Thats right, Mario Moccia is laughing his ass off right now as he has fully accomplished his goal of destroying SIU athletics even though he's no longer employed by the university.
Before he was named AD at SIU, basketball was king in Carbondale while football, softball, and baseball all had runs of success. Now baseball is the worst team in the history of MVC. Softball has become an average program at best. And football can no longer make the FCS playoffs despite the increase in number of teams being selected.
However, this all pales in comparison to what he was able to accomplish with the mens basketball program. He took the strongest program in the MVC, one that was consistently a top 25 team, and has made it the worst NCAA D-1 program in the country.
He ran off one of the top young coaches in the game and replaced him with a travel agent who's biggest skill set is successfully throwing temper tantrums. Under his regime, the program has consistently performed worse each year, schedules have been downgraded annually to measures work than ISU's under Yank, and players can't relate to him.
This final characteristic has shown over the years, but has really been apparent this offseason as 5 players have decided to transfer already with rumors that a few more may be forthcoming. I'm not sure if its an NCAA record for basketball transfers within a year yet, but I'm guessing the bar will be set so high before this spring is done that no program will ever eclipse it.
None of this would have ever happened if Mario wouldn't have been AD. He set a goal of destroying every successful program at SIU and left for Las Cruces just before his goal was accomplished. After today, he can now sit back, have a beer, and smile at the work he accomplished.
No other AD in the history of the NCAA has ever been as successful in destroying so many programs in such a short amount of time. It's an amazing skill this man has and I can't wait to see where New Mexico State programs are in a few years.