Recruiting methods

[andegre]

Excuse my ignorance here...

Seeing all of the different ways that schools try to attract recruits, and also how to "fund" those recruits (ROTC, RTC, etc), why don't more of the bigger schools do this? Why doesn't Iowa have a RTC (I'm assuming they don't)? What about ROTC? Obviously we have the HWC, but it seems like having all 3 would be a huge boost (this all assumes we'd have the available monies to fund this).

 

[Novakht]

Iowa indeed is/has an RTC

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Team-USA/Regional-Training-Sites/Locations

 

[SPOONER]

Excuse my ignorance here...

Seeing all of the different ways that schools try to attract recruits, and also how to "fund" those recruits (ROTC, RTC, etc), why don't more of the bigger schools do this? Why doesn't Iowa have a RTC (I'm assuming they don't)? What about ROTC? Obviously we have the HWC, but it seems like having all 3 would be a huge boost (this all assumes we'd have the available monies to fund this).

Also, Iowa has an ROTC program. They do the game ball run promotion each year.

https://uiowa.edu/armyrotc/

 

[Big Fall]

We have the entity but it appears the funding is lacking compared to others.

 

[MVPFAN]

We have the entity but it appears the funding is lacking compared to others.

It seems that has been a major issue for some time. Our RTC needs to be up there with the other top ones or we will have trouble competing. Have to have a guy with some business/fundraising/marketing skills bringing n the cash. Dresser was wanting a million bucks raised and it sounds like he is getting in the neighborhood.

 

[Gobblin]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

 

[MVPFAN]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

Very well said. Now someone print this out and hang it up all over the wrestling offices.

 

[WEH8ST8HAWK]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

You also need world class guys rolling with them every day. Tom, Terry, McDonough, Metcalf. Guys like that.

 

[Gobblin]

You also need world class guys rolling with them every day. Tom, Terry, McDonough, Metcalf. Guys like that.

Yes, I believe I covered that...

 

[whejoe]

Gobblin, you inspired me. I just made a $100 donation. We should set a goal for this board every few months to raise "x" amount of dollars. Look how fast Dennis raised money for his family to go to Rio for the Olympics. He raised it in about a week.

Don't forget we can contribute to the HWC through Amazon anytime a purchase is made.

 

[CowboyUp61]

Not sure who Mike Daniels is, but if Gobblin will get me his phone number I will hit him up! Will split half and half...after all I made the call.

 

[24 so far]

Not sure who Mike Daniels is, but if Gobblin will get me his phone number I will hit him up! Will split half and half...after all I made the call.

He's a Defensive Tackle for the Green Bay Packers, and former Iowa Hawkeye. (not sure at the moment what State he is originally from, but it's not Iowa - Edit: His hometown is listed as Blackwood, NJ).

 

[pumpdog20]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

Just to nitpick, but that maybe 5k in season tickets aren't individual accounts, but more than likely a lot of families. I for one used to have 5 season tickets, there's no way I'm sending a $500 donation on type of season tickets, so I don't think the $500k off the bat is reasonable. But I definitely see and like what you said.

 

[DonHawkeye]

Just to nitpick, but that maybe 5k in season tickets aren't individual accounts, but more than likely a lot of families. I for one used to have 5 season tickets, there's no way I'm sending a $500 donation on type of season tickets, so I don't think the $500k off the bat is reasonable. But I definitely see and like what you said.

Also from what I have heard the HWC has to battle the University hard for these types of dollars. Sadly, the university would much rather have your $100 go to the general fund. It seems like PSU has an admin doing EVERYTHING they can to get NLWC as much funding as possible, while we have to battle ours.

 

[1stplacehawk]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

I'll add that we also need to have general upgrades to the donation system. There needs to be a recurring payment option. Therefore, I can just have $100 a month automatically deducted from my paycheck, and not have to think about it. This model generates greater and more stable revenue. I gave a reasonably large amount to Terry for the polar plunge, and didn't hear a peep in return. I don't care about t-shirts, sweatshirts, car washes or any of that other crap, but a one sentence email saying thank you for donating your hard earned money would be nice. Penn State and Ohio State are killing us in this right now, and it really does have a huge impact on the college team's success.

 

[bbwretler]

Also from what I have heard the HWC has to battle the University hard for these types of dollars. Sadly, the university would much rather have your $100 go to the general fund. It seems like PSU has an admin doing EVERYTHING they can to get NLWC as much funding as possible, while we have to battle ours.

After Tom's first NCAA championship is St Louis I wanted to gift $500 directly to the wrestling program but was told it had to go through the foundation and then hard telling where it would have ended up. Plus the major problem would be getting the money to the wrestlers, "legally", as per NCAA and university rules and regulations. Think it may being more creative when it comes to funneling grants and other forms of aid to the athlete's and having it not count as atletic scholarship dollars. Not saying that the extra money to be used forthe non scholarship wrestlers in the room would not be a postive also...it certainly would be.

 

[Gobblin]

Just visited the HWC website to confirm the donation amounts - you have to donate $250 to get a goddman t-shirt. That’s ridiculous, especially when you’re selling t-shirts without a donation! Granted, the proceeds from the store sales go to the HWC, but give someone something for that $250 beyond a god damn t-shirt. Do a special event or something that doeesn’t cost a lot of money but gives those people access to something they wouldn’t get otherwise. There are so many better ways to raise money. It’s a joke right now. I have no idea what their P&L looks like but the overhead for the club cannot be very much, especially without a resident coach. So it makes me think the money they do bring in isn’t very much because it’s not re-invested back into the club very well. PSU and OSU are getting top guys and paying them well I’m sure. We get the Dardanes brothers.

I was also just looking at the NLWC site and they have a Youth component. Youth and Scholastic program for varying skill levels. First two levels are non-wrestling, functional movement classes for kids to introduce them to wrestling.... That’s called getting support at the grass roots level from parents that have maybe never been exposed to wrestling. So they’re getting support and funding and generating for fan support for the program through creating experiences for kids. That’s really good stuff... It also looks like they have 3 staff members whom are presumably paid also.

PSU is currently feeding us our own shit.

 

[SPOONER]

It has been pretty evident for a long time that the HWC is underfunded. Metcalf was our top guy and even he frequently didn't wrestle under the flag of the HWC all the time. We did add Ramos but was in a similar boat. Yes, there was Dennis but he came sort of our of left field, wasn't a college NC. Ramos and Metcalf left and who took their place? No one.

 

[MVPFAN]

Just visited the HWC website to confirm the donation amounts - you have to donate $250 to get a goddman t-shirt. That’s ridiculous, especially when you’re selling t-shirts without a donation! Granted, the proceeds from the store sales go to the HWC, but give someone something for that $250 beyond a god damn t-shirt. Do a special event or something that doeesn’t cost a lot of money but gives those people access to something they wouldn’t get otherwise. There are so many better ways to raise money. It’s a joke right now. I have no idea what their P&L looks like but the overhead for the club cannot be very much, especially without a resident coach. So it makes me think the money they do bring in isn’t very much because it’s not re-invested back into the club very well. PSU and OSU are getting top guys and paying them well I’m sure. We get the Dardanes brothers.

I was also just looking at the NLWC site and they have a Youth component. Youth and Scholastic program for varying skill levels. First two levels are non-wrestling, functional movement classes for kids to introduce them to wrestling.... That’s called getting support at the grass roots level from parents that have maybe never been exposed to wrestling. So they’re getting support and funding and generating for fan support for the program through creating experiences for kids. That’s really good stuff... It also looks like they have 3 staff members whom are presumably paid also.

PSU is currently feeding us our own shit.

Sounds to me like there are issues with both the staff and the school admin that are making it way harder for us to compete than it should be. Someone needs to take ownership of things it sounds like. It reminds me of the recruiting fall off. We got complacent with that and finally figured out we need top end guys to compete. The club sounds the same to me. They have not kept up and are not on their toes always looking to get an advantage. I don't think PSU would fall short and have to turn any of their wrestlers away that wanted to be in the club. The Brands are as good as it gets in the room but in today's environment you have to be able to recruit, fund-raise for and market your program too. The lights have come on some in the recruiting but the others need attention. Other top programs have people getting it done!

 

[Rhino80]

Having an Army WCAP regional training center is huge also , Army provides all the funds for those athletes and links the ROTC program at the school to thier future Wrestling endeavors.

 

[1stplacehawk]

Sounds to me like there are issues with both the staff and the school admin that are making it way harder for us to compete than it should be. Someone needs to take ownership of things it sounds like. It reminds me of the recruiting fall off. We got complacent with that and finally figured out we need top end guys to compete. The club sounds the same to me. They have not kept up and are not on their toes always looking to get an advantage. I don't think PSU would fall short and have to turn any of their wrestlers away that wanted to be in the club. The Brands are as good as it gets in the room but in today's environment you have to be able to recruit, fund-raise for and market your program too. The lights have come on some in the recruiting but the others need attention. Other top programs have people getting it done!

We need a salesman on staff. I love Tom and Terry, but they're coaches and wrestlers through and through. They're not marketers, salesman, businessman... We're just not playing the game as well as some other programs are.

 

[PSU Mike]

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

I have reason to believe a Mike Daniels posts here occssionally. Now what handle would that guy use ... ?

 

[MVPFAN]

We need a salesman on staff. I lover Tom and Terry, but they're coaches and wrestlers through and through. They're not marketers, salesman, businessman... We're just not playing the game as well as some other programs are.

IMO they are at a critical time right now. PSU is not going to be touched if healthy the next year or two. There is some opportunity to maybe get back in the mix after that but this staff can't drop the ball. We can't afford to have a couple weights where we have a "hole". We need to plan better with recruiting so weights are covered with quality guys. Other teams seem to always find a guy via transfer or something to fill these spots. We have some recruiting momentum but it needs to keep on going up and the coaches and admin better decide if they are going to take the steps needed to get the club on a competitive level and to market the program.

 

[ih8iast8]

After Tom's first NCAA championship is St Louis I wanted to gift $500 directly to the wrestling program but was told it had to go through the foundation and then hard telling where it would have ended up. Plus the major problem would be getting the money to the wrestlers, "legally", as per NCAA and university rules and regulations. Think it may being more creative when it comes to funneling grants and other forms of aid to the athlete's and having it not count as atletic scholarship dollars. Not saying that the extra money to be used forthe non scholarship wrestlers in the room would not be a postive also...it certainly would be.

This is how the UI foundation operates on all donations. I had a significant donation that paid my salary & research while at the UI, & the donors eventually took the money away because they got sick of the Foundation micromanaging their donation.

 

[DayHawk18]

The HWC needs to be the most well funded program in the country, bar none. We need to have 10-15 guys in our RTC plus our college guys can roll with them. It's unacceptable where we are at in that aspect. We need to get Metcalf to run our RTC.

I'm pretty disgusted with their customer service. A friend of mine used to donate every year (and a good amount as well) and he never heard a thing except when they wanted more money. He stopped donating. And going to Hawkeye duals.

 

[bbwretler]

It has been pretty evident for a long time that the HWC is underfunded. Metcalf was our top guy and even he frequently didn't wrestle under the flag of the HWC all the time. We did add Ramos but was in a similar boat. Yes, there was Dennis but he came sort of our of left field, wasn't a college NC. Ramos and Metcalf left and who took their place? No one.

When the HRC was fully funded back in the 80's it was Roy Carver who was providing the majority of the money. He also paid for the post NCAA finals party. Need to get another sponser to provide the same sort of funding. He was also providing major funding for other projects so the U o I foundation didn't dare mess with him.

 

[Wadukester]

I donated 500 to HWC a couple years ago and got a nice HWC hoodie. It showed up in a box, no note or anything in the box ... just the sweatshirts! Maybe a thank you would have been nice!

 

[24 so far]

I donated 500 to HWC a couple years ago and got a nice HWC hoodie. It showed up in a box, no note or anything in the box ... just the sweatshirts! Maybe a thank you would have been nice!

Thank You! (too late?)

I don't have anything to do with the HWC, just thought I'd give you a belated Thank You.

Do you have enough laying around to "buy" (wink, wink) a few more wrestlers for the Hawks? I'll give you a Thank You in advance this time!

 

[andegre]

Gobblin, you inspired me. I just made a $100 donation. We should set a goal for this board every few months to raise "x" amount of dollars. Look how fast Dennis raised money for his family to go to Rio for the Olympics. He raised it in about a week.

Don't forget we can contribute to the HWC through Amazon anytime a purchase is made.

Do tell about the Amazon deal....I buy from there weekly, that'd be the easiest way to give.

 

[Wadukester]

Thank You! (too late?)

I don't have anything to do with the HWC, just thought I'd give you a belated Thank You.

Do you have enough laying around to "buy" (wink, wink) a few more wrestlers for the Hawks? I'll give you a Thank You in advance this time!

Thank you for your thank you even though I wasn't expecting it. Just thought it was odd the way my donation was handled. No follow up the next year either!

 

[SansSouci]

I just can't believe we can't get this money together. We are just behind the times and ignorant. There's just too many fans for us to be behind anyone in a pool of money. If Dan Gable is still hanging around he should try to fix this mess, but I never hear anything of that sort.

Minny was a dumpster fire and they're building up pretty quick. The wrestling program is mismanaged as bad the football program. The money is out there, we need to get it.

If it's the coaches that kids don't like get rid of them. I'm about winning and it's not happening. It's business and Iowa is run by amateurs.

That black and gold singlet isn't getting the recruits we need to be on top. We need to get in the game. SLUSH FUND!

 

[whejoe]

Do tell about the Amazon deal....I buy from there weekly, that'd be the easiest way to give.

It's Amazon Smile( smile.amazon.com) and you can select the HWC as a charitable organization to contribute to. A small percentage of each purchase goes to the HWC.

 

[whejoe]

I just can't believe we can't get this money together. We are just behind the times and ignorant. There's just too many fans for us to be behind anyone in a pool of money. If Dan Gable is still hanging around he should try to fix this mess, but I never hear anything of that sort.

Minny was a dumpster fire and they're building up pretty quick. The wrestling program is mismanaged as bad the football program. The money is out there, we need to get it.

If it's the coaches that kids don't like get rid of them. I'm about winning and it's not happening. It's business and Iowa is run by amateurs.

That black and gold singlet isn't getting the recruits we need to be on top. We need to get in the game. SLUSH FUND!

We need a salesman type guy from this board to work with or help out the coaches or Luke Eustice so the club can start bringing in the dough. They probably don't have enough time to constantly be raising money.

 

[bbwretler]

We need a salesman type guy from this board to work with or help out the coaches or Luke Eustice so the club can start bringing in the dough. They probably don't have enough time to constantly be raising money.[/QUOTE
Have been managing sales organizations for 40 years but you would still need the coaches ok and even more the foundation's approval. Have tried to work with the foundation in the past and no matter how logical and beneficial a project or program might be they always seem to find a reason that it might cause problems if implemented.

 

[SansSouci]

We don't necessary need a guy. My wife could run this program on the money side better than anyone I know. So many connections and skills to get it done. Her job is getting money and she is one of the best in the country. The most accredited in her field. Her uncle is the man that owned the all the Heartlands before he sold them off except Iowa City and he would be good start. Her life is wrestling and promoting it. She builds clubs.

I would love to see her get a chance. She'd find every loophole in this mess. And we could move back to Iowa City. I'm done dreaming and talking shit.

 

[SPOONER]

We don't necessary need a guy. My wife could run this program on the money side better than anyone I know. So many connections and skills to get it done. Her job is getting money and she is one of the best in the country. The most accredited in her field. Her uncle is the man that owned the all the Heartlands before he sold them off except Iowa City and he would be good start. Her life is wrestling and promoting it. She builds clubs.

I would love to see her get a chance. She'd find every loophole in this mess. And we could move back to Iowa City. I'm done dreaming and talking shit.

It would be great to get you out of the flood plain finally.

Also, her uncle is an ahole.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Lots of good ideas here. I can say that there is a new level of effort underway to correct most, if not all, of the problems cited above. The wrestling program has allies in the Athletic Department who are determined to right the ship where financial backing is concerned.

That said, Hawk fans need to do their part, too. Let's all put our money where our mouths are. Sure, we need the deep pockets and movers and shakers to make the big splashes, but if all Iowa wrestling fans pitched in -- as Gobblin said -- the program would immediately be in a better place financially.

The question is where to give. We definitely need to get more big-wigs with deep pockets involved in supporting the undergrad wrestling program, but as for individual wrestling fans, I'd recommend you give to the HWC. Private donations the Athletic Department are fine and may help with your season ticket location in Kinnick, but they do basically nothing for the wrestling program. Giving to the HWC has an immediate impact on the wrestling program. The stronger the HWC, the stronger the Iowa program.

So while the Athletic Department does its job, let's all donate individually to the HWC!!! And while I'm not saying we all need to be giving thousands of dollars per year as individuals, there's certainly no rule against donations greater than $100 per year. Everyone knows what he/she can afford to give -- let's make it count.

 

[edquinn06]

Just visited the HWC website to confirm the donation amounts - you have to donate $250 to get a goddman t-shirt. That’s ridiculous, especially when you’re selling t-shirts without a donation! Granted, the proceeds from the store sales go to the HWC, but give someone something for that $250 beyond a god damn t-shirt. Do a special event or something that doeesn’t cost a lot of money but gives those people access to something they wouldn’t get otherwise. There are so many better ways to raise money. It’s a joke right now. I have no idea what their P&L looks like but the overhead for the club cannot be very much, especially without a resident coach. So it makes me think the money they do bring in isn’t very much because it’s not re-invested back into the club very well. PSU and OSU are getting top guys and paying them well I’m sure. We get the Dardanes brothers.

I was also just looking at the NLWC site and they have a Youth component. Youth and Scholastic program for varying skill levels. First two levels are non-wrestling, functional movement classes for kids to introduce them to wrestling.... That’s called getting support at the grass roots level from parents that have maybe never been exposed to wrestling. So they’re getting support and funding and generating for fan support for the program through creating experiences for kids. That’s really good stuff... It also looks like they have 3 staff members whom are presumably paid also.

PSU is currently feeding us our own shit.

I donated $250 last year and never got my tshirt. I'm to lazy to call and ask for it. Plus I really don't care, it's not why I donated.

 

[Mendoza77]

Let's say Iowa has 5,000 season ticket holders(no idea of the real number, but it can't be too far off). So at 5k - you ask/encourage/require a $100 donation to HWC. That's $500k in top line revenue each year right off the bat. You aggressively fund raise beyond. Road show to every big business, wealthy entrepreneur, alumni with money (i.e. Former football players from the state - think about how many played in the NFL that are from the state). You could pretty easily, with minimum effort, raise $1mm per year in revenue. That goes a long way. Pay a resident coach, recruit wrestlers, etc. Provide unique opportunity to the donors and give everyone that donates the $100 a t-shirt. It's really not that hard. Problem is, everyone is running HWC off he corner of their desk. Brands', Eustice and the board all have full time jobs outside of HWC so it's dying on the vine. The people of Iowa care about Iowa wrestling. They'll back the HWC but you have to provide value to donating. Right now you have to give $2500 to get much of anything back. That's ridiculous and discourages smaller donations. I could go on but like I said, they need someone with business acumen to run that thing.

We are being passed up in light years in this department and if the University and staff doesn't get with the program soon, I'm afraid we will be left in the dust. This is Iowa Wrestling, and I'd be willing to bet the man in charge would agree that if you're not first, you're last.

Mike Daniels, who wrestled in HS and attributes some of his success to wrestling, just sighed a 42m deal with 12m signing bonus and 22m guaranteed in first 15 months of the contract. Invite him to a dual, entertain him and ask for a donation. I bet he woudln’t say no. How is someone not thinking of these things already?! It's inexcusable.

And as far as the formula for success - it’s not hard. Recruit talent and after that, recruit more talent and then get some more talent. The coaching aspect at the D1 level is as much mental and preparation and developing skills not specific to wrestling (strength, speed, athleticism, etc.) and much less about wrestling technique than ever before. By the time these kids come to your program, their approach/style isn’t going to change. You can clean up bad habits but guys are going to get better when they have other really talented workout partners (Iowa lightweights, PSU middle weights this year, etc.). It’s no shock that often times, on the best teams, their best guys are in bunches across consecutive weights. Those guys get better wrestling each other revery day. Then you work on the other aspects of beings successful and I think that’s where Cael is at. He’s figured that part out.

I don't know you Gobblin so I don't know your age, profession, background, personality, etc. This is an excellent post with what seem to be thoughts/analyses that are spot-on. In my chosen profession I sometimes need to "think BIG" (am currently communicating with publicist of a famous actor, requesting an appearance). Why don't YOU (or another HR poster(s) who is inspired by Gobblin's thinking) make some calls and set up meetings to get the ball rolling --- if you strongly believe in something and want to see it happen, then get personally involved, boldly step forward and make it happen!! Most of us have many commitments in life that make it complicated to do something like this - I'm no different - but if building what Gobblin has proposed meant enough to me then I would boldly make calls to HWC, Brands, AD at Iowa, Hawkeye wrestling alums, high-wealth businessmen, etc etc etc. Type up a preliminary proposal, and an action plan. Man, I'm getting excited just typing this - wish I could be the point man, but that's not possible.....BUT I HOPE IT'S POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE HERE ON HR!!!! (Chief...hint hint...you're retired so have time on your hands....hint hint....moving to Iowa City... ). Hope I've inspired someone!!

 

[minnhawkeye]

I have donated every year to HWC since it got going again when Brands came. I always give 50-100 to artic plunge, try to send another 100 also when can and use amazon also. Know not a big contribution but just think what it could amount to if every fan would try to do something.