Nice Article in Greensboro News & Record

[Rick83]

I've read that the AAC wants schools that can be competitive with P5s since they're marketing and pushing the P6 thing so hard.

and I know the cart is way before the horse here... but what if the AAC comes knocking in a couple years for a football only deal?

That's a possibility and I'd still take the invitation and hope to become a full member down the road.

[appstatealum]

As much as we all would love to get into the AAC. I personally don't think we fit the mold of the schools in the AAC. I think schools like Ga State fits what the AAC is looking for and what they currently have more than we do.

GSU is more in the mold of C-USA with half of their programs glorified startups in major tv markets. Their program is improving but unless they decide to do a subway series with GT or UGA that stadium of theirs will never be close to full and the team is still medicore when you look at its short, overall record.

The AAC wants a seat at the P5 table. You look at how they call the conference the "P6" and touted UCF as the real national champions from a few years back, its obvious the conference has a chip on their shoulder, and one way to do that is to bring in teams that have a pedigree of winning, which we have.

With the television market argument, we are in the Charlotte market and we have a major footprint in both the Triad and Asheville/Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson market. All three are top 30 markets, which if you put that in comparison with their current members, would put us right in the middle of the list. And then we can argue about Boone being the "small/tiny North Carolina mountain town" but you know who else resides in relatively small towns? Clemson, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Colorado. And nobody seems to bat an eye about that. All you have to do is look at C-USA and see that just because you're in a major metropolitan area doesn't translate into success...honestly you just have to look at Charlotte to see that. For every 49ers or Pirates decal I see on a vehicle between Asheville and Greensboro, I see 10 "A's".

With us, we're a "contingency based" program. You get us the invitation to the AAC, everything else will follow. The infrastructure, the recruitment, the sponsorship, the ticket sales, etc. Texas State, Georgia State, ULM and USA aren't like teams you circle on your calendar. If you can get ECU, SMU, Navy, UCF, Memphis and Cincinatti coming to Kidd Brewer on an annual basis, you're going to be getting 30k+ every week in that place...as well as ESPN , ESPN2, and ESPNU covering your games.

We just need to keep doing what we've been doing, and show that there is App and everyone else in the Sun Belt and eventually that phone call is going to come to DG.

Nailed it.

What these conferences like the AAC want is money. Money comes from TV deals and marketing assets, and Football is what defines that. The AAC wants a strong football program, period. The other sports have to be competitive and your TV/Alumni market has to be good enough. App State is in the Charlotte TV market and Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. I don't think Birmingham or some town in Virginia is going to move the needle. The state of Alabama is an Auburn or Alabama fan base. Virginia is a VT or UVA fan base (plus other regional). Charlotte is wide open in terms of a local asset, and while there are plenty of loyalties to UNC, Duke, Clemson, USC etc.... Charlotte is a major metropolitan with plenty of desire to have a more localized College football asset. UNCCharlotte looks too far away, and you can see how hard local media has tried to promote them. If App had heavier hitters coming to KBS, primetime games on TV, and more national publicity from being in an AAC level conference, Charlotte media and sports fans will jump all over the opportunity.

[BeauFoster]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

[Rick83]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

[hotrod2001]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

[Rick83]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

[VNova]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

What is the ratio at the AAC schools? I tried to find some numbers, but came up short on anything useful.

[Rick83]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

What is the ratio at the AAC schools? I tried to find some numbers, but came up short on anything useful.

That's a really good question...

[hotrod2001]

I mentioned this to someone the other day, but one way that we can continue to differentiate ourselves from other potential AAC programs is to continue to increase giving to Yosef - particularly increasing the number of donors. This does multiple things - one, it helps us fund programs and salaries more competitively. But two, having a roster of living donors in the tens of thousands would demonstrate to potential conferences that we have alumni with a vested interest in the program who will be watching on TV and attending sporting events. It's much easier to say that the Charlotte and triangle TV markets will be watching "your conference" when we show a map of donors that are concentrated in those specific areas. I'd still like to see us work towards something like IPTAY. It can be done for a relatively small cost, but could prove valuable returns.

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

I found this brick fundraising company which has some projected profits for brick campaigns, it might be something to look into. If anything it could put a dent into some overhead costs.
https://www.fundraisingbrick.com/projec ... culations/

[moonshine]

ECU Pirate Club is just shy of 12,000 members and have raised over $6.7m towards a goal of $7.2m.

https://ecupirateclub.com/

[VNova]

Agree totally, the total number of active donors is just embarrassing and isn't going to impress anyone. I have hopes that if we have our special season and make the Cotton Bowl and end with a high ranking that some of our dormant alumni will wake up and want to be a part of this.

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

What is the ratio at the AAC schools? I tried to find some numbers, but came up short on anything useful.

That's a really good question...

Started doing some more digging:

Cin - 300k, couldn't find donor count.
ECU - ~180k (13,400 members of Pirate Club based on their last impact report) - 7.4%
UH - 285k, couldn't find donor count.
USF - 300k (3400 donors) - 1%
UCF - 300k (7516 donors to athletics) - 2.5%
Temple- 320k (20k, but that's for the whole university. Total of $3mil donated) - 6.25%
Tulane - 140k (3129 members of Green Wave Club) - 2.2%

App - 150k, 3000 donors - 2%

With a quick check of a couple, it seems like we're in line with the other schools. ECU is killing it in this realm

[Rick83]

Maybe it’s in the way the Yosef Club is marketed? I mean DG proposed crowdsourcing for new video scoreboard and had the funds pledged to it within a matter of weeks.

One idea that comes to mind is this Jerry Moore Plaza they’re building. Are they doing a brick campaign for that? If not why not? You can’t tell me there are thousands of App Nation who’s jump at the chance to have their names immortalized at Kidd Brewer Stadium for a modest financial contribution. And those campaigns are typically successful in raising donations.

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

What is the ratio at the AAC schools? I tried to find some numbers, but came up short on anything useful.

That's a really good question...

Started doing some more digging:

Cin - 300k, couldn't find donor count.
ECU - ~180k (13,400 members of Pirate Club based on their last impact report) - 7.4%
UH - 285k, couldn't find donor count.
USF - 300k (3400 donors) - 1%
UCF - 300k (7516 donors to athletics) - 2.5%
Temple- 320k (20k, but that's for the whole university. Total of $3mil donated) - 6.25%
Tulane - 140k (3129 members of Green Wave Club) - 2.2%

App - 150k, 3000 donors - 2%

With a quick check of a couple, it seems like we're in line with the other schools. ECU is killing it in this realm

that's really surprising but how is ECU doing so well...their football program has been sucking wind. They did a stadium expansion in recent years, wonder if the contributors for that were included?

[AppSt12]

Very good article. I look back at what the haters were saying last year about how we'd drop like a rock (no pun intended) after Satt left, and I just laugh. The AAC may make a move in 2 years, and we are already in the conversation. Hopefully the author is right and the fun is just beginning.
For now, I know, I know... Beat USA and go 1-0.

Yep, and regarding the AAC. Just this past weekend the AAC commissioner received NCAA waivers for 2020 and 2021 to do away with divisions and have the top 2 teams play in the AAC championship game. So I'm guessing that gives them 2 years to get a UConn replacement and go back to divisional play.
If we continue to roll in football, especially if we win at USC, then at Wake next year and even a good shot at Wisconsin...we'd have a great resume for them to consider. If Kerns can turn the basketball program around that'd definitely help. I spoke with Kerns at the Yosef Spring Tour thing and I mentioned that he had a rebuild situation that might take some time...and I loved his reply...he said "yeah but I'm not that patient, I want to win right away."
This FBS success is so freakin' fun...

I'm probably in the minority here...but I dont know that I care about going to the AAC. Is it the best mid major conference? Yes. But...if you perform...it doesnt matter. Boise is bigger than anyone in that league, no matter the strength of the MWC. Our best bet at future growth (after winning a NY6 bowl) are changes in an expanded playoff. If you arnt in a power conference, it's all the same. Not to mention the Sun Belt is of much higher quality than before we got here. It's a pretty strong league. Our #21 ranking at 6-0 proves it isnt holding us back.

[VNova]

Could be marketing but I'm not really sure what the issue is. Those are interesting ideas about the bricks. I think we only have like 3,000 active donors and only like 13,000 who've ever donated from the beginning of the YC. We have what, 120,000 living alums? Not a great ratio.

What is the ratio at the AAC schools? I tried to find some numbers, but came up short on anything useful.

That's a really good question...

Started doing some more digging:

Cin - 300k, couldn't find donor count.
ECU - ~180k (13,400 members of Pirate Club based on their last impact report) - 7.4%
UH - 285k, couldn't find donor count.
USF - 300k (3400 donors) - 1%
UCF - 300k (7516 donors to athletics) - 2.5%
Temple- 320k (20k, but that's for the whole university. Total of $3mil donated) - 6.25%
Tulane - 140k (3129 members of Green Wave Club) - 2.2%

App - 150k, 3000 donors - 2%

With a quick check of a couple, it seems like we're in line with the other schools. ECU is killing it in this realm

that's really surprising but how is ECU doing so well...their football program has been sucking wind. They did a stadium expansion in recent years, wonder if the contributors for that were included?

I was a little surprised too. That was only their Pirate club membership numbers for 2018, not any other separate fund they might have had. It could be how people contributed for the stadium expansion, but I don't know how ECU chose to fund it.

[huskie3]

We have done a brick thing before. It was for the plaza around The Rock (I have one there), they are stored somewhere now but are supposed to be re-installed as NEZ is finished.

If done for JMP I will buy another.

[T-Dog]

As AppGrad78 , myself and others said several years ago, Ed Hardin is a solid sports reporter and has been for some time even though there were some on here who have attacked him. We must remember that not every writer will write "what we want to read" in 100% of articles.

I don't like his articles because he puts too much of himself into them, IMO.

[Rick83]

Very good article. I look back at what the haters were saying last year about how we'd drop like a rock (no pun intended) after Satt left, and I just laugh. The AAC may make a move in 2 years, and we are already in the conversation. Hopefully the author is right and the fun is just beginning.
For now, I know, I know... Beat USA and go 1-0.

Yep, and regarding the AAC. Just this past weekend the AAC commissioner received NCAA waivers for 2020 and 2021 to do away with divisions and have the top 2 teams play in the AAC championship game. So I'm guessing that gives them 2 years to get a UConn replacement and go back to divisional play.
If we continue to roll in football, especially if we win at USC, then at Wake next year and even a good shot at Wisconsin...we'd have a great resume for them to consider. If Kerns can turn the basketball program around that'd definitely help. I spoke with Kerns at the Yosef Spring Tour thing and I mentioned that he had a rebuild situation that might take some time...and I loved his reply...he said "yeah but I'm not that patient, I want to win right away."
This FBS success is so freakin' fun...

I'm probably in the minority here...but I dont know that I care about going to the AAC. Is it the best mid major conference? Yes. But...if you perform...it doesnt matter. Boise is bigger than anyone in that league, no matter the strength of the MWC. Our best bet at future growth (after winning a NY6 bowl) are changes in an expanded playoff. If you arnt in a power conference, it's all the same. Not to mention the Sun Belt is of much higher quality than before we got here. It's a pretty strong league. Our #21 ranking at 6-0 proves it isnt holding us back.

Yep, I'd say you probably are in the minority with that opinion but you do have some valid points. The reasons I'd like to move to the AAC are first and foremost, the increased revenue we'd get from the AAC's TV contract vs what the Sun Belt is able to provide. Over time if we and the Belt continue to raise the national prominence then those TV deals can be enhanced but that'd take time. See the other thread about coaching salaries and sort it by conference and you'll see how the AAC is able to pay their coaches much more than the Sun Belt members and I imagine it's primarily due to the TV contract they have.
And the second reason is because the AAC is considered by most as the best G5 conference so they will get preference in poll and CFP committee rankings and if you're talking about an expanded playoff structure, which I believe is coming, then we want to be in the strongest league possible to even have a shot. We could go undefeated this year with 2 P5 wins and still get passed over by a 1 loss AAC team as it all depends on how the committee views the college football world.
The downside to moving to the AAC is that we'd probably lose more often than we are now and that'd be tough for me and others to accept. I feel like some think we should never lose a game or even have a score be close in a victory and we're not Clemson or Alabama so....

[WVAPPeer]

the AAC is a very, very strong basketball conference probably better than the PAC-12 - APP can't compete in the SB and it would be ugly against the AAC (most of them anyway) - I would love for us to play in their football set-up and I think we would be very competitive right away - I also agree that Boise St. is the best known brand in G-5 and other than the obvious Navy, Army, AF and BYU I would say that APP State is pushing to be very near the top in name recognition.

[bigdaddyg]

How much do we spend annually on transportation costs? It must cost a small fortune to fly the non-revenue sports teams to Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, etc. Looking at the AAC if we were to take UConn's spot it looks like potentially increased travel expenses. The only school I see that we can reasonably bus teams to is ECU. Of course I have no idea how all of that works.

[Rick83]

Also, looks like NC A&T is still thinking about moving up to FBS. Charlie Cobb is quoted in this:

https://www.greensboro.com/sports/colle ... 6946a.html