...TrueColors... said:

So we’ve got a population that wants a good baseball team and a very solid natural recruiting market.

The state wants baseball and thus far two ADs have failed to give baseball what it needs to elevate.

Make no mistake, baseball is in good shape. But nobody wants the ceiling for this program to be region play.

Give us what we want Dannen.

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...TrueColors... said:

I think it’s a combo of:

1) NIL - It’s simply not there

2) Our facilities and overall set up isn’t even close to what the standards are other places.

You can’t compete with other schools when the above two things are true.

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SlumpBuster said:

I would say give me 34 full ride scholarships even before NIL

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PonyBoy said:

It'll never happen unless an Athletic Director significantly increases the baseball budget. It's bad, ghetto bad.

1) You'd have to elaborate so we know exactly what you're talking about. (We're not on par with the SEC or ACC in anything baseball related).

2) Baseball has a budget of $0 for NIL. The staff has to ask for money, but nothing is set like the other sports. So yes, volleyball - rightfully so - has more NIL available than baseball. I'll take it a step further, 3 of our current volleyball girls receive more money than the entire baseball team combined since NIL became legal. Let that sink in.

The last national data released publicly of all D1 baseball programs had Nebraska between 55-65 in overall baseball budget (NIL not involved in this). This data was from a few years ago (not what's shared below) & it was posted somewhere on this tPB. IIRC, we were #5 or #6 in the B1G - and this was before Oregon, UCLA, USC & Washington joined the conference. With them, we instantly drop 4 spots as everyone can see below.

Husker fans expect to host regionals, or replicate what DVH did 98-02, on a Dollar Store budget. FFS, Rutgers baseball has a bigger budget than us, based on the public data report referenced in the previous paragraph...

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ShortSideOption said:

Well that's a sobering stat. #1 I was just referencing at one point I know Darin had said they knew they would have money available but couldn't offer it to people or something because the kids leaving hadn't officially declared. SEC didn't have to worry about that? That's super dated info though so once he left I didn't really have any information on it.

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ShortSideOption said:

I also always thought we could somehow make it so baseball wasn't in the red like some of the schools down south. You'd have to get unbelievably creative for that though between us being more northern than the SEC/ACC schools and sharing with the Saltdogs.

Speaking of the latter, is there just no way we can get out of them controlling things? Have to believe that partnership is part of the reason facilities and other things aren't going quickly, on top of the AD and other issues. But 1890 told me they wish more people wanted to give to baseball, even though we have former professional athletes that are willing to give. So I just don't get it.

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PonyBoy said:

You asked, so here goes...

Ya, Erstad offered 4-year scholarships which at one time was "mandatory" (it wasn't for baseball though) by the B1G. So what happened was, if Johnny High School recruit signed with a MLB team, we (B1G teams) would lose that scholarship % for x-number of years. I believe it was 2 years, but I'm not 100% positive. So Darin never went after those guys, the risk was too big - see Cole Stobbe from Millard West in 2016 as a prime example. If Johnny Husker baseball player got drafted and signed before his 4 years was up - we lost that scholarship % as well for the remaining years left. Typically it was only 1 year but if you have multiple guys, it all adds up. Towards the last couple years of Erstad's tenure, the current players signing with MLB teams rule was laxed. Heck, to go even further, at one point the B1G required "offers" and "players returning" never to exceed 11.7. Yes - ridiculous. However, it was Erstad's choice not to dig deeper to find loopholes. Status quo, not a surprise...

When Bolt took over, he found out quickly the 4-year scholarship guarantee the B1G mandated was only for full scholarship sports (football, volleyball, MBB, WBB, etc?) only, which meant baseball was exempt from the rule. So Bolt offered 1-year scholarships, regardless of who you are. It cost us a couple guys over since Bolt took over as other programs are offering 4 year scholarships without realizing that coach will pull his scholarship and punt his ass if he isn't performing. Especially in the SEC & B12. It's even worse now with NIL.




Very few schools (<15 is my best guess) turn a profit in baseball. The expenses have increased so much over the years.

Our contract with the Saltdogs runs thru 2035. It is 100% on them Hawks Field (stands, concourses, etc) is what it is. I've heard mixed reports on the locker-room and who's at fault, but knowing Osborne, Moos & Alberts love for facilities - I can't imagine it's on Nebraska, as they're in horrible condition. Not having a better on-site facility is 100% on the Saltdogs too as they want the available space for fans at their games. It's bullshit.

1890 has no interest in baseball. There are 24+ home games per season. If they really wanted to raise money for baseball then they would be present at baseball games, have advertisement (and not just Bolt on a radio spot) throughout the stadium besides the pisser and actively pursue opportunities during games. Heck, after our win against Vanderbilt - why not make a public push to generate revenue? I don't care if it's only $4,000 or $2,000 - do something to show interest! LSU's NIL sent out a blast after winning the Frisco Classic. I have no way of verifying, but I heard it raised them close to $50,000. Beating Kansas State, Nebraska & Sam Houston fucking State returned them a good number. (And they're NIL is off the charts; including scholarship guarantees to all players on the roster). All Bolt has asked for is $1M/year so every single player on the roster is on a full ride.

As far as former players with money, I had an update in this thread on page 33 or so. They want their money going elsewhere within the program & I can't blame them. Our staff is asking for all players to be on full rides. 18 is the rumored number for baseball scholarship so we're 12 short, which is around what - $400,000 give or take? Pretty sad we can't earmark this going forward to we can be somewhat competitive.

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clifscales said:

Totally agree here after seeing LSU and Oklahoma the last 2 weeks. Baseball almost needs their own collective. LSU's NIL is multi million no doubt.

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PonyBoy said:

The staff feels they can have success with full scholarships & facility upgrades. IMO, this is a no-brainer for Nebraska Athletics.

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