Which Start Up Will Have the Most Success at the FCS Level? [Archive]

lionsrking2

February 13th, 2010, 09:22 PM

I voted for ODU because it seems they've done a great job getting their house in order out of the chute, but I wouldn't sleep on Georgia State...they have Atlanta just about all to themselves as far as in-state FCS recruiting, and could easily build a powerhouse in short order...I know we've recruited Georgia heavily in the past and as a state, it's highly productive and under recruited, relatively speaking.

ngineer

February 13th, 2010, 09:27 PM

ODU is already fast out of the box...

dbackjon

February 13th, 2010, 09:28 PM

http://fohn.net/monarch-butterfly-pictures/monarch-butterfly_large.jpg

Ivytalk

February 13th, 2010, 09:35 PM

Ye Olde Dominion, by Jove!

Tribe4SF

February 14th, 2010, 08:47 AM

ODU...good coaching, good recruiting, good fan support, and a good start. Campbell and Lamar just don't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. And I don't think the GStU administration knows what they are doing.

Ga. St. fans would see your comment as jealousy since they already believe they've passed Ga. So. ;)

If Georgia State didn't have to be compared to ODU, they probably would seem ok at this point. We'll see how things go with attendance next fall, but they don't seem to have generated a response from the area to match their expectations. If they end up as a program averaging 10,000 a game, that wouldn't be bad, but with Curry's, and their die-hards' expectations, that number might let air out of the tires. If attendamce ends up worse than that, I think there will be wide spread disappointment. They seem to be banking on the popularity of high school football in the Atlanta area to translate into an expanded fan base for them. While that may prove to be the case, it will probably take some time to put paying customers in the seats.

blackcaesar3k5

February 15th, 2010, 02:18 AM

My money is on Georgia State...

49RFootballNow

February 15th, 2010, 08:10 AM

My money is on Charlotte, literally!

SpeedkingATL

February 15th, 2010, 08:30 AM

49RFootballNow

February 15th, 2010, 08:47 AM

I'll go with GA State primarily because they have a proven coach and because there is so much HS talent in the Atlanta area. Half of App States recruits this year came from the ATL metro area. ODU has gotten off to a great start but I expect GA State to be a very strong program in 3-4 years.

Georgia State is going to be an interesting one to watch this next decade, especially for us in Charlotte. The 2 Universities have a lot of similarities on the surface and I would not be surprised, especially if Charlotte becomes a football affiliate of the CAA, if we're tied at the hip for some time. We were once tied at the hip with South Florida, but we made some poor choices back in the mid-90's in relation to football.

Georgia State's biggest problem will be the close proximity of both Georgia and Georgia Tech. If Charlotte had 2 FBS schools within 50 miles of us, or just 1, we would still be fighting our administration to get a program started.

paward

February 15th, 2010, 09:01 AM

Ga State will benefit from being close to Ga Tech and UGA. The talent level is strong and there will be a ton of people that fall between the cracks. It will be interesting to see how they draw being in the dome. High school host the finals now in the dome and players strive to be there. If the crowds are good some local players may opt to go there instead of leaving the state. If you look at the players from the metro Atl area the played on teams out of state fcs teams the pass four years you would have see the talent is here.

Skjellyfetti

February 15th, 2010, 09:06 AM

Pretty tough to make a call between Ga. State and ODU at this point...

CID1990

February 15th, 2010, 09:23 AM

I see ODU thriving in the FCS setting because that is what they aspire to.

GA State and Charlotte see FCS as nothing more than a stepping stone to FBS and will devote resources to that end, but I do not see a Marshall-type presence from them prior to them moving up.

Monarch Nation

February 15th, 2010, 09:57 AM

My money is on Charlotte, literally!

I certainly understand that. I've written more checks to ODU in the past three years than I ever did as a student (and I paid my own way).

Hammer22

February 15th, 2010, 11:17 AM

And I don't think the GStU administration knows what they are doing.

Ga. St. fans would see your comment as jealousy since they already believe they've passed Ga. So. ;)

Tribe, you are absolutely correct on that front. He has no idea what he is talking about.

49RFootballNow

February 15th, 2010, 11:24 AM

I certainly understand that. I've written more checks to ODU in the past three years than I ever did as a student (and I paid my own way).

Unless you're one of ODU's millionaire boosters I hope there's some hyperbole in this statement. I've contributed a good deal for my seat licenses and 49er Club membership but no where near what my tuition was.

tribefan40

February 15th, 2010, 11:41 AM

I think ODU is off to a great start and will be an excellent addition to the CAA, it will be interesting to see how things go for them this year and next as competition begins to step up. xtwocentsx

Franks Tanks

February 15th, 2010, 11:43 AM

txstatebobcat

February 15th, 2010, 12:10 PM

ODU has been doing amazing things so I voted for them.

Charlotte and Lamar should also see success, but they are in FCS areas already and may have a bit more difficulty recruiting/ (Lamar is close to McNeese as I gather and will be fighting for many of the same recruits.)

I think Lamar took two or three steps back when they scheduled so many SLC teams in their first year. I seriously doubt that they will win more than 2-3 games this upcoming season.

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

09/04/10 at McNeese State Lake Charles, La. 7:00 p.m. CT
09/11/10 vs. Webber International Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
09/18/10 at Southeastern Louisiana Hammond, La. TBA
09/25/10 at Stephen F. Austin Nacogdoches, Texas 6:00 p.m. CT
10/02/10 vs. Sam Houston State Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/09/10 vs. Langston Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/16/10 vs. South Alabama Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/30/10 at North Dakota Grand Forks, N.D. TBA
11/06/10 at Georgia State Atlanta, Ga. TBA
11/13/10 vs. South Dakota Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
11/20/10 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA

Seven Would Be Nice

February 15th, 2010, 12:17 PM

Ga State... talent rich state and lots of money to throw at it.

I hope I'm wrong and they fail miserably after getting the snot kicked out of them by us! :D

Franks Tanks

February 15th, 2010, 01:35 PM

I think Lamar took two or three steps back when they scheduled so many SLC teams in their first year. I seriously doubt that they will win more than 2-3 games this upcoming season.

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

09/04/10 at McNeese State Lake Charles, La. 7:00 p.m. CT
09/11/10 vs. Webber International Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
09/18/10 at Southeastern Louisiana Hammond, La. TBA
09/25/10 at Stephen F. Austin Nacogdoches, Texas 6:00 p.m. CT
10/02/10 vs. Sam Houston State Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/09/10 vs. Langston Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/16/10 vs. South Alabama Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
10/30/10 at North Dakota Grand Forks, N.D. TBA
11/06/10 at Georgia State Atlanta, Ga. TBA
11/13/10 vs. South Dakota Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA
11/20/10 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State Provost Umphrey Stadium TBA

That is a difficult first year schedule-- much harder than ODU's year one lineup.

Georgia State, South Alabama, and Lamar appear to all be playing each other (makes sense of course) perhaps they can hand out a FCS virgin trophy to the winner of the first year matchups.

Lamar can at leat chalk u win likley win vs. Panhandle State-- they are awful.

Monarch Nation

February 15th, 2010, 01:54 PM

Unless you're one of ODU's millionaire boosters I hope there's some hyperbole in this statement. I've contributed a good deal for my seat licenses and 49er Club membership but no where near what my tuition was.

Infer from this what you will but after looking over my bank statements, I stand by my post.

JMU Newbill

February 15th, 2010, 02:44 PM

Let's not get too excited about ODU just yet. 1) Fan bases don't win football games, football teams win football games (see Villanova). 2) They played a patty cake schedule this year. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming years when/if they play the full CAA slate of games. 3) In terms of recruiting, ODU probably won several recruits over in VA, specifically in the 757 area, by being the new thing on the block. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain the recruiting base down there in coming years, or if Virginia Tech/UVA/UR/JMU goes back to landing more recruits from the area.

Not saying that ODU won't be successful, they did have a great start. But let's just not get too ahead of ourselves.

Longhorn

February 15th, 2010, 03:00 PM

This poll is incomplete, and thus meaningless without UTSA as one of the choices.

PhoenixSupreme

February 15th, 2010, 04:13 PM

I voted for ODU because they already have a leg up in that they've played a season already. But I can see UNC-Charlotte rising fast because Charlotte tends to put out a fair amount of decent players, and if they can get the players from their own city, especially players from Independence HS, they can have a solid team within a couple years.

seantaylor

February 15th, 2010, 04:40 PM

ODU. The real talent in the state of Georgia is in south Georgia, and Georgia State is a commuter school that will be overshadowed by Tech and thUGA.

TexasTerror

February 15th, 2010, 04:46 PM

This poll is incomplete, and thus meaningless without UTSA as one of the choices.

If you read the initial post, you would see that we are talking about programs that intend to stay at the FCS level, atleast in the short term.

Both SOUTH ALABAMA and UTSA are not planning to stay in FCS longer than they have to, on their way to FBS.

appsfan

February 15th, 2010, 04:52 PM

SaintDK10

February 15th, 2010, 05:05 PM

When it comes to initial attendance and fan support -- probably ODU or Charlotte.

If we're talking about the product on the field -- my money's on GSU.

JDC325

February 16th, 2010, 08:09 PM

My money is on Georgia State...

Local talent trumps all. GaSt only has to recruit in about 30-50 mile radius at most to be an elite FCS team and 90% of their alumni are probably less than 30 minutes from campus. It will take about four to six years but unfortunately GaSt will do well.

Lamar Cardinals 2010

February 16th, 2010, 09:35 PM

I don't think Charlotte and Georgia St. are gonna stick around. They are in a better location to get picked up than Lamar who wants to be FBS someday.

DEX

February 17th, 2010, 01:47 AM

When it comes to initial attendance and fan support -- probably ODU or Charlotte.

If we're talking about the product on the field -- my money's on GSU.

Surprising the Charlotte community doesn't appear to be excited about the possibility of Charlotte football so far.

49RFootballNow

February 17th, 2010, 08:55 AM

Surprising the Charlotte community doesn't appear to be excited about the possibility of Charlotte football so far.

I don't expect the city to get excited for this team till we move to FBS. They might get excited towards time for the first game or even during stadium construction, but I'm not putting much faith in that. The city is full of ACC Wal-Mart fans, the local media is indifferent to us on the best of days and the University's PR department is straight out of the 1930's.

But we don't need any of that if we can just get the students and the alums to be excited. We don't expect 40,000 people to show up on day one, we just need 15,000 to. Then we build from that point.

89Hen

February 17th, 2010, 09:04 AM

99% homer votes with everyone voting for the team in their conference (or region in the case of Charlotte). xlolx

89Hen

February 17th, 2010, 09:06 AM

Local talent trumps all. GaSt only has to recruit in about 30-50 mile radius at most to be an elite FCS team and 90%
You're assuming they will get the players. They will be picking up the scraps from UGA, GT, the dozens of I-A's that heavily recruit in Georgia...

JMU Newbill

February 17th, 2010, 09:32 AM

99% homer votes with everyone voting for the team in their conference (or region in the case of Charlotte). xlolx

Pretty sure I shot down the ODU idea... although I didn't exactly vote for anyone either

appmaj

February 17th, 2010, 11:16 AM

DFW HOYA

February 17th, 2010, 11:53 AM

Local talent trumps all. GaSt only has to recruit in about 30-50 mile radius at most to be an elite FCS team and 90% of their alumni are probably less than 30 minutes from campus.

If GSU recruits in a 30 mile radius, it won't be enough.

49RFootballNow

February 17th, 2010, 12:24 PM

xrolleyesx

Oh No! I let the cat out of the bag!xrotatehx

It's not like every official study we've done has not indicated that we would be aiming for FBS, or that we have stadium rendering showing the stadium expanded to 40,000 seats. Not exactly state secrets being revealed here.xrolleyesx

Hammer22

February 17th, 2010, 02:11 PM

If GSU recruits in a 30 mile radius, it won't be enough.

Don't worry. We are recruiting nationwide. We have recruits from California, South Florida, and Texas. We even have two Samoan brothers (including the hair lol) that are on campus now. Curry and staff is bringing the talent to the field.

appmaj

February 17th, 2010, 02:55 PM

Oh No! I let the cat out of the bag!xrotatehx

It's not like every official study we've done has not indicated that we would be aiming for FBS, or that we have stadium rendering showing the stadium expanded to 40,000 seats. Not exactly state secrets being revealed here.xrolleyesx

Get a team 1st....then start talking about moving up

Monarch History

February 17th, 2010, 03:41 PM

I don't expect the city to get excited for this team till we move to FBS. They might get excited towards time for the first game or even during stadium construction, but I'm not putting much faith in that. The city is full of ACC Wal-Mart fans, the local media is indifferent to us on the best of days and the University's PR department is straight out of the 1930's.

But we don't need any of that if we can just get the students and the alums to be excited. We don't expect 40,000 people to show up on day one, we just need 15,000 to. Then we build from that point.

I'm glad that the 49ers' are getting football. I hope that Charlotte and ODU can establish a rivalry. I have several concerns with your statement. I know the Charlotte area and you are definitely right, the ACC is king in the area and the local media is indifferent to all your programs. They have tried to sabotage the establishment of Charlotte football from day one. ODU has great media support and thus is in the public's eye. A recent consultant report recommended expansion of our clam-shell design ASAP. With that in mind the school still is advocating a FCS program for the foreseeable future.

I would find it irresponsible for a school administration to take the stance, "if we build it they will come." Just look at projected university and college budgets cuts across the nation. ODU was fortunate that we already had a stadium that only needed renovations. Our governor today recommended massive cuts in education.

Looking at your feasibility study the low end of estimates for a 30,000 seat stadium and auxilary capital expenditures of an additional expenditures are nearly $80 million. IMHO by the time it is built you can add another $5-$10 Million for inflation and cost overrun. Is that something your school is willing to take on at this time? I would like to see your program successful. I would hope your University would take it slowly.

49RFootballNow

February 17th, 2010, 05:58 PM

I'm glad that the 49ers' are getting football. I hope that Charlotte and ODU can establish a rivalry. I have several concerns with your statement. I know the Charlotte area and you are definitely right, the ACC is king in the area and the local media is indifferent to all your programs. They have tried to sabotage the establishment of Charlotte football from day one. ODU has great media support and thus is in the public's eye. A recent consultant report recommended expansion of our clam-shell design ASAP. With that in mind the school still is advocating a FCS program for the foreseeable future.

I would find it irresponsible for a school administration to take the stance, "if we build it they will come." Just look at projected university and college budgets cuts across the nation. ODU was fortunate that we already had a stadium that only needed renovations. Our governor today recommended massive cuts in education.

Looking at your feasibility study the low end of estimates for a 30,000 seat stadium and auxilary capital expenditures of an additional expenditures are nearly $80 million. IMHO by the time it is built you can add another $5-$10 Million for inflation and cost overrun. Is that something your school is willing to take on at this time? I would like to see your program successful. I would hope your University would take it slowly.

Right now all we're doing is building a 15,000 seat stadium and a football center. It's in my signature below. That's $45 million dollars and is being funded through our recently approved debt service fee increase. Clearly we wouldn't expand beyond that unless there was additional demand for seating or an excellent FBS conference affiliation were offered on condition of stadium size. The down economy actually has been a silver lining for our plan because interest rates, materials and labor costs are now at a very low level and will allow us to get more bang for our buck.

Get a team 1st....then start talking about moving up

By the way appmaj, Man U is bollucks! It's all about the Arsenal son!

http://www.iconspedia.com/uploads/1086291619.png

El Gato

February 17th, 2010, 07:58 PM

99% homer votes with everyone voting for the team in their conference (or region in the case of Charlotte). xlolx

ehh...true. I voted for Lamar.

TexasTerror

February 17th, 2010, 08:02 PM

99% homer votes with everyone voting for the team in their conference (or region in the case of Charlotte). xlolx

I voted ODU! xnodx

Lamar just does not seem to be doing it right in my books.

El Gato

February 17th, 2010, 08:06 PM

I voted ODU! xnodx

Lamar just does not seem to be doing it right in my books.

I kind of agree, but to be honest I do not know much about the other start up programs and gave the benefit of the doubt to the SLC team.

NoCoDanny

February 17th, 2010, 10:05 PM

Lamar is a serious darkhorse, what with their limp wristed throwing style and all.

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/javelinlamar_071206_1.jpg

PantherRob82

February 17th, 2010, 11:19 PM

I went with ODU. They just seem to be doing things right and are in a great conference and location.

TXST_CAT

February 18th, 2010, 05:41 AM

This poll is incomplete, and thus meaningless without UTSA as one of the choices.

Ahh UTSA has arrived wearing burnt orange and all. xlolxxsmhxxlolxxoopsx

appmaj

February 18th, 2010, 06:14 AM

By the way appmaj, Man U is bollucks! It's all about the Arsenal son!

http://www.iconspedia.com/uploads/1086291619.png

Better Luck Next Year on that one...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=270105&cc=5901

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=270106&cc=5901

http://s5.tinypic.com/33tkvg8_th.jpg

elon77

February 18th, 2010, 07:41 AM

99% homer votes with everyone voting for the team in their conference (or region in the case of Charlotte). xlolx

Mine wasn't. I voted ODU, but I do live near them and saw them play several times this past year. Everyone remember when you talk about your favorite team and who they lost and who they have coming back, ODU has everyone back except one and he wasn't a starter. Yes they did have a cupcake schedule, but they did beat a so so VMI team on the road, a team most people thought they would lose to. They will have a year of added size, strength, conditioning, experience and a whole bunch of red shirts that will add depth. I know their schedule will be upgraded this year, but they just might, MIGHT, surprise some people again this year.

appmaj

February 18th, 2010, 08:04 AM

Mine wasn't. I voted ODU, but I do live near them and saw them play several times this past year. Everyone remember when you talk about your favorite team and who they lost and who they have coming back, ODU has everyone back except one and he wasn't a starter. Yes they did have a cupcake schedule, but they did beat a so so VMI team on the road, a team most people thought they would lose to. They will have a year of added size, strength, conditioning, experience and a whole bunch of red shirts that will add depth. I know their schedule will be upgraded this year, but they just might, MIGHT, surprise some people again this year.

Mine either...only 2 schools have actually fielded a team; 1 seems to be set up for success more than the other

89Hen

February 18th, 2010, 11:46 AM

they did beat a so so VMI team on the road, a team most people thought they would lose to. They will have a year of added size, strength, conditioning, experience and a whole bunch of red shirts that will add depth. I know their schedule will be upgraded this year, but they just might, MIGHT, surprise some people again this year.
Won't surprise me. If you were around the G-W thread, you know that I was on the ODU bandwagon from the start. :)

The Cats

February 24th, 2010, 11:48 AM

http://ninernation.net/index.php?topic=26134.0

A poster on the 49er board.... "Show these folks the power of the Nation." xbangx

49RFootballNow

February 24th, 2010, 04:58 PM

http://ninernation.net/index.php?topic=26134.0

A poster on the 49er board.... "Show these folks the power of the Nation." xbangx

That's ME!!!!!!xhurrayx:Dxrotatehx

That's right, no shame.xrolleyesx

ThompsonThe

February 24th, 2010, 09:42 PM

That's ME!!!!!!xhurrayx:Dxrotatehx

That's right, no shame.xrolleyesx

How many FCS games does Charlotte have to lose before they go FBS.
You guys have your heads screwed on backwards. Talk, talk, talk....but very little support. Can't wait to see all those Charlotte players you try to recruit to go out of town like most high school seniors want to do. Hope you get your program up and running soon, because Campbell needs some easy wins.

JDC325

February 25th, 2010, 11:03 AM

You're assuming they will get the players. They will be picking up the scraps from UGA, GT, the dozens of I-A's that heavily recruit in Georgia...

GEORGIA Southern has done quite well being under the shadow of UGA and TECH. They recruit the same high schools GSU does. There is more than enough talent in this state to support another FCS and an FBS team.

JDC325

February 25th, 2010, 11:04 AM

If GSU recruits in a 30 mile radius, it won't be enough.

30 maybe a little short but the metro area of Atlanta has more than enough overflow talent waiting for GaSt. You need to do some research.

I guess we will know in about four to six years once a full real class gets through. I hope they fail miserably and you are right.

seantaylor

February 25th, 2010, 05:20 PM

30 maybe a little short but the metro area of Atlanta has more than enough overflow talent waiting for GaSt. You need to do some research.

I guess we will know in about four to six years once a full real class gets through. I hope they fail miserably and you are right.

I disagree with that. GSU recruits mainly from south to middle georgia, where the talent is better than north Georgia. Also, the real GSU heavily recruits Florida.

JohnStOnge

February 25th, 2010, 07:17 PM

I voted for Georgia State simply because it's located in the best local recruiting area. Lamar is close. But Georgia State is located right in Atlanta. Atlanta is not quite as good as Houston, but they're IN Atlanta while Lamar is about 70 miles from Houston. The area Lamar is actually IN is no slouch. But I'd have to give the nod in terms of talent located in the immediate area to Georgia State.

No guarantee, of course. If being located in a talent rich local recruiting area was the whole ball of wax we'd be talking about Sam Houston State being a dominant program over the years in FCS instead of programs like Montana, Appalachian State, Youngstown State, and Georgia Southern. But what the heck.

JohnStOnge

February 25th, 2010, 07:24 PM

I disagree with that. GSU recruits mainly from south to middle georgia, where the talent is better than north Georgia. Also, the real GSU heavily recruits Florida.

The Atlanta area is the most talent rich area of Georgia by far.

Syntax Error

February 25th, 2010, 07:28 PM

The Atlanta area is the most talent rich area of Georgia by far.

Please quote some sources for this assertion. TIA.

JohnStOnge

February 25th, 2010, 07:34 PM

If GSU recruits in a 30 mile radius, it won't be enough.

If they do ONLY within a 30 mile radius you're right. But it gives them an excellent base. As of 2004, anyway, the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area was producing more NFL players than the Miami, Houston, and Dallas MSAs were (http://rivals100.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=259348 ).

The Houston part actually surprised me.

JohnStOnge

February 25th, 2010, 07:35 PM

Please quote some sources for this assertion. TIA.

See my post right after yours. BEsides, think about how big Atlanta is. It's ridiculous to think that South and Middle Georgia produce more talent than North Georgia does given that Atlanta is located in North Georgia.

JohnStOnge

February 25th, 2010, 07:42 PM

Please quote some sources for this assertion. TIA.

Here's another one:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2010/recruits/starsearch.aspx

See the box about top citiies. Really, I don't think there's any question that Georgia State is in the best spot among the programs listed in terms of local recruiting base.

Hammer22

February 25th, 2010, 08:00 PM

It's good to hear other people not associated w/ G. State say this. xsmileyclapxxsmileyclapx The vast majority, not all, of Southern's negative comments about us are rooted in their jealousy about knowing that we are on par if not passed them and we haven't played a game yet. Their only response will probably be to name old championships they have won.

seantaylor

February 26th, 2010, 12:18 AM

The Atlanta area is the most talent rich area of Georgia by far.

No, it's not. It has more people, but the better players come out of the lower part of the state. GSU, under good leadership, had our choice in the area.

Tribe4SF

February 26th, 2010, 06:52 AM

I voted ODU because at this point they are way ahead of the others in terms of implementing their plan successfully. Facilities, fan support, and early success on the field are all checked off for them. I don't believe the quality, and quantity of local recruiting talent is a big factor in determining which school will have the most success. As time goes on, coaching, facilities, and fan support will draw good players whether they live close by, or not.

Regardless of who has the most success, it's good to see FCS growing with teams that look like they'll be quality programs.

JDC325

March 3rd, 2010, 11:40 AM

I disagree with that. GSU recruits mainly from south to middle georgia, where the talent is better than north Georgia. Also, the real GSU heavily recruits Florida.

It is not "much" better and you have a ton more kids to choose from in much smaller area. Ga State is just as close to Macon and closer to the Columbus area than GSU is as well. Regardless, neither schools has or will ever have trouble having top level FCS recruits available in state. They will not be like so many other schools who have no choice but to scour other states and try and convince a kid to go hundreds of miles away from family and familar surroundings to go play ball.