Nt Daily Post

[FanofUNT]

" Recruiting

A new stadium would greatly help in recruiting which will help NT win games. We have to look at the big picture. "

"With respect, winning alone is not really the big picture. It is more of a happy little picture for football fans.

IMO the big picture looks at the University, not just the athletic program. That said, a new stadium will allow Todd Dodge to recruit from an equal starting point to most of the head coaches he recruits against. He is a plus recruiter, so it is reasonable to say he might get 3-4 more players he covets each year which should be enough to win at a much higher clip. That is over a 4 year span adding like +12-16 more potentially starting caliber players. That certainly won't hurt.

A new stadium is a new university facilty that can help eradicate the public perception in the area that UNT is a dump. UNT's facilities certainly don't have to be the best, but they really should not be the worst in the region, as they have been in the past. The university has been great about building better facilities lately. The stadium is one of the most obvious offenders in that stadiums and arenas are a university's ambassadors to the public. Consider the recent primary season --- did UNT's lack of a suitable stadium discourage an Obama visit? I can't say one way or another, but that KIND of scenario is one in which sticking with Fouts probably hurts the university.

A new stadium could allow UNT to move into the same conference as SMU and Rice. Competitively, It is a little better, but the real advantages IMO would be the affiliation with a number of top Texas and regional private universites. What would be good for UNT at that point would be good for improving the standings of all of the other universities in that conference. Imagine SMU and Rice Alumni in the Texas Legislature pushing UNT for Tier 1 status! NOTHING besides the new stadium could make that happen.

A new stadium allows the implosion of Fouts Feild. The university's master plan suggests that new dorms, a parking garage, and a new OPERA HOUSE (!!!!) willl fill that area. The replacement of Fouts is a bottleneck to the construction of a lot of things UNT students want.

And with regards to the Biology department arguement... No one who favors upgrading the stadium is against upgrading any of the other facilities at UNT. Universities often invest money in areas where they think they can excell in a region. Those departments rarely have to "earn it" as you suggest. They may not even have a department. If this was UNT's logic how many departments would have never been created? Have you taken a computer class at UNT? How many Departments would have been allowed to fail?

Until UNT has to bring in generators each class day to light Biology classes, I think the comparison is a little off."