Well, it's been a pretty big erosion and this is considering that I think the current guy has been there for close to fifteen years now-- but there are two main things to keep in mind where he's concerned 1) until he came along, the directors had either been involved in the Marching Chiefs since its inception, had been former Chiefs themselves (like Shellahamer, who'd been my director), or had a healthy respect for the traditions and 2) the current guy has got an ego the size of Sarah Palin's bouffant.
He made it clear he didn't give a rat's ass for traditions-- he was going to put his own imprint on the band, and anyone who objected could just leave. Then, when he wound up with rebellions, his way of dealing was to tighten the disciplinary screws further. What he seems to have forgotten is that band is a completely voluntary activity. We'd practice/perform ten-fifteen hours a day during Gunkie Week prior to the semester starting, then practice/perform fifteen-twenty hours a week during the semester, all for one credit. When I was in, there were 450 members, only about 20% of whom were music majors. We did Chiefs because we loved band, we loved playing and performing, we loved the traditions, we loved being together. I haven't had that sense from them in a long, long time and it's really sad.
The other thing he made exceedingly clear is that he wanted to exert control over the band alumni organization-- trying to make them wear khaki slacks and matching polos for Homecoming and if anyone refused, they wouldn't be allowed to march pregame. (Dude, we're adults-- if I wanna wear my trumpet jersey from '87 I will and if you don't like it, you can bite me.) When the alumni association basically said, "Bite me," he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with them and wasn't going to go out of his way to make alumni feel welcome during Homecoming. Another tradition lost, because that was always one of the most enjoyable things about Homecoming, getting to hang out with the Old Chiefs.
Okay, I'll stop blathering now.