Jump to content

ODU’s new football stadium


Recommended Posts

I believe that adding ODU was likely the right call.  They already were selling out a 20,000 seat stadium and had promised to upgrade.  The improvements that they are making seem first class.  What is not first class is the capacity.  They are increasing their capacity by only about a thousand seats which does not smack of FBS stature.

The original requirement for Division 1A (FBS) status was a stadium of 30,000 and an attendance of 17,000.  It's what tumbled us into Division 1AA because Chancellor Hurley was not willing to spend the money to upgrade Fouts to 30,000; choosing instead to spend the money on academics.  To his credit, he did an excellent job of raising the academic stature of UNT but acknowledging that he did athletics no favor.

At least, ODU did meet the attendance requirement, unlike Charlotte and FIU (both with small stadiums).  Florida Atlantic didn't meet the stadium size or attendance requirement either but they did expand their stadium to 30,000 and, I believe, met the attendance requirement in at least one year.  What if CUSA had the foresight to get Troy and Appalachian State instead of the two Floridas where would CUSA be today?  Even Arkansas State and Louisiana would have been an improvement.  I will say that FAU has improved to a satisfactory level since the hiring of Lane Kiffin and FIU could break through this year after hiring Butch Davis (but they still have a rinkydink stadium and poor attendance).

  • Upvote 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Confused 1
  • Skeptical Eagle 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, GrayEagle said:

I believe that adding ODU was likely the right call.  They already were selling out a 20,000 seat stadium and had promised to upgrade.  The improvements that they are making seem first class.  What is not first class is the capacity.  They are increasing their capacity by only about a thousand seats which does not smack of FBS stature.

The original requirement for Division 1A (FBS) status was a stadium of 30,000 and an attendance of 17,000.  It's what tumbled us into Division 1AA because Chancellor Hurley was not willing to spend the money to upgrade Fouts to 30,000; choosing instead to spend the money on academics.  To his credit, he did an excellent job of raising the academic stature of UNT but acknowledging that he did athletics no favor.

At least, ODU did meet the attendance requirement, unlike Charlotte and FIU (both with small stadiums).  Florida Atlantic didn't meet the stadium size or attendance requirement either but they did expand their stadium to 30,000 and, I believe, met the attendance requirement in at least one year.  What if CUSA had the foresight to get Troy and Appalachian State instead of the two Floridas where would CUSA be today?  Even Arkansas State and Louisiana would have been an improvement.  I will say that FAU has improved to a satisfactory level since the hiring of Lane Kiffin and FIU could break through this year after hiring Butch Davis (but they still have a rinkydink stadium and poor attendance).

Well said. I have a feeling, and it may just be me, but I think FAU has peaked under Kiffen. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

I believe that adding ODU was likely the right call.  They already were selling out a 20,000 seat stadium and had promised to upgrade.  The improvements that they are making seem first class.  What is not first class is the capacity.  They are increasing their capacity by only about a thousand seats which does not smack of FBS stature.

The original requirement for Division 1A (FBS) status was a stadium of 30,000 and an attendance of 17,000.  It's what tumbled us into Division 1AA because Chancellor Hurley was not willing to spend the money to upgrade Fouts to 30,000; choosing instead to spend the money on academics.  To his credit, he did an excellent job of raising the academic stature of UNT but acknowledging that he did athletics no favor.

At least, ODU did meet the attendance requirement, unlike Charlotte and FIU (both with small stadiums).  Florida Atlantic didn't meet the stadium size or attendance requirement either but they did expand their stadium to 30,000 and, I believe, met the attendance requirement in at least one year.  What if CUSA had the foresight to get Troy and Appalachian State instead of the two Floridas where would CUSA be today?  Even Arkansas State and Louisiana would have been an improvement.  I will say that FAU has improved to a satisfactory level since the hiring of Lane Kiffin and FIU could break through this year after hiring Butch Davis (but they still have a rinkydink stadium and poor attendance).

I might have misread a different article, but I believe ODU already has the expansion to 30,000 scheduled, they just couldn’t get it all done in one offseason. 

Edit: I stand corrected. looks like they don’t have the expansion scheduled yet.  

Edited by Mean Green Matt
  • Lovely Take 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.