A couple thoughts.
I think what we all miss on the premium or even the "let's put up an article to update the front page" side is insights. Yes, Isaac is an incredible writer and spoiled us, better than 90% of college sportswriters for fan sights out there.
But there might be a good way to get some insights without us needing to be excellent writers. We could ask Ivey, Boone, and a coach on occasion to do an Ask Me Anything. We could try to get a few Q&A articles.
Another thought is "what level is PineLog's sports coverage at?" Could we partner with them for some articles etc like local newspapers do with the AP. I doubt too many of us hang on PineLog's every word, but it could give their writers more of a long form option to expand that game summary into a longer piece. Or heck. Just a game summary for comment purposes.
I do love the forums and that is worth it for me to support. We do get insider info from some of yalls connections to the school. We have a place to congregate, etc. I check this site nearly as often as I check twitter.
If I had to suggest a future direction, and I'd be happy to help out, I'd probably suggest the direction of Barking Carnival or GoodBullHunting. Maybe the guys there do get paid a stipend or something but few are professional writers. They're IT managers, professors, marketing guys, old grads and new grads.
I believe what gives them a more professional feel is the regularity of the content. The All Caps preview comes out every week. I think they have the short Sunday Morning Optimist review, etc.
Similar to hkw NacLuth does basketball game threads. I would love to try my hand at an article every now & again, and then maybe try more regular content.
But I think if we built out a regular schedule were people with some writing talent put together a preview, or post game, or AMA on a semi regular basis, that would be a huge addition to the forums side.