Billings, Garner seek a level playing field

Tim Billings and Gary Garner, the head coaches of Southeast Missouri State's two highest profile sports -- and the ones that attract the most interest and attendance -- realize how tough a job athletic director Don Kaverman has in trying to balance a budget and keep all his coaches at least relatively satisfied.

But there is no disputing the fact that Billings' football and Garner's men's basketball budgets have suffered financially when compared to similar programs at other Ohio Valley Conference institutions.

Based on the latest financial report from the 2002-03 academic year -- the most recent for which figures are available for comparison -- Southeast's total football expenses of $1.27 million ranked seventh among nine OVC teams while the school's total basketball expenses of $692,750 ranked fifth among 11 OVC squads.

In operating expenses -- which primarily consists of recruiting, team travel and equipment -- football and basketball were both last in the OVC. Football's $97,798 was well off the league average of $188,971, while basketball's $67,451 lagged behind the conference average of $94,008 and was behind even Southeast's women's basketball figure of $80,218.

"It's like any business, the more money you put into something, the better you're going to get out of it," Billings said. "Western Kentucky left the OVC, put some money into their program and won a national championship. SIU put lot of money into their program and ended up being really successful. At Marshall we put lot of money into the program and were very successful."

Billings will be entering his fifth season at Southeast after previously being Marshall's defensive coordinator. After taking over a struggling program and having records of 3-8 and 4-7 in his first two years, the Indians went 8-4 in 2002 for the program's most wins since 1969, and their 4-2 OVC mark was the best since Southeast joined the conference and moved up to Division I in 1991.

Despite starting off 0-5 last year, the Indians rebounded to go 5-7, had a chance to tie for the OVC title in their final game and finished tied for third place in the league for the second straight season. Those third-place performances matched the program's previous high in the OVC.

Billings has guided an impressive turnaround with Southeast football, even though he says he is working with considerably less money than when he took over the program.

Breaking it down individually within the operating expenditures, the Indians in 2002-03 ranked last in travel and last in equipment. In recruiting, which does not include the actual scholarships, Southeast was seventh, having $43,185 to work with.

"I know it's a really tough situation for Don," Billings said. "He and I have talked about it. That's why we've been playing two I-A games a year, to help out the budget. We're working hard, I think we're going to have a good football team, and I'm not going to complain, but this program could be a lot more successful."

Southeast's spending on football operations, which had declined from the 2000-01 school year to 2002-03 according to department audits and EADA reports, bounced back some in the 2003-04 budget.

Last season, Southeast hit the road to play two Division I-A football teams for a guaranteed sum of money, with much of that revenue going toward Southeast's general athletic department revenue. The Indians will do likewise this year, with games at Bowling Green and Central Michigan netting about $245,000.

"Most of the time, it's like you're basically forfeiting two games when you do that," Billings said. "You basically need eight wins to get in the playoffs, and we've only got nine other games."

Like all of Southeast's coaches, Billings has been able to raise a significant amount of money for his program through fundraising, that figure being about $50,000 last season.

"Without that, it would be really tough," said Billings.

Football's operating expenses were budgeted at $146,798 for this past school year and that same figure was in Wednesday's budget approved by the board of regents. The figure still ranks below most OVC programs.

Added Billings: "I wish things were better, but a lot of things at the university are being cut and we understand times are tough."

Garner in the same boat

Like Billings, Garner sympathizes with Kaverman. And Garner knows there are other factors that have led to Southeast's decline in men's basketball over the last three seasons after a highly successful three-year run that included the program's first OVC championship and NCAA Division I tournament berth.

"I don't blame Don at all. He's in a very tough situation and the whole athletic department needs money period," said Garner, who has been at Southeast the past seven seasons.

Garner cited as other problems with his program in recent years the controversial 5-8 recruiting rule that was recently rescinded by the NCAA and some key players running into off-the-court problems that led to their dismissals three years ago.

But Garner also could not diminish how budget problems might have factored into the equation. Like Billings, Garner said men's basketball had considerably more money to work with earlier in his tenure.

"The 5-8 rule and those kids getting into trouble, that helped take us down some, but the lack of money has definitely had an affect on our program. All three combined have had an affect," Garner said. "Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program, and such a big part of it is evaluating talent. A big part of recruiting at this level is a numbers game, how many good players can you get in on during the recruiting process. If you don't have the money, you can't go see very many players."

Individually within the operating expenses, the Indians in 2002-03 ranked seventh in travel in what was then a nine-team league, last in equipment and last in recruiting. The program spent $15,221 on recruiting compared to the league average of $27,330.

Garner said he can use the operating expenses as he sees fit, but it's not exactly like the Indians were staying in five-star motels and eating at five-star restaurants.

"You can't save any more than we do," Garner said. "There's no other place to save any money, because we have to make those trips, we have to have equipment."

Like Billings and the rest of Southeast's coaches, Garner has added to his program's finances through fundraising.

And, like in football, the basketball Indians' record this coming season could be adversely affected by three "guarantee" games, up from the two of recent years. Southeast's contests at St. Louis University, Western Kentucky and Bradley will bring in roughly $125,000.

"You look back on the history of the OVC and you generally do not win those games," Garner said. "There's a reason those schools are paying you that kind of money to play them."

The operating expenses for men's basketball this year was budgeted at $78,659 -- same as 2003-04 -- in the budget approved by the board of regents on Wednesday, while the women's basketball program climbed to $90,961.

Garner expects the Indians to field a solid team this season, but -- like his football counterpart -- he doesn't feel all that great when he sees his program at the bottom of the OVC in important financial areas.

"I realize it's a tough time for the university," Garner said. "But you would like to be funded as well as your competition. I think all any coach wants is to be on a level playing field."