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mat1992

New AD Thread II

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7 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I for one prefer FCS, for a program such as ours, that would never have a shot at a big bowl in the FBS. I like the FCS playoffs. This is where I think a school like JMU might regret moving up. By that I mean what are they playing for in the Sunbelt? A chance to go to the R&L Carriers bowl? Whereas they could have remained a much bigger fish in a smaller pond. But I digress. Are you saying we’ll be a FBS “have not”? (Your phrase, not mine).  Is there not currently a minimum stadium size requirement (like 20-25K capacity) to be an FBS program. Presumably that could change? As for the growing number of students living on campus, or in close proximity thereto, I feel like we’ve been hearing that argument for years, with no apparent appreciable change in student enthusiasm/attendance. I would love nothing better than to see an uptick in student attendance (and non-student attendance for that matter) but I admit I’m skeptical that’s going to happen. Of course, a new AD, and a better product on the field, could ostensibly help in that regard. 

Student attendance is actually pretty good -for the tailgates. It's hard to judge this year, because the offense was so pathetic, we were basically unwatchable. A bit different when Flacco was QB.

Maybe I'm the eternal optimist of Towson sports and am not a realist. I don't hate FCS football. That's all I've known since I was a student back in 1989. But I've heard that FBS is turning into two divisions. Not sure when that will happen as COVID has slowed down everything. Maybe FBS turns into a 1A and 1AA. Nobody really knows when that will happen, but don't worry about the stadium capacity. That won't matter if there is a 1-AA in FBS. Of course, that could change, but so should we. We should, after making some additions and improvements to the stadium, become closer to that 20,000 and all you would have to do is close the bowl on the other end and there will be around 20,000 seats. All good for a lax quarterfinal. A women's lax final four. Football state titles in HS. Graduations, Etc. I guess there's always the Towson community to bitch about that and a new parking garage that needs to go up, but sure, I'd like to think we're progressing from where we were in 1992 when we had 5,000 seats and porta-potties.

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5 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I for one prefer FCS, for a program such as ours, that would never have a shot at a big bowl in the FBS. I like the FCS playoffs. This is where I think a school like JMU might regret moving up. By that I mean what are they playing for in the Sunbelt? A chance to go to the R&L Carriers bowl? Whereas they could have remained a much bigger fish in a smaller pond. But I digress. Are you saying we’ll be a FBS “have not”? (Your phrase, not mine).  Is there not currently a minimum stadium size requirement (like 20-25K capacity) to be an FBS program. Presumably that could change? As for the growing number of students living on campus, or in close proximity thereto, I feel like we’ve been hearing that argument for years, with no apparent appreciable change in student enthusiasm/attendance. I would love nothing better than to see an uptick in student attendance (and non-student attendance for that matter) but I admit I’m skeptical that’s going to happen. Of course, a new AD, and a better product on the field, could ostensibly help in that regard. 

Exactly.  Been hearing the student number since I was a freshman on caa zone. It’s increased. Student support has not. “Winning will bring them out”. Did for one season. Since frisco it’s fallen way off. Now so has the play of the football team but still. 
students don’t show up to games hoops or football. The few that do come for the band and dance teams and leave at half. The only time the students yell at secu is for the free dominos pizza 

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2 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Student attendance is actually pretty good -for the tailgates. It's hard to judge this year, because the offense was so pathetic, we were basically unwatchable. A bit different when Flacco was QB.

Maybe I'm the eternal optimist of Towson sports and am not a realist. I don't hate FCS football. That's all I've known since I was a student back in 1989. But I've heard that FBS is turning into two divisions. Not sure when that will happen as COVID has slowed down everything. Maybe FBS turns into a 1A and 1AA. Nobody really knows when that will happen, but don't worry about the stadium capacity. That won't matter if there is a 1-AA in FBS. Of course, that could change, but so should we. We should, after making some additions and improvements to the stadium, become closer to that 20,000 and all you would have to do is close the bowl on the other end and there will be around 20,000 seats. All good for a lax quarterfinal. A women's lax final four. Football state titles in HS. Graduations, Etc. I guess there's always the Towson community to bitch about that and a new parking garage that needs to go up, but sure, I'd like to think we're progressing from where we were in 1992 when we had 5,000 seats and porta-potties.

Yeah doubling the size of the stadium for other non school events is nuts. The infrastructure in the area cant support that if (and that’s a big if) there’s close to a capacity crowd. 

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6 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Exactly.  Been hearing the student number since I was a freshman on caa zone. It’s increased. Student support has not. “Winning will bring them out”. Did for one season. Since frisco it’s fallen way off. Now so has the play of the football team but still. 
students don’t show up to games hoops or football. The few that do come for the band and dance teams and leave at half. The only time the students yell at secu is for the free dominos pizza 

The students were showing up in droves. Then a certain person decided to basically ban tailgating and put cops everywhere because of an accidents. It's never been the same since. Basketball is another story. I guess it's too far a walk.

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I think part of the problem with basketball, as it relates to student attendance, is the gap between the end of the fall semester and the beginning of the spring semester, when the students are gone. Having said that, I’ve sadly long since concluded that our students are simply apathetic when it comes to basketball. I would like to think there are creative ways to change that, but I’m not so sure. 

 

 

 

 

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I know this is the new AD thread. But when it comes to attendance, it would take a magician to put 3,000+ people in the stands for basketball and 8,000+ for every football game. 

Pre-pandemic in 2019-20 we averaged 1,700 per game in basketball. This season, in five games, it's 1,565. In fve games in football, we averaged 4,750 for an incredibly dull football team which included ND State, but also a rainy Homecoming where we could have had at least 6,000.

I don't know what any of those figures mean other than the fact that I still think we can do better with a winner, more exciting QB and more students on campus. But it will never be JMU-like or even current Delaware. It's where the campus is. Where the stadium is. It's a town that does not care about the local colleges. It never has and never will, which is why you have to get as many students, alums and local people around town that GAF.

 

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11 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I know this is the new AD thread. But when it comes to attendance, it would take a magician to put 3,000+ people in the stands for basketball and 8,000+ for every football game. 

Pre-pandemic in 2019-20 we averaged 1,700 per game in basketball. This season, in five games, it's 1,565. In fve games in football, we averaged 4,750 for an incredibly dull football team which included ND State, but also a rainy Homecoming where we could have had at least 6,000.

I don't know what any of those figures mean other than the fact that I still think we can do better with a winner, more exciting QB and more students on campus. But it will never be JMU-like or even current Delaware. It's where the campus is. Where the stadium is. It's a town that does not care about the local colleges. It never has and never will, which is why you have to get as many students, alums and local people around town that GAF.

 

I’ve always maintained Towson is not a “town” in the sense that Dover or Williamsburg or Harrisonburg are (i.e., college towns). Towson to me is more a bedroom suburb of Baltimore. Few if any, people, in Towson are clamoring for TU sports. As for the students, even with an increase in the number of students living on campus, I maintain TU is still at its core a commuter school, where students have little or no loyalty to the athletic teams, and are primarily interested in getting off campus as quickly as possible. Anyway, I realize we’ve gotten off track, in terms of this being a new AD thread. 

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back to the AD topic. any idea when they are going to start doing the first set of screening or even just laying out the criteria for the ideal candidate?

to 88's point above the new AD needs to focus on that sentiment. It's a pretty tired take IMO. I never viewed Towson as a commuter school growing up in the DC area; I very much doubt all the kids from PA, Jersey and New York do. College park and Mason are suburbs of DC, yet both have athletic success at various levels. the point being there are plenty of schools in major metro areas that still create a connection to campus through athletics.  Towson needs to stop trying to be 'Baltimore's this... Baltimore's that..'  Realize that Baltimore as a whole isn't going to care and focus on the people who have a connection to the school.  Just as a mind shift I'd love for people to start thinking of Towson as Maryland's....(pay a branding agency here - honestly anything but teachers college or affordable... no one likes to be called cheap)

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40 minutes ago, TheGoldCrotchPiece said:

back to the AD topic. any idea when they are going to start doing the first set of screening or even just laying out the criteria for the ideal candidate?

to 88's point above the new AD needs to focus on that sentiment. It's a pretty tired take IMO. I never viewed Towson as a commuter school growing up in the DC area; I very much doubt all the kids from PA, Jersey and New York do. College park and Mason are suburbs of DC, yet both have athletic success at various levels. the point being there are plenty of schools in major metro areas that still create a connection to campus through athletics.  Towson needs to stop trying to be 'Baltimore's this... Baltimore's that..'  Realize that Baltimore as a whole isn't going to care and focus on the people who have a connection to the school.  Just as a mind shift I'd love for people to start thinking of Towson as Maryland's....(pay a branding agency here - honestly anything but teachers college or affordable... no one likes to be called cheap)

I would assume they start early in January for the AD search, but with the COVID, either they meet with masks or start Zooming. Or maybe it gets delayed.

I 100% agree about the commuter school thing. Not with over 10,000 students on or near campus. As for the Baltimore part, I see what you are saying and where are you from. A different approach, but we're not Maryland's team. Not even close with an FCS team, a 5,500-seat Arena and 11,000-seat stadium and lovely Flo Sports carrying our games. I'd just go it alone. We're Towson University. Sounds like a private school and we give you some of the private schools' amenities with smaller classes. We also are moving towards the future. We went from nearly losing our football program in 1990 to making the championship game in 2013-14. That should be highlighted. Emphasize the positives. Move ahead or move backwards. Maybe we need that young and energetic AD that will take us to the next level that knows the school and the program, but has enough experience elsewhere where new ideas could help. 

I've been really down on attendance, esp. the students. But I think they've proven that they'll come to football if we win, if the weather is nice and tailgating is strong. Hoops is tougher with no tailgating so you basically have to give them a reason to come aside from a winning team. Unfortunately, the new AD will realize that they are dealing with no students from now through late January and that's always an issue.

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On 12/3/2021 at 10:36 PM, mat1992 said:

 

I am old enough to remember these days. The campus was buzzing with excitement. 

March 5, 1977: Roger Dickens' 35 points, eight in overtime, lead top-ranked Towson State to a 92-87 comeback win over the University of Baltimore for the NCAA Division II South Atlantic regional championship before an announced 4,419 at Towson Center. The Tigers (27-2) will play Sacred Heart in the D-II quarterfinals — and lose by three points.

 

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