have a say about how THEIR money is being spent.

Free money always comes with strings attached in terms of influence. You don't want these people to have a say, then don't ask for or accept their money.

In terms of the CBH hire, the Boosters and Fans formed an unholy alliance (the boosters used the fanbase) to get rid of CGM (a coach who never out recruited Saban, but out coached him several times, a coach whose current team in a second tier league with his high school offense and simple pass routes would likely beat AU this year, but I digress).

Then, when the Boosters wanted to have a say in the next hire, the fans revolted (letter writing campaign) and quickly jumped out of bed with the boosters, insisting that the AD get to independently make the hire (just knowing that, instead of CKS, he would magically hire Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll et. al. when in reality the coaches from both UAB and ULM turned us down).

The AD turned his back on the boosters and sided with the fans (some of the same nuts who blamed much AU's woes on Bo Nix, I just never imagined Bo's dad would have so much influence in Oregon to make his son the starter up there, but man, can you imagine just how much better Oregon would be this year if they had gotten our BACKUP QB instead of Bo who did not know how to stay in the pocket and was only starting  because of his dad? and can you believe just how Disloyal and low down Bo was to walk away from all of this, but again, I digress)

And Boom, just like that, we ended up with a coach from Boise Idaho (who could have ever imagined this would not work out). The AD listened to and sided with the wisdom of the fans and now when he goes to a game, he gets to sit right there with them and soak up even more fan wisdom.

Now, all the fans and admins who did not want the boosters to have a say in the last hire, are there begging the Boosters  to put up (or underwrite) millions to hire a new coach and buy out the old coach the boosters never wanted to hire and never thought would work. But of course, these boosters are wrong for wanting to have a say in who the next hire is and how their money was being spent.

If you were a wealthy booster, would you keep pouring money into a system that worked like this? Neither will the Boosters as they did not accumulate their wealth by allowing someone else to control how THEIR money was being spent.

Right or wrong, the Boosters are not going to hand a blank check to egghead administrators and a paranoid schizophrenic fanbase and let them make the decisions. 

 

[AEAugirl 9,632]

7 hours ago, rockfordpi said:

 

Now, all the fans and admins who did not want the boosters to have a say in the last hire, are there begging the Boosters  to put up (or underwrite) millions to hire a new coach and buy out the old coach the boosters never wanted to hire and never thought would work. But of course, these boosters are wrong for wanting to have a say in who the next hire is and how their money was being spent.

 

This right here.  

[Gowebb11 9,314]

If AU were even modestly more consistent on the field, you would hear a lot less about booster meddling. We lead the nation in constantly swinging from title contenders to cellar dwellers. People can’t comprehend how that can happen so they need to assign a reason. Meddling boosters fills that need. Stop the maddening swings from great to awful, win consistently, and that noise will die down. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Gowebb11

[gr82be 14,423]

I don't believe the boosters are trying to sabotage anything but they are going to have a financial voice in things if they like or don't like what they are seeing. Would you throw money at something that isn't a good investment? It's not sabotage if they don't like something or someone. If I don't like a restaurant (football) I just stop giving them my money. The restaurant will remain open if enough people continue to support it but I'll continue to support others restaurants (basketball), just not that one. It's not sabotage to have a say where and how your money is spent. It's up to the football administration/coaches to keep the booster interested in supporting them. If enough pull away then something has to be done. 

[CCTAU 3,314]

12 hours ago, rockfordpi said:

...when in reality the coaches from both UAB and ULM turned us down).
 

I agree with most of your sentiments.

However, I was unaware that AU actually offered Bill Clark the job.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

5 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

If AU were even modestly more consistent on the field, you would hear a lot less about booster meddling. We lead the nation in constantly swinging from title contenders to cellar dwellers. People can’t comprehend how that can happen so they need to assign a reason. Meddling boosters fills that need. Stop the maddening swings from great to awful, win consistently, and that noise will die down. 

It's just that given the situation with Lowder 20 years ago......it makes for very bad PR when these rumors circulate. People need to get some perspective and knowledge on what boosters actually do, and then shut up about it. If they understood the real situation then all these myths would stop anyway. 

[Cardin Drake 1,825]

We got boosters. They got money. We need money to fund the important stuff, ya know, like football. Sometimes it comes with conditions.