Athletic Department Goals – Straight From The Horse’s Mouth

Back in May of 2008 I posted an entry based on these two quotes from Lee Fowler:

“My goals have always been to be in the top three in the conference. If you’re in the top three you always have a chance to win the championship. That’s an obvious goal as well. Minimum goals, we don’t want to be in the bottom-half of anything.. the bottom-half in any sport.”

–Lee Fowler, PackPride.com, 5-22-08

and

“Our minimum should be middle of the conference, not last in the league”

–Lee Fowler, Technician, 8-31-07

This entry will be an update of the May 2008 entry linked above but will also look at some numbers in a little different way.

Based on those two quotes above, you can come away with at least four distinct goals for our athletic programs.
Goal #1 – ACC Championships
Goal #2 – Top 3 in the ACC
Goal #3 – Top half of the ACC
Goal #4 – Not last place in ACC

I think it is very important to note that these are not goals made by fans with unreasonable expectations or the “lunatic fringe” or “HateFans Nation”. These are goals straight from the mouth of the AD.

A couple of notes before we start looking at those four goals –

(a) I did not keep track of ties in the standings in my research. For example, NC State finished tied for 11th in Men’s Basketball in 2008. While technically we finished tied for last, my notes had us as 11th. Since 11th is not 12th, they did not get counted as a last place finish. This actually errs on the side of the athletic department, and as you will see as you read, they need all the help they can get.

(b) Also, these stats are only for the 21 sports in which NC State participates that are a part of Atlantic Coast Conference sanctioned events and therefore do not include gymnastics or rifle. The 2009-2010 baseball and softball seasons have not been completed so they are not included.

 

Goal #1 – Win ACC Championships
Let’s start with Goal #1, winning an ACC championship, the loftiest goal of the four. In the 10 years Fowler has been AD, NC State has fielded 205 different teams across the 21 sports and brought home 15 ACC titles.

Success Rate for Goal #1 – Win ACC Championships: 7.3%

The Athletics Department has experienced drastic drop after a near-peak of 14.3% in 2007. 2008-2010 has produced a lone ACC Title (this year) in men’s cross country after going two consecutive years without winning a single ACC Championship for the first time in the history of the Athletics Department.

Only four different programs (M Cross Country, W Cross Country, Softball & Wrestling) have won an ACC Championship during Lee Fowler’s tenure in Raleigh, meaning 19% of our programs have met Goal #1 at least once and 81% of our programs have failed over the last 10 years.

 

Goal #2 – Top 3 In the Atlantic Coast Conference
In the 10 years Fowler has been Athletics Director, NC State has fielded 205 different teams in 21 sports and finished in the top three of the conference standings 44 times.

Success Rate for Goal #2 – Top 3: 21.5%

Again, if you look at the success rate by year, after another near-peak in 2007 at 33.3% has been followed by dramatic drop. In the last two years, men’s cross country is the only sport to finish in the top three of the ACC.

13 programs that have finished in the top 3 at least once, meaning 61.9% of our programs have met Goal #2 at least once in a ten year period; while 8 different programs – 38.1% of the programs – have failed to finish in the top 3 of the ACC a single time in 80 different attempts.

 

Goal #3 – Top half of the ACC
This was stated by Fowler in both quotes above as the “bare minimum” goal. In the 10 years Fowler has been AD, NC State has fielded 205 different teams in 21 sports and finished in the top half of the confernce 75 times.

Success Rate for Goal #3 – Top Half: 36.6%

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you look at the success rate by year, after a peak success rate of 57.1% in 2006 there has been another drop-off over the last three years.

There are 16 programs that have finished in the top half at least once, meaning 76.2% of our programs have met Goal #3 at least once while five different programs have never finished in the top half of the ACC a single time in the last 10 years.

 

Goal #4 – Don’t finish last in the ACC
In the 10 years Fowler has been AD, NC State has fielded 205 different teams in 21 sports and has avoided sole possession of last place 177 times.

Success Rate for Goal #4 – Not Last: 86.3%

While not as drastic as the other 3 goals, when you look at the yearly success rates there is a drop-off over the last 3 years after peaks of 95.2% in both 2005 and 2006.

There are 10 programs that have never finished in dead last in the ACC, meaning 47.6% of our programs have met Goal #4 each year and every program has met Goal #4 at least once.

Success Rate For The Four Major Sports
What about the success rate for the four major sports (Football, M Basketball, W Basketball, Baseball)?

Success Rate for Goal #1 – ACC Title: 0%
Success Rate for Goal #2 – Top 3: 17.9%
Success Rate for Goal #3 – Top Half: 46.2%
Success Rate for Goal #4 – Not Last: 100%

Success Rate For Football & Men’s Basketball
Some fans only follow football and men’s basketball. Here are the success rates for those 2 sports.

Success Rate for Goal #1 – ACC Title: 0%
Success Rate for Goal #2 – Top 3: 10.0%
Success Rate for Goal #3 – Top Half: 40.0%
Success Rate for Goal #4 – Not Last: 100%

Conclusions and Comments
Let’s look at another quote from Fowler from the Feb 16, 2004 issue of The Wolfpacker:

“By the end of ‘05, we will have most of our programs in the types of facilities that coaches can be held accountable to. I don’t think that was the case when I first got here. I think we had teams competing against people with a lot more assets than we had.”

Wouldn’t logic dictate that after 2005, all our facilities should be in good shape and we should start to reap the benefits? Instead the success rates for all 4 goals are at or near their lowest points over the last 3 years. Things are not getting better or even maintaining the status quo, they are getting worse.

And again, I feel it is very important to remember, these are not goals that I came up with. They were not made by the “lunatic fringe” or posters on the “monkey boards” or “HateFans Nation”. These goals are straight from the AD who claims “I do love NC State” and “I’ve worked hard to make it the best it can be”.

Take another look at Goal #3 – Top Half, which was considered by Fowler to be the minimum goal. Over his tenure as AD this goal has only been met 36.6% of the time. I’m assuming as State grads, we have a few engineers, scientists, researchers, etc. reading this. If your overall success rate for your stated MINIMUM goal is 36.6%, you’ve only hit 50% twice in 10 years, the last 3 years have been your lowest since your first year and your 2 national profile projects are at 40%, are you working hard to make your project the best it can be? Do you get a contract extension? Do you get an award for excellence? Do you still keep your job?

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