Minnesota AD Mark Coyle gave the school's Board of Regents "plenty to be happy about" yesterday, as he "summed up a season of academic honors, athletic success and improved oversight," according to Rachel Blount of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Coyle submitted his annual report that "outlined progress made toward his three principal goals -- accountability, consistency in leadership and creating strong campus relationships -- as well as a record-breaking season of fundraising and academic achievement." Coyle also announced a budget of $121M for the "upcoming fiscal year." The report was "well-received by regents." UM athletes earned a "collective grade-point average of 3.24 during the spring semester, equaling the highest in the department’s history, and every sport recorded a team GPA of at least 3.00." It marked the "ninth consecutive semester in which the overall GPA was 3.20 or higher." They also set a "school record with 351 academic All-Big Ten honors last school year." The department’s graduation success rate of 92% was its "best ever and the highest of any public school in the Big Ten." Other highlights of Coyle's report were that the athletic department has raised more than $108M for its "Athletes Village complex." Also, UM athletes are now "receiving 7½ hours of training about issues surrounding sexual misconduct, nearly double what they had in the past" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/12).
TALKING NUMBERS: In St. Paul, Josh Verges in a front-page piece notes athletics will contribute about $11M more to UM "next year than it will spend." UM Senior VP/Finance & Operations Brian Burnett said that athletics will get $10.6M from the school next year but "will return" about $21.5M. Of its $121M athletics budget, UM is expecting $53.8M next year from "Big Ten and NCAA allocations and media rights." That is up from $36M in '16-17 (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/12).
