Honest question. What has Harlan done as AD to make Utah athletics better

[Trailgoat]

since CH retired? I am far from in the know so hopefully there is more to it. Has Harlan been riding the coattials of Chris Hill’s hard work?

[Tony (admin)]

Implemented 100% curtains in the Huntsman Center. 

[Central Coast Ute]

I think that was a message to Larry K. and the fans that are calling for Larry’s job.

[Ute Bc]

He’s raised a ton of money for the South end zone project.

Why? What do you want him to do?

[User Suspended]

Utah “settled” . Someone who can toe the company line…maybe raise some money,  certainly not a Dr. Chris Hill 

[pedro]

Has he?  By raised, you mean ticket prices.  Oh, and BTW, they are having a hard time selling all of these new seats in the Garff party zone or whatever they are calling it.  Harlan does not understand the Utah fan base and IMHO has done nothing to improve the state of Utah athletics save paying the assistants more.  He’s driving fans away with ever increasing prices in tickets, parking and concourse offerings.  Not a fan.

[UrbanLiar]

Source for your statement of hard time selling SEZ seats? Bull$hit. They’re on track and hitting their projected sales rates as of today.

[pedro]

That isn’t what my agent up there is saying.  I could call him I guess and ask if I could quote him, but since you didn’t offer a source either, I’ll wait.

[Utesbyfive]

Fact of life. Ticket sales are lagging because of Coronavirus, not because of anything he’s done.

[Ute Bc]

He has sold every single suite in the South End Zone.  If you thought that doing a MAJOR renovation of our stadium would not result in higher ticket prices I don’t know what to tell you.  Chris Hill knew it was coming as well – that’s just basic economics.  The stadium will be sold out again, barring a complete economic catastrophe and certain fans will be priced out.  That’s just how it is everywhere – except Provo – they can’t give that ticket away.  

[pedro]

I didn’t say anything about the suites…. Seats though…

[Hellhound152]

Arkansas, Florida, and LSU.  Home and Home.

[pedro]

First, Arkasas shouldn’t be regarded so highly by Utah fans.  2nd, we’ll see if the other two make it to completion.  My money is on no.

[Trailgoat]

Agree. Arkansas is Meh. Florida connection with Mullen and BJ probably sealed the deal with Florida. LSU is a decade away. Hell, Pace may be coach by then and Utah could be in the same conference as LSU in 10 years :)! Highly doubt LSU will stick.

[Central Coast Ute]

Well Pace seems to have all the answers on how to recruit better. Maybe he should be given a job in the football program.

[Utesbyfive]

Pace is a nattering nabob of negativism. Ignore him please.

[User Suspended]

Dude, you cancel culturing me!

[Central Coast Ute]

I have to agree with you there Pace, I don’t ignore you because although I don’t agree with you a lot of time, I don’t believe in silencing people.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Arkansas should be regarded a LOT higher than any of our weak SOS, small-ball, FCS and midmajor opponents we fans have been suffering through over the years.

Harlan has done a fairly decent job of scheduling P5 opponents, and a poor job of getting the tdS off our schedule.  He’s too new to judge right now.

[Utesbyfive]

It’s not his fault we can’t stop playing BYU. Blame that on the Greg Hughes types of the state. Too married to the “rivalry” to see the detriment to the state’s flagship football program.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

It IS his fault.  Greg Hughes is out of the churchislature, but that didn’t stop Harlan from scheduling another series with the tdS.  He’s new to Utah, and is making decisions based on how Utah USED to view our little brother.  Prior to 2011, they were one of the biggest — if not THE biggest — game on our schedule.  Back then, the rivalry was real.  But by 2014, it wasn’t anymore.  And they’ve become less and less interesting to us as each year passes.  Personally, if we HAD to play an instate opponent, I’d rather play Utah St.  At least THEY’RE in a conference, and a win over a MWC team is a bigger win than an indy-irrelevant WAC one that regularly struggles against MAC teams.

And for the record, Utah should never play FCS teams.  Utah should never play more than 6 games per decade vs. instate opponents.  And that’s COMBINED 6; not 6 vs. ybU and 6 vs. USU.  Utah should ALWAYS have at least 1 P5 opponent, 1 opponent from a target-rich recruiting area (i.e. CA, TX, LA, AL, FL, GA), and either 1 MWC opponent, Army, Navy, or an AAC team in a large metropolitan area (where we might be able to entice some new recruits/recruiting pipelines) — preferably on the east coast, thus offering an attractive “east coast” time zone kickoff.

[Central Coast Ute]

Arkansas sure beats Wyoming or Northern Illinois any day.

[Ute Bc]

If you don’t think Arkansas is an upgrade to our OOC schedule I don’t know what to say…

[Central Coast Ute]

.

[User Suspended]

My take… kissing @ss and cashing checks…. nothing more.

[Hellhound152]

Like any great administrator!

[User Suspended]

great? or average

[Hellhound152]

Based on the current climate of athletic departments nationally?

[AZUTE]

What do you want him to do????

Clean house fire every coach?

90% of His job is to shake hands kiss babies and raise money and He’s done that in spades.

He’s not firing whit. Larry will be fired after this season. Let’s fire the ski Coach I think he just won a NC.

Baseball should be dropped in my opinion.

So let’s here it from you geniuses what he should be doing differently

[GameForAnyFuss]

He’s raising tons of money, which is probably going to be the difference between survival of the athletic department and its demise.

Chris Hill may be the AD who brought Utah athletics to life, but Mark Harlan is going to go down in history as the one who keeps it alive.

[User Suspended]

good take

[pedro]

I keep hearing this, I would like to see the proof.  

[AZUteFan]

Valid question about Harlan.  It’s probably too early to tell.  And while he may be doing great things in fundraising (which is news to me) here is one area of concern:

Listen to what our rivals opinion is of the guy…they love Harlan.  When your rival fan base approves of your AD/football coach/basketball coach, it is usually because he isn’t very good at his job…

We were lucky to have Dr. Hill for as long as we did.  Big shoes for anyone to fill. 

[Central Coast Ute]

But why do they think he’s doing a good job? Because he’s scheduling them? So did Chris Hill and I don’t think the Utah AD, no matter who it is has a choice. Or is it because he has a good sense of humor when it comes to he and Holmoe ribbing each other. Big deal. He’s been here for two years, has done a good job scheduling and fundraising. What else is he supposed to have done at this point?

[Utesbyfive]

It will be very interesting to see how he and the school acquit themselves with the Scalley controversy. I’ll respect him a lot more if there’s an honest accounting.

[User Suspended]

he’s average. Don’t think he’s a P5 AD.  I’m guessing he’s a good @ss kisser…. looking to make bank and move on.

 

[Central Coast Ute]

Agreed. My opinion may change after the investigation.