Facilities Discussion

[kchusker_chris]

Read this in Mandel's blog today. We talk about facilities a lot, and I think he's a bit off here...thinking a little too small, but as someone who has likely been to the vast majority of the BCS locations, and been granted tours of the facilities you and I never would get...he does have somewhat of a point.

 

Where I think he is off is the impact of something like the downtown arena on recruiting for Nebraska. Keep in mind I live in KC - so I have seen how a new arena can completely transform an area of town (Sprint Center and P&L District), or how a new facility can change the success and fan support of a team almost overnight (The Wizards, now Sporting KC and Livestrong, now Sporting Park I think).

 

I believe that as Tom departs, his biggest impact on the football team since 1997 will be the development of the downtown arena. When we are hosting recruits in January, and we take them to a game in a packed out, state-of-the-art arena...then host them to a night running around to the various clubs/bars or whatever ends up down there, we'll see the impact that facilities can have on a recruit. It's not about just weight rooms, it's about transforming the "Nebraska" experience for a recruit...and the arena will do that.

 

 

Stewart, there seems to have been an insane (and insanely expensive) rush for college football teams to create ever more palatial facilities. Other than draining university coffers, what do these really amount to? Do recruits really say they choose one school over another due to the facilities? And which school gains a real advantage, or suffers a disadvantage, from this line of thinking?

-- Kerry, Denver

It's funny you bring this up. It seemed like nearly everywhere I visited this spring someone wanted to give me a facilities tour. And don't get me wrong, they're all ridiculously nice. That's why I roll my eyes whenever I see a preachy columnist refer to college football players as "exploited." Regardless of where you stand on the pay-for-play debate, that particular term seems a bit melodramatic when describing 19 year olds with free 24/7 access to hot tubs, players lounges lined with big screen TVs and Xboxes and locker rooms with iPads at every stall. That said, once you've seen one juice bar with 19 varieties of energy bars, one "largest weight room in the country," (that title apparently changes by the month), one wall lined with NFL helmets of all the program's alums in the league or one computer lab big enough for the entire starting offense to simultaneously write papers (or tweet), you've seen them all.

 

To answer the question, no, I do not often hear a recruit cite facilities as the primary reason he chose a certain school. (I imagine these palaces all run together for them, too.) However, no coach wants to risk losing a prospect because the program's facilities are outdated, and no school wants to risk losing a successful coach because he's ticked off about outdated facilities. So the arms race just keeps spiraling. I would love to see a study that examines the correlation between the size of a program's weight room and/or coaches suites and its performance on the field. Those great USC teams under Pete Carroll were based out of tiny, 1970s-looking Heritage Hall. Meanwhile, Texas has basically everything any athlete could want and posted an 11-15 Big 12 record over the past three years. These new facilities are all lavish and over the top, but as long as there are donors willing to pay, the construction companies will have no shortage of business.

 

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[Landlord]

I think he's spot on, he's just not explaining the whole picture.

 

Facilities are incredibly important, but the reason for it is because they are complimentary. They are the polish, the shiny wrapper. No recruit will ever say "I picked Nebraska because of their facilities", but the reasons that they DO pick Nebraska are painted a bit more colorfully, perceived a bit more vibrantly when they are in the context of state of the art surroundings.

 

That's why facilities are so important here specifically. We have a valuable, unique experience to offer to these kids, that they can't get anywhere in the country, but unless it is presented and complimented right, they won't ever consider it to begin with.

[Mavric]

Agree with Landlord. Facilities probably don't put one school ahead of another assuming their facilities are similar but I could definitely see recruits staying away from schools with below-average facilities.

[Ulty]

It is no coincidence that schools like Oregon and Oklahoma State saw unprecedented levels of success after Phil Knight and T Boone Pickens dumped tons of money into facility upgrades.

[swmohusker]

Oregon might have put money into more than just facilities. Hence coach leaving and pending sanctions.

[BigRedBuster]

This is a topic that is frustrating for me.

 

It absolutely amazes me that we need to spend millions and millions of dollars to do absolutely nothing but impress an 18 year old kid to come play football at a school. Honestly, the plush locker rooms, player's lounges...etc...etc... don't make a player a better player. They are there for one thing. To help recruit.

I agree with the comments that no recruit is going to admit that they come to a place because of the facilities. BUT...look at our basketball program. Look at how absolutely over the top the practice facility is and how that has helped draw in some pretty dang good players to at least come look at our school.

 

It makes me sick that so much money is spent on this stuff that seems to me to be a complete waste of money. But, it helps build the program. I just wish it was put into something that at least the fans can appreciate too like the improvements to the stadium and PBA.

[Mavric]

This is a topic that is frustrating for me.

 

It absolutely amazes me that we need to spend millions and millions of dollars to do absolutely nothing but impress an 18 year old kid to come play football at a school. Honestly, the plush locker rooms, player's lounges...etc...etc... don't make a player a better player. They are there for one thing. To help recruit.

I agree with the comments that no recruit is going to admit that they come to a place because of the facilities. BUT...look at our basketball program. Look at how absolutely over the top the practice facility is and how that has helped draw in some pretty dang good players to at least come look at our school.

 

It makes me sick that so much money is spent on this stuff that seems to me to be a complete waste of money. But, it helps build the program. I just wish it was put into something that at least the fans can appreciate too like the improvements to the stadium and PBA.

I understand your point but not all of it is just to attract recruits. The East Stadium expansion will generate a ton more revenue for the athletic department and ticket sales for basketball and volleyball are way up and hopefully attract other events to The Bank. I'm sure the East Stadium expansion will pay for itself in time, the others probably not so much but at least they aren't totally "wasting" money.

[Mavric]

Running some quick math on the East Stadium expansion (I guessed each section at 25 seats, not sure if that is right or not), I come up with about $13M per season just on ticket sales (and donations for ticket sales).

[kchusker_chris]

This is a topic that is frustrating for me.

 

It absolutely amazes me that we need to spend millions and millions of dollars to do absolutely nothing but impress an 18 year old kid to come play football at a school. Honestly, the plush locker rooms, player's lounges...etc...etc... don't make a player a better player. They are there for one thing. To help recruit.

I agree with the comments that no recruit is going to admit that they come to a place because of the facilities. BUT...look at our basketball program. Look at how absolutely over the top the practice facility is and how that has helped draw in some pretty dang good players to at least come look at our school.

 

It makes me sick that so much money is spent on this stuff that seems to me to be a complete waste of money. But, it helps build the program. I just wish it was put into something that at least the fans can appreciate too like the improvements to the stadium and PBA.

I can see where you're coming from. I also thing it's ridiculous that we have to pay a coach $3 million +, or have assistants making 5 times what Tom used to make just 15 or so years ago. I think it's BS that an athletic program that should be pumping about $30 million a year back into the academic side of the university, because they have to keep up with the Jone's, only sends a fraction of that back. It's the world we live in. We pump tens of billion of dollars into something like high speed rail and don't lay a single foot of track. Stadiums have to cost over a $1 billion now. To stay competitive, you have to be competitive.

[BigRedBuster]

This is a topic that is frustrating for me.

 

It absolutely amazes me that we need to spend millions and millions of dollars to do absolutely nothing but impress an 18 year old kid to come play football at a school. Honestly, the plush locker rooms, player's lounges...etc...etc... don't make a player a better player. They are there for one thing. To help recruit.

I agree with the comments that no recruit is going to admit that they come to a place because of the facilities. BUT...look at our basketball program. Look at how absolutely over the top the practice facility is and how that has helped draw in some pretty dang good players to at least come look at our school.

 

It makes me sick that so much money is spent on this stuff that seems to me to be a complete waste of money. But, it helps build the program. I just wish it was put into something that at least the fans can appreciate too like the improvements to the stadium and PBA.

I understand your point but not all of it is just to attract recruits. The East Stadium expansion will generate a ton more revenue for the athletic department and ticket sales for basketball and volleyball are way up and hopefully attract other events to The Bank. I'm sure the East Stadium expansion will pay for itself in time, the others probably not so much but at least they aren't totally "wasting" money.

 

I acknowledge the East Stadium expansion and the PBA are different than what I'm talking about.

[girlknowsfootball]

Schools will always be building and trying to flex their facility muscles... but what ultimately ends in the kid signing really is about (1) how comfortable they feel with the coaches/players... and how honest they feel the coaches are. (2) how far from home it is and what their family situation is... in regards to whether they want to flee or stay around. If you look at percentage of players that signed and where they ended up going.... over 80% end up within 7 hours of their home.