Elephant in the room. With the expense of 63 full rides, how long does the Brass accept abysmal attendance? Love Spider football, even more than basketball, but the program as virtually all FCS programs is bleeding money.

The zenith of our football program nationally was a few decades ago when we routinely competed with the "Big Boys." Now, the Big Boys are in the process of stiff arming mid level basketball programs too.

Sad state of affairs.

Fire alarm used to go off all the time in Gray Court back when I was in school. Gray court has been through a lot over the years and could use a shower….

In all seriousness, glad everyone was reported safe and hopefully the process of reimbursement of damaged items will happen swiftly.

brooklyn brownstone said:

Death blow to the WCC.

A10 better be proactive about finding great teams to add and seriously consider jettisoning others, or else there will be a break here at some point as well.

Do I trust Hardt to be in the know and proactive about positioning UR? Ummmm.

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Who are good teams that we would want to join the A10 and who would also be interested in joining? Charleston is one. Maybe Wichita State and bringing Temple back, if the AAC implodes. Bradley, Indiana State, or Belmont seem like too big of a stretch to me. With the likely addition of Charleston and UMass leaving, we will be at 15 teams. I think the A10 is a pretty stable conference all things considered. Only other conference teams would realistically leave the A10 for is the Big East.

Death blow to the WCC.

A10 better be proactive about finding great teams to add and seriously consider jettisoning others, or else there will be a break here at some point as well.

Do I trust Hardt to be in the know and proactive about positioning UR? Ummmm.

It was the PAC 2 for a while - I heard on the radio they had a PAC 2 media day in Vegas with just Oregon State, and Washington State. SDSU Aztecs and some other Mountain West just joined. Adding Gonzaga is big, but it seems conference membership is very fleeting lately.

I thought the Pac12 didn’t exist anymore

Click on the links below to listen to their comments.9/23

Greg Gattuso, UAlbany
Chris Merritt, Bryant
Braxton Harris, Campbell
Ryan Carty, Delaware
Tony Trisciani, Elon
Trent Boykin, Hampton
Jordan Stevens, Maine
Kevin Callahan, Monmouth
Rick Santos, UNH
Vincent Brown, North Carolina A&T
Jim Fleming, Rhode Island
Russ Huesman, Richmond
Billy Cosh, Stony Brook
Pete Shinnick, Towson
Mark Ferrante, Villanova
Mike London, William & Mary

SFspidur said:

On the plus side, we moved back into the coaches poll, tied at #23 with Albany.

FCS Football Rankings - AFCA FCS Coaches Poll | NCAA.com

Get FCS football rankings from STATS, FCS Coaches Poll and the Simple Ratings System.

www.ncaa.com

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Long way to go to be a playoff contender.

Reviving this thread, as Gonzaga is apparently heading to the Pac-12...with a full rev share even though they don't have football.

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An awful mess......tough on the students whose possessions were soaked..........meanwhile on the memory lane train ....worst we had in Jeter Hall in the 60's was someone lighting the contents of an in room trash can on fire and the fire department showing up to put it out.....................

spiderman said:

it's a tough decision that I imagine we can't relate to unless we've gone through it.
it's a lot easier and safer to stay where you are. guys don't have an opportunity for more NIL money unless they're transferring up. they had a good year. they have a chance to make, say $100k more somewhere else for example. who knows their financial situation. they may never get paid to play. plus the higher level program may, in theory, enhance their opportities in the future if all goes well.
can't be easy to make that call if you're somewhere you're happy.

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What sucks is the guys making 100K are the anomoly but this all has a trickle down effect on almost every player. Think of a guy like Trevor Smith, Marcus Randolph or Isiah Wilson at Richmond. Both may have wanted to stay and we're happy at UR (not saying they were, but just using them as an example) but the portal and the NIL dollars brought in other players who were better than them and so they are then forced to go somewhere else, where they might displace another athlete at that school.

I guess this might have always been the case with athletes but NIL and the portal have just put in steroids. If you are D-1 football or basketball recruit, you almost have to assume that whomever you committed to out of high school, the chances of you staying at that place for 4 years are not great.

On the plus side, we moved back into the coaches poll, tied at #23 with Albany.

Matt Knowling was a graduate transfer. I imagine that in the situation of going to a big name program to capitalize on NIL opportunity is more heavily considered for the 1 year grad transfers like Knowling or Burton was for us. I think there are more considerations like playing time, team chemistry when its undergrad transfers with 2-3 years of eligibility left.

I believe it's been coed for ~15 years now.

I think transferring is different for athletes. Their team is their family and friends. You immediately have 100+ new "friends" when you transfer to a different football team and immediately have people to hang out with. That's not so for the average Joe, who in many cases doesn't know anyone at his new school.

I think Gray Court opened in the fall of 1974. It was a palace, especially compared to the men's dorms.

Ferrum Spider said:

Former season ticket holder for 22 years here. This included a time when I was in college (not a student at U of R)

Id rather of us move up with JMU and become a doormat in FBS over the move we made to the Patriot League. Sure, its a delusional thought, but IMO not much more delusional to think a move to the PL is going to elevate our program, especially if Nova/WM stay parked in the CAA.

The CAA isn't what it was, I get wanting to leave....that doesn't mean the Patriot League will turn out like we hope.

Sometimes I don't get our fans. I have regularly seen fans blast terrible administrative decisions and swear off supporting the program because of their small potatoes mindset. Then turn around and are completely supportive of this move, to a league we regularly shit on our athletic department for trying to emulate their ethos, then act like their visionaries all of a sudden.

When schools leave a conference willingly, its almost always for better competition and more money, that was not the case here.

Imagine JMU deciding they had enough of the CAA and went to the Patriot instead of the Sun Belt. And I don't want to hear the comparisons about demographics, the fact is we competed with and regularly beat this school who is played their cards perfectly while we have gone backwards the past 8 years.

I don't know what's more concerning for the future of the football program. That half the fan base applauds this move, or that we only had 50 fans vote on this poll.

If you thought we had trouble selling tickets before playing schools like Hampton, WM, Towson coming to town, just wait until Holy Cross invades The Rob.

Call me negative all you want, but its embarrassing to see how little the admin cares about football and until they're called out on it, will continue.

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I hear your concerns Ferrum and feel the same sentiment in some ways. There's no question that without W&M and Villanova joining that the Patriot League is a step down from the CAA, even with a CAA that has teams like Hampton and Campbell and will no longer have Delaware and JMU. I think there are a lot of considerations our athletic department had when making this decision and I think the move to PL now for football given the current landscape of CAA and college athletics is different than when Cooper wanted to do it close to 20 years ago.

At best, UR's intentions are genuine in wanting to position UR to be successful long-term in football and felt with the current state of the CAA that this was the best approach. Us going FBS is unrealistic and will necessitate a lot more resources than we have/are willing to give. Also, many would rather be successful and do well at the 1-AA level than be a doormat in a terrible FBS conference. Football is not a money maker for us and I don't think there will be much of a difference in ticket sales whether we play Hampton or Holy Cross. Our home opener for Wofford was half empty and tickets were going for $8.04 so demand is already pretty low.

At worst, UR really doesn't give a crap about our football program and hopes to continue de-emphasizing it in a stepwise way and this is the first step. Right now a lot of the older generation remains involved with football and they don't want to deal with upset donors by completely de-emphasizing it. In the next 30-40 years, where will UR football be, I have no idea.

I tend to be more optimistic and think that UR's intentions are more genuine in balancing UR's best football success with the realities of resources/investments in a program. I am 100% with you in hoping that UR has the mentality of wanting to be the best in athletics and that athletics and our overall reputation can be synergistic with one another. I will say, I am okay with the crowd not getting the proverbial pitchforks about this move simply because of how the CAA is now. I am also okay with not going to FBS because the investments/resources for that is too much for very little benefit. I think our focus should be on working to be among the best FCS teams. Whether Patriot League is ultimately the best move for that, time will tell. I do disagree with the timing of us going to PL and also did not like the reason for being more geographic and alumni aligned as a reason. We should be in the best conference to help us be the best football team. If it happens to be with other like minded institutions then great. This idea that we have more alumni in the northeast and that will some how make any more difference in attendance/interest in our football program is not a good one in my opinion.

it's a tough decision that I imagine we can't relate to unless we've gone through it.
it's a lot easier and safer to stay where you are. guys don't have an opportunity for more NIL money unless they're transferring up. they had a good year. they have a chance to make, say $100k more somewhere else for example. who knows their financial situation. they may never get paid to play. plus the higher level program may, in theory, enhance their opportities in the future if all goes well.
can't be easy to make that call if you're somewhere you're happy.

AnnapSpider said:

Looks like Lafayette is doing pretty well in the Patriot.

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Not when you lose convincingly to Columbia.Yes,Columbia.

Columbia 31-20 Lafayette (Sep 21, 2024) Final Score - ESPN

View Now

Slippage in RV after giving up 24 to Del State

I would imagine it is different for every player on why they might go somewhere else. It might not always be for playing time and now with NIL thrown in that is just another factor impacting your decision.

I was not an athlete in college but once I had made my friends in Richmond, I would have never transferred anywhere. You only have 4 years (well 5 for a lot of athletes) in college and then you move onto the real world. The thought of being in 3 or 4 different schools and places during that short period, seems like a chaotic experience to me and never really growing roots or developing deep relationships, not to mention how you would matriculate through a college program academically (but silly me thinking of college as an academic experience). And athletes obviously have to develop bonds with coaches and teammates as well, bonds that should be really deep as well.

Obviously, if you are unhappy with where you are at, than certainly make that change, but a lot of these transfers are to me, just seeing what love you can be shown and if someone is now gonna pay you some more $$$ to go there. I do get the $$$ angle though, it is now a much bigger consideration with NIL and how easy the portal has made transferring. I doubt many of them realize what they may be missing out on by portaling all of the time.

JOC coverage of the upcoming event. Some quotes from Mooney about the opportunity to enhance NIL contributions with events like this. Mooney won't disclose the NIL budget, but JOC says the same "mid-six figures" we've heard before.

Former season ticket holder for 22 years here. This included a time when I was in college (not a student at U of R)

Id rather of us move up with JMU and become a doormat in FBS over the move we made to the Patriot League. Sure, its a delusional thought, but IMO not much more delusional to think a move to the PL is going to elevate our program, especially if Nova/WM stay parked in the CAA.

The CAA isn't what it was, I get wanting to leave....that doesn't mean the Patriot League will turn out like we hope.

Sometimes I don't get our fans. I have regularly seen fans blast terrible administrative decisions and swear off supporting the program because of their small potatoes mindset. Then turn around and are completely supportive of this move, to a league we regularly shit on our athletic department for trying to emulate their ethos, then act like their visionaries all of a sudden.

When schools leave a conference willingly, its almost always for better competition and more money, that was not the case here.

Imagine JMU deciding they had enough of the CAA and went to the Patriot instead of the Sun Belt. And I don't want to hear the comparisons about demographics, the fact is we competed with and regularly beat this school who is played their cards perfectly while we have gone backwards the past 8 years.

I don't know what's more concerning for the future of the football program. That half the fan base applauds this move, or that we only had 50 fans vote on this poll.

If you thought we had trouble selling tickets before playing schools like Hampton, WM, Towson coming to town, just wait until Holy Cross invades The Rob.

Call me negative all you want, but its embarrassing to see how little the admin cares about football and until they're called out on it, will continue.

urfan1 said:

If they do the PL will be the Premier East Coast FCS league.

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That is a big IF - lets not forget, we are talking about the Patriot league. This is one step below the IVY league, and they are more concerned about academics and reputation than they are being the best FCS football conference. We fit the profile because we are a small liberal arts college, with a strong endowment, and high academic standards. And while some other schools may fit the profile somewhat - I just don't know if the Patriot league is looking to become a premier league for FCS football. They are very similar to the UR mantra - they like to compete. So maybe they have some good teams here and there that can "compete" in the playoffs. But not sure they are looking to become a destination for schools or large amount of transfers coming to FCS.

Wood Hall said:

I don't remember ever making it past the lobby of Gray Court.

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Three of us did first night back to school when new Gray opened. We were on the second floor welcoming the residents back to school out the window. I believe it was Officer B who met us at the exit door leading to a subsequent meeting with Dean Mateer. We were sentenced to a “double secret probation!”