200 millions when Dr. Jay Gouge was our president.
Pump it up: UH Athletics Director Dave Maggard led a cheer Wednesday at the Rub the Paw Pep Rally in Cullen Family Plaza.
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I remember how rude Craig Sager (TBS sideline reporter) was to Dave Maggard and Coach Yeoman when he interviewed them on the sidelines of the Coogsâ game against OU in 2004. The whole entire time he was laughing at both menâs faces while they were answering his questions. The worst part for me was when he laughed in Daveâs face and wouldnât even pay attention to what the man had to say â that he wanted more exposure and opportunities for his team to play on the spotlight. âWhy not us?â was the most memorable statement that I remember Dave Maggard kept on repeating when that jack@$$ Craig Sager was looking away and laughing in his face just to insult the man even more while on the background the Sooners were scoring yet another touchdown and the crowd was cheering and loving it all! It was as if Sager was a part of the Sooner fraternity and he was brought in to insult the Coogs whenever he had the opportunity to do so!
I tried looking for the clip where Sager was insulting Maggard, but I couldnât find it even though I managed to find that game on Youtube. I believe the TV network thought Sager went a little too far in his disrespect for Maggard and a little over the top in showing his indifference to what Maggard had to say and so they edited that part out of the video. However, I did manage to find a couple of clips to show you guys the kind of rudeness and arrogance Craig Sager displayed that day so that you would get an idea of what I am talking about. If you look at 57:56 and 58:56 where Sager was interviewing Coach Yeoman you would get an idea of the kind of contempt and disrespect Sager shown both men.
When UH beat OU in 2016 I kept on thinking back to the way that j@ck@$$ insulted our football program and our AD and coach. I bet he was pissed off as hell when he saw how we clobbered his chosen team! Here is the video of the game:
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I loved it when he would do âThe Clawâ. It was awesome.
Yes, Yes, Yes. Dave rewrote the contracts with our coaches which helped put our fledgling athletic department get on the right track. In addition, he listened to the die hard alums that wanted the best for the athletic department. He built the foundation for what we have today.
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Uncle Dave saved us at a time that we needed desperately to be saved. He was as great an Advocate for UH as anyoneâŠ
Hopefully he is in Cali enjoying his grandkids!
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He was the AD during most of my time at UH(2001-2004). He worked hard to save our athletics programs. I still remember our facilities, fan support, and teams were not that good and by the time he left, we were respectable(the teams were, not so much the facilities yet). The growth in the last 20 years is amazing and much like others have eluded to, Dave Maggard laid that ground work down.
Also, a huge thank you to all you long timers and supporters of our school from the end of the SWC through now, I donât know how you guys kept the faith, but Iâm glad you all did. Go Coogs!
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I love this thread, and I love that it acknowledges the reality that Dave Maggard saved athletics at UH. Is there anything we could do to get him some permanent recognition? A plaque in the Hall of Honor? Recognition at homecoming? Something to remind everyone how be brought us from the brink? Iâm not sure that a statue is in order but it seems like something could be done.
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I wonder if Dave Maggard has been back to campus in the last ten years.
I think it would be very satisfying to him to see what he started.
We definitely owe him a lot of gratitude for his hard work and vision.
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Mr. Dave Maggard
A shot put to the BIG12. He surely played a huge part of it. Huge kudos for the hire.
https://247sports.com/college/houston/Article/A-Tribute-to-Dave-Maggard-104610878/
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It wasnât easy, winless season, being passed over with the disband of the SWC, playing in an antiquated stadium etc but we never lost the faith being driven by the words of a legend,âItâs not easy being a Cougar.â
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DM was great at resurrecting a dead program. He was not just strategic, but could also operate tactically. I recall when DM butted heads with Briles when he brought in real support staff and fired Briles cronies. He did a lot of good things and for the moment of where UH was, there was nobody that couldâve done it better.
When RK came in, she almost immediately butted heads with DM. The reason? DM didnât buy into the vision that RK had for UH athletics. DM raised the program from the dead, but didnât buy that this program could grow to be a BCS (P5 at the time) level program. He thought a new stadium would be a massive waste of money. He wouldâve rather invested in the Rob and built that up. The end result is that they parted ways.
All this being said, DM was perfect for the time that we needed him and I think we all have a great deal of respect and admiration for the man. He definitely laid the solid ground work to launch from. Without that solid footing, it wouldâve been exponentially difficult to rebuild a program.
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I believe it! Man, props to you guys that can drink that stuff. lol!
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I did not know that there was friction between them. I know Dave had vision of $34 million (?) endzone facility , and then later backed away from that, and then it seems he left sometime after that. He was an older guy with Cali. roots, so I was not surprised when he hung it up. Interesting.
He is still number 2 in my book. Nobody beats Harry Fouke just on coaching hires alone. Shame
we squandered all that winning in golf, football, basketball, track, and swimming.
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Yeah he went from being the only one with vision, to being told what the new vision is. Like a relay team, Dave passed the baton. Finally we had a strong President to take the lead.
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Harry was the man!
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I thought he left because he simply wanted to retire and spend time with his family, especially his grandchildren. That was what he said anyway. I did remember he left shortly after his desire for the Rob to be remodeled had failed. I was very disappointed at the time and was taken off guard by his announcement that he was retiring and heading back to Cali.
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Yeah, my recollection was the endzone thing was presented , but due to lack of funding never
got past concept phase of renderings for what seemed like almost 2 years or so. I know DM deserves credit for resurrecting our athletics and for the good coaching hires. But I like to
think that Yeoman played a big part in getting DM to take the risk on Briles.
EDIT - after doing a little looking I found this quote from Briles on Yeoman and replacing what I previously posted.
Briles said Yeoman played a significant role in his life. After a 29-6 win over SMU at the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 16, 1976, it was Yeoman who delivered the news that Brilesâ parents, Dennis and Wanda Briles, and aunt, Elsie, were killed in a car crash while driving to see the game from their West Texas town of Rule.
âHe was instrumental in my life there, especially with the tragedy that I went through with my mother and dad,â Briles said. âHis support and (that of the) coaching staff and players still holds dear to my heart today.â
While he was a running backs coach at Texas Tech, Briles said, Yeoman played a big role in his being hired as UHâs head coach in 2003.
âHe was very, very vocal in support of me. He helped me get the job there,â Briles said. âIâm forever indebted to him, mainly because he offered me a scholarship and I got to play football at a great university in a great city and meet a lot of great friends due to the fact he believed in me when I was 18 years old.â
Yeoman said Art was the best coach UH ever had.
His words
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