The stadium is in a horrible spot to draw a bigger crowd than it does now. No where near enough parking by the stadium. Not enough room for people to tailgate. No real downtown area for fans to hang out after the game. No matter what UNA does they also will not draw fans when Alabama or Auburn are playing. I guess they can be a rent a win for a few teams every year.
UNA moving to FCS in Football/D1 in other Sports
- Thread starter RedStar
- Start date
As an alumnus of UNA, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. This was a monumentally stupid thing to do right now. The local economy in Florence needs that commerce from the Div. II NC Game. No wonder local merchants are so upset. This is NOT the time to be raising tuition either. When they send me the yearly alumni dun asking me for money, I think I'll pass this year.
The competition for UNA will not change drastically, and they can remain competitive. UNA will have to
schedule a couple of 'money' games to generate revenue. If Jax St can beat Ole Miss, then UNA can too.
Folks still give Troy a hard time for trying to play with the big boys. However some of the victims of Troys madness are Okie St,Miss St, Marshall and Missouri. On a couple of occasions Troy has played LSU off of their feet, literally giving one game away. I am without a doubt a Bama fan first and if Bama and Troy were recruiting the same caliber athletes then I want them to go to Bama. But I cannot think of a single player off hand that both schools recruited. Troy also routinely goes to the lesser bowl games. They will play anybody that will put on shoulder pads and not be shy about. 'Keep it down home cuz' brought some extra luggage with him when he came, but like him or not he is a pretty good motivator. Sometimes his marginal athletes will step up and take it to another level.
Having said that it still boils down to dollars and cents(sense?). Good luck UNA.
schedule a couple of 'money' games to generate revenue. If Jax St can beat Ole Miss, then UNA can too.
Folks still give Troy a hard time for trying to play with the big boys. However some of the victims of Troys madness are Okie St,Miss St, Marshall and Missouri. On a couple of occasions Troy has played LSU off of their feet, literally giving one game away. I am without a doubt a Bama fan first and if Bama and Troy were recruiting the same caliber athletes then I want them to go to Bama. But I cannot think of a single player off hand that both schools recruited. Troy also routinely goes to the lesser bowl games. They will play anybody that will put on shoulder pads and not be shy about. 'Keep it down home cuz' brought some extra luggage with him when he came, but like him or not he is a pretty good motivator. Sometimes his marginal athletes will step up and take it to another level.
Having said that it still boils down to dollars and cents(sense?). Good luck UNA.
Keep this in mind:
UNA isn't trying to spend another $3.5 million per year to get on the same level as Troy, which is DI. UNA is trying to spend another $3.5 million per year, roughly an 87% increase in their athletic budget, to get on the same level as Tennessee Tech.
Let that sink in for a bit.
By the way...
Check out what UNA student body president Ralph Akalonu had to say before the vote:
It can't be said any better than that.
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As someone with a degree from UNA, that says it all. When you have a degree from a smaller university, you're always having to compete with the degrees from the larger universities, and the best thing a small U can do is make sure that degree can compete as well as possible. It's their top responsibility to keep academic programs accredited and competitive. I enjoyed it when we won 3 straight Div. 2 NC's as much as anyone. It was fun, but sports isn't everything. I just don't want my alma mater screwing up the university just to move up in athletic competition. Where is this $3.5 million coming from? The state doesn't have it. The community doesn't have it. We don't have a lot of super-rich alumni and a huge endowment fund. So where?
Well, that's kind of a problem considering that the athletic director is counting on new annual donations of $500,000 a piece and an increase in corporate sponsorship as two of the major ways to pay for upgrade.
Don't have an iron in this fire but I see a bunch of beat downs in UNA's future. Gonna have to schedule a bunch of Nebraska's, Florida St.'s Texas's etc. And all on the road! Believe I would just give up football if I was them!
I doubt they would have much of a problem playing the big boys and getting huge paydays locally. You know UcheaT would probably play them, as would Georgia Tech and UthuGA and a few others. Not a far drive and they would make a good payday!Don't have an iron in this fire but I see a bunch of beat downs in UNA's future. Gonna have to schedule a bunch of Nebraska's, Florida St.'s Texas's etc. And all on the road! Believe I would just give up football if I was them!
Is this wishful thinking? Or does he have reason to believe this is possible? I know that UNA could get good paydays from playing some of the big boys, but will this be enough? This is going to be expensive.
Speaking for my alma mater, I could not believe it when I read someone's facebook status. I am not sure that was the best move really
I think the students see that they won't be a football power when they move up.
The tiny schools on the present schedule will be replaced by larger more competitive football schools.
Bowden is a good coach and recruiter, so we can expect UNA to become more competitive in a couple of years.
The move will make recruiting easier for UNA.
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Think back to 'Daddy Bowden' and his philosophy of 'We'll play anyone, anywhere'... FSU did that when they were trying to make it to the big time. FSU didn't have the money either, but the football program eventually got on it's feet.
For UNA to get on it's feet, they will have to be on a lot of 'Homecoming Schedules', and they will have to have community support. (Missing right now)
Well, I live here in Florence and I don't know if they'll ever have the community support needed. And now, a lot of the local business community is PO'ed because they see lost revenue by having to give up the Div II NC game, etc.
Yes, but they didn't. I could see POSSIBLY considering the move if we lost the game, but we havn't.
Possibly. Our facilities are on par, but I would not say better than all of these.
Apples and Oranges
I did. I actually enjoyed the UNA games and being among the best programs in the division.
DII football is stuggling. No doubt about that, but it was not dead. UNA did not have to do this now. That is the crux of the issue. The timing is horrible.
They are doing it in the face of EVERYONE. If they really believe this is the right thing to do I don't fault them for ignoring everyone, but they better be able to bear the back lash.
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Risking destruction of the football program to get more competition for the other sports is a huge gamble. Hopefully at least one sport (baseball being the most likely) will be competitive. I doubt you will see near the attendance at any of the sports. IF the football program was drawing enough revenue to keep the other sports functional I doubt it will for a good while.
One other thing most people do not know is that the revenue from the concessions at UNA's football games went to the Florence High School band program. I do not see this lasting either.
I'm not sure about that because Bama does the same thing. Organizations work the concessions and make money for it.
Moving up to the next Division is always fun. I mean look what my alma mater, WKU Big Red Blobs, has been able to accomplish as an FBS school. They had a streak of 20+ games where they didn't get into the win column. Not saying this will happen to UNA, but when you lose you don't get support. The NCAA has strict guidelines for attendance on top of the fees you have to pay them. You don't hit your attendance goal for the length of your initial probation you get bumped back down and lose your entrance fee. I wish UNA all the best, hopefully the can be a bright spot despite the protests.
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