The football future poll

[stevemaz]

I actually agree with Maz for once. I like our university playing at the highest level in football. No matter what a lot of people think on here, it puts us on a higher level than the other state institutions in the northeast. We just need some competency at the top. A lot of the stuff we complain about doesn't have to do with a lack of funding, it's a lack of leadership and attention to detail. The parking/tailgating situation and advertising for 2023 season/single game tickets during your final game are two examples. There are small fixes you can make to the stadium to enclose the field and make it a much better experience, like bringing the closest seats on each side down to a normal stadium level and building an enclosure wall all around the field. Adding small sections of bleachers behind the two end zones behind the wall would tie in both sides of the stadium and allow you to walk around without walking outside. Having some working bathrooms underneath each side. Basically making a nice concourse for people to be able to move about all around the stadium when you go through the gates. Those are fixes that should have happened in the beginning in 2012 and I bet most people wouldn't really notice it that much but intuitively they would feel it when they are inside the stadium. We're not talking about huge $ here. As I have said, you need a football czar (it would be cool if they named an official person) that knows the ins and outs of everything for big time FBS football. It's not difficult stuff, but need a person that knows how to lead an organization, is diligent in details and follow up and able to delegate duties but also make sure those projects are done.

I agree buddy.. i was just busting your balls on the name calling.. i know you are a UMass true blue guy..

[Quann]

^^^^
It’s all good Maz I got a little heated too, I know you want the same for the university and its football program. I think all of us emailing the new chancellor could be helpful. Worth a shot.

[MikeUMA]

I'm in the camp that says we shouldn't have left FCS in the first place.

That is a ludicrous camp to be in.. The reason is that the NCAA is going to split up soon.. The 9 football conferences and Big East will be splitting from the rest very soon. There are very few schools outside of those conferences that will be pulled in. Gonzaga, UMass, and whomever CUSA adds is the short list.

I'm not following you. If football is the reason for your expected NCAA fracture, what role does the Big East have there? What role does Gonzaga have there?

And if UMass isn't in this new football centric NCAA, so what? We die as an institution?

[MikeUMA]

Keep in mind that the Patriots are going to be irrelevant for years to come so the door is wide open to build a fan base for both BC and UMass

So we should go bigger on UM football because the Patriots might struggle? That's not really a strategy to bank on. BC might benefit a little purely because of proximity, but even a consistently good UM FBS team (which is itself a stretch) isn't going to draw a bunch of new Boston-area fans. Many in Boston think the world ends at 128, much less 495, and we're even further past where the dragons live.

[ZooMass84]

Let me preface by saying I am a UConn fan so I really don't care what you guys do. However, I noticed you do not have a poll for your (Steve's) MAC discussion. I will mention I put a poll on the Boneyard regarding UConn's conference affiliation for football (independent vs. MAC/CUSA football-only). Independence is winning 60/40 right now.

In your case, I see three realistic options: stay the course, join CUSA for all sports, or join the MAC for all sports. UConn is not joining the MAC or C-USA football-only so those are not options for you guys either. So without further ado: the poll.

I allowed re-voting as some people could be swayed one way or another.

I was hoping to see a 4th option in this poll: Return to the FCS level.

I don't understand why considering it is so taboo. Someone explain it to me. Seriously, I'm willing to listen.

Major college football (FBS) in New England is not a thing. BC has been meh for years, while UM and UC are languishing.

I'm in the camp that says we shouldn't have left FCS in the first place.

Never going to happen. I'll explain it to you: like I've explained to Dumb User Name among others, the move has been made. UMass football has crossed the rubicon. Just google and read "UMass football crosses the Rubicon" written in 2013. That succinctly explains it. And the other reason is we are in too big a state population wise to have a 1AA flagship state university. I know losing to UConn sucks along with the EMU and New Mexico games but as far as i'm concerned this has not been a horrendous season. Beating NMSU (10-3) and Army on the road were signature wins for this program. Yeah 3-9 is pretty bad but compared to the Coach Gomer and Molnar days this is pretty good. Basically, UMass football is like the Buffalo Bills. They find ways to lose, rather than finds ways to win. It's just the way it is. Buffalo lost 4 straight Super Bowls and UMass has lost games like the Temple blocked PAT game that is almost impossible to lose. Sort of like in poker when the other guy catches his one-outer to win it.
Also disagree with BC being meh for years. They are in the ACC and are going bowling this year.

[stevemaz]

Keep in mind that the Patriots are going to be irrelevant for years to come so the door is wide open to build a fan base for both BC and UMass

So we should go bigger on UM football because the Patriots might struggle? That's not really a strategy to bank on. BC might benefit a little purely because of proximity, but even a consistently good UM FBS team (which is itself a stretch) isn't going to draw a bunch of new Boston-area fans. Many in Boston think the world ends at 128, much less 495, and we're even further past where the dragons live.

Yes and uphill climb but i would say UMass needs to market themselves to Western Mass sports fans first. I have been asking those that i know why would they waste time and money going to a Pats game next year or over the next decade and flip their primary footbal allegiance to UMass football like i have.

[Rolling Ridge]

I was hoping to see a 4th option in this poll: Return to the FCS level.

I don't understand why considering it is so taboo. Someone explain it to me. Seriously, I'm willing to listen.

The answer is simple and has been discussed many times. It's more profitable to the University along a number of dimensions to be in FBS, even with a losing record. This is not simply about putting fans in seats to watch a few games in the fall. For UMass, this is about national perception, donor relations, and tapping into the larger revenue streams that FBS provides to manage the overall Athletic Department in a changing NCAA environment.

We were among the very best FCS programs in the country, and what did the University have to show for it? I'd argue, very little. We complain about the facilities today, but they are infinitely better than they were in the 2000s when we were at, or near, our FCS peak. We don't get any of those improvements without the move to FBS. Athletic donorship is vastly higher, and even over the past past few years of poor football performance, has grown tremendously. People are willing to invest in this because it has potential for the University far beyond what FCS could ever bring.

UMass has made a lot of mistakes in managing the transition: poor coaching choices, not investing enough up front, perhaps not sticking with the MAC and the guaranteed revenue streams and recruiting opportunities of that conference, or finding another conference affiliation soon enough. All that has hurt us and made the on-the-field product worse than it might otherwise have been. But that does not mean the fundamental decision to move to FBS was unsound, that simply means it wasn't handled well. Even with that, the program has improved in many ways - facilities, coaching salaries, donor support - and fan attendance has not dropped that significantly.

We now have a new Chancellor who goes to the games and has a genuine interest in the football program. A lot of what has hurt us could be rectified, and but for a few plays in a couple of games, we might have seen our best ever FBS performance this year. It's been slow and excruciatingly painful, but we are headed in the right direction, and the alternative brings little to no upside to the University. If we literally cannot find a conference affiliation in the next few years, then I might consider alternatives, but I don't think now is the time to be talking about going backward and squandering what momentum has been achieved.

[MikeUMA]

Just google and read "UMass football crosses the Rubicon" written in 2013. That succinctly explains it.

Found that.
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2013/1 ... -peter-may
I'll read it further over lunch.

At 10 years old, is there any part of that piece's general premise that doesn't hold up anymore, or is it still pretty much on point?

[Quann]

Just here to say that map is awesome. A lot of chuckles reading that.

[dennisdent]

Delaware to the CUSA and UMass rots as an Independent!!! Hope Bamford is up to something but not feeling that he is...

[eldonabe]

Just google and read "UMass football crosses the Rubicon" written in 2013. That succinctly explains it.

Found that.
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2013/1 ... -peter-may
I'll read it further over lunch.

At 10 years old, is there any part of that piece's general premise that doesn't hold up anymore, or is it still pretty much on point?

Started to read it then I saw the picture of that asshat Molnar and had to stop reading.... He fucking killed us - possibly THE worst coaching hire in any sport in UMass history.

[ZooMass84]

Just google and read "UMass football crosses the Rubicon" written in 2013. That succinctly explains it.

Found that.
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2013/1 ... -peter-may
I'll read it further over lunch.

At 10 years old, is there any part of that piece's general premise that doesn't hold up anymore, or is it still pretty much on point?

Just as applicable today as it was then. Just read it and it fits to a "T". UMass football is sort of like the Buffalo Bills. They find ways to lose in improbable ways. Temple blocked PAT, Hawaii muffed kick off or punt return, numerous games recently when the other team wins on the last play of the game. But then there is UMass hockey!!!! I know the stars aligned when we won the 2021 National Championship but it was great. Football on the other hand has been a series of terrible hires/shitty facilities/etc. It really sucks to think that THIS season could have been 6 wins if only we didn't play Auburn #2 game and Puma got hurt. Puma is something special and a true P5 player and we were lucky to get him. Could never have beaten NMSU without him.

[eldonabe]

The crux of that story is right on the money - The northeast does not give a shit about college football like the rest of the country does. It never really has and it never will.

Drop the mic....

[stevemaz]

The crux of that story is right on the money - The northeast does not give a shit about college football like the rest of the country does. It never really has and it never will.

Drop the mic....

Mostly true statement here, but the thing is that we do not need to give a shit like the rest of the country. we just need to give enough shit to fill a 30k seat stadium to 80% capacity.

[minutefanjsf]

The crux of that story is right on the money - The northeast does not give a shit about college football like the rest of the country does. It never really has and it never will.

Drop the mic....

Mostly true statement here, but the thing is that we do not need to give a shit like the rest of the country. we just need to give enough shit to fill a 30k seat stadium to 80% capacity.

Agree. Also, the northeast has never had college football aside from BC and Syracuse. All the other Northeast football teams like, Army, UMass, Holy Cross, Harvard, Yale, have were left behind starting in the 1960s and 1970s. All of those teams had moments in the sun. The 1a 1aa split crushed any hope of staying relevant on the national scene. Northeast fans thus became supported of ND, Penn State or whoever they wanted.