Immediate needs:
For recruiting purposes, we need better facilities for the 2 revenue generating sports:
An IPF for football.
A major renovation of Reed Green, including a dedicated practice facility.
In order to pay for the above items we need increased revenue & decreased expenses (chicken & egg):
To cut expenses: Leave CUSA immediately and join the Sunbelt. The Sunbelt is more geographically friendly and it's no worse than CUSA 3.0 in any sport. This will save on travel expenses for all sports.
To increase revenue: Future non-conference football schedules should include 3 money games and 1 home game vs either Alcorn St or Jackson St. Of the 3 money games, schedule as many as possible with teams that are within bussing distance (LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss) to save on the expense of a chartered flight. Do the equivalent of this in basketball. We don't need to playing home and homes with North Florida, nor should we be hosting teams like Rust, Millsaps, Southeastern Baptist College, etc. These games neither generate revenue nor increase fan interest.
Phase II:
Once the finances to complete the facilities upgrades are obtained, go back to just 2 money games in football and replace the other game with home & home matchups with some of our former rivals: East Carolina, Memphis, Houston, Tulane, USF, etc. Continue to play an intriguing slate of basketball teams (NO non-D1 schools).
Conclusion:
In synopsis: Small travel footprint to reduce expenses. Better facilities to attract better recruits. More intriguing opponents in football & basketball.
Better players + more intriguing matchups = more fan interest.
More fan interest = more revenue.
More revenue – expense savings = more capital to reinvest back into the programs/facilities/coaches.
Unlike pipe dreams of joining the AAC, ALL of this is within our control. If we decide to do it, it can be done and it can be done in the next handful of years. Continuing down the same path we’re on will just dig us into a deeper and deeper hole. Our leadership needs to make some bold decisions and take radical action now, before it’s too late to resurrect our athletic department from the pits of D1.