 | | Director of Athletics Ian McCaw will chat live Tuesday at 11 a.m. CST. |
Ian McCaw assumed the leadership of Baylor's 18-sport, Big 12 intercollegiate athletics program on Sept. 8, 2003. Baylor has experienced unprecedented success under McCaw in 2005. The women's basketball team captured the program's first NCAA championship and three teams - women's basketball and men's and women's tennis - captured Big 12 regular season titles, the most in the history of the school. Baylor enjoyed one of its most comprehensively successful years in 2003-04 including winning the first NCAA team championship in school history along with five NCAA individual titles. The men's tennis team captured the NCAA team championship, while Benjamin Becker won the NCAA men's singles title, Jeremy Wariner won the NCAA indoor and outdoor 400 meter titles and the 4x400-meter relay team captured the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. Baylor had 10 teams advance to 2003-04 NCAA postseason competition including women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, women's basketball, softball, men's and women's golf and men's tennis. An 11th Baylor program, women's tennis, had an individual participate in the national championships. In the final NACDA Cup rankings, Baylor finished 47th, and seven of its programs were ranked in the nation's top 25 at season's end. A five-year strategic plan for intercollegiate athletics was developed and implemented inclusive of department goals and objectives. Issues relating to the student-athlete experience, enhanced program competitiveness, equity, diversity, rules compliance, sporting conduct, external support, facility improvements and long-term financial stability were addressed. |
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 |  | Ian McCaw: Thank you for joining us for today's chat session. |
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| Steve (Dallas): Ian: I know posters from BaylorFans.com have come together to make a contribution to the new football facility pledging $100 per conference win this last year. How is the general fund raising coming? Typcially the univesrity doen't officially announce a fundraiser until at least 50% of the funds are pledged so I am guessing we have a ways to go. |
| | Ian McCaw: Thank you to you and the other posters on Baylorfans.com for making these contributions toward the football practice facility. This made a very strong statement about the support for this project among our fan base. At this point, approximately one-half of the funds have been committed. This project is vitally important to football recruiting and we hope that the momentum for this project continues and we are able to bring it to fruition soon. |
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| Josh (Waco): Is there any update on the football practice facility? You're doing an amazing job! |
| | Ian McCaw: Thank you for the kind words, Josh. The update is that we are pursuing gifts from donors interested in supporting the project and we need at least another $7 million to finish the project. |
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| James (McGregor, TX): I am excited after reading about the new offensive system and coach. Do you think this coach can put up the same numbers moving up from Division II. |
| | Ian McCaw: James, I share your excitement about the offensive system. The spread offense will be exciting for our players and entertaining for our fans. Coach Hays has established a track record of success in moving the football and scoring points at West Texas A&M and all of us are confident that he will do a terrific job at Baylor. We have nine returning starters on offense, so experience should be in our favor as well. |
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| Jeff in Rowlet: Thanks for all you are doing for the sports program at Baylor. I don't think it has ever been this good. I participated in the $100 per conference win towards the Football Practice Facility on Baylorfans.com and was wondering if you could give us an update on the project. I also heard that the academic center for athletes will be included in the project. Is that true. |
| | Ian McCaw: Jeff, most of your question has been answered above. There is serious consideration being given to including the academic center for student-athletes within this project. Most Big 12 schools have their Student Athlete Services area located in or adjacent to their football building. Although we have not made a final decision, this does seem to be a logical way to go. |
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| Earl, Hillsboro: It is a great time for Baylor with the teams doing so well and a new president. What are some things that us fans can look forward to in 2006? |
| | Ian McCaw: You are correct, 2005 has been a great year for Baylor Athletics and we hope for continued success next year! I have had the privilege of meeting President Lilley and am greatly encouraged about his experience, leadership and enthusiasm towards Athletics. We will look forward to welcoming him to Baylor early in the new year. A couple of early dates to circle on your calendar in 2006 are January 7 when the Lady Bears play Texas. This game was a sellout last year and we expect another great crowd and tremendous game. Also, January 14 is the men's basketball home opener against Oklahoma State and we want to fill the Ferrell Center for that game as well. |
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| Bubba - Abilene: I liked the good news on the academic work of our athletes in the Dallas Morning News. Baylor is on top and Texas is at the bottom. That says a whole lot. |
| | Ian McCaw: Bubba, there is a very positive story in today's Dallas Morning News about Baylor leading the Big 12 in Graduation Success Rate. The GSR is similar to NCAA graduation rates, but it takes into account student-athletes who transfer in good academic standing and a couple of other variables that make it a better indication of actual academic progress towards graduation. Baylor's success in this area is a credit to the outstanding student-athletes that we have at the university and the commitment from our coaches and staff to achieve academic excellence. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Ian, I'm hearing that the ISP deal has been a positive one for Baylor athletics. Can you give us an idea of how much revenue this arrangement has generated for Baylor athletics versus previous years where we handled our own marketing? Thanks... |
| | Ian McCaw: Jim, thanks for the question about ISP Sports relationship with Baylor Athletics. ISP serves as our marketing arm wherein they sell marketing opportunities to corporate sponsors. In turn, they return a guaranteed fee to the university along with a percentage of sales revenues at pre-determined thresholds. ISP represents 25 colleges including a number of other BCS conference institutions such as Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, UCLA and Boston College. The terms of this contract are confidential, however, it is accurate to say that ISP Sports has sold more corporate sponsorship and generated more revenue than ever before at Baylor. In addition, our guaranteed fee will assure the athletic department of more revenue that we have ever received from corporate sponsorship. |
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| Jim (Dallas): I saw a story on Inside Baylor Sports about the Equestrian program. It was mentioned that there were plans for BU to construct an equestrian facility. Are the plans drawn up for this facility and what is the projected price tag? |
| | Ian McCaw: Baylor's newest sport, Equestrian, had its inaugural season this past fall and will hold its competitive season this spring. The team did very well and we are excited about the response that we have received from prospective student-athletes and alumni. We are currently operating the program from Coach Ellen White's farm as we develop plans for a permanent facility. We have developed a preliminary set of plans and are working to acquire the necessary 40-60 acres of land for the facility. We expect that the total cost of this project will be somewhere in the range of $1 million. |
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| Kevin (Houston): Ian, This past year, I had the misfortune of spending a lot of time in the will call line at Floyd Casey. Are there any plans in the works to institute internet ticketing and printing, so fans can actually print out their tickets at home and bring them to the game? |
| | Ian McCaw: Kevin, unfortunately, your problem is not unique. We have a large number of fans who either order tickets during the week to pickup on game day or purchase tickets at the door. Of course, most of these fans arrive shortly before the game and we have a bottleneck at our various ticket offices. We are making a concerted effort to sell more season tickets and advance tickets to fans in order to reduce these lines on game day. We will also continue to explore the latest technology to allow for improved customer service. |
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| Troy Kriechbaum (Arlington): I'm thrilled with the turnaround of the football team. Think we could lose the green helmets? |
| | Ian McCaw: Troy, we are all pleased with the progress made by Coach Morriss and his staff this year. The excitement is back with Baylor football and our fans responded accordingly with record season ticket sales and near record attendance. We will be going out with football season ticket renewals and order forms in late January. Coach Morriss and the players seem to like the green helmets and want to continue to use them on at least an occasional basis. I realize that the helmet debate seems to garner the attention of our fans and has become a point of debate. Quite frankly, I have found a number of more pressing issues to focus my attention upon. |
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| john(waco): i waas wondering why the south endzone is no longer used for fan seating? |
| | Ian McCaw: John, there are two primary reasons why we put an end zone cover over the South End Zone and do not use it for seating. First, there are no seats in that area and fans would be forced to sit on concrete. Second, we have not sold out our existing seating on the east, west and north sides of the Stadium in years, so we are not in need of additional capacity. |
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| Bill Whitmire (Cameron): Could you give us an idea of the prices for season tickets for football next year and give us an update on the sales of season tickets for men's basketball for this season? Thanks for the hard work! |
| | Ian McCaw: Bill, thank you for the question. Season ticket prices will be higher than last year in large part due to Baylor having a seven-game home schedule in 2006 versus a five-game schedule in 2005. However, we will offer a very significant discount off the face value of tickets in order to encourage fans to purchase season tickets and support the Bears at all seven home games. Men's basketball season tickets are still available for this season and they make great Christmas gifts! We have already surpassed last year's season ticket sales which is a strong indication of the excitement among fans about the work of Coach Drew, his staff and student-athletes. |
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| | Ian McCaw: I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support of Baylor Athletics this past year. Without your support, in the form of purchasing season tickets, buying merchandise and joining the Bear Foundation, the success that our teams enjoyed would not be possible. It has been a historic and exciting year in many ways and we look forward to a great 2006! Very best wishes to you and your family for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
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