BREAKING NEWS . . . . NBC6 Reports that UNC-Charlotte Should Start Football in 4 Year

What all the football-crazed uncc people fail to see is that football is not the answer to everything. They think they just roll the ball out and the athletic program will prosper. Not exactly. There is a better chance this will backfire than it will succeed and I don't think the loudest voices understand that.

Second, where is the support coming from? The basketball program isn't even fully funded, the fan support is luke warm at best and this is a relatively successful D1 program with great facilities.

Is the support going to come from the community? Fuck no. They can't even support their NFL team properly and that is hands down the most popular sport in the country.

The Charlotte community is oblivious to the uncc basketball program and was even when we were going to the ncaa tournament every year. Do you think they will give a shit about some pitiful 1-AA footbal program?

App. St, the undisputed king of D1-AA football, could move all their home games to downtown Charlotte and nobody would give a shit. The people of Charlotte will still put their Clemson, NCSU and UNC car flags on and drive out of town every saturday.

The saying: "know your audience" applies here.

This will be a huge mistake....if it happens, which I will believe when I see it.

 

People that think uncc is a mirror of s.fla are delusional. We had some coincidental similarities in the early to mid 90's as far as our basketball programs were concerned but that is as far as that comparision goes and the argument to the contrary is paper thin, stinking of deperation.

USF has the money, alum and talent pool in state. We have none of that. Those things are kind of important.

On a related note, USF is selling their sole to the devil with some of these players they are allowing into school. Can you imagine what these kids are like if Bobby Bowden can't get them enrolled? Is that what you want representing your school? That program is a ticking time bomb.

 

I agree comparing to USF isn't that good of an idea, other than how to actually start a program. For better or worse, I'm excited about the Niners possibly getting football and will support them.

 

If any team gets into the Southern Conference anytime soon, it will be Presbyterian College, down in Clinton, SC, from what I'm hearing. The Big South might be a possibility - they only have 5 teams, and that's where Coastal Carolina joined. That would be a smarter move, too. The only strong team in that conference is Coastal Carolina. The rest - VMI, Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb, and Liberty. Compare that to going up against App. St., Ga. Southern, Wofford, Furman, and pass-crazy Elon in your first season...ask VMI about playing in the So. Con. They begged for mercy and left the conference.

 

I fully expect the Niners to take a whooping the first several years. This football thing is more about positioning ourselves for future conference shakeups than what conference we will initially be in.

 

There is absolutely no chance at all that Charlotte would join the Southern conference for all sports. None. The Athletic Department won't do it, and there would reportedly be some resistance from some of those schools because they know that Charlotte will be jumping up to 1A football the first chance they get. I don't blame them.

If the Southern conference allowed us to affiliate for football only, we'd probably do that. If not, we'd play in the CAA along with the rest of the A10 except Temple (MAC). At least of few of those games would be within driving distance for fans (CAA Football).

Good thing our Assistant AD/Business Manager was part of the AD at UAB when they started football, and knows the reality of the financial component from experience.

This hasn't been done in vacuum. You're being either ridiculously hateful or narrow-minded if you believe that overtures haven't already been made before the dog and pony show occurred. I also remember when everyone said that there was no way that CUSA would want us. There was no way that we would get a pro franchise in any sport in Charlotte, etc etc. ad nauseum. There is no such thing as a certainty unless we just don't even bother trying.

Do not forget that as VA has said, the biggest part of this is just positioning the program for future conference shakeups. In this day and age, nothing in major college sports is permanent. So you have to make your own luck by being ready for any opportunity.

I'll be supporting the program both vocally, and financially. And as long as Mac Everett is involved, I feel pretty good about the chances for success.

 

To hell with both Friday and Spangler.

 

Why do I think that deep down, Friday & Spangler (as well as others) always want to make sure CAROLINA & STATE are always the 2 flagship schools for sports/academics in the UNC System ? ? ? ? At some point, if UNCC starts football and moves up to lets say, the BIG EAST, then there will be pressure for State & Carolina to include us on their schedule. We already see where you basically have to hold a gun to their heads to force them to play ECU on a semi-regular basis.

I didn't see them raise any issues as State & Carolina improved their athletic faciliites over the years (expanding/renovating football stadiums, building SMITH CENTER & RBC CENTER, increasing coaches salaries, etc.). Yessssssssssssss, there are costs involved with college athletics B-U-T in the long run doesn't that help the schools profile and encourage more folks to give to the school on either side? Also, I think most schools can handle athletic & academic fundraisers as each need arises.

UNCC, while a good school, still has a school spirit issue. The campus is dead on fall weekends and many students go to other campus for football games and other activities. Our athletic profile in the A-10 stinks; Nobody around this area cares besides UNCC Alumni/Students (our ball games are basically aired on NEWS14 . . . What happened to our decent TV package with ACTION 64 when we were in CUSA ? ? ?).

BOTTOM LINE: Like I said before, I think we should go after football. Getting into the BIG EAST in 10 years should be the goal. There are ways to get a Div-1 football game going with a reasonable cost (see Central Florida's stadium; I think it was built for half the cost since it was built with metal vs. concrete). Thank Friday & Spangler for their advice, but don't treat it as we've just heard from God and shouldn't start football now!!!!!

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UNC SYSTEM

Football at UNCC?
2 N.C. educators say no

DAVID SCOTT
[email protected]

Two of North Carolina's most respected educators came to UNC Charlotte on Thursday with a frank assessment of the school's hopes of starting a football program.

They don't think it's a good idea.

"I fear that football will damage the university's academic position," said C.D. "Dick" Spangler, the UNC system's president from 1986-97. "This is the future of this campus that we're talking about."

Spangler was joined by William Friday, another former UNC system president and the founding co-chairman of the Knight Commission for Intercollegiate Athletics. They spoke to about 200 faculty members in a recital hall in the Rowe Arts Building.

They asked UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois for the opportunity to speak after hearing in December that a feasibility committee had recommended starting a football program by 2012.

"As university people, what we must guard ... above all is the integrity of the institutions where we teach and serve," said Friday.

Friday talked about the escalating costs of college football -- from funding 85 scholarships to rising coaches salaries. He also mentioned the influence of television and shoe contracts in reshaping college priorities.

"All these events are integral in making what's happening at our universities nothing more than an entertainment event," he said.

UNCC's football feasibility committee has recommended that much of the cost for a program -- which could cost about $6 million per year to operate -- be borne by an increase in student fees.

"So you're putting the burden on the families of students," Spangler said. "Unless you're keeping tuition and fees low, you'll find it's hard to get the quality you need for other programs."

Spangler also said that asking prospective donors and sponsors for money would conflict with fundraising for academics.

"There's only a certain amount of money out there," he said. "I'd rather the chancellor be out there asking for money for academic buildings and programs. That's easier to do than if you're not also asking for football money. I don't want the chancellor to have to make those kinds of calls."

Peggy Wilmoth, a professor of nursing whose son attends UNCC, listened to Spangler and Friday. She understood their arguments, but disagreed.

"I appreciated what they talked about," she said. "It was very good data. But I don't think football would diminish anything. It would enhance the atmosphere on campus. My son talks about living in the dorms and everybody leaves on weekends because there's no reason to stay.

"That detracts from his vision of what college should be all about."

Friday offered little sympathy to Wilmoth, or to Larry Marks, the school's director of bands who said the school's lack of a marching band for football hurts music students' chances at jobs in their field.

To that, Friday said, "Students have choices (of where they can attend)."

Another faculty member asked why, if Spangler and Friday would discourage UNCC from having a football program, wouldn't they ask schools such as UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State to discontinue theirs?

"It's one thing to lay down on the railroad tracks in front of a train that's going 80 mph," Spangler said of UNC and N.C. State's programs. "It's another to lay down in front of one that's not moving -- that doesn't even have any coal ...

"What I'm saying is, this is one we can win."

What's next?

• UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phil Dubois will receive a report today or next week from a football feasibility committee that has recommended the school begin the sport by 2012.

• Dubois will read the report then take his recommendation to the school's board of trustees in the spring.

• If the board approves, the school would start the sport on the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) level, then move up to Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A).

 

what's the success rate of doing this, in a ten year range? Question is for anyone, not just pi, I don't think that I've heard of football just outright failing in startups.

 

Damn fine article from Today's O.

Despite naysayers, 49ers will play football