Open Letter to Scott Cowen & Rick Dickson

[NOLABigSteve]

Originally posted on YOGWF: http://yogwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35502


Dear Scott and Rick:

I entered Tulane as a freshman in 1968. Six years later, I finished with two degrees. (Two years later, I added one from Harvard.) My Tulane education remains one of the great highlights of my life, and I cherish it.

That education has enabled me to succeed beyond my dreams. In my profession AND in business (banking), I have applied the lessons I learned at Tulane to formulate plans for success, to execute those plans without compromise, and to reap the results of hard work.

That's why I am so puzzled by what I have observed about Tulane athletics during the last 10 to 15 years that have coincided with your respective watches over the program. While Tulane athletics has had too few ups and too many downs over the years for my taste, I cannot recall any period that comes close to being as disappointing as when you two assumed responsibility for the athletic program.

It is painfully apparent that, during your stewardship (which began long before Hurricane Katrina), Tulane has failed to keep pace with its peers. Indeed, it is hard to identify ANY institution in Division I athletics that is failing as badly as Tulane. The sound you hear is the rush of wind as every other peer institution (e.g., TCU, SMU, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Central Florida, etc.) zooms past us. If there is a memo out there about what it takes to succeed in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level, you two have apparently failed to read it.

We are not just talking about football. Across the board, you have failed to field consistently successful teams in any sport (okay, I will spot you women's golf--which I have ardently supported). And, as an interested observer, it is not hard to identify the reasons why.

First, you have no discernible plan. My bank was the ONLY bank chartered in the entire United States in 2010. In order to obtain that charter, we had to furnish the regulators with a cogent, coherent, and workable business plan. That business plan had to contain specific details about how we would be conducting business and how we planned to enter the marketplace and successfully compete against our fellow financial institutions in our market area.

I see no evidence that either of you have any kind of plan for athletics. Your "Playbook" does not qualify. Indeed, the "Playbook" effectively confessed that you have no plan. The "Playbook" doesn't really commit to ANYTHING. It doesn't announce a curriculum for athletes. It doesn't announce a stadium. It doesn't talk about staffing. It doesn't say anything specific or concrete for which you can be held accountable. All it says is that you are "exploring" ways to improve. That is not a plan, that is a cop-out.

And your statistics about how much more you are spending now versus the Katrina years on athletics were kind of insulting. That doesn't demonstrate financial commitment. The real metric for that is NOT what we are spending now versus when we were in an unprecedented financial crisis--it's what we are spending versus our competition. The "Playbook" was conspicuously quiet about that, and my attempts to get an answer from Rick about it at a meeting were met with evasive non-responses. If our bank had submitted something this vague to the regulators, we wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in hell of getting approved.

Even the most casual fan of intercollegiate athletics knows that the FIRST ingredient for success in any sport is the HEAD COACH. Everyone also knows that they cost more now than they ever did. The universities that recognize this and have committed to doing what it takes to get good coaches have seen the results on the field--and at the box office. Your policy of "penny wise and dollar foolish" has also produced predictable results, to-wit: We aren't competitive.

What mystifies me is that Scott, you were a college football player AND the head of the Business School at Case Western Reserve. If ANYONE should understand the business of intercollegiate athletics, I would think you would. And, of course, it goes without saying that Rick, you are paid to understand the business of college sports and to guide our program into successful waters. But neither of you apparently are willing to invest in our program. You both seem to take the position that, AFTER we are successful and drawing in fans, THEN we will use the money to improve the programs.

That's like a retail business saying it won't put stock on the shelves until AFTER it has customers. Scott, you should know better than anyone that a business without adequate capital and a quality product will not succeed. Despite this, your administration steadfastly refuses to commit to doing what it will take to put Tulane athletics in the black.

To the contrary, you are bleeding athletics to death. Some of us find it hard to believe that is not your agenda. You have a real crisis of confidence among a large portion of our alumni, and you are still recovering from the credibility blow you sustained when you sprung your ill-conceived athletics re-evaluation on us a few years ago, which many of us saw as an ill-disguised attempt to drop Tulane down to Division III.

I know that we have been making improvements in facilities. That is to the donors' credit, not yours. The issue remains, however, whether that will translate into success on the field. And that comes back to investing in coaches and coaching staffs. You have to spend money to make money. Your policy seems to put the cart before the horse, and it hasn't worked--and most everyone knows that it won't ever work.

Someone defined insanity as doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting a different result. When our coaches continue to recruit athletes who have no offers from our peer institutions but expect somehow to beat the competition, that might qualify as insanity. You need to announce a plan that identifies how to attract the student-athletes who will allow us to succeed on the field--including coaches who can recruit them and "coach them up." If we need better facilities, identify that and build them. If we need a more athlete-friendly curriculum, install one.

Whatever you do, quit making excuses. Either get it done, or get out of the way and let someone else get it done. Tulane needs a successful program in intercollegiate athletics to maintain its place on the national stage. If not, we will end up like our neighbors next door, assigned to relative obscurity.

[sader24]

He pretty much nailed it on the head. His days must be numbered on yogwf with that kind of honesty and insight.

[msdos]

I saw that and I copied it to a word document, just in case it happened to disappear.

[RobertM320]

I did some research yesterday when I first saw this, and I figured out who it is. He runs Lakeside Bank in Lake Charles, LA. I won't print his name here, since he chose not to himself. Is there anyone who thinks they could actually have the ability to contact this man and encourage him to spread this further? He says what all of us feel. I'd love to see this run in the Picayune as an ad or something, where it can't be censored.

[IM42lane]

I would like to shake the guy's hand and encourage him to keep up the pressure until Cowen, Dickson, & Toledo are finally out of here for good!

I did some research yesterday when I first saw this, and I figured out who it is. He runs Lakeside Bank in Lake Charles, LA. I won't print his name here, since he chose not to himself. Is there anyone who thinks they could actually have the ability to contact this man and encourage him to spread this further? He says what all of us feel. I'd love to see this run in the Picayune as an ad or something, where it can't be censored.

[IM42lane]

EXCELLENT LETTER!

Originally posted on YOGWF: http://yogwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35502


Dear Scott and Rick:

I entered Tulane as a freshman in 1968. Six years later, I finished with two degrees. (Two years later, I added one from Harvard.) My Tulane education remains one of the great highlights of my life, and I cherish it.

That education has enabled me to succeed beyond my dreams. In my profession AND in business (banking), I have applied the lessons I learned at Tulane to formulate plans for success, to execute those plans without compromise, and to reap the results of hard work.

That's why I am so puzzled by what I have observed about Tulane athletics during the last 10 to 15 years that have coincided with your respective watches over the program. While Tulane athletics has had too few ups and too many downs over the years for my taste, I cannot recall any period that comes close to being as disappointing as when you two assumed responsibility for the athletic program.

It is painfully apparent that, during your stewardship (which began long before Hurricane Katrina), Tulane has failed to keep pace with its peers. Indeed, it is hard to identify ANY institution in Division I athletics that is failing as badly as Tulane. The sound you hear is the rush of wind as every other peer institution (e.g., TCU, SMU, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Central Florida, etc.) zooms past us. If there is a memo out there about what it takes to succeed in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level, you two have apparently failed to read it.

We are not just talking about football. Across the board, you have failed to field consistently successful teams in any sport (okay, I will spot you women's golf--which I have ardently supported). And, as an interested observer, it is not hard to identify the reasons why.

First, you have no discernible plan. My bank was the ONLY bank chartered in the entire United States in 2010. In order to obtain that charter, we had to furnish the regulators with a cogent, coherent, and workable business plan. That business plan had to contain specific details about how we would be conducting business and how we planned to enter the marketplace and successfully compete against our fellow financial institutions in our market area.

I see no evidence that either of you have any kind of plan for athletics. Your "Playbook" does not qualify. Indeed, the "Playbook" effectively confessed that you have no plan. The "Playbook" doesn't really commit to ANYTHING. It doesn't announce a curriculum for athletes. It doesn't announce a stadium. It doesn't talk about staffing. It doesn't say anything specific or concrete for which you can be held accountable. All it says is that you are "exploring" ways to improve. That is not a plan, that is a cop-out.

And your statistics about how much more you are spending now versus the Katrina years on athletics were kind of insulting. That doesn't demonstrate financial commitment. The real metric for that is NOT what we are spending now versus when we were in an unprecedented financial crisis--it's what we are spending versus our competition. The "Playbook" was conspicuously quiet about that, and my attempts to get an answer from Rick about it at a meeting were met with evasive non-responses. If our bank had submitted something this vague to the regulators, we wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in hell of getting approved.

Even the most casual fan of intercollegiate athletics knows that the FIRST ingredient for success in any sport is the HEAD COACH. Everyone also knows that they cost more now than they ever did. The universities that recognize this and have committed to doing what it takes to get good coaches have seen the results on the field--and at the box office. Your policy of "penny wise and dollar foolish" has also produced predictable results, to-wit: We aren't competitive.

What mystifies me is that Scott, you were a college football player AND the head of the Business School at Case Western Reserve. If ANYONE should understand the business of intercollegiate athletics, I would think you would. And, of course, it goes without saying that Rick, you are paid to understand the business of college sports and to guide our program into successful waters. But neither of you apparently are willing to invest in our program. You both seem to take the position that, AFTER we are successful and drawing in fans, THEN we will use the money to improve the programs.

That's like a retail business saying it won't put stock on the shelves until AFTER it has customers. Scott, you should know better than anyone that a business without adequate capital and a quality product will not succeed. Despite this, your administration steadfastly refuses to commit to doing what it will take to put Tulane athletics in the black.

To the contrary, you are bleeding athletics to death. Some of us find it hard to believe that is not your agenda. You have a real crisis of confidence among a large portion of our alumni, and you are still recovering from the credibility blow you sustained when you sprung your ill-conceived athletics re-evaluation on us a few years ago, which many of us saw as an ill-disguised attempt to drop Tulane down to Division III.

I know that we have been making improvements in facilities. That is to the donors' credit, not yours. The issue remains, however, whether that will translate into success on the field. And that comes back to investing in coaches and coaching staffs. You have to spend money to make money. Your policy seems to put the cart before the horse, and it hasn't worked--and most everyone knows that it won't ever work.

Someone defined insanity as doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting a different result. When our coaches continue to recruit athletes who have no offers from our peer institutions but expect somehow to beat the competition, that might qualify as insanity. You need to announce a plan that identifies how to attract the student-athletes who will allow us to succeed on the field--including coaches who can recruit them and "coach them up." If we need better facilities, identify that and build them. If we need a more athlete-friendly curriculum, install one.

Whatever you do, quit making excuses. Either get it done, or get out of the way and let someone else get it done. Tulane needs a successful program in intercollegiate athletics to maintain its place on the national stage. If not, we will end up like our neighbors next door, assigned to relative obscurity.

[RobertM320]

I would like to shake the guy's hand and encourage him to keep up the pressure until Cowen, Dickson, & Toledo are finally out of here for good!

I did some research yesterday when I first saw this, and I figured out who it is. He runs Lakeside Bank in Lake Charles, LA. I won't print his name here, since he chose not to himself. Is there anyone who thinks they could actually have the ability to contact this man and encourage him to spread this further? He says what all of us feel. I'd love to see this run in the Picayune as an ad or something, where it can't be censored.

If you want to , he lives in Lake Charles. I sure wish someone would contact him and encourage him. If his letter makes it no further than YOGWF, its meaningless.

[winwave]

Well the guy is late to the party. Just five years ago he was one of the worst ones on that site for attacking people who pointed out the problems w/the program. Glad he's seen the light.

[NOLABigSteve]

Anyone have an idea of how much a full page ad costs in the Times Pic? That open letter would be perfect.

[golfnut69]

Can this letter be forwarded to the editor of the Times Picyune and to Ed Daniels at Sportsnola.com for them to comment or publish ?

[TURVS71]

Only suggestion I would make that if it is possible to publish the letter as an ad ( which is probably very expensive) that the letter be reworked to be from WE. I am not advocating changing the content, only the"PERSON" of the letter. Just a suggestion.

[tpstulane]

Extremely accurate and well written by a very successful business person. One can only hope things change or the people in charge change.

[RobertM320]

Can this letter be forwarded to the editor of the Times Picyune and to Ed Daniels at Sportsnola.com for them to comment or publish ?

If you forward it to Ed Daniels or one of the other media reporters, they would do the proper thing and "investigate it further". Make a phone call or two. Something. That's what a "reporter" would do.

[RobertM320]

Only suggestion I would make that if it is possible to publish the letter as an ad ( which is probably very expensive) that the letter be reworked to be from WE. I am not advocating changing the content, only the"PERSON" of the letter. Just a suggestion.

Just wondering about the reworking. I wouldn't want it done without the approval of the original author. The problem is, without the content in the letter that applies directly to him (his background, etc), it doesn't carry the same weight.

I would think you would need to start with his approval of the letter being from him, with an addition at the end that shows he is supported by other members of the Tulane alumni and fan community. Would he be willing to run it in the paper like that, if we could raise the bulk of the cost? I'd rather give my money to an effort to remove SC and RD, than to give it to the black hole that is currently Tulane Athletics.

[tpstulane]

Do it for nothing with a "Letter to the Editor"

[NOLABigSteve]

I've contacted the Times Pic to see what the current rates are for running an ad of substantial size (full -page preferred). I'll let you know when they respond so we know if this is even a viable option.

[JTLiuzza]

Do it for nothing with a "Letter to the Editor"

The only problem with that idea tps is that they edit the heck out of those letters before they publish them. I had one of mine published once and they pretty much gutted it.

[JTLiuzza]

Just wondering about the reworking. I wouldn't want it done without the approval of the original author. The problem is, without the content in the letter that applies directly to him (his background, etc), it doesn't carry the same weight.

I would think you would need to start with his approval of the letter being from him, with an addition at the end that shows he is supported by other members of the Tulane alumni and fan community. Would he be willing to run it in the paper like that, if we could raise the bulk of the cost? I'd rather give my money to an effort to remove SC and RD, than to give it to the black hole that is currently Tulane Athletics.

I was thinking the same thing RobertM. I don't know the legalities involved at all but I'd want the guy on board before I did anything publicly with it.

[tpstulane]

Do it for nothing with a "Letter to the Editor"

The only problem with that idea tps is that they edit the heck out of those letters before they publish them. I had one of mine published once and they pretty much gutted it.

k

[RobertM320]

Just wondering about the reworking. I wouldn't want it done without the approval of the original author. The problem is, without the content in the letter that applies directly to him (his background, etc), it doesn't carry the same weight.

I would think you would need to start with his approval of the letter being from him, with an addition at the end that shows he is supported by other members of the Tulane alumni and fan community. Would he be willing to run it in the paper like that, if we could raise the bulk of the cost? I'd rather give my money to an effort to remove SC and RD, than to give it to the black hole that is currently Tulane Athletics.

I was thinking the same thing RobertM. I don't know the legalities involved at all but I'd want the guy on board before I did anything publicly with it.

Its the same reason I've never mentioned his name on the board. I don't know the man personally, but he wrote this open letter, but didn't sign it. So, maybe he's not interested in going further with it. It may have just been his "what-if" way of venting. Is there anyone with enough status who thinks if they called him personally they could get his ear for a moment?

[TURVS71]

I definitely dont want to change any meat of the letter
But would like to have some acknowledgment at the bottom of all the fans that support it..
Perhaps signatures or the like.

And true this individual , because of his business dealing may not want his name out there

[RobertM320]

And true this individual , because of his business dealing may not want his name out there

That's why I think someone needs to talk to him personally, first. The fact that he put enough information in his letter that anyone who wanted to could figure it out must mean he's not trying too hard to hide. Any effort we were to ever make publicly to remove Dickson/Cowen/Tulane Model would need a major spokesperson at the forefront. The type you would have had in the past with a Ben Weiner, or a Kent McWilliams.

[RWR]

In the same thread he later posted that there was no traffic on that forum due to the way it's moderated and b/c of it's rules. He then said he was no loger going to post there. it has since been deleted.

[JTLiuzza]

In the same thread he later posted that there was no traffic on that forum due to the way it's moderated and b/c of it's rules. He then said he was no loger going to post there. it has since been deleted.

For anyone still unable to admit that that board is completely counterproductive and are 100% in the tank for the present administration, this should erase all doubt.

Here's a Tulane alum, fan, successful banker with an obvious passion and care for TU athletics. He pens a well written and very reasonable letter questioning the motivation and leadership of Scott Cowen and Rick Dickson, and he's deleted.

It's a repeat of the "review" when Oliver N. Blue was trying to raise red flags as to what was going on behind the scenes to destroy football and chose that site to do it. He was deleted repeatedly. Apparently they've learned nothing.

[NOLABigSteve]

Just to clarify, his response further in the thread was deleted. Not the original letter. It is still up.