What a shame for a once proud program. Using the kids as fodder without funding them properly just to make $$s for other programs is criminal. It seems they have ostriches for the president and AD at PSU.
The reason is right above your reply. They need the football program to go play those payday games every year to maintain the rest of the athletic department.
But does it need to be in the Big Sky? Could they do the same in the West Coast Conference? If your entire athletic program rests on football and you suck at it year in and year out, maybe it’s time to go another direction. The last winning season for Portland State football was 2015. Move back to WCC (open spot w/ Gonzaga leaving) and heavily invest in Portland State men’s basketball?
This isn't an unreasonable proposition IMO, but I'm not sure the WCC would want to add PSU. They are adding the University of Denver on 7/1/26, the day after Gonzaga leaves.
Invest in basketball with what? So much of PSU's athletic department revenue consists of the money they get by sending the football team to places like U of O to take a 70-point beating. You get rid of the football team, you lose a huge revenue stream with it. Things are so bad there that they can't give the football program enough money to compete in the Big Sky, but at the same time they can't get by without it.
Even w/ these beat down payouts, Portland State athletics are still historically underfunded ($15-$16M per year) compared to competitive Big Sky programs that average between $18M - $23M. That $2M to $7M gap is what results in losing year in and year out w/same rinse and repeat no matter the coach.
I still think there was a missed opportunity a few years ago when Lincoln HS was rebuilt. They could have partnered with PPS to build a suitable stadium for PSU's home games. Could have held high school championship games there as well. Sadly, it's probably time that PSU drop the football program if they can't properly support it.
This is one of the better comments I have read on this forum. (And there are always excellent comments BTW!!) This would have been a home run for PSU and the city of Portland.
Plus, they have held some fairly high-level professional track meets at Lincoln. Think what they could do at a facility that seats 12 - 15,000? Hayward is great, but it sure would be nice to have something like that in Portland.
Since PSU is stuck with the clown duo of Cudd and Billings, it is unlikely the new coach will have a heart or a clue how to bring kids to this mess of a program. None of this was created or made worse by Coach Barnum. Firing a long term employee on a tarmac is the epitome of classlessness. Period. So, congrats to the Cudd/Billings team for showing us a new low and no solutions to a program with no money.
Well said. We can debate if he should have been fired, and I don’t think there is a debate that the way he was fired, makes PSU leadership in this area, look as bad as it is.
Billings should be fired for pulling this stunt. The only reason you do this is because you know it'll gather media attention, but not the kind that will benefit the school in any way. He needs to be asked specifically why the termination of a long-time coach had to occur in this manner.
Yeah. A real original thought 💭 A real boneheaded way to treat a Coach that poured his Heart ♥️ into the program. He put all future talent on notice. If he’ll do that to the last coach you better get all your boxes checked ✅ Before signing the dotted line.
Unless it is a high school coach looking to get into a college program, who would go to PSU. Not any other FCS coach. Div 2? NAIA? Community College? Why? A FCS paycheck for a couple years ($250K?) It would not be worth it.
On the tarmac… sheesh! Only Kiffin deserved that. Billings ought to be fired for poorly handling HR issues. No reason he couldn’t have waited until Monday morning.
LOL!! You may not like Kiffin, but the SEC LOVES him. He is being recruited away from Ole Miss to a higher grade program, LSU or Florida. He has come a long way from his disastrous stint at the Raiders, where he was too young for the job. He comes from good stock...his dad, Monte, was a top NFL DC (where I knew of Monte who was DC for the MN Vikings)
The guy is a good coach but until he wins anything of importance in a sesaon the jury remains out. Saban and Meyer ain't walking through the door LSU and Florida! There is no sure thing in the college coaching ranks right now.
Brian - Good point. Like all other humans, football coaches "mature" with age. They don't only get "football smart" but they get "people smart". Kiffin has been through alot, good and bad, in his career. He has been counted out and counted in. Best thing for him was going to Alabama with Saban. Sark did the same thing. USC then Alabama, then success at Ole Miss and Texas. Strong mentors like Coaches Saban and Kirby Smart make a difference.
which is common for all the big time HCs. Nick Saban jumped around a lot, never content. They don't make them like Bear Bryant or Woody Hayes any more, who stayed put for decades
Exactly. Just look at Saban's presser the day before he left the Dolphins for Alabama. OK, you didn't like the NFL and wanted to go back to college. No problem, I get it. But to bold face lie to the cameras? Saban...Michigan State, LSU, Miami Dolphins, Alabama. Thats just his top HC positions. He's no saint. Great coach, but no saint.
Maybe Barnum did need to move on, but the PSU leadership and financial situation make it unlikely improvement is ahead. Enjoy your freedom Bruce and thanks for giving it everything you had. You deserved better.
Firing a coach at the airport has become the ultimate, humiliating FU to a coach by a school. At a USC, it sends the message "we mean business ". Done by the worst funded school in the Big Sky that doesn't have two nickels to rub together it just screams "we're classless and have our heads up our ass". Come on PSU.... be better.
Truly hope you continue to have Bruce on your radio show. He's always entertaining and fun to listen to regardless of the topic.
Truly hope he's doing ok this morning and lands on his feet.
I would love to see Barnum be considered for a properly funded program, even as an assistant. I'm beginning to think PSU should eliminate all sports programs if they can't be funded properly. It's the old "sh*t or get off the pot" scenario. Apparently the alumni either doesn't care enough to fund the programs or doesn't have the big earners willing to support through donations. As you have covered the college football scene it has become apparent there are going to be tiers of teams and PSU is now in the bottom tier and in a conference which takes more money than they can raise.
Next coach? Who would want the job? Some high school coach looking for a retirement payday?
Coach Barnum has many who respect him in football. I bet he takes some time off (well deserved), and gets back to it as an assistant somewhere in the next year or so.
I don’t see PSU dropping football, but I could see them moving back down to D2 in football at some point. The University has proved that they can’t support a team that competes in the Big Sky.
That didn't go very well. But Baylor hired Art Briles and that went very well, until the scandals came out. Also, Gus Malzahn came from high school, though as a coordinator first.
I must be missing something, but why would they even continue with the program in this NIL era if they can’t adequately support it? And it’s not just NIL but everything else that’s required; Equipment, trainer/PT support, etc etc.
Barnum was a significant influence in getting Billings the job in the first place. They worked together at another school. Then to turn around and fire him after offering zero help for the program is really poor. The school is 34 million in the tank. The football program has had its budget cut the last three years in a row. Barnum was dealt a brutal hand and still laid it all out there every day. Cudd has no clue and clown boy has no spine. Great combo.
I have had nothing but the highest regard for Bruce over the years (I’ve been a Senior Auditor at PSU for a decade.) He has a virtually impossible task and has done it with class and moral leadership and has carried on against gigantic odds (lack of home stadium, commuter campus image, little community campus spirit, COVID, crime in the PSU neighborhood, etc.). Perhaps PSU would be better advised to move its football program to D3 and join Lewis and Clark and other area colleges in a program that is consistent with PSU’s current financial reality.
Sidenote: John, since the financials seem to play an sig. role here, what does (salary, bonus etc) the AD and President make? Just curious, no implications here.
“Portland State’s next coach”? I wonder if there will be a “next coach”. A “tiny bit” easier schedule next year? The president and AD are inept. Neither know if a football is pumped or stuffed.
A very sad day for the Vikings. Thank you, JC, for another small insight into Camp Exceptional and Barnum’s and his players’ role. Briefly took me back to what college football used to be about—teaching life’s lessons along the way.
What a shame for a once proud program. Using the kids as fodder without funding them properly just to make $$s for other programs is criminal. It seems they have ostriches for the president and AD at PSU.
I’m unsure why Portland State is still funding a football program.
The reason is right above your reply. They need the football program to go play those payday games every year to maintain the rest of the athletic department.
But does it need to be in the Big Sky? Could they do the same in the West Coast Conference? If your entire athletic program rests on football and you suck at it year in and year out, maybe it’s time to go another direction. The last winning season for Portland State football was 2015. Move back to WCC (open spot w/ Gonzaga leaving) and heavily invest in Portland State men’s basketball?
This isn't an unreasonable proposition IMO, but I'm not sure the WCC would want to add PSU. They are adding the University of Denver on 7/1/26, the day after Gonzaga leaves.
Invest in basketball with what? So much of PSU's athletic department revenue consists of the money they get by sending the football team to places like U of O to take a 70-point beating. You get rid of the football team, you lose a huge revenue stream with it. Things are so bad there that they can't give the football program enough money to compete in the Big Sky, but at the same time they can't get by without it.
Even w/ these beat down payouts, Portland State athletics are still historically underfunded ($15-$16M per year) compared to competitive Big Sky programs that average between $18M - $23M. That $2M to $7M gap is what results in losing year in and year out w/same rinse and repeat no matter the coach.
I still think there was a missed opportunity a few years ago when Lincoln HS was rebuilt. They could have partnered with PPS to build a suitable stadium for PSU's home games. Could have held high school championship games there as well. Sadly, it's probably time that PSU drop the football program if they can't properly support it.
This is one of the better comments I have read on this forum. (And there are always excellent comments BTW!!) This would have been a home run for PSU and the city of Portland.
Plus, they have held some fairly high-level professional track meets at Lincoln. Think what they could do at a facility that seats 12 - 15,000? Hayward is great, but it sure would be nice to have something like that in Portland.
That would be great and it would get a lot of use!!
Agree with Kent. The City of Portland could also have partnered, as could Metro--using the stadium for concerts perhaps.
City Council will get on board if the stadium can be used for North Korea-esque rallies or hacky sack tournaments.
Thought about Idaho? I left LA almost 50 years ago because it didn't work for me. Seems like folks should live where they feel comfortable.
Not nice. Portland remains one of my favorite cities and although after HS, I went down to Corvallis to get my degree, Portland State was on list.
Yes to the missed opportunity at Lincoln. An absolute huge miss.
I don’t see PSU dropping football totally, but I could see them ending up moving back to D2 at some point.
Maybe even D-3??
I think they could go back to D2 and play against Western Oregon and other GNAC schools in football. Would like PSU to keep competing D1 in basketball
PPS lacks that sort of vision. A shared facility such as that makes WAAAAY too much sense.
Since PSU is stuck with the clown duo of Cudd and Billings, it is unlikely the new coach will have a heart or a clue how to bring kids to this mess of a program. None of this was created or made worse by Coach Barnum. Firing a long term employee on a tarmac is the epitome of classlessness. Period. So, congrats to the Cudd/Billings team for showing us a new low and no solutions to a program with no money.
Firing coach Barnum on the tarmac is totally no class
Just like USC did a few years ago. No class in either case.
Well said. We can debate if he should have been fired, and I don’t think there is a debate that the way he was fired, makes PSU leadership in this area, look as bad as it is.
Thank you for sharing the behind the scenes Winner that Bruce is. Impossible situation - quality human being.
That Billings is a class act.🤬
Billings should be fired for pulling this stunt. The only reason you do this is because you know it'll gather media attention, but not the kind that will benefit the school in any way. He needs to be asked specifically why the termination of a long-time coach had to occur in this manner.
Yeah. A real original thought 💭 A real boneheaded way to treat a Coach that poured his Heart ♥️ into the program. He put all future talent on notice. If he’ll do that to the last coach you better get all your boxes checked ✅ Before signing the dotted line.
Unless it is a high school coach looking to get into a college program, who would go to PSU. Not any other FCS coach. Div 2? NAIA? Community College? Why? A FCS paycheck for a couple years ($250K?) It would not be worth it.
Yep, he’s a total clown and has zero clue at what he’s doing. Can’t even imagine who would take the PSU job with him in charge.
On the tarmac… sheesh! Only Kiffin deserved that. Billings ought to be fired for poorly handling HR issues. No reason he couldn’t have waited until Monday morning.
LOL!! You may not like Kiffin, but the SEC LOVES him. He is being recruited away from Ole Miss to a higher grade program, LSU or Florida. He has come a long way from his disastrous stint at the Raiders, where he was too young for the job. He comes from good stock...his dad, Monte, was a top NFL DC (where I knew of Monte who was DC for the MN Vikings)
Remind me how many SEC Championships he has won?
The guy is a good coach but until he wins anything of importance in a sesaon the jury remains out. Saban and Meyer ain't walking through the door LSU and Florida! There is no sure thing in the college coaching ranks right now.
Brian - Good point. Like all other humans, football coaches "mature" with age. They don't only get "football smart" but they get "people smart". Kiffin has been through alot, good and bad, in his career. He has been counted out and counted in. Best thing for him was going to Alabama with Saban. Sark did the same thing. USC then Alabama, then success at Ole Miss and Texas. Strong mentors like Coaches Saban and Kirby Smart make a difference.
Totally agree. He’s a great coach and recruiter but a big personality. Still seeking the limelight, never content.
He's still the same deeply unserious person who flip-flopped on Auburn four times in 2022 (and that Nick Saban punted before the national title game).
The Ole Miss AD had a jet idling to go start interviewing replacements when Lane changed his mind for the final time.
This saga should be a warning to any school considering hiring a Jimmy Sexton client, too.
which is common for all the big time HCs. Nick Saban jumped around a lot, never content. They don't make them like Bear Bryant or Woody Hayes any more, who stayed put for decades
Exactly. Just look at Saban's presser the day before he left the Dolphins for Alabama. OK, you didn't like the NFL and wanted to go back to college. No problem, I get it. But to bold face lie to the cameras? Saban...Michigan State, LSU, Miami Dolphins, Alabama. Thats just his top HC positions. He's no saint. Great coach, but no saint.
Maybe Barnum did need to move on, but the PSU leadership and financial situation make it unlikely improvement is ahead. Enjoy your freedom Bruce and thanks for giving it everything you had. You deserved better.
Firing a coach at the airport has become the ultimate, humiliating FU to a coach by a school. At a USC, it sends the message "we mean business ". Done by the worst funded school in the Big Sky that doesn't have two nickels to rub together it just screams "we're classless and have our heads up our ass". Come on PSU.... be better.
Truly hope you continue to have Bruce on your radio show. He's always entertaining and fun to listen to regardless of the topic.
Truly hope he's doing ok this morning and lands on his feet.
Sad day...
Every AD and College President needs a mandatory class in “Ethical Behavior”!
What is the objective in Firing a Coach on the Tarmac amongst players ? A pathetic show of being a “Low Life” by PSU Administrators!
There is a time and a place for this but NOT after a hard game fought with Heart !
I would love to see Barnum be considered for a properly funded program, even as an assistant. I'm beginning to think PSU should eliminate all sports programs if they can't be funded properly. It's the old "sh*t or get off the pot" scenario. Apparently the alumni either doesn't care enough to fund the programs or doesn't have the big earners willing to support through donations. As you have covered the college football scene it has become apparent there are going to be tiers of teams and PSU is now in the bottom tier and in a conference which takes more money than they can raise.
Next coach? Who would want the job? Some high school coach looking for a retirement payday?
Be like Gonzaga and University of Portland. No football.
Coach Barnum has many who respect him in football. I bet he takes some time off (well deserved), and gets back to it as an assistant somewhere in the next year or so.
I don’t see PSU dropping football, but I could see them moving back down to D2 in football at some point. The University has proved that they can’t support a team that competes in the Big Sky.
Totally agree... posted mine before reading this
"Some high school coach...", really?
Notre Dame did it years ago when they hired Gerry Faust out of Moeller High School.
That didn't go very well. But Baylor hired Art Briles and that went very well, until the scandals came out. Also, Gus Malzahn came from high school, though as a coordinator first.
My comment was mean to imply that ".....some high school coach" is demeaning.
I think PSU should give up on football and instead put their resources into a top notch basketball program.
I must be missing something, but why would they even continue with the program in this NIL era if they can’t adequately support it? And it’s not just NIL but everything else that’s required; Equipment, trainer/PT support, etc etc.
Barnum was a significant influence in getting Billings the job in the first place. They worked together at another school. Then to turn around and fire him after offering zero help for the program is really poor. The school is 34 million in the tank. The football program has had its budget cut the last three years in a row. Barnum was dealt a brutal hand and still laid it all out there every day. Cudd has no clue and clown boy has no spine. Great combo.
I have had nothing but the highest regard for Bruce over the years (I’ve been a Senior Auditor at PSU for a decade.) He has a virtually impossible task and has done it with class and moral leadership and has carried on against gigantic odds (lack of home stadium, commuter campus image, little community campus spirit, COVID, crime in the PSU neighborhood, etc.). Perhaps PSU would be better advised to move its football program to D3 and join Lewis and Clark and other area colleges in a program that is consistent with PSU’s current financial reality.
Sidenote: John, since the financials seem to play an sig. role here, what does (salary, bonus etc) the AD and President make? Just curious, no implications here.
NCAA rules prohibit PSU from playing Division III football if it wants to remain D1 in other sports. Program must compete at the FCS level.
It's a stupid rule.
John, no way to thank you enough for your portrait of Bruce Barnum.
Forget football, this is a man!!!
“Portland State’s next coach”? I wonder if there will be a “next coach”. A “tiny bit” easier schedule next year? The president and AD are inept. Neither know if a football is pumped or stuffed.
A very sad day for the Vikings. Thank you, JC, for another small insight into Camp Exceptional and Barnum’s and his players’ role. Briefly took me back to what college football used to be about—teaching life’s lessons along the way.
Hard to believe at one time Civic stadium was full and PSU was really good.
Mouse Davis days. They were competitive with FBS programs.
Neil Lomax!!