Texas State Fans For Change

Let's fix Bobcat Athletics: Remove Larry Teis from his position.
The purpose of this fundraising endeavor is simple: to seek financial resources from fellow Bobcats fed-up with the actions of Texas State's Athletic Director, Larry Teis, in order to secure his removal. The fundraising goal is $60,000. $10,000 will be used toward marketing efforts such as billboards, newspaper advertising, articles and online advertising to apply public pressure on Texas State University leadership. The remaining $50,000 is intended to be used as seed money to support use of a search firm to find a replacement athletic director in order to show that we are interested in a solution & removing barriers to making this change and not simply complaining. These amounts are based on quotes received for various advertising strategies as well as the estimated cost to hire Parker Search Firm (used by Texas State University in the past).
This is not just about a rough football season--this is about a pattern of behavior, under-performance and poor judgment by Dr. Teis that is holding our university back both athletically & academically. Texas State has made great strides academically, and athletic programs serve as a critical conduit to prospective students, alumni and the world in telling the story of Texas State's advances. A poorly performing athletic department undermines this work and results in significant opportunity cost.
The following serve as examples of information and actions forming the basis for the removal of Dr. Teis as Athletic Director:
*Dr. Teis routinely references efforts to run a clean program free of NCAA violations as well as high student athlete retention & graduation rates as metrics of success. A clean program and positive academic achievement by student athletes should be minimum, mandatory expectations for any collegiate athletic department, not heralded accomplishments. This is the equivalent of recognizing participation ribbons.
*Dr. Teis has cited difficulties in fielding competitive programs on the basis of Texas State's academic standards. This is simply not true, and there are countless examples of athletic programs throughout the country with rigorous academic expectations that simultaneously field strong athletic programs.
http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/12/10/9882748/a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-texas-state-athletics-director-larry-teis
*Dr. Teis commonly cites growth in donor activity as a metric of success. The turnover/loss rate of the Bobcat Club donors is approximately 30% annually versus the more common 10% observed in equivalent organizations at other universities. People being brought into the donor fold are finding themselves unwelcomed & unappreciated. It means the athletic department is directly undermining efforts to bring alumni into the fold--they are leaving money and perhaps more importantly, donor energy on the table.
*Dr. Teis appears to routinely send unprofessional correspondence to fans and alumni.
*Dr. Teis appears to have a poor relationship and distrust with the media. He has represented the university poorly in television and print media, particularly in the University Star and San Marcos Daily Record.
http://smdrsports.com/2015/12/10/texas-state-ad-larry-teis-remains-silent-on-franchiones-future-as-questions-loom/
*Dr. Teis does a poor job of assessing coaching talent and holding coaches accountable. Examples include:
a) Coach Nutt was maintained as a coach to the point that the team was listed as a Bottom 10 Mens Basketball Program. He was given a contract extension due to having a single winning season. It turned out to be his only winning season, and only one other season reached 0.500. Retention and graduation rates plummeted with no action from Dr. Teis.
b) Coach Davalos was maintained as a coach and even received an extension despite the fact that he only achieved a 0.500 record one season, with all other seasons reflecting losing records. After his departure, he now coaches high school women’s basketball.
c) Coach Wright was fired after being granted a 3-year contract extension only months before, demonstrating Dr. Teis’ poor assessment of the coaching situation at that time. In 2007 he lost to Division II Abilene Christian University. After his departure, he now coaches high school football.
d) Coach Franchione received a 5-year contract extension when the results achieved were a 4-8 record followed by a 6-6 record. During Coach Franchione’s five years, the football team has achieved only one victory over a team with a winning record at the end of the season (2014 Arkansas State University). His overall record is now 39-43 and conference record 17-24 (in what is widely regarded as one of the weakest conferences in FBS). For comparison, Coach Wright was let go after going 23-23 over four seasons. We understand building a sustainable, successful FBS program takes time, but the length of the extension was completely inappropriate.
*Virtually all sports have stagnated at or regressed to mediocre or worse levels. This is a critical issue, because alumni interest & donor interest is heavily driven by program visibility & success.
a) Baseball, once a success story that made appearances in post-season play and at times was considered a dark-horse candidate for the College World Series has fall to the point that it struggles to get above 0.500 and is no longer considered a Top 100 program.
b) Men’s Basketball, while showing early indications of improvement, has been 0.500 or worse for a decade.
c) Women’s Basketball, while showing some improvement, has likewise been 0.500 or worse for several years.
d) Softball has been below 0.500 two of the last four seasons, and has brought significant controversy that causes me to question the veracity of the recruit vetting process
*Dr. Teis, at his salary, represents a poor return on investment. Only because she is the most geographically relevant example, Lynn Hickey at UTSA is making less & doing more than Dr. Teis in nearly every measurable, including the ones that Dr. Teis likes to hang his hat on (donor metrics)
*The athletic department frequently gets caught flat-footed & reactive. The poorly executed attempts to secure bowl invitations over the last two years are excellent examples in which there was no way to make reservation commitments or otherwise give firm indication of travel support for our first bowl opportunities.
*The athletic department appears to get poor value out of its budget despite being larger than many other athletic programs with FBS football. We see far more aggressive marketing, visibility and, heck, even uniform combinations from schools with budgets that are ¾ the size of the Texas State athletic budget. A prime example of this was seen on the sidelines this season, in which the uniforms for Lowe, Rubin & Bingham each featured different fonts for the name. That is the epitome of the bush league approach employed in managing the athletic department.
*Not only are our Sunbelt contemporaries Georgia State, New Mexico State and Idaho surpassing us in virtually all sports (teams historically near the bottom), but newcomers Appalachian State and Georgia Southern have passed us by despite having fewer resources. There is absolutely no excuse for this.

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