In the first four parts of the Maverick Ramblers one-on-one with UT Arlington Athletic Director Jon Fagg, the discussions centered around the United Athletic Conference, the upcoming flag football team, the always present topic of a football rebirth and the state of several sports.
For the fifth and final installment, we kind of it on several topics pulled from a few different directions.
The Maverick Rambler: Two kinda related to the budget and I think I'll be good.
Jon Fagg: Mm hmm.
TMR: Any facility improvements on the horizon?
JF: Just the track and the scoreboard. We're having to do some things that you won't notice. We need new walls at baseball and softball. We've done replay capabilities at softball. We already had some at baseball. We've done replay ... two years ago now, video ... new videoboard in CPC, and new ribbon boards. And so, no, we are not building a new facility. No ... I mean ... no we are not ... no, we are not adding onto a facility. So you don't see construction...
TMR: Sure
JF: ...but we're making facility improvements.
TMR: The last construction would have been the ball ... the, the clubhouses at the ... ballparks.
JF: Yeah at baseball and softball.
TMR: And then finally, I gotta think that your job as AD is different now than ten years ago.
JF: For sure.
TMR: With NIL and the Portal.
JF: For sure.
TMR: What kind of ... both challenges and opportunities does that create?
JF: It's certainly challenging, just because you know, you ... you don't have cont ... continuity in players. Gone as a whole are the days of bringing kids in as freshman.
TMR: Right
JF: Growing them, watching them graduate.
TMR: I HATE that.
JF: Yeah, me too. And, and what I remind ourselves and everybody else, is all the people on campus can do that. They can transfer as MANY times as they want. Why should athletes be any different? All the NCAA ... all we, as a, as a process, all we every talk about, we made rules to make sure student ... student-athletes were students. Except they couldn't transfer.
TMR: Well let me tell you this. What was wrong with the sit out rule?
JF: Why do you need to sit out?
TMR: And I'll say that ... so Chendall Weaver is a great example.
JF: Yeah, yea.
TMR: You cannot tell me, that at no point did UT-Austin not attempt to recruit him the way that all happened. That's the problem that I have.
JF: Yeah.
TMR: And that's why I think the rule was initially instituted.
JF: Right.
TMR: Because I hate the idea that we are now the farm team for, for schools like that. For Georgia with Ryan Black ...
JF: Again, I say this for fun, right ... so now ... I. I love this debate, by the way. I mean I love this conversation.
TMR: Yeah, yea.
JF: So ... Florida didn't feel bad stealing Mississippi State's AD. They didn't have to sit out.
TMR: True.
JF: Florida's new AD didn't feel bad poaching Michigan ... Mississippi State's football coach.
TMR: Right.
JF: He didn't have to sit out.
TMR: Correct.
JF: So why does the student have to sit out?
TMR: It's been that way for years.
JF: So why does the student have to sit out?
TMR: I think the ...
JF: I'll tell ya why, by the way.
TMR: I think the opposite end of the spectrum is to prevent the idea of poaching, to prevent the idea of ...
JF: We chose to feel, and you don't have to feel this way by any means, but we chose to. Again, the description, John Calipari when he was at Kentucky, not so much so far at Arkansas, but when he was at Kentucky, he recruited one-and-done's, right?
TMR: Mm hmm.
JF: We all know what that means right? Chendall Weaver for us was a one-and-done.
TMR: I just hate seeing that though.
JF: No one hates seeing it at Kentucky.
TMR: It's a different expectation there.
JF: Why? I mean again, obviously I'm just having a conversation.
TMR: I love these kinda things. And I say that because...
JF: And I'm argumentative.
TMR: Me too. My wife sometimes hates it, but that ...
JF: Yeah, yeah.
TMR: I'll give you ... Kevin Hervey, Erick Neal from that big ole ... It was fun watching them grow from these kids ...
JF: Oh absolutely!
TMR: So that's the aspect that is hard. And honestly is why, to me, college sports appeals more than, then the pros. Now they (the pros) had that the thing, remember, back in the '70's and '80's with free agency and all that, so.
JF: But you are absolutely correct on all that. No, there's no, no question.
TMR: I think from the fan perspective ...
JF: I, I ... the argument against all that stuff is, we're going to kill our own sports.
TMR: Yea.
JF: Potentially. Right.
TMR: Well I think, I think realignment does that more because ...
JF: Yeah.
TMR: ...we don't care about West Virginia in Texas, and yet...
JF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you don't know who the players are.
TMR: Right.
JF: I, I love, 'cause, making your own argument, especially in Fayetteville I would make this argument all the time. Like the worry is that we're becoming minor league sports right? You're not saying, "how many Arkansas Naturals baseball games have you been to?" "Wait, we have a minor league baseball team?" "Yeah, we do."
TMR: (laughing)
JF: Yeah, that's my fricking problem.
TMR: I did go to a couple of Roughriders games before. I'll say that.
JF: But that's my point! Right? Not many.
TMR: Right.
JF: Do you give a crap about them? No you don't. You know, and so, I do ... I hate that we have so much turnover. I wish we didn't.
TMR: Right.
JF: We're working on new strategies to increase connection between fans and players. We've already had open practices this summer...
TMR: Yea.
JF: ...when you actually you weren't supposed to even ... you couldn't even do that in the past. It was against the rules. You could not advertise that we want to come to practice. And so we've already done that. We have one for volleyball next week, I think, even though the season technically already starting. But it was the earliest we could do it.
TMR: When is the WAC going to release the preseason poll by the way?
JF: I don't know.
TMR: Soccer's been done for a while now.
JF: Yea, I don't know.
TMR: I have yet to see volleyball.
JF: Yeah. I can't remember if we decided this. Conferences are generally going away from preseason polls.
TMR: Yeah. It just creates bulletin-board material.
JF: Yeah and, and this is no lie, I won't say it's us automatically. I would not confirm nor deny this. It's because we don't want the Power Five schools getting a head start.
TMR: Makes sense.
JF: I don't want, you don't want, I don't want preseason all-conference.
TMR: That I hate.
JF: I don't want you to know that UTA is favored to win volleyball.
TMR: Yeah.
JF: So you can start watching us from the beginning of the year.
TMR: I think in men's basketball, that would help quite a bit.
JF: Yeah.
TMR: Because I do the Schedule Detective ...
JF: Yeah, yea.
TMR: ...and we have about five games that I have no idea where it's coming.
JF: Conferences, I wouldn't even say just us, conferences have talked about no all-freshman teams.
TMR: I'm good with that.
JF: Right, because it just ...
TMR: You have no idea who these kids are.
JF: No, No! It just gives them something to shoot at. It just gives, it just gives Texas, "oh we don't know Chendall. Oh, who are the all..." 'Cause that's what they're doing.
TMR: Yeah.
JF: If they don't already know. But they, "Okay, who are the all-freshman teams from all the smaller conferences. We'll just go get 'em."
TMR: Yup. We lost two Freshmans of the Year back-to-back.
JF: And what we've chosen to decide, chosen to feel, is we're happy we had them for a year. They're one-and-dones.
TMR: Chendall was exciting to watch.
JF: Yup, it's exciting to watch.
TMR: My kids hate him, by the way. Whenever they see him, he's got that distinct profile.
JF: Yup.
TMR: They are all, "boo!"
JF: It's funny. The fall, like so he left in the spring, that fall, we were down in UT doing something, doing some business, and ... no, no, no. And duh, it was at the volleyball, when we played down there for the NCAA Tournament. And so we went down there and we were... Texas people were showing us around, you know, you know getting a fun tour. We were standing in the lobby in their big Hall of Champions, Hall of Honor thing if you haven't seen. Unfreaking believable.
TMR: Oh, it's great.
JF: Unbelievable. And we're standing there. And here comes Chendall Weaver.
TMR: No kidding.
JF: And he sees the UTA stuff and he came running over.
TMR: That's great. At least there's no hard feelings.
JF: Oh no. He came running over. "What's up Jon! Oh my god." I was like, "Hey. We love you. We're proud of you." Like, because it's also, why not.
TMR: Well I don't blame him for chasing a check.
JF: Yeah, exactly, why not.
TMR: And that's the thing. I don't blame him personally making it. I just don't like the rules. You know the pros have contracts set up...
JF: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
TMR: ...for that nature. And I'm just wondering ... it's got to be a matter of time. Especially, especially when you're talking something like SEC football, everything at stake with those kinds of schools.
JF: I think what will probably happen, and then I've got to go.
TMR: Yeah, sure.
JF: I've got a three o'clock off campus. I do think that there will come a time pretty quickly when, just like me or any other current coach, whatever. If I leave here, I owe Jennifer money.
TMR: Yea.
JF: I could just walk away.
TMR: That's it.
JF: I owe her money.
TMR: A buyout clause.
JF: So if you, I'm going to pay you a million dollars. And if you leave, you owe me twenty percent of it back. You still going to get a bunch of money. But you know, and then what happens if I leave and I owe her money, I have to pay it or my new employer pays it. So that'll, it will all get baked in. 'Cause I'll have saved money on this. I'll have gotten money back from that guy. Then I'll have to pay it to this guy. I'll get money from Texas to pay to Arkansas. Arkansas will get money from Missouri to pay to, you know ... Oklahoma. And that's what happens, right. It feels like that should be able to happen. Several schools have already done stuff, Arkansas in particular, you know, has sued Nico Iamaleava's little brother ...
TMR: Mm hmm.
JF: ... for his, for his ... because he had a buyout.
TMR: Yup.
JF: That was partially my doing.
TMR: Congrats!
JF: Yeah, I mean part of the ... we ... that's the setup, the structure we had setup before I left and came here. You know, we were going to try and hold them accountable, trying, I don't know what will happen.
TMR: It's worth a shot.
JF: Anyway, thanks for hanging out!
TMR: No, this was a pleasure. I could probably talk to you for another hour or two.
JF: So we should do this again. No, we're gonna do some of this again.
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