UT System Regents Meeting 2/9/11

Oh god it's 1:30 am why am I doing this?

Because this stuff is important, y'all. In the midst of grandeur and winning and cute cheerleaders, we forget that athletics ultimately serves to advance the university and its community. I'm scouring through this year's UT System Regents meeting (which was hosted at UTSA) and it's gleefully apparent how much of a huge success UTSA football was for the university, fiscally.

First off, UTSA blew its cohorts out of the water in cash reception increase. We're in the midst of one of the nastiest recessions in our country's history, yet UTSA still managed to increase its cash giving by 148.1%. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT PERCENT. The runner up in cash giving increase was UT Arlington, who harvests money from having natural gas deposits located under their campus. A major factor in UTSA's sky-rocket upswing was that a healthy portion of football season ticket money was accrued as a donation to the Roadrunner Athletics Fund, a savvy move for both UTSA Athletics as well as season ticket holders who can write the majority of their season ticket package off as a tax deduction.

Ever get a 253% pay raise? UTSA Athletics just did. The department had budgeted $750,000 in revenue from season and gate ticket sales but thanks to folks like you, the actual number fell closer to $1,900,000. For a real-world athletics comparison, UTSA went from having Cleveland Indian payroll numbers to New York Yankees cash. Let's use that to market our basketball program, shall we?

In also exciting but much more dull news, UTSA will again be raising admission standards to combat a rapidly swelling number of applicants. This is part of a long-term plan to make UTSA a more selective university, and ultimately, a tier-one institution. UTSA will continue to automatically accept the top 25% of high school classes, while toughening up access to lower ranking high school students. Students in the second 25% of their class will face an increased minimum SAT score of 1100 (as opposed to 960) while the minimum ACT score jumped from 20 to 24. For comparison's sake, this will put UTSA at ten points below SAT standards at Texas State but two ACT points above the Bobcats. Not sure why, but admission standards for the lower 50% of students remains the same (Individually reveiwed, recommended minimums of 1000/1100 SAT and 24 ACT). UTSA will also be harder to access for transfer students, who must now maintain a 2.25 GPA as opposed to a 2.0.

Lastly, UTSA got some great news from the BOR who approved an increase in construction budget for new classrooms, labs, and office space. The new five story building will be named the Administrative Office Building (unique, trendy, edgy, I like it) and will also host the interdisciplinary cybersecurity program, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security, as well as other similar resources for COB and COS students. As an IA student, I'm quite pissed that this center won't be finished until after I graduate. I'm sure it will look like a Pentagon command center. The aim of this building is not only to decrease classroom crowding, but also to allow UTSA to stop sub-leasing office space off campus at Shavano Park and in that office park off Hausman across from the FBI complex. This move will save the University $1,600,00 per year in rent expenses.

Take some time out of your day to peruse the agenda from the meeting. Like I said, this stuff really does matter.

Top Ten Moments in UTSA Football 2011

10. UTSA Jerseys Soft-Reveal

For whatever reason, UTSA opted not to officially reveal their jerseys as they were rumored to do one week before kickoff. We may never know why the cards fell this way, but perhaps it was for the best. One night Steven Kurfehs posted a couple of pictures of himself wearing his jersey and, well, Facebook BLEW UP. I hate using the word “viral” but it’s pretty applicable in this occasion. The jerseys were sharp and minimalist (although I’m hearing that’s changing a bit next year, possible more to come on that soon). Nearly everyone loved them. Students and fans got uber-hyped for the season, and it was all grassroots. Damn, I used another word I hate.

9. Erik Brown/Ashaad Mabry Transfers

Bob Owen/SAEN

Just a few weeks before the season started (and a week after, in Brown’s case), UTSA received an unexpected influx of talent that provided a nice boost to the on-field production of the fledgling Roadrunners. Mabry is a 6’3, 300 lb. defensive tackle that transferred from Boone Picken’s WonderWorld at Oklahoma State to a football program that, at that point, had never even played a real football game. Mabry once worked out in world-class multi-million dollar facilities in Stillwater, but now throws weight around in a steamy, underground, outdated gym that is actually a converted P.E. classroom. Mabry was a big time recruit at MacArthur HS, drawing offers from several big-name programs. And now here he is at humble UTSA. Mabry chose to transfer back to his hometown in order to be close to his ill mother. While Ashaad only started in four games, his presence was felt throughout the entire season. The victim of numerous double-teams, Mabry finished the season with 20 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, one sack, and four quarterback hurries. As a true freshman. 19 years old.

Brian Baer/SAEN

To put it simply, Erik Brown was a shot in the arm for this program. After struggling to see the field at Fresno State, Brown flew back down to San Antonio, where he led Converse Judson to a state championship in his junior year of high school before moving to Arizona. A quick, instinctual cornerback, Brown brought a sense of stability to what was likely the Roadrunners’ weakest position. Brown’s infusion couldn’t have come at a better time. Jeremy Hall and Crosby Adams were both routinely toasted by McMurry receivers in Game Two. After just a week and a half of practice, Brown saw considerate playing time at Southern Utah and then quickly evolved into a starter and consistent performer. Brown also usurped punt return duties. Thanks to UTSA’s FCS status, Brown was able to save a year of eligibility and play as a redshirt sophomore.

8. UTSA Mariachi Band

via Urban Spotlight San Antonio

It’s no secret that UTSA is desperate to instill some type of unique tradition. In a culturally rich city like San Antonio, it’s not going to take too much time. In Game Two the Spirit of San Antonio marched out with a special group of mariachi players dubbed "Los Paisanos". The crowd absolutely loved it. Mariachi is as puro as it gets and it’s crucial that we embrace our city’s tradition as we begin to establish our identity as a program and fan base. I wouldn’t mind seeing the mariachi become a staple of SOSA in the future.

7. UTSA Signs its Second Recruiting Class

via Kens5

Coker and his coaching staff made a huge splash on the recruiting trail in 2011, signing 28 outstanding, accomplished athletes to scholarships. While UTSA failed to attract the size and experience they were looking for on the offensive line, they were able to land some real steals at skilled positions. Personally, the coaching staff proved to me that they were extremely talented skill evaluators. Just take a look at all of the contributors this year that were unranked by online recruiting services: Franky Anaya, Kenny Harrison, David Morgan, Jason Neill, Brandon Reeves, Payton Rion, Alondre Thorn, Triston Wade, Josh Walker. Those are all guys that either started or saw serious playing time against Division I talent. All but two of them are true freshmen. That's not just being good at evaluating talent-- that's a minor miracle.

6. UTSA vs. SHSU

Jack Wilson

Some people might think it’s weird that I have a loss as one of my top moments of the season, but if you were there you would understand. It was UTSA’s first away game within reasonable driving distance and the Roadrunner faithful represented very well. I would say at minimum ¼ of the crowd were UTSA fans but it sounded like ¾. If you’re living in a cave, Sam Houston is playing played in the FCS national championship game and they’re still undefeated in ’11 finished their season with just one loss. UTSA almost spoiled their miracle season, but two fumbles and three interceptions from Soza gave the Bearkats too many opportunities to wrap it up, leading to a bitter 22-7 road loss. The Roadrunner defense was stifling against SHSU’s three-headed run game, holding the Bearkats way below offensive averages. After the hard-fought loss, the team came over to the visitor section to join the band and fan base in the alma mater. In that moment, surrounded by new friends with shared passion, college football at UTSA was very real. A family was starting to form. This was everything we had hoped for. There was also copious amounts of smack talked on both ends leading up to the game, which was fun.

5. First Pep Rally

via yours truly

With anticipation and anxiety running high, thousands of Roadrunner fans invaded the River Walk on Friday evening before the inaugural kick off for the program's first ever pep rally. High fives were exchanged, gallons of beer and top-shelf margs were consumed, but most importantly, UTSA staked its territorial claim on the city of San Antonio. Mobs of Blue and Orange filled downtown San Antonio in all directions. The River Walk pep rally was an awesome flair of San Antonio—as President Romo put it: “Isn’t this the coolest pep rally on Earth?”

4. Georgia State vs. UTSA

They had to have their backs against the wall to do it, but UTSA finally beat a Division I team. Both defenses took turns whacking at the opposition in a low-scoring affair. Nic Johnston, Erik Brown, Mark Waters, and Chris Johnson all stepped up with big plays to put kicker Sean Ianno in position to send the game into overtime and then later seal the 17-14 victory.

3. "Birth of a Program" on Fox Sports Southwest

After diligent work and perhaps some pestering from the UTSA administration, Fox Sports Southwest agreed to carry a six episode television series following the birth of the university’s football program. The broadcast brought the Roadrunners into the living rooms of 10,000,000 Texans and Oklahomans, providing crucial exposure. You have no idea how many “UTSA is starting a football team?” tweets I read while the show was on. While the production value varied by episode, it was cool to get a personal look at the team and whet our appetites for actual games.

2. Ticket Sales Pandemonium

On 9/3/11 a whopping, staggering, deafening 56,783 people showed up to make their place in history as UTSA started their football program against Larry Coker’s alma mater Northeastern State. While the official record-breaking announcement of the attendance was jaw-dropping, the buildup throughout the weeks leading up to the game was intense and exhilarating. Thanks to Ticketmaster’s interactive seating chart, we were able to approximate ticket sales in real time, watching as seats flew off the shelves by the dozens every time one hit F5. Season ticket sales finished at around 12,000. Average attendance set a new NCAA record for start-up programs with 35,521. Who said San Antonio wasn’t going to support UTSA football again?

1. Game One

via k0nwu in our Flickr Group

Could you have drawn it up better? The atmosphere was elite, the turnout was record-breaking, the Roadrunners looked ready to go undefeated, and the beer was a-flowin'. Everything was so flawless, from the first tunnel entrance to the echoes of "U-T-S-A" through the concourse as the masses of Roadrunner fans gloated in pride after the victory. For some, it had been a 40+ year wait for football. For others, it was just a curious walk across the street to see the new hot thing in town. For all, it was a moment not soon to be forgotten. As Mark Dyer of IMG put it, "You would have thought UTSA was playing the Texas Longhorns for the national title rather than a Division II team"



Before you bash me about how terrible my rankings are, be sure to leave your top ten in the comments section!

Podcast Episode 4: Season Preview Edition

This week we had special guest Darrell from Rowdy Report to join us on a big community podcast special for the season preview edition.

This is a crazy two hour podcast. Enjoy:

1min: roster talk. Depth chart breakdown. We go position by position.

40th min: Player Interview Review and we talk mess about Mike Taylor of Ticket 760 a little.

50th min: Fearless Predictions!!

Hour+6 min: Northeastern State vs Bacone College breakdown and preview of Northeastern State.

Hour +16 min: Gameday talk, looking at Mysa Downtown Blog

Hour+25 min: Facial Hair talk with Jared. We rank the best facial/head hair styles on the squad.

Hour +32 min: Why Tx-San Antonio instead of UTSA.

Hour +43 min: Wrap up. Shout out to our twitter followers and other important info.








DOWNLOAD/SMARTPHONE FRIENDLY

Link Roundup 8/11/2011 R.I.P. Big XII Edition

R.I.P. Dan Beebe's Big XII conference

A ton of big news is coming out today, and I'm not just talking about the Big XII.

UTSA, Clear Channel reach football broadcast agreement [GoUTSA.com]

The UTSA Athletics Department announced Thursday that it has reached a multi-year agreement with Clear Channel Communications, Inc., to broadcast all 10 football games and a weekly coach’s show as part of the Roadrunners Sports Network during the inaugural season.

Andy Everett, co-host of “The Morning Drive” on Ticket 760 AM and the voice of the UTSA men’s basketball team since 2007, will be the play-by-play announcer, while Ed Suarez will handle color commentary. 

All 10 game broadcasts will feature two-hour pregame and one-hour postgame shows and will be carried live in the San Antonio area on KRPT-FM 92.5 The Patriot. All games also will be streamed for free online at goUTSA.comand on 925thepatriot.com. 

Everett also will host a weekly show with head coach Larry Coker, which will air live from Stonewerks Big Rock Grille at The Rim on Ticket 760 AM from 7-8 p.m. each Wednesday during the season beginning on August 31.

The hype machine continues to roll. It's great to see how strongly the local media has embraced UTSA athletics in the past two years. The Ticket 760 has steadily increased their coverage of the Roadrunners with pre and post game shows for basketball as well as general UTSA banter on The Morning Drive and other shows (shout outs to Andy Everett and Peter Burns for catalyzing that). Kens5 and WOAI have been showing mad love to UTSA as well, specifically during our NCAA tournament run and after the Fiesta Spring game. This Clear Channel football agreement is one more step towards cementing UTSA as San Antonio's team. The show at Stonewerks is a really cool idea, hopefully that will be a video stream. If you ever want to buy Larry Coker a beer, you now know where to find him.

Season ticket sales outlook [utsafootball.wordpress.com]

Very interesting look at UTSA's pace of season ticket sales. If UTSA's rate of sales is sustainable, we're looking at numbers that will put us in the midst of MWC and CUSA peers (11-12k). Come at us, bros. Click the link para más.

UTSA notebook: ticket sales, facility update and more - Dan McCarney [mysa.com]

Huge update from our boy Dan McCarney who is also finally on twitter, well sort of at least.

At the top of the list being said ticket sales, which are at 9,603 for season packages as of Thursday afternoon. Altogether — season, single game, student, etc. –  the Roadrunners have reserved or sold roughly 38,000 tickets with roughly three weeks until the opener against Northeatern State on Sept. 3.

That’s 27,000 away from a sell-out, but it sounds like the Roadrunners are going to redouble their efforts in order to at least make a run at the modern start-up record of 49,212, set by South Florida in 1997.

Notice I wrote, “at least.”

So evidently a lot of people in the front office truly believe that a full Alamodome sell out is possible. I don't know what kind of last-push marketing effort the Athletics Department has brain stormed but I highly doubt 65k tickets will be individually purchased. Now if a booster or group of boosters buys a couple ten thousand tickets and donate them to service members and under-privileged school children as I've heard rumored, then that is a very different story, and a very awesome one at that. Can't wait to see how this ends up.

Just today, Roadrunners officials finally squeezed costs for the initial phase, which also includes about $5 million in infrastructure work (roads, parking lots, electricity, etc.), under the $22.05 budget. As of now, there are no funds available to build what the Roadrunners need most, a practice facility for their new football team.

A conservative estimate by associate athletic director Brad Parrott pegged the cost for two practice fields and a football building (which would include locker rooms, training rooms and meeting space for a full 105-member squad) at about $11.5 million. And barring a huge upswing in donations, that’s about $11.5 million the Roadrunners don’t have at the moment.

Dan also took a semi-in depth look at the facility problems that we've discussed before. I'm willing to bet that a booster does in fact step up to the plate. Incarnate Word got a huge donation from Saints owner Tom Benson, and I have a sneaking suspicion that another local multi-millionaire car dealer that has been a big proponent of UTSA football will one-up his competition and toss a few stacks Lynn Hickey's way. Here's to you, Red McCombs

No firm dates yet, but UTSA has received the general slate for its upcoming WAC schedules: In even years, home against Texas State, Utah State and San Jose State, on the road against Idaho, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. Vice versa for odd years.

Meh. Louisiana Tech and Idaho are the two best teams in the WAC come 2012; would have loved to catch them hungover from the Riverwalk in year one. On the plus side, the road trip to Ruston is going to be sweet. Them boys know how to tailgate.

HUGE thanks to everyone that has listened to our first podcast episode. If you haven't heard it yet, you can find it here. We're excited to ramp up the quality of this puppy and get some sexy guests on the show. Next week we'll be primarily discussing conference expansion, it could get ugly.

Oh, one more thing. UTSA kick off after party.

9,101 and Counting... A Look at UTSA Season Ticket Sales **Updated**

Photo courtesy of Flickr user atomictroy

Color me shocked. We find ourselves four weeks away from UTSA's first down of football and the University has already sold 9,101 season tickets. That's already 700 more than Southern Alabama's inaugural season in 2009 and 4,000 more than Georgia State's inaugural season last year. For comparison's sake, Colorado St., a Mountain West Conference program on the possible verge of evolving into an Automatically Qualifying conference, has yet to break the 7,000 mark. Furthermore, UTSA is on pace to out sell every program in the Sunbelt Conference (that one's for you, WAC Scout board).

What really has me fascinated is that coach Coker reported nearly 8,000 tickets sold just one week ago at the WAC media day. I'm not sure if 1,100+ tickets sold per week is sustainable, but if it is then we're looking at 13,501 season ticket sales in 2011. That is absolutely mind-numbing for an FCS team whom's marquee home games include two fellow young start up programs in Southern Alabama and Georgia St. To make the math a little easier, I estimated a baseline price of $120 per seat (tickets range from $1,250 to $70 in price) which puts us at $1,092,120 in the athletics department's pockets. UTSA has already sold at least 32 of 36 available luxury suits-- that brings in an additional $512,000 (estimated baseline price of $16,000 [does not include additional suite passes at $120 a pop]) to put us at $1,604,120 in revenue with four more weeks of sales to go. 80% of the luxury suites revenue and arbitrary amounts from season ticket sales go in to the Roadrunner Athletic fund (more information on all of that here). The previous high for the annual Roadrunner Athletic Fund was... $176,000 in 2009-2010. Also we have to keep in mind that UTSA has an extremely favorable "sweetheart" deal with the city for leasing the facility. While the terms for the deal were never publicly released (that I know of)  (see update below) it's safe to say that UTSA is taking home a very high percentage of its revenue as straight profit. I'm no accountant but I'm fairly certain that $1,604,120 + an approximate $14,000,000 in student athletic fees and X amount of single-game tickets sales, as well as an increase of merchandise sales will easily pay off player scholarships, coaches' salaries, and equipment expenses. If my postulation is accurate, that means a lot of money is going to be available for non-revenue sports, which is always a great thing to see.

In summation, the UTSA athletic department is cashing some huge checks right now. Can't wait to see what these numbers are going to look like when UTSA is competing in the FBS with out of conference games against Arizona St., Baylor, Houston, etc.

30 days 'till kick off.

Edit: Our friend Darrell over at utsafootball.wordpress.com just compared UTSA's ticket sales numbers to those of some other local FBS teams, very interesting.


**UPDATE**

Fyatuk from the Scout board and the Spurs talk forum pointed out that the lease was released and posted the details.

The city gets $1.00 per ticket sold past 20K, all the concessions, and revenue from 10 of the luxury boxes (city gets two at no cost), and all the parking money.

Even after UTSA reimburses the city the agreed upon amount for staff and rent it still seems like a pretty good deal.  Now you know, if you want to support the school while at the game, don't just buy your beer and snacks. Get a t-shirt, foam finger, hat and other gear. That goes straight to the university.

-aztecskin.

The Loss of Larry Wilkins

Wilkins scores an easy basket against future WAC opponents, SJSU in a  72-63 victorious effort. Photo courtesy of mysa.com

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Larry Wilkins is in all likelihood out for the season. I've heard that Larry ruptured his Achilles tendon during an early season workout on Saturday. Wilkins had surgery today and is expected to be granted a medical redshirt in order to return for his senior year in 2012. Achilles tendon injuries most often take several months to recover from, and have even been known to end some athletes' careers in extreme cases. Needless to say, this is a huge loss for Brooks Thompson's promising 2011 squad. Wilkins averaged 3.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg while shooting at a 60.2% clip. While his statistics are not overtly impressive, Wilkins' greatest impact is a physical one, as he is able to use his bulky frame to work posts out of the lane and prevent offensive rebounds from the opposition. Wilkins also brings a strong sense of hustle to the court and provides a vocal, veteran presence to a young Roadrunner team. Larry had an excellent string of games at the end of the season and seemed to be developing into one of Thompson's more dependable options on the court.

Coupled with the departure of TJ Williams from the program, the loss of Wilkins is particularly painful. After deciding to pass on recruiting more big bodies this recruiting cycle, Brooks Thompson is left with just Alex Vouyoukas and Michael White (Non-Scholarship) to fill the Center slot in 2011. Vouyoukas, who looks the part of a dominative mid-major center at 6'9, 235lbs, originally started the 2010 season at center, however a lack of physicality and offensive prowess forced Thompson to insert the under-sized Wilkins as his starting #5 for the remainder of the season. Vouyoukas certainly has the capacity to play at a much higher level than he has shown throughout his tenure at UTSA. At certain points down the stretch of the season Vouyoukas looked like the Greek incarnation of Hakeem Olajuwon, only to be subbed out within minutes after sitting out a play or carelessly handing away a turnover. Vouyoukas seemed to have matured during the Southland Conference tournament , most memorably during the Sam Houston St. game, where Alex racked up 7 points, 4 boards, and a block in just 12 minutes... all while locking done of the Southland Conference's most prolific players in Gilberto Clavell. If Vouyoukas can manage to build on these flashes of brilliance (and Brooks Thompson is on the hot seat here) then the Runners should be able to continue building on last season's success.

Oddities


Some sleuthing from Darrell Williams at utsafootball.wordpress.com shows us that four players from UTSA's 2010 fall squad will not be returning for 2011. No big losses here, several guys probably saw the writing on the wall that they would have been lucky to be third string once the second recruiting class reports on Sunday. I must admit, I'm a bit surprised that Robert Chapman is leaving the program. Chapman was one of UTSA's first signees and played his high school ball in the shadow of campus at Clark High School. So much for all this. Best of luck to Robert in pursuing a walk-on position at TAMU. David Farris leaving for Texas State stings, but I would have done the same considering he was not offered a scholarship after his impressive fall performance.

Coach Coker got some love from USA Today this afternoon.

Click here to check out a scan of the UTSA season ticket package. Or check it out for yourself by buying your own season tickets. Almost 8,000 season tickets packages sold already.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you that have been following our posts religiously and leaving us loving comments. You're all true sweethearts.

32 days 'till kick off.