Last Post

Well this is it. The final post of the blog. I recently finished my final reflection, so read that for a full recap of my project. In the end, I am very proud of my project and I think it came out very well. I have also finished my presentation for Thursday, and I look forward to explaining what I found to everyone. To cap of this final post, I have included the Georgia Tech article that I wrote last week. I had a very interesting conversation with GT Associate Athletic Director Rick Thorpe, and I got a lot of good material for my project.
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Last season, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets surprised a lot of people by having an incredibly successful season which lead to them playing in both the ACC championship game and the Orange Bowl. The Jackets were even able to knock off rival UGA with a surprising comeback.

Tech has a storied history in college football that includes four national titles, the most recent being in 1990. The team is also known for their use of the triple option, an offensive system that is not common in college football. Under current head coach paul johnson, the Jackets have been to three conference championship games, and won last years Orange Bowl against the favored Mississippi State Bulldogs.

I recently sat down with Georgia Tech Associate Athletic Director Rick Thorpe to discuss everything from how the Jackets work to have the football program make a profit, to the new college football playoff system.

The Gameday Experience

With 55,000 seats, Bobby Dodd stadium takes a lot of people to fill it up, one of the athletic department's challenges is to fill it up for every home game. Over the last couple of years the athletic department has implemented a number of strategies to sell more tickets. “We start with a small student population, and then have a small alumni base in the area as well,” Mr. Thorpe said. “So we have to find ways to engage the surrounding community and find ways to bring them to the games.”

One of the biggest ways to get the community to come to the games is by winning, and that's exactly what Tech has done the last couple of seasons. However fan’s experiences at those games matters a lot to Mr. Thorpe and the rest of the athletic department. “We, as an athletic department, have been trying to improve the game day experience for our fans,” Mr. Thorpe said.

Creating a perfect game day atmosphere is critical to the fans having a good experience. “Making sure their parking experience was good, and making sure they have places to tailgate are key,” Mr. Thorpe said. “We also will have a festival called recfest, where the band will play, there will be inflatables for kids, and many other activities.”

The athletic department also created a gameday app, where fans can do anything from getting live statistics from the game, to upgrading their seats in the middle of the game so they can get a better view. “So we are finding ways to customize fan’s experience because every fan wants a different experience,” Mr. Thorpe said. “It’s important for everyone to have a good experience so that fans come back regardless of the outcome of the game.”

Sponsorships

Corporate sponsorships are critical for a team like Tech. Each year, these sponsorships deliver millions of dollars to the athletic department to help fund all sports programs. “There is also the opportunity of promotional stuff with our sponsor so that we can build our brand in the community,” Mr. Thorpe said. “For example, Coca Cola is one of our major sponsors. So you might see a Coca Cola display in a grocery store that would show GT football, or basketball.”

Presenting their brand in the community and make people aware of the upcoming season or upcoming opponent is major benefit for the school, but sponsorships can also benefit the student athletes. “Some of our corporate partners end up hiring our student athletes after they graduate from Tech,” Mr. Thorpe said. “So it helps us provide our student athletes with an opportunity to be gainfully employed after school.”

The Money

When people hear about some of the major TV contracts schools are signing, and they look at the thousands in attendance at the games, they tend to assume that every school who has a football team is able to turn a huge profit. This is not the case as usually only the top twenty or so teams turn a profit annually.

Georgia Tech’s football program runs on a $72 million budget. While this may sound like a lot, the Texas Longhorns football program was valued at $131 million last year. A lot goes into funding a football program. “When you have every single team funding scholarships, and every single team traveling and staying in hotels, those cost don't go down,” Mr. Thorpe said. “They only ever go up.”

Generally speaking, schools that fully find scholarships for their student athletes end up in the “red”,  not in the “black”. In the red means you are not making a profit, the black means you are.

Most schools rely on getting conference money when trying to make a profit in addition to all the other pieces that provide revenue like ticket sales and sponsorships. “In your big five conferences, those have substantial television agreements and bowl alignments, which collectively provide dollars back to those conferences,” Mr. Thorpe said. “So if that money goes to the ACC, then the ACC distributes that money to the ACC conference members.”

In the NCAA basketball tournament which is commonly referred to as “March Madness,” the ACC basketball powerhouse Duke Blue Devils won the title. While Tech was not even in the tournament, they still benefited. “For each round that an ACC team goes in the tournament, thats a quarter million dollars going into the ACC,” Mr. Thorpe said. “So we all want to root for the teams in our conference to go far.”

The “power five” conference schools are usually the ones in the top twenty or so teams that make a profit. Those power five schools are usually the ones that have substantial television agreements and bowl alliances, which in the end help them profit a lot more than those teams who are not in the power five.

So with all that said, Mr. Thorpe says that a strong majority of the schools in the top five conferences have the best opportunity to end up in the black in terms of profit. However, “there is no guarantee that they will do that, because you have to have other sting sources of revenue which are ticket sales, sponsorships, donations, university funding for the programs,” he said.

“We’re talking about play-offs!?”

Last season, for the first time, the FBS postseason instituted a four team play-off consisting of teams selected by a committee who would all play for the national championships. Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, and Florida State all played to win it all.

Fans had been clamoring for years for a playoff to happen, and many were very pleased with the playoffs initial run. Some fans liked it so much that now they want eight teams. Some teams, like Baylor and TCU who felt they were cheated in last years selection, agree. Every other division of football other than division one FBS uses a full-playoff system instead of bowl games.

While Mr. Thorpe thought that the playoff system was a necessary addition, he does not think it should be expanded anytime soon. “I thought it went over incredibly well the first year,” he said. “I wouldn't expand it anytime soon because you will always have those teams just on the outside who will argue that they should have been in like TCU and Baylor this year.”

Mr. Thorpe is also a big fan of the bowl game system and that it means to college football. “We have so many bowl games that mean so much to our sport,” he said. “So if you keep adding playoff spots, then the importance of bowl games will keep getting lowered and you don't want to do that because that is part of the pageantry of collegiate athletics.”

The new playoff system not only created excitement among the fans of college football, but also brought lots of new attention to the sport. “I liked it because it brought so much interest in our game,” he said. “However there was much more media coverage on only those top few teams, which means that there was far less exposure for those other teams like us.”

Looking Ahead

The Yellow Jackets open up next season on September third against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Justin Thomas, the Jackets quarterback and key contributor last year, will return for his junior season.

While the Jackets are lucky to have Thomas back, they will face the challenge of replacing other key players from last year like Synjyn Days, Zach Laskey, and DeAndre Smelter.  

The team will look to keep their performance on the field up, while the athletic department will keep trying to make fans game day experience as good as it can be. “Hopefully our fans have a really good time with family and friends and want to come back for another game,” Mr. Thorpe said. “We want them to want to come back regardless of the outcome of the game.

Day 24

Today I wrote the entire Georgia Tech article because I don't have a work period tomorrow. The article ended up being three pages in length. I will probably do a lttile bit of editing on it during my free period tomorrow if I have time. I forgot to say earlier that I finished the Berry article, so ill post that now. Over the weekend, I need to work on my presentation for next Thursday.
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In 2013, Berry College, a division three school located in Rome, Georgia, played their inaugural season of football. As a division three school, Berry faces the challenge of recruiting without being able to offer scholarships. Another challenge they faces is competing for a playoff spot against 252 other division three teams. I recently talked to Berry Football Coach Tony Kuczewski about these challenges and more.

Coach Kuczewski was not stranger to start-up programs, which made him an ideal candidate for Berry. At LaGrange College, another division three school, Kuczewski served as the team's Defensive Coordinator. “I got a front row seat on how to start a D3 college program,” he said. “That experience was invaluable. You understand the steps it takes to start a successful program.”

Recruiting for a start-up program is a challenge in and of itself. Recruiting for a division three start-up program just adds to the challenge. Due to NCAA rules, division three teams can not offer athletic scholarships, but can give academic scholarships to those who qualify. “It encourages us to find the best and the brightest academically because they get the academic scholarships,” Coach Kuczewski said. “Berry is an challenging school academically, and we  don't recruit anyone who doesn't fit Berry’s academic profile.

The coaching staff focus’ heavily on the south, particularly in Georgia for recruiting talent. “The academic profile here leads us to a lot of private schools,” Coach Kuczewski said. “Cobb [county] and North Fulton are big recruiting areas for us. We've also looked around Jacksonville, Nashville, and Birmingham.”

Coach Kuczewski said his recruiting network that he had gotten from previous coaching jobs, along with Berry’s strong academic reputation helped them overcome the recruiting challenges. He also explained what made players “fit” in Berry’s system. “We ask our recruits what is most important to them,” he said. “If guys really value their experience here, then those are the guys that will fit best in our program.”

In division three, the national champion is determined by a 32-team playoff system. Twenty-four of the spots are reserved for the winners of each conference. “I like our model because if you win your conference then you go to the playoffs for a chance to win it all,” Coach Kuczewski said.

Recently, division one teams changed their post-season system to look more like division three’s. “I think they're getting closer to our system,” Coach Kuczewski said. “What they've gone to now is better than what they had. I think an eight team playoff would be better.”

With 253 division three schools, Coach Kuczewski thinks there is an even a wider disparity between division three teams than division one teams because theres so many more factors. “It [division three] brings more academics into it than just athletic stuff like stadiums and facilities,” he said. “Berry's a hard school and not everyone can get into it.”

Helping the players off the field is one of Coach Kuczewski biggest goals. “You have to place a priority on having a good relationship with your players,” he said. “You try to hire a staff that values relationships with players.”

The restrictions on offseason contact with players in division three is much greater in division one. Coach Kuczewski said the restrictions on offseason contact with players in division three  is much greater in division one. That makes keeping track of the players during the offseason that much more important.

The Berry staff takes several precautions to make sure they keep up with their players in the offseason. A team meeting is held every week during the offseason. Each player has an academic coach who is also a football coach and sometimes is their position coach.  The players also see the strength and conditioning coach just about every day as they do offseason workouts.

Coach Kuczewski said that while coaching his players on the field is definitely important, it is also important to coach them off the field as well. “We help them with their academics, their nutrition, and help them to find jobs,” he said. “Some guys make mistakes and educating them through those choices is hard. Helping the players is the biggest challenge but just the biggest reward.”

The Vikings open their season this fall against Maryville College in Tennessee, followed by their home opener against LaGrange College, where Coach Kuczewski used to coach. Until then, the coach will continue to try and keep his team together and prepare for a successful third season.

Day 23

Toda I transcribed the entire Georgia Tech article, which was no easy task. Our interview lasted about thirty minutes, but unfortunately I cannot type as fast as people speak so I had to pause and play some things back a few times. Misquoting someone if one of the biggest mistakes a journalist can make, so it was very necessary to avoid all that. Tomorrow I will start wring the actual article and will have it all wrapped up by Friday, which is the last day for my Senior Project.

Day 22

Yesterday I did not have a work period for my project. I was still able to do an hour of reading. Today my foal is to get most of the GT interview transcribed so I can start writing the article. I am also almost finished with reading "The System."

Reading Notes
-Alabama makes about $90 million in revenue, this helps them build their top of the line facilities
-Alabama's football expenses per year are around $37 million
-Alabama has the oat expensive coaching staff in the country
-Alabama's total cost are about $10 million more than rial Auburn
-In 2012, there were 93 season ending knee injuries, making it the most common injury
-Also in 2012, the SEC lead the nation in season ending injuries with 46

Day 21

Today I worked a lot on the Berry article, and I am very close to wrapping that up. I also read some more of "The System," and met with Mr. Randolph to discuss my plans for the week. Tomorrow I do not have any project work periods, but I will probably get some work done in my free period. I have a lot to transcribe from the Georgia Tech interview. I know my blog post have gotten shorter, but i've been letting my articles do most of the talking. I hope you all are enjoying them. I will add some of my reading notes tomorrow if I can The most recent chapters I read are about the process of searching for a new head coach, walk-on players, and a profile on Nick Saban, Alabama's Head Coach.

Weekend (Day 19-20)

Over the weekend I finished the Wofford Article, and received permission to post it online. I also read some more of "The System," and started on the Berry Article. This will be a very busy and important week for my project, as I have to finish the Berry and Georgia Tech articles, as well as prepare a defense for my project, and a presentation to present to my teachers and classmates. I hope everyone enjoys my Wofford article, which covered lots of different parts of the Wofford program from recruiting to sport popularity statistics. Special thanks to Brent Williamson from Wofford for helping to make it happen.
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The Wofford Terriers are a small division one FCS school located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, about thirty minutes north of Greenville. The school, which is home to just over 2,000 students, has become more well known for its basketball team, who recently made the NCAA tournament as a twelve seed and almost upset fifth seeded Arkansas.

The Terriers also play some football on Saturdays in the fall, playing in a stadium that can seat 13,000. The program has been around for a long time, as their inaugural season was in 1889. Furman, the school's biggest rival, is located just 30 minutes away in Greenville.

Despite their storied history, the team has been struggling to get wins recently.  After five appearances in the FCS playoffs in six seasons, the Terriers did not made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006. “Getting back to the playoffs is one of the biggest challenges are team has faced,” said Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Brent Williamson. “We had a very young team in 2014, but will have 20 of 22 starters returning for the 2015 season as we hope to return to the playoffs.”

With the current mediocrity of the football program came the rise of the basketball program who has made the NCAA tournament three times in the last five years. They also made an appearance in the CBI in 2012. “In the past couple of years, football has been passed by our men’s basketball program in terms of popularity,” Mr. Williamson said. “We have won the Southern Conference Championship in 4 of the last 6 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which has been great exposure for the school.”

However, attendance for home football games (last year, 5 for 38,820) is still greater than home basketball games (last year, 14 for 33,357).

Even with footballs higher attendance numbers, basketball has drawn more attention to the school as a whole. “In the past several years, we have discovered that the impact of reaching the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball does more in terms of recognition for the school than any other sport could,” Mr. Williamson said. “While football does draw attention to the school, nothing can compare to the numbers we draw for basketball (website visits, media mentions, etc.)”

There is a big spread between the Power 5 conferences and the mid-major conferences in football that Mr. Williamson says does not exist in basketball. “The differences between the FCS and FBS schools is quite large in terms of budgets and scholarships provided,” Mr. Williamson said. “In basketball, all schools at the Division I level have the same scholarship numbers, which makes a much more level playing field.”

Recruiting is also different on this FCS level with there being less resources and scholarships at FCS schools. For that reason, schools like Wofford usually don’t try to compete with the bigger FBS schools in recruiting. “The schools we generally compete with are also FCS schools, such as Furman, Mercer, and The Citadel,” Mr. Williamson said. “We also recruit with schools such as Army and Navy, as our academic standards play a big role in the type of player we can recruit.”

Like most schools, Wofford does not make a profit from football. “Football costs us far more than it bring in from revenue,” Mr. Williamson said. “While it still is our largest revenue sport (from ticket sales, sponsorships, guarantee games, etc.), men’s basketball is not too far behind.” Interestingly enough,  no sports at Wofford make a profit.

Mr. Williamson said that revenue is important in terms of competing with other schools, but “While revenue is important, the way the economics work we will never make a profit from athletics,” he said. “It is important when competing with other schools, but only in the ability to provide for student-athletes and their experience.”

In the end, fans will always want to see a winning team regardless of the fan “experience” at the game. “You can run all the promos, specials, gimmicks, that you want, but people really want to see a winning team,” Mr. Williamson said.

Getting a winning team and making it back to the play-offs is a challenge that the Terriers will look to solve in the near future. The team opens up against nearby division one powerhouse Clemson and also plays the FBS level Idaho Vandals before going into conference play.

Day 18

Today I had a good interview at Georgia Tech with Associate Athletic Director Rick Thorpe. It was cool to see there stadium right next to their offices on campus. We talked a lot about how athletic departments make money as well as how Tech football impacts the community, and also a little bit about the new playoff system. I was also able to make good progress on the Wofford Article. Next week is the last week of my project, and I plan on finishing the Tech, Wofford, and Berry Articles.