Pac-12 Media Day 7/24

[ahoelsken]

Really not sure where you and others are getting this impression. Usually I wouldn't care enough about this topic to respond, but I actually think talking to the media is one of his strengths. I'm also saying this as someone who has seen him fire up the crowd at a Chancellor's Tour event and answer questions from the audience.

I like that he takes his time to say the right thing with each answer, he's thorough but doesn't ramble, and I have yet to cringe at something he's said. He'll answer questions confidently, but also disarm with the occasional joke. Some of the questions he was asked during the PAC-12 media day interview were downright cringey (looking at you, interviewer who didn't know he was from Ohio), but he still answered them respectfully. Some of the questions also seemed like traps-- asking what's the primary difference between recruits on the west coast and the south, for example, seems like one you can't answer honestly without offending either side. He gets asked a lot about his SEC ties, sometimes with questions that don't even have to do with Colorado, but he spins it back to being about CU every time.

If I see him pointing at a picture of a buffalo or talking about bringing the funk, maybe then I'll concede that he's bad with the media. Until then, enjoy the Air Jordans, Aviator sunglasses, and the rest of the Mel Tucker era swagger.

/rant

Let me clear up a couple of things-One, I think the fan-coach dynamic is way easier than the media-coach dynamic (especially in a market where we have to fight to get the Denver media to pay attention outside of CSU and Nebraska weeks). I still remember meeting the Godfather, Neuheisel, and Coach Barnett as a kid/high schooler and remembering how friendly all three were with not just me but my adult dad at the time........and also listening to Embree and FHCMM at recruiting luncheons (remember MM before he lost weight talking about the meals the Irwin brothers' parents served him when he went to Houston to recruit them lol). I haven't had a chance to hear Tucker speak in person, but he strikes me as the kind of dude who knows how to fire up a group of fans. Media? A little harder. He's not bad at it by any stretch (doesn't come off as crumudgeonly like Fangio does from time to time-see the answer he gave on culture the other day) but its a bit of an adjustment for him given college coordinators rarely do it during the season (usually only when they want to send a message to their players), and Nick Saban/Kirby Smart assistants don't ever do it.

 

[Buffnik]

Really not sure where you and others are getting this impression. Usually I wouldn't care enough about this topic to respond, but I actually think talking to the media is one of his strengths. I'm also saying this as someone who has seen him fire up the crowd at a Chancellor's Tour event and answer questions from the audience.

I like that he takes his time to say the right thing with each answer, he's thorough but doesn't ramble, and I have yet to cringe at something he's said. He'll answer questions confidently, but also disarm with the occasional joke. Some of the questions he was asked during the PAC-12 media day interview were downright cringey (looking at you, interviewer who didn't know he was from Ohio), but he still answered them respectfully. Some of the questions also seemed like traps-- asking what's the primary difference between recruits on the west coast and the south, for example, seems like one you can't answer honestly without offending either side. He gets asked a lot about his SEC ties, sometimes with questions that don't even have to do with Colorado, but he spins it back to being about CU every time.

If I see him pointing at a picture of a buffalo or talking about bringing the funk, maybe then I'll concede that he's bad with the media. Until then, enjoy the Air Jordans, Aviator sunglasses, and the rest of the Mel Tucker era swagger.

/rant

That’s it, I think. He’s really good at staying on message, but he gives long, thoughtful answers that show he valued the question & the person who asked it. In all walks of life but one, that’s an exceptionally good thing. That one exception is tv where you talk in sound bytes while over emoting the facial expressions.

 

[jizzrag85]

Let me clear up a couple of things-One, I think the fan-coach dynamic is way easier than the media-coach dynamic (especially in a market where we have to fight to get the Denver media to pay attention outside of CSU and Nebraska weeks). I still remember meeting the Godfather, Neuheisel, and Coach Barnett as a kid/high schooler and remembering how friendly all three were with not just me but my adult dad at the time........and also listening to Embree and FHCMM at recruiting luncheons (remember MM before he lost weight talking about the meals the Irwin brothers' parents served him when he went to Houston to recruit them lol). I haven't had a chance to hear Tucker speak in person, but he strikes me as the kind of dude who knows how to fire up a group of fans. Media? A little harder. He's not bad at it by any stretch (doesn't come off as crumudgeonly like Fangio does from time to time-see the answer he gave on culture the other day) but its a bit of an adjustment for him given college coordinators rarely do it during the season (usually only when they want to send a message to their players), and Nick Saban/Kirby Smart assistants don't ever do it.

Your adult dad? As opposed to?

 

[Trufflesauce]

That’s it, I think. He’s really good at staying on message, but he gives long, thoughtful answers that show he valued the question & the person who asked it. In all walks of life but one, that’s an exceptionally good thing. That one exception is tv where you talk in sound bytes while over emoting the facial expressions.

Fair enough. We’ll see over time how the media and public perceive him, as that’s the real question at hand. His results on the field will skew his reputation, but I think he will be a popular coach. He’s certainly putting in a stronger PR effort than FHCMM.

 

[dwyermj]

Fair enough. We’ll see over time how the media and public perceive him, as that’s the real question at hand. His results on the field will skew his reputation, but I think he will be a popular coach. He’s certainly putting in a stronger PR effort than FHCMM.

I'd also guess he sees the media as something to have on your side but I don't think he has "media darling" high on his list of priorities. Saban and Smart are fine with the media but neither says anything that interesting either. Saban does a good job of using the media to get messages across to his team but that is about the only time he isn't coach-speak all the way.

 

[Big Jim]

He’s certainly putting in a stronger PR effort than FHCMM.

- Tucker has claimed from day one that he plans to be in Boulder for the long term. MacIntyre seemed on a career path for an SEC or ACC job, he was always going to be a carpetbagger like most coaches.

- Tucker is walking the talk on recruiting Colorado prep players. A big media presence helps instead of bunkering down in the football offices. MacIntyre didn’t recruit Colorado with any conviction. The DP articles on Tucker have been stunningly favorable, a lot of that is likely the effort of giving by Tucker.

- Tucker hasn’t ****ed up yet.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

I never said ignore them. But catering to them and screwing over your fans our West is a terrible idea for a conference that is lacking local engagement outside or Oregon, Utah and Washington. You don’t change your tv times to please the people in the northeast who barely care about college football, let alone pac 12 football. You don’t change your times for fans on the east coast that are already used to late night sporting events.You don’t change your times for fans in the southeast who would rather watch their local teams during the same time period anyways.

I don’t think people understand what this is. We aren’t talking about big time matchups that get national attention, those are the games that already get picked up for good time slots. Bad OOC games already get early times in this conference. No one on the east coast is going to be very interested in Washington state vs cal or Oregon state va Arizona anyways.

Outside of Utah I just don’t think this plan works for a majority of the schools in this conference and it just shows how badly the pac needs a Texas footprint.

You're absolutely right that games like WSU-Cal or Oregon State-Arizona aren't games with national appeal, but we're talking about a noon EDT timeslot where the competition will be similar type games from other conferences like Indiana-Minnesota, Rutgers-Maryland, Pitt-GT, BC-Wake, etc. The nation is coming off College GameDay at noon and then the early games start and this would get the Pac12 onto the national stage not only immediately but also all day long because in addition to being one of the early games, these highlights will get shown throughout the day. Currently the Pac12 doesn't even come into focus until the the evening/late-night timeslots outside of the occasional high-profile matchup that gets a 3:30/4 EDT start time. In case you haven't noticed this conference has a serious image problem and it needs all the exposure it can get.

And I completely agree that the conference needs a Texas/CDT footprint.

 

[onealcd]

You're absolutely right that games like WSU-Cal or Oregon State-Arizona aren't games with national appeal, but we're talking about a noon EDT timeslot where the competition will be similar type games from other conferences like Indiana-Minnesota, Rutgers-Maryland, Pitt-GT, BC-Wake, etc. The nation is coming off College GameDay at noon and then the early games start and this would get the Pac12 onto the national stage not only immediately but also all day long because in addition to being one of the early games, these highlights will get shown throughout the day. Currently the Pac12 doesn't even come into focus until the the evening/late-night timeslots outside of the occasional high-profile matchup that gets a 3:30/4 EDT start time. In case you haven't noticed this conference has a serious image problem and it needs all the exposure it can get.

And I completely agree that the conference needs a Texas/CDT footprint.

But there are plenty of early games with big time programs who play ****ty opponents that are going to draw the eyeballs at that time. These are also big time SEC and Big-10 programs playing that have big fan bases to tune in.

BTW, here is a breakdown of the schedule of the 144 regular season PAC-12 regular season games last year. All in local time.
9:00 AM- 2
10:00 AM-1
11:00 AM-3
11:30 AM-2
12:00 PM-6
12:30 PM-10
1:00 PM-11
1:30 PM-7
2:00 PM-4
2:30 PM-1
3:00 PM-3
3:30 PM-3
4:00 PM-8
4:30 PM-7
5:00 PM-9
5:30 PM-6
6:00 PM-12
7:00 PM-9
7:15 PM-1
7:30 PM-24
7:45 PM-4
8:00 PM-5
8:30 PM-6

More than half of our games are before 5:30 PM local time which is pretty good considering the time zone. Yes, poor Pac-12 matchups get regegated to 7:30 PM but that isn't as bad as it sounds. There is no competition for eyeballs at that time and it is a time period the Pac-12 and the media has embraced. 28% of the games I would consider Pac-12 after dark which is low if you listen to all of the coaches bitching and complaining. Did you notice how they were bitching about the early start times as well?

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

But there are plenty of early games with big time programs who play ****ty opponents that are going to draw the eyeballs at that time. These are also big time SEC and Big-10 programs playing that have big fan bases to tune in.

BTW, here is a breakdown of the schedule of the 144 regular season PAC-12 regular season games last year. All in local time.
9:00 AM- 2
10:00 AM-1
11:00 AM-3
11:30 AM-2
12:00 PM-6
12:30 PM-10
1:00 PM-11
1:30 PM-7
2:00 PM-4
2:30 PM-1
3:00 PM-3
3:30 PM-3
4:00 PM-8
4:30 PM-7
5:00 PM-9
5:30 PM-6
6:00 PM-12
7:00 PM-9
7:15 PM-1
7:30 PM-24
7:45 PM-4
8:00 PM-5
8:30 PM-6

More than half of our games are before 5:30 PM local time which is pretty good considering the time zone. Yes, poor Pac-12 matchups get regegated to 7:30 PM but that isn't as bad as it sounds. There is no competition for eyeballs at that time and it is a time period the Pac-12 and the media has embraced. 28% of the games I would consider Pac-12 after dark which is low if you listen to all of the coaches bitching and complaining. Did you notice how they were bitching about the early start times as well?

Almost a third of Pac 12 games are considered Pac 12 After Dark and you consider that low? And yes, most of these coaches don't want the early start times either. They'd like to play at a normal time like the rest of the country, but alas... Pac 12!

 

[onealcd]

Almost a third of Pac 12 games are considered Pac 12 After Dark and you consider that low? And yes, most of these coaches don't want the early start times either. They'd like to play at a normal time like the rest of the country, but alas... Pac 12!

I don't consider a 7:30 pm local start time to be bad. After that is can get a little rough but there were only 15 games like that. This is a product of playing in the time zones that the Pac-12 does. Fans on the East coast bitch about early morning start times too because there isn't enough time to tailgate. I just think it is funny to hear people complain about our start times when they aren't nearly as bad as we think. Arizona and Arizona State even have to play late night games early in the season due to the heat. Those games above don't even break out Thursday and Friday night games that have to be at that time. We also need to consider that the Pac-12 was an aferthought in the college football playoff last year due to too many losses, if there was a playoff contender in there the game times would have been even more skewed towards earlier times. The teams need to step it up on the field next year and the preferred start times will follow.

 

[Mick Ronson]

That’s it, I think. He’s really good at staying on message, but he gives long, thoughtful answers that show he valued the question & the person who asked it. In all walks of life but one, that’s an exceptionally good thing. That one exception is tv where you talk in sound bytes while over emoting the facial expressions.

and a lot of hyperbole...

 

[SINKRATZ]

I’m not totally up on this topic, but I keep hearing that game times are about exposure to the easy coast, but how many people on the east coast are really watching a Pac12 game that starts at 10:30pm local time? I don’t understand why any Pac12 game would start later than 4:00pm pacific, ever?

 

[onealcd]

I’m not totally up on this topic, but I keep hearing that game times are about exposure to the easy coast, but how many people on the east coast are really watching a Pac12 game that starts at 10:30pm local time? I don’t understand why any Pac12 game would start later than 4:00pm pacific, ever?

Because of TV slots.

 

[SINKRATZ]

Because of TV slots.

If a game is played on tv but no one in the east coast watches it, did it actually happen?

 

[pcbuff]

Just listening to two SLC DJ’s talk about how Oregon St and Colorado should have no vote or voice in terms of things happening in the Pac 12. Man has CU’s brand been damaged. When Utah mouth pieces are placing themselves above CU, there is work to do. It’s unhealthy how much I leg this get to me!

 

[crosby87]

Is there a prediction thread for this year yet? Really curious to see what you all think the final record will be.

 

[jizzrag85]

Holy **** there’s a down vote now?? Hahaha this is going to be interesting.

 

[FM-Buff]

Holy **** there’s a down vote now?? Hahaha this is going to be interesting.

Yeah. Very interesting. I’m kind of worried for you.

 

[jizzrag85]

Yeah. Very interesting. I’m kind of worried for you.

Why? Like I give a **** what these old ****s think.

 

[BuffsRising]

Why? Like I give a **** what these old ****s think.

I suggest that you watch your tone, young man.

 

[jizzrag85]

I suggest that you watch your tone, young man.

**** You

 

[CarolinaBuff]

But there are plenty of early games with big time programs who play ****ty opponents that are going to draw the eyeballs at that time. These are also big time SEC and Big-10 programs playing that have big fan bases to tune in.

BTW, here is a breakdown of the schedule of the 144 regular season PAC-12 regular season games last year. All in local time.
9:00 AM- 2
10:00 AM-1
11:00 AM-3
11:30 AM-2
12:00 PM-6
12:30 PM-10
1:00 PM-11
1:30 PM-7
2:00 PM-4
2:30 PM-1
3:00 PM-3
3:30 PM-3
4:00 PM-8
4:30 PM-7
5:00 PM-9
5:30 PM-6
6:00 PM-12
7:00 PM-9
7:15 PM-1
7:30 PM-24
7:45 PM-4
8:00 PM-5
8:30 PM-6

More than half of our games are before 5:30 PM local time which is pretty good considering the time zone. Yes, poor Pac-12 matchups get regegated to 7:30 PM but that isn't as bad as it sounds. There is no competition for eyeballs at that time and it is a time period the Pac-12 and the media has embraced. 28% of the games I would consider Pac-12 after dark which is low if you listen to all of the coaches bitching and complaining. Did you notice how they were bitching about the early start times as well?

The Pac-12 can use the noon ET timeslot as an opportunity to showcase their big games where both the competition for marquee games is low but a large portion of the country is tuned into college football. The 2 or 3 biggest games of a given Saturday are usually at 7:30/8pm ET so that's a tough window. But even the 3:30/4pm ET timeslot hasn't proved that successful, take last year's UW-Oregon game as an example. That game went up against Georiga-LSU which was basically over in the 3rd quarter, yet UW-Oregon still got crushed in the ratings. Put a game like that at noon ET and the vast majority of the country is watching.

 

[onealcd]

The Pac-12 can use the noon ET timeslot as an opportunity to showcase their big games where both the competition for marquee games is low but a large portion of the country is tuned into college football. The 2 or 3 biggest games of a given Saturday are usually at 7:30/8pm ET so that's a tough window. But even the 3:30/4pm ET timeslot hasn't proved that successful, take last year's UW-Oregon game as an example. That game went up against Georiga-LSU which was basically over in the 3rd quarter, yet UW-Oregon still got crushed in the ratings. Put a game like that at noon ET and the vast majority of the country is watching.

Okay but the big time pac 12 games are not going into this time slot, they are being picked first for later times so it is pointless to even talk about.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

Okay but the big time pac 12 games are not going into this time slot, they are being picked first for later times so it is pointless to even talk about.

That's probably true, but this is a timeslot the Pac-12 could take huge advantage of with their marquee games.

 

[onealcd]

That's probably true, but this is a timeslot the Pac-12 could take huge advantage of with their marquee games.

I don’t really understand this point at all. If this was such a desirable tile slot then teams in the other four conferences would definitely take advantage of it. It’s not like the pac is on the cutting edge and just found some loophole in the system. The prime time for football viewership is not at 9 am pacific time, and it ****s over fans who attend the game so this is an awful idea.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

I don’t really understand this point at all. If this was such a desirable tile slot then teams in the other four conferences would definitely take advantage of it. It’s not like the pac is on the cutting edge and just found some loophole in the system. The prime time for football viewership is not at 9 am pacific time, and it ****s over fans who attend the game so this is an awful idea.

The Pac-12 is lagging behind from a perception standpoint. And fair or not, perception matters a lot in college football. No the noon ET timeslot isn't a highly desirable one but the Pac-12 needs to do something out of the box to help close the gap and this is an opportunity.

All these start times aside, granted that the biggest thing the conference needs is for 1 or 2 teams to win at a high level, as in win the conference going undefeated or with just 1 loss.

 

[onealcd]

The Pac-12 is lagging behind from a perception standpoint. And fair or not, perception matters a lot in college football. No the noon ET timeslot isn't a highly desirable one but the Pac-12 needs to do something out of the box to help close the gap and this is an opportunity.

All these start times aside, granted that the biggest thing the conference needs is for 1 or 2 teams to win at a high level, as in win the conference going undefeated or with just 1 loss.

But the pac 12 is lagging from a perception standpoint because we haven’t produced a playoff caliber team since Washington in 2016, not because of kickoff times. Putting these games earlier for the east coast isn’t going to help that. It’s not like the champions the conference has produced missed out on a spot due to perception. If you want to argue that an early spot would increase revenues that is fine, I just disagree. That isn’t prime time spot for tv, they might pay a little more for the option to move your game to that time but you are also sacrificing game day revenue so is that really a win?

 

[CarolinaBuff]

But the pac 12 is lagging from a perception standpoint because we haven’t produced a playoff caliber team since Washington in 2016, not because of kickoff times. Putting these games earlier for the east coast isn’t going to help that. It’s not like the champions the conference has produced missed out on a spot due to perception. If you want to argue that an early spot would increase revenues that is fine, I just disagree. That isn’t prime time spot for tv, they might pay a little more for the option to move your game to that time but you are also sacrificing game day revenue so is that really a win?

Getting games more onto the national scene would increase national presence and perception. A 1-loss WSU wouldn't have gotten into the playoff last year over OU and that's because of perception.

 

[onealcd]

Getting games more onto the national scene would increase national presence and perception. A 1-loss WSU wouldn't have gotten into the playoff last year over OU and that's because of perception.

They wouldn’t have made it because they didn’t deserve it. OU lost a neutral site rivalry game and then beat that same team in the championship game. That had nothing to do with perception. There hasn’t been a pac team that deserved to be in the playoff that got left out

 

[CarolinaBuff]

But the pac 12 is lagging from a perception standpoint because we haven’t produced a playoff caliber team since Washington in 2016, not because of kickoff times. Putting these games earlier for the east coast isn’t going to help that. It’s not like the champions the conference has produced missed out on a spot due to perception. If you want to argue that an early spot would increase revenues that is fine, I just disagree. That isn’t prime time spot for tv, they might pay a little more for the option to move your game to that time but you are also sacrificing game day revenue so is that really a win?

Good discussion overall and I can definitely see both sides.

It's not just about whether TV would pay more for the option to move the games to noon ET but the Pac-12 highlights become part of the barrage of highlights throughout the whole day. As for sacrificing game-day revenue Wilner just wrote a good piece addressing this very topic.

The Pac-12 considers 9 a.m. kickoffs: Examining the impact on attendance

Would the early kickoffs chase fans away and kill the in-stadium atmosphere? It’s not like Pac-12 venues are overflowing as it is.

www.mercurynews.com