Sept. 15, 2000
My question for you is how do you see the future of major college athletics. We are a solid member of the Big XII and I know we are happy with that position, but many experts are saying that Division 1 football is headed to a 64 team superconference. That would surely put Baylor in a "bubble team" position. I think we would make the cut, but do you see this in the future and if not what major changes do you see for college football?
Also, do you support a college football playoff system? Baylor has not been in a position to be in any kind of post-season for a while, but when we are in that position, would you like a playoff system to determine a national champion?
Bob Woodard, Abilene, Texas
Bob, your question regarding the future of major college athletics is an intriguing one. Many have discussed the possibilities about the 64-team super conference, I do not think that will happen. There are too many traditional powers that have no interest in the kind of schedule that pits them against another major power eight or nine weekends a season.
However, I do see a shakeout in the number of schools participating in Division IA at some point in time, primarily due to budget constraints. There are some institutions whose entire athletic department budget is five million dollars or less. These institutions obviously have little to no chance of being successful. Many however, are trying to move up from IAA status to IA status simply to share in the revenue pies created by television contracts and the CBS basketball tournament contractual paragraph.
The assumption that Baylor is even considered a "bubble team" in my opinion is not accurate. It's hard for many to remember that as recently as the early 1990s we had a bowl-winning team under Grant Teaff, and a 50-7 victory over the University of Texas. Even though we've been down the last several years, we have had and certainly exhibited over a number of years the potential to win on a national level. I believe we have the leadership in place to do that, given time to recruit and implement the kind of system with a foundation to withstand the long-term pressures of an outstanding football conference.
I don't see any major changes, even to smaller-budgeted programs. In the next two or three years, I do see the possibility of additional consolidation and positioning for some schools who are not active members of the six major conferences.
I absolutely support a college football playoff system. Interestingly enough, I think the vast majority of that is already in place with the BCS structure. I think it would be very simple to take the four winners from the BCS games, move them to a single site which rotates every four years, and play semifinal and final games, which would create tremendous national exposure for the game of football, as well as TV contract dollars to be equally split among all Division IA school participants.
Our current football team took 29 freshmen and redshirt freshmen to North Texas. Bottom line of the recruiting practices of the early and mid 1990s left us totally void of what every football team has to have to be competitive in the Big12: offensive and defensive lineman. I believe Kevin will be able to recruit the type of student-athletes with the size necessary for us to win games in this league within a two- to three-year time frame.
Kansas State was once one of the doormat football programs in America. They've now reversed that cycle, that also can (and I believe will) be done under Kevin Steele's leadership.
Obviously, attendance is a problem at Baylor because of the smaller enrollment than the other schools in the Big 12. We all know that winning teams will bring in the Baylor students and alumni. How is Baylor reaching out to the Waco community to attract the locals to attend not just the big 3 sports, but all of Baylor sporting events?
Also, I live in Houston, and UT and ATM dominate the local sport stations during college football talk. Now I know that the alumni here for both schools is very high and both of the football teams have had winning records the last decade while Baylor has suffered quite a bit. I know beat writers for both schools have their own hour once a week, and I'm wondering if Baylor is doing anything to jump in the mix on the local radio stations and what are you doing to promote Baylor sports in the big cities of Texas?
One last question that I'm sure you have been asked more times than you want to answer, but how did our football program fall so hard, so quickly during the middle/last half of the decade?
Steven Schwinger, Missouri City, Texas
Darryl Lehnus and our marketing staff have tried very hard to establish very consistent and reasonable pricing packages for all our sporting events. We have restructured our advertising and marketing dollars to be in compliance with the national gender equity requirements, so there is financial balance in our expenditures for marketing of all events. Darryl utilizes our local sporting sections for advertising, billboards around the city are a component, as is appearances by myself and our various coaches on the local talk radio shows. We take every opportunity to be involved in various community events, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, local golf events sponsored by advertisers, and being as visible in the community as we can possibly be.
We will also continue to try to find additional ways through programs like our Bear Force One project to local businesses, which create a further discount on tickets utilizing a payroll deduction philosophy, so that anyone really interested in attending a Baylor game can do so.
Your question regarding talk radio is a fascinating one. I'd like to think Baylor alums are so intelligent they've made the assessment not to get involved in the massive "trap of negativity," which exists in talk radio land.
I rarely hear positive comments on talk radio. I hope all Baylor alums recognize the value of a unified and positive front for the development of our athletic programs, rather than the divisive approach of criticism and negativity, which has an enormous effect on prospective student-athletes who listen.
I'm proud of our alums who are not involved. They are exhibiting the type of class and integrity which ties to the missions and values of Baylor. Those who have been, I would encourage to consider both the long and short term damage that they do to our university and every coach and sport.
It's easy to get caught in that trap. Let's let the other fans lower themselves to the level of damaging their institutions while we take the high road of class and integrity.
Regarding our concepts of promoting Baylor sports in other cities, many of the decisions are tied to efforts we put into the cost of our Insider newsletter through the Baylor Bear Foundation and the media relationships we have worked extremely hard to establish in all major metropolitan areas. In many instances, Baylor news that is communicated to those papers does not find its way to the printed page. Much of this might be due to the obvious component of winning. Also, the alumni constituency of schools like Texas and Texas A&M have four to five times the purchasing power of the Baylor nation. If you were a businessman and needed to sell newspapers, how much print on a percentage basis would you choose to give to the larger alumni bases?
Another great question regarding our football program and its current status, we fell hard and fast due to leadership shifts which did not embody the same missions and value structure that Grant Teaff brought to our program during his 21-year tenure.
Baylor is a unique institution which can win at extremely high levels, much like Stanford and Duke. If there is an appropriate match between the commitment of that student-athlete wanting to be at that university and accomplish standards of excellence, both academically and athletically.
We took different tracks which had us attempting to bring student-athletes through our system who didn't academically qualify, as well as having others who got to school but were unable to handle the academic rigors of our institution.
In Kevin Steele, we have a coach who understands the entire dynamic of intercollegiate athletics, whose spiritual dimension ties to the value structure of Baylor University, and who will bring student-athletes to our football program who want to be at Baylor and perform for this institution athletically as well as academically.
It's obviously difficult for each of us to have patience, but the cycle will return. It's inevitable, as it always does.
Since Baylor is the only school in the Big 12 and one of a very few in the country not to have an on campus football stadium, why has Baylor not pushed to get one? Personally, I feel it has to be a pain for the players to have to drive to practice every day, plus you lose a lot of the game day atmosphere when you have to go off campus for a football game when you are a student.
Steven Schwinger, Missouri City, Texas
Baylor's football stadium was not on campus because of land donation which put it in its current location. Players really don't mind driving to practice as much as you might think. I personally managed to find my way to the Heart of Texas Coliseum for four years, and I don't remember any of my teammates really griping at all.
It certainly would be nice if we had an on-campus facility, as there certainly is value, yet that's not the case. We'll continue to make significant improvements to Floyd Casey, along the lines of the construction of our baseball and softball complexes. My goal is to have outstanding facilities for all our student-athletes, and I will not rest until we have obtained those goals.
Are we looking at adding any additional sports in the next few years? It seems like I had heard about crew for women as a possibility. If we are looking at additional sports would all of them have to be women's sports (due to Title IX considerations)?
Randy Woodruff, Sugar Land, Texas
We certainly are looking at the addition of additional sports in future years. We are actually creating a 20-year strategic plan, which would keep us in compliance with the office of civil rights and all gender-equity issues.
Many institutions are adding sports, such as women's rifle teams and women's bowling teams.
I prefer to take the approach of crew, lacrosse and other sports which match the image of our institution with its academic reputation. Your assumption that additional sports would be need to be women's sports is a correct assumption.
With respect to scheduling, in the past BU Alumni in the Southeast and East Coasts have always had at least a couple of opportunities to see some of the higher profile teams play. Recent scheduling seems to be aimed at shorter trips. Is this a budgetary consideration? We sure would like to see BU play some of these ACC or SEC teams out here. Combine this Greenville-Spartanburg area with Atlanta and even Columbia, SC and you've got a lot of BU Alums who would be tickled to see the bears.
Barry Ray, Greer, South Carolina
I've had numerous scheduling discussions, obviously with different coaches over the years. All the strategies seem to be different.
Some want to play the big schools with larger paydays, others are interested in a cupcake schedule. Kevin and I prefer establishing a program with competitive non-conference games which prepare us for the rigors of Big 12 play.
There have been no scheduling attempts to create shorter trips, because I believe intercollegiate athletics should provide an educational experience, of which one of the components would be travel. As a student-athlete, I had the opportunity to play on the east coast and west coast. I encourage all our coaches to create these kinds of scenarios when looking at schedule preparation. I also ask them to focus on RPI and attaining non-conference and conference records which will create national exposure for the university by being involved in NCAA postseason play.
We saw over the past several years that the scheduling of the Michigans and the Notre Dames, along with the Big 12 Conference schedules which included the Nebraskas, the Kansas States, and potentially as many as five or six nationally-ranked teams, did nothing but create a negative emotional spiral.
I believe proper scheduling gives our student-athletes a chance to experience success and build for future challenges, which leads to the growth of a program which can be competitive at the highest levels. Certainly ACC and Southeast Conference teams are not out of the question for future schedules once Kevin is able to get a few recruiting classes stabilized with his coaching philosophies and systems entrenched.
I know baylor has expenses. Why don't you sell south end zone seats at a reduced price? A lot of people cannot afford to go to the football games at the prices that are charged.
James Conley, Waco, Texas
Our marketing department has created a wide variety of seating packages for our fans, including family packs and discounted north end zone seating.
We have also established Bear Force One, which is a corporate project which further discounts tickets for prospective fans with the ability for payroll deduction.
We have assessed the potential opening of south end zone seats, if we did so, it would be at the same pricing levels that exist in the north end zone.
We'll continue to review our pricing structures. Our current prices and packages are the lowest of any Big 12 school, and many others around the country.
As Athletic Director, what are your top three goals to accomplish personally in the coming school year?
Bart McKay, Dallas, Texas
I love Baylor University, and what it represents with all my heart. All my energies are directed toward enhancing the national image of our university and touching the lives of the student-athletes that come into our university's athletic system.
I want to see as many student-athletes graduate annually as possible. For the last two years, we have walked a record number of student-athletes across the university stage to receive their diplomas. The level of intensity toward graduating our student-athletes will remain unchanged.
I also have a tremendous desire to give our coaches and student-athletes the necessary resources and facilties to be competitive on a national level. In that regard, I'll be bold in the asking of scholarship, annual giving and facility improvements to enhance our opportunities for Baylor University to be a beacon of excellence.
The other is to continue to improve upon the development of a corporate system within Baylor athletics which lays a foundation for handling the business rigors of intercollegiate athletics that is continual.
One of the worst things we could do is build a system which produces short term results and later falters. I want to put a system in place whereby the successors of all the various roles in Baylor athletics are not faced with the same issues I've been forced to deal with since my appointment as athletic director.
The bottom line is I will personally accomplish nothing. We, in a unified fashion, as a BAYLOR NATION, can make an enormous impact on people's lives throughout this country. Our university platform gives us that opportunity. When all is said and done in my tenure, I simply hope that God continues to give me the energy, health and wisdom so that no one is able to say we did not give our maximum effort.
I'm greatly appreciative of all those who are involved and linked into our programs in a positive fashion. I hope they will continue to work effortlessly to recruit other visionaries for the ongoing development and successes from which we are building.
If we all stay together and positive, there is very little we will not be able to accomplish.
Our athletic marketing leaves a lot to be desired. It's hard to find quality merchandise in outlets other than the bookstore. I hate seeing Aggie, Longhorns, Michigan, OU, etc. merchandise everywhere and no BU stuff alongside it. Whatever it takes to get the merchandise out is what needs to be done.
Also, we need a jumbotron. The vision board we have now is an embarrassment. Take it down or get a better one but don't use it. It is pathetic. I know you may feel obligated to JHawk but you need to get rid of it.
Also, the sound is better at the Robinson field. I don't know what y'all were thinking about when you set it up but surely you know now that it is substandard and also is an embarrassment. Likewise in the Farrell Center. You would just as soon not have a sound system there. It sounds like the PA guy is in a barrel. Isn't it obvious that the sound systems are less than desirable or are you not paying attention? Regardless, if you know there is a problem and it goes unresolved for a few years then there is no excuse.
Also, $5 tickets for the end zone, not $30. That is ridiculous. Get kids to the game. Think about grooming future fans of BU instead of driving them to the Aggies and others. Fire Lehnus and hire a real marketing person not a converted assistant basketball coach. We could use a vast overhaul of our athletic marketing. Remember Mustang Mania? That's what we need. I know wins will have something to do with it but even when we were winning the crowds were not where they should've been. Lack of marketing expertise and imagination has been the culprit, along with boring offenses. See what Tech and OU have done with their season ticket sales since they have upgraded their offenses. If you're going to be bad at least be entertaining and give the illusion that you can be competitive. One last request, don't make excuses for the above concerns, make corrections.
Randy Threadgill, Robinson, Texas
Merchandising issues have created us headaches from day one. Many local vendors were tied into purchasing departments in other cities. Our marketing staff is now creating additional arrangements which we believe both in-store and on the internet will provide an expanded opportunity for merchandise acquisition.
We have done expanded research on the video board for our football stadium. Plans are to take our existing display board and mount it to our baseball stadium scoreboard, and replace it with a state-of-the-art technology. As I've said before on the net, much can be done with dollars. If you would personally like to make a donation or give me the names of individuals who will solve this $1.25 million dollar issue for me, I would be more than happy to follow up.
Randy, why don't you give me a call so that you, Darryl Lehnus and I can go spend some time talking about some of your marketing ideas? We've got many individuals who have provided quality input, and I'd love to spend the time to do so.
One of the few reasons I have maintained interest in Baylor football over the last few years has been the opportunity to attend games in interesting or traditionally significant locations. Over the next few years will we have the same opportunity? I realize we don't want to play Mich. or ND every year but what about teams like the following, Stanford, Cal, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Virginia, Ga. Tech, Washington, San Diego State, etc.
Brian Lillard, Dallas, Texas
Brian, thanks so much for your continued support of our football program. Away games which have traditional rivalries and enjoyable locations certainly add the outstanding ambiance of college football.
As scheduling is being worked through, be it Kevin and two of our associate athletic directors, many of the names you suggested are on the projected list for contract negotiation.
As mentioned earlier, our student-athlete experience is most enjoyable due to the travel opportunities. I also believe the fans, as you have so well stated, have interest in "sharing the fun" as well.
My opinion is that even national titles in baseball, track, golf, soccer, and womens' anything don't match a bowl-bound football team or a NCAA playoff mens' basketball team in terms of school notoriety. So why so much emphasis on these non-major sports??
Jeff Dorrill, Dallas, Texas
Our philosophy is that there is equal emphasis in all sports. Let's take for example our men's baseball team. Athletics creates university visibility. The amount of free advertising Baylor University has received in sports pages around the nation due to a nationally-ranked baseball team in the top 10 for the majority of the last three seasons is of significant benefit to Baylor.
This is not a situation of simple wins and losses in only one sport. It is about enhancing the national reputation of an industry 12 months out of the year to influence students to come to our university, as well as bringing ones to Baylor with the highest entrance scores possible to expand the quality of graduates from our university.
We have a tremendous faculty at Baylor who deserves the opportunity to teach outstanding students. Those students who gain a degree are highly productive in future endeavors and careers, and give back to the institution they love to create expanded and future generations of greatness.
Certainly football plays a major role, due to its visibility. How about we win in all of them and become all we can be?
There were several questions posted with no individual name to whom we could respond. I believe we have established a policy that those questions which one individual is not willing to identify him- or herself will not warrant an answer.
However, I would like to pass along some information regarding one of the posts which ties to the Letterman's Association. The athletic director of Baylor has never controlled any aspect of the Letterman's Association, nor its functionality. The Letterman's Association is an autonomous organization, governed by its own set of by-laws and with its own executive board of directors.
Jay Markentell is the current President of the Letterman's Association. The other board members are Mump Bradley, Dutch Schroeder, Lee Harrington, Robert Clemens - check these.
Any policy or procedure questions relative to the Letterman's Association should be directed to any of the executive members of that organization.
I am proud to be an individual voting member as a two-sport letterman. I do not however dictate or control policy or procedures of the Letterman's Association.
From Ramsey March, Duane Davis, Don Lochabay, Jim Wright, David Hardage, Steve Mackenzie, David Gibson and Bobby Strother
There were numerous questions and input regarding Floyd Casey Stadium.
Let me try to give a broad overview of our current status and attempt to answer those interested.
As many of you know, my goal has been to enhance all our respective sports' venues. Floyd Casey will not escape that determined approach. Even though it is not located on campus, we have a tremendous opportunity for beautification, landscaping and upgrades to make Floyd Casey an incredibly attractive facility.
I've been working on a master plan and have been encouraged by the athletics committee of our Board of Regents to bring that forward for review and assessment. I will do so at this fall's meetings.
Basic components try to enhance the locker room facilities: an expanded training room for all our student-athletes, a rehab center for all our sports, as well as an expansion of our strength and conditioning area. All these are adjustments within Floyd Casey Stadium's North End Zone Complex, with the addition of the medical rehab area which would take place in the new east stands.
The Grant Teaff Athletic Plaza is targeted for the press box side of the stadium, directly in front of the entryway to our suites. It would be a plaza to honor Grant, the Miracle on the Brazos, and the recognition he brought to Baylor during his 21-year coaching tenure. It would be flanked by plaza walkways with endowment walls recognizing scholarship donors who have made significant commitments to endow individual positions for both the offense and defense.
An addition to the outside structure would be decorative fencing around the perimeter of Floyd Casey, allowing us to tear down and eliminate any eyesore chain-link fencing in the underbellies of the stadium. Repaving of the road perimeter around Floyd Casey, as well as the concession and restroom areas are part of the plan.
In addition, paved parking and landscaping is a master plan component. This has to be managed in a way to create appropriate ingress and egress activities to the stadium while balancing the appropriate city code landscaping percentages for our own property.
We currently have a variety of consultants working on separate components. Remodeling to the outside of the stadium is being assessed and reviewed as well.
We must turn Floyd Casey into a "recruiting-ready" facility, which provides the cosmetic feel which represents the class and integrity of our institution.
The facility itself also must provide the needed space and amenities for our student-athletes to be successful in their pursuits of football victories.
Jim Wright had a great idea regarding a Chili's-type restaurant on the corner of Valley Mills and Dutton, rather than a pawn shop. I wish a bunch of our alums would get together and create the restaurant partnership to make that happen.
We will attempt to turn some of the land on the Dutton Street side of Floyd Casey into a picnic and park area for pre-game utilization by our fans. We'll make those decisions after we have affectively assessed our football program's needs to insure they have appropriate practice spaces for the various nuances of developing an outstanding football program.
The timeline is now. If we're going to recruit at the level needed to establish and maintain excellence in this league, our alums need to come forward and make the kind of "sacrificial commitment" necessary for us to achieve these goals.
The ideas are virtually in place. It's a matter of dollars to approach and complete these phases, as funding is provided by our alumni. I encourage any of you to contact myself, Jim Huey, Doug Smith or any university development officer if you are interested in making contributions to any of the aspects of Floyd Casey's renovation.
