Wednesday's big news of the day didn't revolve around the ESPN2 cameras recording visual proof of no more than 2,000 fans in the Scheumann Stadium stands for Ball State University's 35-3 football whoopin' from Central Michigan University.
Instead, the focus was on the Ball State athletics department's decision not to renew the contracts of field hockey coach Annette Payne and soccer coach Michael Lovett.
Payne — fired after her seventh season; Lovett — his second.
While both teams used to be dominant in the Mid-American Conference — levels these two coaches weren't able to reach in their time at Ball State — some may argue that the operating budgets of these two teams were too small to be considered among the best in their leagues. Others may also argue that both of these teams were young and had potential to reach their peaks next season or the season after that, and with time, Payne and/or Lovett could turn the tide.
One other argument for Lovett was the man was simply not given enough time to show what he's worth. Ball State won consecutive MAC Championships in the 2006 and '07 seasons prior to Lovett's hiring before the 2008 season, but for the most part he was left a diminished team and forced to hit the recruiting trail hard, which meant less inexperienced players running the show in '08 and '09.
But no matter what you think, the overall theme is clear: Ball State athletics director Tom Collins means business.
It's obvious Collins hasn't made the most popular decisions since being hired in January 2006. He has his doubters who flock by the dozens to various Ball State message boards and make countless comments displaying their disgust.
He's now fired five coaches — three of which have been within the past month (former women's tennis coach Kathy Bull was fired Oct. 20 amidst NCAA violation allegations). Seven others have resigned from their posts for reasons varying from accepting positions at other schools, medical problems or demotions.
That means from the time Collins began at Ball State until now, 12 head coaches in 10 out of Ball State's 19 intercollegiate teams are now gone.
Wednesday's firings of Lovett and Payne indicate Collins and his staff are tired of losing in sports Ball State once excelled in.
Lovett was 13-23-2 (7-13-2 MAC) in his two seasons as head coach. In 2008, the Cardinals went 9-10-1 and lost 1-0 to No. 2 seed Central Michigan University in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The 2009 team didn't fare any better, posting a 4-13-1 (2-8-1 MAC) record — failing to make the MAC Tournament for the first time in nearly a decade — just two seasons removed from consecutive MAC titles.
Payne, meanwhile, could never muster a quality season in her seven years. In her seven seasons as head coach, Payne accumulated a 35-96 (24-46 MAC) record. But in the last two seasons, Ball State posted a 6-31 (3-17 MAC) overall record.
Three or four wins per season just doesn't cut it for Collins.
"Part of my job is to make sure our student-athletes have a good experience here, and a good experience here being successful not only academically, but also athletically," Collins said Wednesday night prior to the football game. "With those two coaches, we felt as if we needed to make some changes to get some new leadership in there and get those programs headed in the right direction."
In my mind, there are still one or two Ball State coaches who could feel the axe within the next couple of weeks.
What exactly is the message Collins wants to send to his coaches?
"We're paying attention to what people are doing," he said. "We really want to have successful teams here. We want to have coaches who want to have successful teams here — we have a beautiful campus, we have a wonderful university, we compete in the Mid-American Conference, which I think is a good conference — we want to continue to do those things and give our student-athletes the opportunities to have successful opportunities, not only academically but also athletically."
Under these circumstances, don't be surprised if 25 percent of Ball State's athletic programs are searching for coaches come Christmas Break.
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