Bardo interview

[SubGod22]

The unfortunate thing about waiting is that our window of opportunity to play football with the big dogs is closing rapidly, if it hasn't already slammed shut. Sure, it would be fun to beat SIU and the others if we beat them 80% of the time. Other than that, blah. It's nothing that 15-20,000 people will pay to see.

If WSU can build a winner. One that is expected to make the playoffs every year with a chance at a title, even if it's FCS, I think they can draw at least 15k. Football is a much bigger deal now than it used to be. 15k is pretty solid for FCS. And I believe you only need to average 15k to qualify for FBS.

1 - Appy State - 26,211
2 - James Madison - 25,002
3 - Montana - 24,878
4 - Yale - 23,730
5 - Jackson State - 23,166
6 - Old Dominion - 19,818
7 - Delaware - 19,019
8 - Florida A&M - 18,746
9 - South Alabama - 18,442
10 - N. Dakota State - 18,143
11 - Georgia Southern - 17,701
12 - Jacksonville State - 17,226
13 - Montana State - 17,071
14 - SC State - 16,460
15 - Liberty - 16,419
16 - Norfolk State - 15,171

Those are the ones above 15k. And some have to deal with much bigger football schools in their state than we would.

MVFC Schools
10 - NDSU - 18,143
21 - Yougstown St. - 13,811
23 - UNI - 13,189
28 - SDSU - 12,105
31 - MSU - 10,804
36 - SIU - 10,140
54 - W. Illinois - 8,357
57 - ISU - 8,115
xx - South Dakota - 8,071 (Transitioning and weren't ranked)
74 - ISUb - 6,567

That tells me that somewhere between 10k and 15k is very doable. And the first few years I'd bet we're higher than that no matter what the product is. With the right leadership and staff, I could see us averaging at least 15k in FCS. If we're competing for a title every year, I could see 20k plus. Especially if it were made public that we were looking to move up. If we had a decent FCS program right now, we could very well be in the mix for an invite to CUSA or the MWC as we have the other sports that bring a lot to either conference. Who knows what it'll look like in 10 years.

At least Bardo has said when the time comes it'll be out in the open and will get a fair look. I respect that. Hopefully that's not too far out. One thing that could help us in transitioning to FBS is there's a rumored 10 year moritorium on FCS move ups after next season. Just rumored, but we'll see. That would at least give us 5-7 years to build in hopes for making some noise when we'd be eligible to move up.

And with the right leadership and plan, the deep pocket boosters will be there. Football could do a lot for the University and would help grow it even more in my opinion. I have no problem with this not being at the top of the agenda, but I'm glad it's out there and something he'll think about.

[jocoshock]

Look. all you have to do to get 18-20k fans average per game is hire P.T. Bredehoft (is he still alive?)as the director of football attendance and let him do his magic like he did in the 70s. Camel Races, Concerts in the Sky, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and we're set.

I remember the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders game against Memphis back in the day drew 28,000. Bring a couple of non-con games against teams like Memphis and Tulsa, and we should be good to go...

[pogo]

Yes, Ted is still alive and living close to central and rock.

[Ta Town Shocker]

I'm not going to lie. I haven't read anything on Bardo until this article. I had seen his picture a few times and just assumed he was some old fart who was only interested in academics and probably had no previous ties to WSU. I guess that's why you don't judge a book by it's cover. I was very impressed with the interview and am now happy to have Bardo on board.
Considering he has previous ties to Cincinnati he knows what the potential could be. I have followed the Cincinnati program pretty closely the past several years and they are fun to watch and have had some exciting players such as Collaros, Pead, Gilyard, and Binns. A BCS bowl appearance also by the Bearcats. I will watch just about any form of football and am excited that Bardo would entertain the thought of football down the road.
Starting out I would be happy competing in FCS with the likes of UNI and MSU but further down the line I would hope we could move up to FBS. Some of the smaller non BCS conference teams are a ton of fun to watch and are very competitive within their respective conferences and I could see WSU becoming something similar. The teams that immediately come to mind are Tulsa with their one of a kind offensive attack and Utah State along with a host of others like East Carolina, University of Ohio, Northern Illinois, Southern Methodist, Houston, Louisiana Tech, etc.
With the powerhouse juco programs in the area I'm sure we could obtain some talent. All it would take is a few talented players to really put our program on the map. If MSU can draw 11,000 fans there is no doubt in my mind that we could equal that.

[WSUwatcher]

Good heavens -- ANOTHER football thread in the basketball forum. Kai, can you help us out here with a move?

[kcshocker11]

Good heavens -- ANOTHER football thread in the basketball forum. Kai, can you help us out here with a move?

Yes, please move the basketball forum to the new football forum

[SubGod22]

Good heavens -- ANOTHER football thread in the basketball forum. Kai, can you help us out here with a move?

The article covered a lot, including basketball and other sports. We can discuss his thoughts on those as well here. I suppose we could have posted the same article in every forum and split on conversation on it up into each and every one of those.

I would be intersted to hear what womens sports he'd consider adding if we moved towards football. Perhaps that's for a later conversation. Women already have more 'ships than the men do so it wouldn't have to exactly equal.

I'd also be more interested in his ideas to further the success of the programs we already have. More investment? For what? Do we need and new or upgraded facilities in his mind? How can we push womens basketball and softball along to more success? Is there something more we can do to help the basketball program as it is the face of the University to many and the best avenue we have to showcase the University to the masses?

I'd also be interested in what his ideas are for growing the University. I know he touched on the research aspect which I think is a fantastic idea. Especially with the research that's been ongoing with the medical field in recent years as well as aviation. If we can grow those, and maybe others, I think it could work wonders. I'm not sure how much growth we could expect on a yearly basis, but I wonder if he has any projections that he'd like to see. How long does he think it would take to hit 18k? 20k? Are those realistic goals in the next decade? Does something need to be done to the dorms? Upgraded? Add more?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on any of these? Maybe I missed something in reading through it the other day.

[WSUwatcher]

It was indeed wide-ranging, Sub, which is why it really belongs somewhere else, especially given the tendency of some posters -- no one you know, I'm sure -- to veer into talking about Shocker football at the drop of a hat.

There are obviously those for whom, even 25 years later, Shocker football is, as our mighty Vice President Joe the Bumbler would say, a BFD. And even I, a long-time baseball and basketball season ticket holder who's apathetic about WSU football, would have something to say about some of the football-related follow-up comments. I just can't make myself do it in a thread that appears under the heading of Men's Basketball.

[shoxtop]

When threads that haven't been posted on for two weeks are still on the front page, I feel like anything relative whatsoever should be fine in the main, men's basketball, forum. It's not exactly in the way, and many if not most shockernet visitors only read the main, men's basketball, forum. Jmho

[WstateU]

When threads that haven't been posted on for two weeks are still on the front page, I feel like anything relative whatsoever should be fine in the main, men's basketball, forum. It's not exactly in the way, and many if not most shockernet visitors only read the main, men's basketball, forum. Jmho

[pogo]

Sub, I believe he did touch on the fact that the student housing is sub par and needs to be addressed. In another interview he gave he said that growing minority enrollment came to mind but when he said this I thought surely WSU is more diverse than other "State" schools at this time but I may be wrong. Recently I have read that more and more universities are competing for out of state and foreign students just for the additional money they bring in vs in state students. If you have ever been to any graduation ceremonies ie engineering you would see WSU attracts its fair share of foreign students.

[1972Shocker]

I believe he did touch on the fact that the student housing is sub par and needs to be addressed.

He not only touched on it but he said it was one of his top 5 priorities to be addressed. However, this will be a costly and long-term project to undertake and complete, but I agree with Dr. Bardo that it needs to be addressed. The development of a cohesive, modern "Shocker Village" should help not only general enrollment but also recruitment of athletics. Yes you need outstanding athletic facilities, amenities and support systems but you also need a decent place for the althetes and other students to call home.

[_kai_]

I'd like to find out why WSU has such a low % of students living on campus. Is it accommodations, quality of the housing, activities near by, activities on campus, age of the student, traditional vs commuter, etc. Because the last thing we need to do is go and spend millions updating and creating new dorms, when we have no one to live in them. I've always felt that WSU is such a commuter school, that the reason no one lives on campus, is because they're living in their mom's basement (or their own apartment, etc).

[SubGod22]

I'd like to find out why WSU has such a low % of students living on campus. Is it accommodations, quality of the housing, activities near by, activities on campus, age of the student, traditional vs commuter, etc. Because the last thing we need to do is go and spend millions updating and creating new dorms, when we have no one to live in them. I've always felt that WSU is such a commuter school, that the reason no one lives on campus, is because they're living in their mom's basement (or their own apartment, etc).

Fair points, but if the outreach is there to bring in those who aren't within the commuting area, it could go a long way. Perhaps a number of students don't stay on campus because things are in such bad shape. I have no idea. I've never been in any of the dorms so I have no authority on what they need or don't need. But a better student atmosphere on campus could help long term. It's possible that the current state of things end up pushing kids to other schools with better living conditions.

I also have no clue where we are as far as capacity of the dorms. But if growth is what Bardo is looking for, they're going to need to be addressed in some form or another. And if we do end up adding football and other sports, we'll most definitely need to do something big.

[_kai_]

Fair points, but if the outreach is there to bring in those who aren't within the commuting area, it could go a long way. Perhaps a number of students don't stay on campus because things are in such bad shape. I have no idea. I've never been in any of the dorms so I have no authority on what they need or don't need. But a better student atmosphere on campus could help long term. It's possible that the current state of things end up pushing kids to other schools with better living conditions.

I also have no clue where we are as far as capacity of the dorms. But if growth is what Bardo is looking for, they're going to need to be addressed in some form or another. And if we do end up adding football and other sports, we'll most definitely need to do something big.

I've been in Fairmount Towers, and the dorms were much better than what I experienced when I visited the dorms at KSU.

I'm pretty certain that we need more dorms, but it begs the question, do we keep the old dorms, and add new ones? Do we tear them down, rebuild them, and build additional new ones? Not sure what we need.

It'll be interesting to see where Dr. Bardo takes our university. I have high hopes.