Green Menace

coachacola, with all due respect, I don't think UNT is moving to the WAC.  We've turned them down three times already, even when Boise, Fresno, and Hawaii were still there.  Not gonna happen.

[quote name="puddin tane" post="952464" timestamp="1295653955"] [b]and if the NCAA every sticks to their 15,000 minimum attendance to stay FBS...things will really get shaken up[/b] [/quote] FBS would lose many programs....Rice, half the SunBelt, half of the MAC, Tulane, the remnants of the WAC.  It would be interesting to see which programs would be affected.  I think if a program fails to meet the 15K minimum the NCAA gives them a warning or puts them on probation.  Something like that.

The bottom line in all these FBS/stadium expansion/play the big boys discussions is this, very few athletic departments in FBS make money.  Not sure what the number is now, but at one time less than 20 FBS programs made money.  It does, however, elevate your univeristy to a different level, especially if you are on TV or participate in a bowl.  In theory, the national exposure means more alumni contributions to the academic side.

[quote name="bigred360" post="949714" timestamp="1295279010"] [quote author=Green Menace link=topic=78804.msg949709#msg949709 date=1295278475] Which programs in the state of Texas have ever had 50,000+ fans in the stands for a football game?  Texas, Texas A & M, and Texas Tech.  The big dogs of the Old SWC and now the B12-10.  Sure, if you have a stadium that can hold 50K and you can get one of those programs to grace your campus, you'll fill the stadium up-  with aggie$, whorns, or raider fans. As fine a program as TCU has developed over the past 10-12 years, the average about 32-35K fans per home game, depending on their opponent.  That may change for TCU now that they will move to the big East.  But I doubt it.  Rice only gets large crowds when Texas or the Aggie$ come to town, and 90% of the fans are horns or aggies which makes it a home game for them.  Same for Houston. On top of that, enlarging Cardinal Stadium to 50K will cost mucho money, so you better have a Daddy Warbucks or two to cover the cost. Not trying to keep you guys down, but ya'll need to be reasonable. [/quote] TCU is renovating their stadium and I believe max capacity is 35,000. Then what is UNT new stadium going to hold? About 30,000, right? Houston's stadium holds 32,000. Lamar would do good to have a 30,000 stadium with several suites, rooms to showcase Lamar football and a multiple level press box that is user friendly to the press and SID's for Lamar and the visiting schools. [/quote] TCU's Amon Carter holds a little over 40,000.  Not sure what the new capacity will be after the renovation.

[quote name="SabineRavine" post="949743" timestamp="1295284003"] [quote author=UNLV link=topic=78846.msg949705#msg949705 date=1295277999] Red, you are wrong [/quote] Once again UNLV you state that someone is wrong rather than stating that you disagree.  So, why don't you provide the evidence that he's wrong.  Go ahead and show the data that indicates how much Lamar would bring in (net, gross), at Reliant versus how much the payout would be from a game played at Austin.  And I hope you don't plan on providing income figures from games other than FCS vs. FBS at a neutral, high-end facility.  [/quote] Uh, Texas or A & M will not play for free.  I really don't know how teams work the net profits from a game but I'd bet Lamar would get a whole lot less than Texas.  Just saying.....

[quote name="bigred360" post="949670" timestamp="1295271797"] I know that would be cool to say we hoisted UT or A&M at a neutral site but I'd rather play at their place with a guarantee of about $900,000. [/quote] Those are money games that all non-AQ programs need for their athletic department budgets.  Too many of them, coupled with losing the game itself, it not a healthy thing for your program.  Too many games like than can eventually wear your team down, mentally and physically to where they have nothing left when conference games roll around.

Which programs in the state of Texas have ever had 50,000+ fans in the stands for a football game?  Texas, Texas A & M, and Texas Tech.  The big dogs of the Old SWC and now the B12-10.  Sure, if you have a stadium that can hold 50K and you can get one of those programs to grace your campus, you'll fill the stadium up-  with aggie$, whorns, or raider fans. As fine a program as TCU has developed over the past 10-12 years, the average about 32-35K fans per home game, depending on their opponent.  That may change for TCU now that they will move to the big East.  But I doubt it.  Rice only gets large crowds when Texas or the Aggie$ come to town, and 90% of the fans are horns or aggies which makes it a home game for them.  Same for Houston. On top of that, enlarging Cardinal Stadium to 50K will cost mucho money, so you better have a Daddy Warbucks or two to cover the cost. Not trying to keep you guys down, but ya'll need to be reasonable.

[quote name="bigred360" post="949262" timestamp="1295195168"] I believe every game was sold out this year but admit I saw a lot of open areas at one of the games. Man, the majority of the 43 are from the Golden Triangle. You are right, there are a lot of season ticket holders from Mid-County. You mentioned what school your wife went to but didn't mentioned yours, just saying you like LSU. Are you just a T-shirt fan there? You wouldn't be a Lamar alum but rather so to Baton Rouge to see a game? Then to compare a first year FCS program to those like A&M and LSU is ridiculous. What did you expect headed off to Provost Umphrey? I've talked to the people at Lamar about attendance and what they want is more student attendance. Lamar has almost 15,000 students now and if just a 1/3 make the game that would be 5K. Then we need more people from Beaumont. However, we are getting people from Orange, Lumberton, Silsbee and those areas. Then there is the oldest reason in the book to come to Lamar football game and that is the team has to win. Period! [/quote] Lamar has to make an LU home game [b]THE IN PLACE TO BE [/b] for a Saturday home game.  Tailgating, fun zones for the kids, and [b]WINNING![/b]

[quote name="LAZEEK" post="947489" timestamp="1294938984"] WATCHING LAMAR WILL DRIVE YOU TO DRINKING!!!!! [/quote] Ha!  Try watching UNT football with Todd Dodge coaching for four years.  Yikes!

[quote name="bigred360" post="947473" timestamp="1294937389"] [quote author=badndn link=topic=78663.msg947467#msg947467 date=1294936856] Been Caught Grinkin' IF LU forked out big bucks, and IF BCG got drunk one night and accepted the LU job (Beer Goggles), and IF he turned LU into a winner in a few years, he'd be gone ASAP!!! Skelton would be affordable, has prooven himself as both a recruiter and an X' & O's man, and would have to win over a longer period of time at LU to get a better gig. Just a thought. [/quote] Man, I was just telling Green Menace who BCG was.  :D [/quote] Thanks.  I remember his name but can't recall where he coached.  But, Lamar don't need a drinker.

From an outsider, FWIW- Not sure who BCG is, but the ROC experiment has failed.  Time to move on for Lamar.  There are way too many good assistant coaches out there with shingles on the wall that would make a fine head coach at Lamar.  For that matter, there are probably many head coaches, albeit at a lower division, that could come in and get Lamar back to where they should be in college basketball. Remove the ROC.

[quote name="coachacola" post="945154" timestamp="1294613449"] It's probably a toss up between SFA, McNeese and Lamar.  The SLC seems to always lay a big goose egg in the first round of the FCS playoffs so he'll probably just cares about getting on a team that can win the conference, not win the national championship. Maybe because Todd Dodge is from SETX that will influence his son.  Having great crowds with the possibility of playing in the WAC for year may also help.  And thinking more down the road, if Lamar does join the WAC, that means higher pay for the coaches.  I don't think Whitten will stay around long term, so having Riley on the team and moving to the WAC could open an opportunity for Todd Dodge to coach at Lamar in the future. [/quote] Although I think Riley would be a good pickup for Lamar, I just don't think he is joined to the golden triangle as some think.  Todd hasn't lived here in a while so I just don't see the connection.

[quote name="bigred360" post="942981" timestamp="1294266827"] If he was that good at UNT why isn't the Head Coach giving him an opportunity to be the starting QB next year? In my opinion, as I stated a couple of months ago, he was going to transfer anyway. I don't know about you, but if someone fires my dad I'm not staying either. [/quote] He was a very good QB.  He was too small and prone to injury at this level.  I also think Coach McCarney recognized this the minute he came on board and decided he wanted a good QB with some size.  Purely speculative, that's the theory at the Mean Green Nation. As to his dad being terminated, I guess football, rather than academics lead to his wanting to transfer out.  It would have been nice to see Riley graduate from UNT and have him as an Alumni.

[quote name="coachacola" post="942902" timestamp="1294257145"] I'm guessing Lamar will try to line up some more big donors to help fund this.  The football stadium will need to be expanded within 5 years if they want to be in a FBS conference.  They are scheduled to start renovating Vincent-Beck this year I believe, then build a softball field in a year or two, then they could expand the football stadium in stages after that.  The Montagne Center needs a new scoreboard otherwise it's WAC worthy.  Also, coaches salaries will need to be increased.  But all this can be done over 4 or 5 years, not all at once. [/quote] Walter Umphrey and a couple of his friends could fund the whole deal out of their petty cash accounts.

[quote name="AJ25" post="942896" timestamp="1294256993"] [quote author=Green Menace link=topic=78254.msg942895#msg942895 date=1294256912] Riley will more than likely go where his Dad ends up.  Assuming Todd gets an FCS coaching gig. Word is he left UNT because he did not fit into the QB position under new HC McCarney.  In other words, he wasn't going to play the position he felt destined to play. Whoever ends up with Riley for two years at the QB position will be getting a real gamer who knows the game.  I can tell you this, if Lamar ended up with Riley, he would win the QB position after Spring ball over either of your current #1 & #2(Pruett) QB's.  Or whoever is currently 1 & 2.  Riley is that good as long as he is healthy. [/quote] You do know that Jeremy Johnson transferred to LU? [/quote] I do know that.  But what has he done lately?  Never took a snap at the FBS or FCS level.  Just because these transfers were high school heroes doesn't mean they will be equally as good at the college level.  Riley was good in HS and in college.  North Texas was bad, but overall Riley did a great job. [img][Hidden Content]]

Riley will more than likely go where his Dad ends up.  Assuming Todd gets an FCS coaching gig. Word is he left UNT because he did not fit into the QB position under new HC McCarney.  In other words, he wasn't going to play the position he felt destined to play. Whoever ends up with Riley for two years at the QB position will be getting a real gamer who knows the game.  I can tell you this, if Lamar ended up with Riley, he would win the QB position after Spring ball over either of your current #1 & #2(Pruett) QB's.  Or whoever is currently 1 & 2.  Riley is that good as long as he is healthy.

No surprise here either.  With his Dad gone and the injuries that Riley sustained over the past few years, Riley needs to transfer to D1A(FCS) football.  He's a heckuva player, tough as boot leather, and fun to watch.  Just a a different level.  Sorry to see him leave UNT. Riley would be a good pick up for Lamar. He has two years of eligibility left.  Here's the ESPN article. [url=[Hidden Content] Dodge[/url]

[quote name="bigred360" post="940506" timestamp="1293853938"] Good post and I have a question Green Menace. [b]What type of OOC teams do the Mean Green have coming to their new stadium in the next few years?[/b] I really don't think any Lamar fans thinks a BSC/AQ school would come to Beaumont. If so, that is wishful thinking on their part. I do think with the right architecture, Provost Umphrey could expand to 35,000-40,000. [/quote] I do know that Houston and Indiana are coming to Denton next fall.  Beyond that, I have no idea other than a new series with SMU and Army.  With the new stadium we should be able to attract some nice programs to Denton.

[quote name="JJWooten" post="940466" timestamp="1293846781"] But if all the FCS schools "move up" To FBS, I would be surprised to see it divided again. Heck, FBS level teams need to be divided again, there's an obvious gap between the schools. [/quote] I think the move is to have six FBS, auto qualifying conference, of 14-16 teams each.  You have the conferences, just not all the teams are in place just yet.  TCU moving to the Big East is an example.  I think Boise St and UCF are next; maybe Houston and a couple of other programs from select conferences.  These "Super Conferences" is where the TV money will go.  It already does. The rest of the conferences will fight for the scraps.  Guess they already do that. FWIW, I doubt you'll see any BCS/AQ teams coming to Beaumont.  That is, unless you have some serious money to get the down here.  Remember, when you fill an 80,000 seat stadium with people at some big time program, it generates several million dollars for the school's athletic department.  Why would such a team come to Beaumont for a fourth (or less) of what they could generate by having cannon fodder at home?

[quote name="UNLV" post="924957" timestamp="1291394922"] [quote author=Green Menace link=topic=76936.msg924857#msg924857 date=1291388003] [quote author=UNLV link=topic=76936.msg924163#msg924163 date=1291305927] Therefore I am back on the LU joining the WAC IF; 1. WAC gets the waiver 2. no new western schools join... [b]3. A new name...[/b]4. ULL and Ark st join. UTSA Texas st New Mexico st ULL Lamar Ark st Denver SJSU? Idaho? [/quote] Assuming you are talking about changing the name WAC to something else, that would be a disaster.  That WAC name and emblem is the only thing that has kept the conference around so long.  That would be like changing the name COKE COLA® to something else. And no, there is not chance UNT will be enticed to move to the WAC.  The university has formally declined an invite for the 3rd time. [/quote]UNT can decline 1,000,000 times, however if the WAC becomes a better choice than the Sunbelt, it would be foolish for UNT not to join. There is nothing else out there for UNT. Sunbelt or WAC. Stop dreaming about CUSA, it won't happen. My current prediction of CUSA in 5-7 years. SMU Houston Tulsa Memphis K-st Iowa st Texas tech Baylor Southern miss UAB Tulane UTEP [/quote] How, pray tell, will the WAC be a better choice than the Sun Belt?  The WAC is toast.  Give it up.

[quote name="UNLV" post="924163" timestamp="1291305927"] Therefore I am back on the LU joining the WAC IF; 1. WAC gets the waiver 2. no new western schools join... [b]3. A new name...[/b]4. ULL and Ark st join. UTSA Texas st New Mexico st ULL Lamar Ark st Denver SJSU? Idaho? [/quote] Assuming you are talking about changing the name WAC to something else, that would be a disaster.  That WAC name and emblem is the only thing that has kept the conference around so long.  That would be like changing the name COKE COLA® to something else. And no, there is not chance UNT will be enticed to move to the WAC.  The university has formally declined an invite for the 3rd time.

UNT will have the best of both worlds.  McCarney annunced his first hire.  Yep, Mike Canales was named Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator.  Exciting times in Denton.

[quote name="coachacola" post="922014" timestamp="1291051586"] Good move by TCU.  I wouldn't be surprised if the MWC invited Utah State, and if they do then aren't they[b] basically the old WAC reincarnated?[/b]Maybe the WAC can hold on and invite Lamar, North Texas, Arkansas State and UL-Lafayette and UTA so the WAC can become the old SLC reincarnated.  [/quote] Exactly!  The WAC/MWC has gone full circle.

[quote name="WBbear" post="920787" timestamp="1290914088"] ???????? [/quote] And mark my words, UNT interim HC Mike Canales will land a head coaching gig somewhere and will be a force to recon with at FBS or FCS level.  Listen to him during his post game press conference- [url=[Hidden Content] Press Conference[/url] This, after his UNT team lost to Kansas State 49-41.  Yes, KSU is down this year, but still a B12 program with lots of money and talent.  In a short period of time Canales got his players to buy in and "play hardnose football" for him.  And UNT had 10 or so starters out for the season.

There's soon to be another opening in the WAC.  Hawaii's going MWC.  No real surprise.  Can Lamar catch up and capitilize on the opening this creates? [url=[Hidden Content]]