Colorado State recently hired Jack Graham, former CSU quarterback, to be its next athletic director. Graham then fired football coach Steve Fairchild after yet another disappointing 3-9 season and lured Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain to Fort Collins to be the Rams' next coach. McElwain's salary is over $1 million a year, which is no small amount for CSU. As if that didn't create enough buzz, Graham has also declared that he wants to build an on-campus stadium at CSU.
I like the boldness and energy that Graham has brought to the table so far. While I admired the old AD, Paul Kowalczyk and thought he was doing a decent job, I do like how Graham isn't afraid to dream big. Arguably my biggest frustration with CSU is that it can be complacent and accept the status quo sometimes. Yes, money is tight in these tough economic times, but if a school like Boise State can rise to prominence, why can't we be better? Sometimes I think there's this feeling of "oh, we can't be great because our team has struggled" or something like that. It feels like people have accepted mediocrity. I refuse to accept that CSU can't be a successful athletic entity; our volleyball team is among the best in the country, men's basketball is on the first, and the football team was a powerhouse under Sonny Lubick. If we did it once, we can do it again. I like the attitude that Graham has brought and how he has invigorated the university in just a couple of weeks.
At first, I wasn't that thrilled with the McElwain hire, but I must admit, it's grown on me of late. I'm more enthusiastic about CSU football than I have been in awhile. My initial fears were that this might turn out to be like the Josh McDaniels hire for the Broncos. Sure, New England (where McDaniels was the offensive coordinator) had a record-setting offense and has been the most successful team of the past decade, but in retrospect, that success was due to having Tom Brady and quarterback and Bill Belichick as head coach. Is Alabama's success mainly do to Nick Saban and his stifling defense?
Plus, Alabama's offense isn't really that great. Name one amazing Alabama quarterback of the past few years. Can't do it, can you? They generally ask their quarterbacks to be game managers and not turn the ball over. The Crimson Tide relies upon a strong running game (Heisman Trophy-winner Mark Ingram and Heisman Finalist Trent Richardson). There's nothing wrong with that, as I do love me a strong power running attack, but I wonder if a large part of Alabama's success is that they get the top recruits in the country. It's easy to win when you have better players than pretty much every team you play. Will McElwain be successful when he doesn't have a significant talent advantage? He was the offensive coordinator at Fresno State during the Bulldogs' heyday, so that bodes well. The more I think about it, the more optimistic I am. CSU football should be a lot better, as long as he doesn't get screen-happy like Fairchild. Some quick passes over the middle would be nice, too.
As for the on-campus stadium, I'm not sure what to think about it. For those of you who don't know, CSU's current stadium, Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium, is located a couple miles away on the west side of Fort Collins. It's in the middle of a large grass field, which is very conducive to parking and tailgating. I've always liked the off-campus location. One, it's not that far away. It's about a five-minute drive from campus. Fort Collins is on the grid system, so it's very easy to get around. The police do a great job of directing traffic, so it's easy to get to the stadium and get funneled into the parking lots. You're directed where to park, and the whole process is simple and efficient. Plus, not much goes on in that area, so you don't have an empty building taking up valuable space in the middle of campus or the city.
I've been to a few on-campus stadiums, and parking is always an issue. It's inconvenient for everyone: students and campus personnel don't like the limited parking available being taken up by football fans (and lack of parking is a gripe at CSU already). Plus, where would people tailgate? Those students who aren't football fans won't like the noise and influx of people. On the other hand, a campus stadium does offer a greater connection to the school itself; opposing fans would get to walk through the campus, and it's a chance for CSU to show off its great campus and what it has to offer. The first time I walked around CSU, I was sold. I knew that's where I wanted to go. Gamedays would be more of an event with an on-campus stadium, too, I would imagine.
I just don't know where a new stadium would go, though. The only open space on campus is the intramural fields, and that's not an option. One, it's not big enough. Two, it's right in the middle of campus and would be a logistical nightmare. There'd be no parking. Three, where would the intramural sports play? I've heard people mention north of campus, but there's nothing there but commercial buildings and neighborhoods. It's not feasible. Another location I've heard mentioned is just south of campus by the Hilton. That might work, but I don't know how much land there is. I know there's some open ground in the area, so I suppose it might be feasible. Plus, there's not much in the area, so if it could fit, a stadium there wouldn't have a large negative impact on the area. I'd be in favor of that.
Regardless of location, we do need a new stadium. Hughes is a dump. It's basically two sets of giant concrete bleachers with a large sidewalk ringing them. It's just not a pretty structure. They've made some great improvements with the landscaping outside, but it's a pretty dull building. The sound system is a joke. It's hard to hear anything, and I swear there is just one speaker. It's like they took a computer monitor speaker, upscaled it about 1,000 times, and stuck it on the jumbotron. I think Hughes was built in the 1960s, too, so it's fairly old. A new stadium would create buzz and energy with the program and get people excited about CSU football again. It's going to cost a lot, but Graham has already shown he can raise money and get people involved.
For once, I'm excited about the future of CSU football.
I, for one, like the idea of a stadium on campus.
ReplyDeleteTo me, students won't complain much about parking because they will already be on campus (most of them, anyway) so they can walk - which was always a perk at ASU.
When I went back to Tempe for the Homecoming game this year, I really enjoyed how they closed off University and had a big block party going. Granted it was Homecoming, but I can see them doing that on a weekly basis, and it really set a nice game-day atmosphere! Tents, music...people tailgating up the road near the stadiums. You remember (maybe) where we always met before Sun Devil games...near the shops/houses just south of the stadium...no parking lot needed. :)
Also, our stadium was far enough away from the central part of campus that if you weren't into the game, you were away from the crowds. Not really sure how CSU is set up in terms of a stadium location, but it's a thought.
But it seems like the new AD's mission is to get some new pride/enthusiasm into the program and school as a whole...having the stadium right there would be a big step.
I do like his "dream big" attitude. It needs to happen! Go Rams!