Utsa Football - Hunting Coaching Candidates

[STE]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/UTSA_hu...candidates.html

I thought some on here might find this interesting.

[ADLER]

Wow, you would think they would have a better picture of associate athletic director Brad Parrott.

He looks like he's taking it in the tail.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I'm still skeptical that this will happen anytime soon. We won't know until they get a new president.

One thing that I did pick up on from the article is that their students have agreed to a fee averaging $2000 which is only $250 per semester. Our fee will be $300, making theirs less.

Apparently they have raised NO money from their alumni; they won't get very far without outside support. It looks to me like they've got a long road ahead of them, even for the Southland Conference.

[JesseMartin]

I disagree. It looks like he's listening to the Jordan Knight unplugged stuff my ex thought I should hear.

If you think football is good for us...it'll be great for UTSA. What an awesome market for them to corner...

[NT80]

If UTSA gets the green light from the UT System watch out. That will be a major hurdle as UT will not want 1-A competition so close to itself. But UTSA is the elephant in that corner of the state. They will have a 65,000 seat indoor stadium, a city of 1 millon, major airport, their own media outlets, only pro sport is NBA, a great tourist destination, and all of south Texas and Corpus areas to recruit. Hello CUSA?

Edited October 22, 2008 by NT80

[nana21]

If UTSA gets the green light from the UT System watch out. That will be a major hurdle as UT will not want 1-A competition so close to itself. But UTSA is the elephant in that corner of the state. They will have a 65,000 seat indoor stadium, a city of 1 millon, major airport, their own media outlets, only pro sport is NBA, a great tourist destination, and all of south Texas and Corpus areas to recruit. Hello CUSA?

The UT System doesn't have a chancellor right now (U of California System stole him). I doubt UT-Austin's athletic personal have any say in this decision so UTSA will inevitably get the green light as long as they can prove football fits into their overall long term plans. That's what I think the article is suggesting.

[ADLER]

I'm still skeptical that this will happen anytime soon. We won't know until they get a new president.

One thing that I did pick up on from the article is that their students have agreed to a fee averaging $2000 which is only $250 per semester. Our fee will be $300, making theirs less.

Apparently they have raised NO money from their alumni; they won't get very far without outside support. It looks to me like they've got a long road ahead of them, even for the Southland Conference.

Please excuse me, but your figures are way off.

UTSA has 29,000 students, North Texas has 32,500 on it's Denton campus.

The UTSA student athletic fees are $240 per semester. (not the $250 reported)

The maximum at North Texas will be $150 per semester, and that's not until the 2011-2012 school year.

The modest North Texas fee increase will primarily go towards paying for a stadium, UTSA is expected to have free use of the Alamo Dome.

That is a gigantic difference in remaining operating budgets.

And all that is before factoring the enormous amount of money that San Antonio / Bexar County have committed to putting into UTSA athletics. Denton, city and county, don't give North Texas anything.

[UNT_playmaker]

Please excuse me, but your figures are way off.

UTSA has 29,000 students, North Texas has 32,500 on it's Denton campus.

The UTSA student athletic fees are $240 per semester. (not the $250 reported)

The maximum at North Texas will be $150 per semester, and that's not until the 2011-2012 school year.

The modest North Texas fee increase will primarily go towards paying for a stadium, UTSA is expected to have free use of the Alamo Dome.

That is a gigantic difference in remaining operating budgets.

And all that is before factoring the enormous amount of money that San Antonio / Bexar County have committed to putting into UTSA athletics. Denton, city and county, don't give North Texas anything.

Fantastic Post and Great Observations

[stebo]

That average is probably about right. Most of UTSA's students are part time, not full time. They have little campus life and are the poster child for a commuter school. Lots of parents go to school there part time. Probably the most damaging thing to UTSA is their agreement with UT (45 minutes up the road). As part of the UT system, UTSA has a bridge program that allows those freshman and sophomores that did not get into UT to get their 1st two years out of the way in San Antonio and automatically be accepted to UT-Austin for their JR and SR years. I don't know the hard data but I would guess that at least 25% of their student body is treating UTSA like a JR College, just getting their basics out of the way with a GPA above a 3.5 so that they get automatic acceptance to UT-Austin (where they really would rather be). If you take all things into consideration - UTSA probably will average $2,000 per student during their time in San Antonio. Maybe adding football will help to keep them instead of lose them; but not IAA football... it will have to be after they move up to IA (yes, I know there are new names - I prefer the old ones

[Go_UTA]

A few observations.

I think UTSA wants football for some of the reasons mentioned, big market, Alamodome (but, I'm sure they would have to pay rent...it costs a lot of money to host an event there...the utilities and personnel involved).

Yeah, UT Austin won't have any say in the matter, and, anyway, UT San Antonio would never be a threat to their position. (Neither would Texas State, which is even closer to Austin. I've heard the same suggestion made about them.) The only people that are feeling some heat is Texas State, and I think UTSA spurred-them on to try to go 1-A (sorry, old name).

The regents are pretty objective on these matters. If UT San Antonio can make a strong case, they'll glady give the program the green light. The quote by the UTSA official about the supposed vacancy in the chancellorship was VERY bone headed; I have a hard time understanding how such an official could make such a stupid quote. Makes me wonder what is behind it. There is a highly competent interim chancellor filling the job; projects don't grind to a halt because of that. More than likely they are having trouble raising the additional money needed in addition to the student fees. San Antonio isn't a wealthy city. And, like a lot of these things, I can well imagine a fair number is significant locals making a lot of strong talk about support, but the reality isn't quite so rosy when it is time to put up cash. (And, the massive disappearance of wealth in the markets of late will probably be a real problem.)

STEBO is right about the bridge program to UT Austin. A lot of the UT schools have it, because they see it as advantageous to themselves. What happens, they end-up keeping a lot of these students once they get in, and the quality of those students is high. But, UTSA, in particular, has a very high number of these students. Probably too high, as you don't want a reputation as a way-station.

UTSA is commuter, but they are building on-campus housing, so it isn't 100% anymore. They've been pretty much open-admission, but I think they are tightening that a bit. I do have respect for them, because they have grown so fast, and are doing it pretty well. They have come-on very strong as a research institution. Overall, the future is bright for them, but we will just have to see how this f-ball situation works out. It is harder to do (esp. well) than a lot of people think.

[JesseMartin]

San Antonio's average wealth may not be high, but they still have their share of rich people...

[Green Mean]

By the way, what is the status of UTA wanting to add football? I have heard from anti sports blowhards that UTA will never get football because the administration would never allow to get into that kind of mess. I know they passed the athletics fee vote a few years ago to bring it back but is there any new news and information regarding UTA Maverick Football?

[Go_UTA]

Green Mean, I want to answer your question. The short answer: no news.

[Green Dozer]

Isn't UTSA mainly a research school with a quite a few masters and doctoral programs anyway? They face a tough road, and I do not think we have to worry about them becoming a the South Florida of Texas. I would not trade our challenges for theirs.

[Go_UTA]

I would say they ARE an up and coming research university. The growth has been amazing.

The THECB reports that UTSA spent $32.3 million on research in 2007 (for comparison, UNT spent $14.5 million).

In 2004, UTSA was at $16.5 million. So, you can see the rapid ascent. (For comparison, UNT spent $15.6 million in 2004.)

This is primarily why I have a lot of respect for them.

[UNTflyer]

Wow, you would think they would have a better picture of associate athletic director Brad Parrott.

He looks just like I thought he would... CONSTIPATED!

Edited October 22, 2008 by UNTflyer

[Green Mean]

Go UTA,

Completely agree with you. We have passed athletics fee and it seems that we will get all those ducks in a row within a few years but the next plan of attack has to be on spending major major money in research and academics. That will truly be taking the next step and leap to the next level for the university.

[ADLER]

To put their growth in perspective, Hayden Fry was the coach at North Texas when UTSA was created.

It is growing at an incredible rate and it's athletic program is receiving an awful lot of money from the city and county to build facilities. (Projected to be in the $50 million range by 2012.)

Although I view UTSA as competition, I think of them (and Texas State) as being more of an opportunity than as a threat for North Texas. As they grow their programs, these could become some of the in-state rivals that we have been sorely lacking.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

---- I know UTSA has 29,000 students (more or less) but aren't they divided up among several campuses... We are pretty much one campus. That would be a big issue on school spirit and support.

---- I agree with the above posting.... Texas State should be a big rival.... besides we have played them many times stretching over many decades. I-AA (or whatever) or not... we should schedule them more often.... it would be good for both of us.

Edited October 22, 2008 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Cerebus]

Firs thought when I quickly scanned the title: They have a hunting team?

[nana21]

Firs thought when I quickly scanned the title: They have a hunting team?

Bexar County is well off. They have a strong economy and tourism industry which helps them collect a lot of money from the all important "hotel taxes". The city of San Antonio has a AAA bond ratings (Phoenix is the only other major city in the nation with one); therefore they can do a lot for UTSA in terms of helping them raise capital. I think I read on this board that they got like 15 million in city money for a soccer/football practice complex or something like that. So even with a small alumni base, they should be fine if the community supports them.

[ADLER]

Bexar County is well off. They have a strong economy and tourism industry which helps them collect a lot of money from the all important "hotel taxes". The city of San Antonio has a AAA bond ratings (Phoenix is the only other major city in the nation with one); therefore they can do a lot for UTSA in terms of helping them raise capital. I think I read on this board that they got like 15 million in city money for a soccer/football practice complex or something like that. So even with a small alumni base, they should be fine if the community supports them.

The $51 million being contributed is coming from the hotel/car rental/ restaurant tax.

Studies by the city indicate that division 1 sports will increase tourism revenue by something like $83 million annualy. That number sounds huge to me, but it's their justification for putting all that money into UTSA athletics. It's not a move to help UTSA, it's a move to bolster tourism revenue and UTSA is the tool to be utilized, similar to what Orlando has accomplished with Central Florida.

Edited October 22, 2008 by ADLER

[NT80]

Texas State should be a big rival.... besides we have played them many times stretching over many decades. I-AA (or whatever) or not... we should schedule them more often.... it would be good for both of us.

NO to 1-AAs.

[NT91]

UTSA at NT for the first game at the new Fouts.........NOT!

[Go_UTA]

From the THECB Student Housing report that is hot off the press (10/22/2008), for Fall 2007.

UTSA had 3,100 on-campus student beds. Not too bad, I would say. Almost all of this would have been added in the last few years. They are a lot less "commuter" than many might believe. That is still about half of what UNT has, but I'd have to give UTSA high marks for their trajectory. I'm sure they'll add more.

An interesting one was UTEP: 428 beds. Really low, esp. for one of the state's larger universities. That is what I would call commuter (but, that's not evil). I guess they draw strictly from their own immediate area, and a lot of those students come from low income backgrounds.