College AD business model

[greenminer]

If you could pick one FBS AD to model our's after, which would you choose?

I have to think Boise State would be at the top of a lot of people's lists.

Wisconsin is another one to consider: competitive football and basketball programs (admittedly, I have no idea how their non-revenue sports fair).

My thoughts (factoring in budget)

1) Start by looking at what BSU was doing in the 1990s and how they built everything.

2) If enough donors are in place and the cog really starts to turn, maybe switch to a bigger model and see how a Wisconsin model could do in Denton.

[MeanGreen13]

Louisville. Tom Jurich has built a successful money making machine over the last 18 years. It is truly incredible!

[TheTastyGreek]

Western Kentucky

[eulessismore]

Western Kentucky

I miss playing those goat loving dudes in football every year.

[10Eagle10]

Stanford.

EOT

[drex]

If North Texas fans were ever presented with a comprehensive five year plan with specific goals they would respond much better than what RV is doing now. I would much better sell a structured goal than an goat rope.

[Green P1]

I'll take the field.

[meangreen15]

TCU

[greenminer]

TCU

Good for football, but their basketball leaves much to be desired.

Regarding WKU, I vaguelly recall TTG explaining how great they've been at making hires, or quickly fixing bad hires.

[greenminer]

One more thought on TCU: are they still struggling with gameday attendance?

I like the way they engage FW. There is purple everywhere! But they can be more aggressive in figuring out attendance. It seems like they are content with their crowds and gameday experience, as if they have enough money coming from elsewhere to keep their model going.

[UNT90]

Regarding WKU, I vaguelly recall TTG explaining how great they've been at making hires, or quickly fixing bad hires.

You are going to have to have an AD change for UNT to come anything close to WKU's model.

[SilverEagle]

I don't know about WKU's formula, but in order for us to follow Boise State's, we'd have to start with getting the city of Denton to get on board. I believe that Boise Idaho really loves their University..........

[meangreen15]

One more thought on TCU: are they still struggling with gameday attendance?

I like the way they engage FW. There is purple everywhere! But they can be more aggressive in figuring out attendance. It seems like they are content with their crowds and gameday experience, as if they have enough money coming from elsewhere to keep their model going.

Fort Worth is all about TCU, they averaged over 40,000 for all of their home games this year (including the Samford game). The reason I would take their model is because they created this success in the same region as us, and they built their way up to the P5 level.

And to your basketball note, both of their programs finished with above .500 records. The men went 18-15 on this year and played in a conference that we wouldn't have been able to win 1 game in. They also beat both Ole Miss and Mississippi St in non-conference games. If their basketball leaves much to be desired then what can you say about ours?

They also have one of the top baseball programs in the nation...what is wrong with this model?

Edited March 16, 2015 by meangreen15

[UNT90]

You are going to have to get a new AD if you want to follow the TCU model.

Edited March 16, 2015 by UNT90

[meangreen15]

You are going to have to get a new AD if you want to follow the TCU model.

Gladly

[untjim1995]

All of this is moot if the City of Denton and its residents don't care about Mean Green Football or basketball. That is what you have to get going in the first place.

I'd recommend you do the following--get folks from the AD out into the community and ask them what it would take to get them to come out to a game on a regular basis? Ask them at civic groups, Chamber of Commerce functions, and at Denton ISD HS games. Have a person in the AD who is supposed to be in the civic groups and a representative of the Chamber, have someone who attends those games and sets up a table out front to ask questions and get attention to the program. You cannot tell me that you don't have enough people in the ticket office, people working as assistant to the AD, or other assoiciate ADs themselves. The scary part could very well be the answer--they just don't care about us and won't ever come out to watch us play the teams we play. I mean, really, that's basically what they've told us over the last few decades by not showing up. But, assuming that you can motivate them, you gotta find out what it will take to get them out there.

Let's assume that Denton will support us if we became a winner, which they never did during the Dickey SBC years, nor did they during the JJ years at the Super Pit, since we never came close to averageing even half of capacity for attendance. The next question is what level of sports are we playing? Is it the current setup as it is, as a non-P5 in both sports, but with a chance at a big boy bowl game and still being able to go into the NCAA Tournament each year? Or is that we just get to keep the NCAA Tournament hopes alive, but we are playing at level like the current FCS because the P5s finally pull away? If its the first one, then I think the Boise and Ft. Worth hopes have merit. If not, then the best you can really hope for is some kind of conference collection that still attracts people to go to games in Denton, even if its not the highest level of play in football. No matter what scenario you look at, though, unless the City of Denton and its residents begin to treat UNT like a hometown team deserving of its time and dollars, its all a moot point. We stay at the starting gate waiting to run, while everyone else has already left or has lapped us several times. Its why UTSA has such a gigantic advantage over us--they are being sold as San Antonio's hometown and have their local media on board with helping them out. That's not even including the fact that UTSA isn't selling to its fans decades of apathy and flat-out giveup by the university, unlike us. Unless Denton gets over whatever it is that keeps them from supporting our teams, we aren't moving forward fast enough to see our situation improve greatly from where it is today. Since 1995, when we moved up to FBS, we have made progress, but its been 20 years of mostly frustration, whether its because of UNT, Denton, the Big XII, the old SWC schools, etc...If the first two folks just mentioned had supported this thing at a higher level, both in money and in fans, I have no doubt we would be in the AAC or MWC today. Instead, we stay behind the SWC schools on the totem pole because of money, fans, and reputation.

Edited March 16, 2015 by untjim1995

[UNT90]

You are going to have to get a new AD if you want to follow the Jim's model.

Edited March 16, 2015 by UNT90

[UNTLifer]

I would want a model that closely represents what UNT has to overcome. Denton will always be a hard sell because it is a two university town, and Denton doesn't want to appear to favor one over the other. In regards to the citizens, I think you must build through the current student body and young alumni and the program must consistently produce a winner. Once this occurs, the residents of Denton will come on board and the expansion of Apogee won't be far behind.

Boise St. seems like a good model to follow, but it is a one university town, and what else if there to do in Boise?

TCU is intriguing, but they have old money Fort Worth behind them and are a small, private university.

Stanford, see TCU but insert Palo Alto in the place of FW.

Louisville intrigues me as does Cincinnati.

[Ben Gooding]

There is no commitment in really trying to get Denton's attention. No marketing, advertising, partnerships, etc. around Denton to be seen. UNT has to give legitimate incentives in order to get the town to the games. UNT isn't trying, really trying. And that starts at yet again, the AD.

We desperately need new blood in the athletic department that aspires to be innovative and fully dedicated to the job. We need aggression. We need an AD that makes people uncomfortable. Coaches, ATH department staff, and even fans need to feel and see the aggression of a new, motivated AD. Our athletic department is too comfortable. And, yet, again, that starts at the AD. No new "model" is going to do a damn thing. Everything starts at the top and trickles down. We need change. We need it immediately.

[UNT90]

14 years of the same old talk.

When will people that matter in this program finally have had enough?

??

Edited March 16, 2015 by UNT90

[Army of Dad]

Jim, I disagree. (And didn't want to quote your whole post)

First, you/we/UNTneeds to tap the alumni and student body to boost attendance/sell out venues. There are supposed to be more than enough alumni in the region to fill Apogee multiple times, to say nothing of the Super Pit.

I believe we came close to half capacity (or better than that) during JJ's last year, I'm sure CMJ will correct me on that.

[untjim1995]

I have said it before and I'll say it again, but to me, the only school in America that can relate to our situation is San Jose State. They are in a big city of a huge market (SF-Oak-San Jose), get totally ignored because of Cal and Stanford, as well as the other Pac-12 teams. They have funding issues, support problems, and usually don't win. But in the end, they got a spot in the non-P5 league that they needed to become a part of, the MWC, which is the best non-P5 league in their region (now its the only one, basically). We are in CUSA, which was the league we dreamed of joining, but the teams we wanted to join with all left to another conference, the AAC. The MWC took a chance on SJSU, either because of "potential" or because they just needed them to fill the conference, but they got what I've always believed we still need--a conference that is higher up the totem pole who looks at us and says that we would give them every benefit that UH gives to Houston or SMU gives to DFW, that our "potential" could get unlocked with success in their league. We have never gotten that opportunity...not even once. I've always thought that Denton residents might be more open to supporting us if we played teams that they cared about or had heard of before, rather than the dregs of FBS or worse, like the i-aa fiasco years that just about killed us. Without Denton's support, though, we are not going to be any better off than we are now, probably worse actually.

Edited March 16, 2015 by untjim1995

[UNTLifer]

The pre-RV model was to "tap Denton" for support. See where that got us? A drop to 1-AA. That is why we should focus on current students and young alumni, but a consistent winning program is needed to keep them engaged.

[untjim1995]

The pre-RV model was to "tap Denton" for support. See where that got us? A drop to 1-AA. That is why we should focus on current students and young alumni, but a consistent winning program is needed to keep them engaged.

Well, in Denton's defense, if I was being sold the merits of going to games against SFA, Lamar, SHSU, SWT, NE LA, NW State, McNeese State, Nicholls State, and any other SLC team in 1982, especially while the SWC was at the height of its strength, I wouldn't have gone either. I think Denton of today could be different than it was back then, just because we aren't telling them that Hayden Fry's departure was leading to what followed...

[Ben Gooding]

What you're saying is correct, but no exclusive to any one team. Put ANY team out west in the Pac12 you will see them rise to Pac12 levels in everything including stadium/arena capacity, donating, attendance, increase in applications and attendance. Same can be said with the Big10, ACC, Big12 and the SEC. It's affiliation. It's materialistic. That's the world we are living in. Stamp a team with X conference affiliation then it will change everything for X university. However, we have a lot of P5 characteristics already necessary to seem legitimate right out of the gate.