When evaluating football programs, it is pointless to consider only the football stadium. Ask recruits who are deciding where to go. What counts is football facilities overall--the stadium, training and weight facilities, indoor practice fields, film rooms, and meeting rooms. Further, football offices, hall of fame rooms, parking, tail gaiting areas, and so on are not to be discounted.
This more realistic assessment of football facilities overall would radically change any poll of where various MAC teams rank. I'm guessing Western Michigan would rank first and Toledo would rank considerably lower.
I wish all MAC teams well in improving their overall football facilities. There seems to be progress for many programs.
I know that Toledo fans are upset about not yet having an indoor practice facility and I sympathize with them. This weekend's weather can't help when having several recruiting prospects on campus.
You are probably mostly right, but the polls on "best stadium" were for fun and not meant to be the best facilities. That would be another poll I guess. Go ahead and do it.
As for WMU having the best facilities........if that matters a lot to recruits, why are they in the position they are? It isn't just about facilities for recruits. If it was, Toledo would be getting Division II recruits in basketball.
rocketfootball Wrote:As for WMU having the best facilities........if that matters a lot to recruits, why are they in the position they are? It isn't just about facilities for recruits. If it was, Toledo would be getting Division II recruits in basketball.
That would also explain why EMU is such a MAC football power.
Santa Fe Falcon Wrote:When evaluating football programs, it is pointless to consider only the football stadium. Ask recruits who are deciding where to go. What counts is football facilities overall--the stadium, training and weight facilities, indoor practice fields, film rooms, and meeting rooms. Further, football offices, hall of fame rooms, parking, tail gaiting areas, and so on are not to be discounted.
This more realistic assessment of football facilities overall would radically change any poll of where various MAC teams rank. I'm guessing Western Michigan would rank first and Toledo would rank considerably lower.
I wish all MAC teams well in improving their overall football facilities. There seems to be progress for many programs.
I know that Toledo fans are upset about not yet having an indoor practice facility and I sympathize with them. This weekend's weather can't help when having several recruiting prospects on campus.
I would have to say if I had limited money to spend I would expand a stadium to improve home OOC schedules and increase attendance.The stadium is more important for revenue generation.
Indoor facilities and plush weight rooms might sway a recruit when
programs are neck and neck.Most players want to play in front of 37,000 instead of 22,000 and play good teams(home and away).
I think recruits look at the overall picture of the school when making a decision. Location is a big factor. Conference is a big factor. Rivalries are a big factor. Facilities are a big factor. College town, or city school environment is a factor.
I know OU's main target in recruiting is suburban players who want the college town experience out of Columbus, Dayton and Cleveland. We lose a lot of the Cincinnati area players to UC or MiamiU.
Kent and Akron are very much equals in location, conference, and rivalries. Akron now has a big edge over Kent with its new indoor practice facility. And if they build that on campus stadium it will be another big edge.
I'm not an expert of northern weather- but it seems like an indoor practice facility would be big with the cold and crappy weather that runs up there.
I know UCF lost many practices in the past due to summer storm patterns (for those that don't know- in Florida in storms just about every other day in the summer for short periods of time). Luckilly they are finishing up a new indoor facility for us that should open very shortly.
I've read that many of our recruits cited the indoor facility and our new athletic center as the "catch" points for them coming to UCF.
rocketfootball Wrote:You are probably mostly right, but the polls on "best stadium" were for fun and not meant to be the best facilities. That would be another poll I guess. Go ahead and do it.
As for WMU having the best facilities........if that matters a lot to recruits, why are they in the position they are? It isn't just about facilities for recruits. If it was, Toledo would be getting Division II recruits in basketball.
Actually we have been in the recruiting in the top of the MAC for the last few years. We just fired our HC and the new one is trying to play last minute catch up.
Kit-Cat Wrote:Kent and Akron are very much equals in location, conference, and rivalries. Akron now has a big edge over Kent with its new indoor practice facility. And if they build that on campus stadium it will be another big edge.
I don't know why I am answering this crap, but...
Location - Akron is ghetto, Kent is a college town - Advantage - Kent
Rivalries - Akron has Kent, Kent has OU and MU in bball, and rivals in nothing else because they kick arse, KSU MAC 50+ years - Advantage -Kent
Conference - Push
As for the indoor practice facility, we have had one since 1992, not that it helped , but we had it none the less. Nice of Akron to join the 20th century. Advantage - Kent
You're first instinct is right, Flash. It's not obvious from his postings that KC has ever been to Kent or knows anything about us, so take his thoughts for what they are worth. Nothing.
Sorry guys but if you compared Kent's and Akron's indoor facilities, Akron's makes yours look obsolete. It's maybe the nicest indoor facility in the midwest.
Fact is, you get a lot of the local student population as well. Kids in Akron who are staying around basically choose between the two. And you're kind of stuck out there a little more remotely in Portage County, as well. And ghetto? Have you even been on Akron's campus recently? There's something like ten new buildings, including a new student union and extremely nice rec center.
And I hate to break this to you, but OU and Miami don't consider Kent their big rival. They have each other, which Miami basically dominates.
Akron's campus may not be ghetto, but the neighborhood is.
As for rivals, note that I said in b-ball MU and OU are rivals. They play close games between them and for championships. This makes a rival and I am sure that the teams feel that way.
Kent State also had a brand new rec center within the last decade so that athletes and students do not have to fight for time on the equipment. The turf in the Field House was also replaced within the last year. Nice try at a putdown though.
Yeah - Akron's in the city - like a lot of other schools, say Toledo, Xavier, Pitt, Marquette, etc. Recruits just don't register that - and to be quite honest, some might like the city location much better than the boonies. If recruits only cared about pastoral settings, OU would have their pick of recruits every year.
My point: your "ghetto" comment is meaningless. Your facilities are *not* as nice as Akron's. You got nothing on us facility-wise, coach-wise, etc.
But I'll be fair and tell you what you do have: excellent Olympic sports teams. Kent does very well in the Reese and Jacoby competitions every year.
Actually Kent State does have something on Akron. It's a fact some people do not want to go to school in a big city. I have been to downtown Akron at night. I do not mind it, but the stigma is there with some people even if they never have to step foot off campus.
As for a coaching advantage, I might have to disagree. One season and one narrow win is not an end all and be all. To each his own. Facility wise, I still think Kent State has a good setup. You have the Field House, the Rec and the MAC Center and its adjacent annex available if you need to work out at various times. At Akron is that all three in one no matter how big or new? Quite frankly, I would say Kent State and Akron are pretty even beyond just saying the one with more wins in a particular year is more attractive.
If you take offense to a "ghetto" comment, I take offense to a "boonies" comment. Less than 15 miles separate us?
Of all the problems surrounding Flashes football, facilities are not among them. It is lost on some that we've been .500 in the MAC the last two years and will turn the corner. Martin's the right guy for us.
The "rec" center dispute as it relates to football recruiting is lost on me. The only complaint I have about KSU's eye popping student recreation and wellness center, less than five years old, is that it's too nice and students would rather spend Saturday afternoons there instead of at Dix. But I am sure the Akron facility is also very nice and it did just open.
I've just never heard that great DE recruit say " I saw the climbing wall at State U. and that was it for me."
Then again, maybe the bikini clad coeds in the hot tub just could be the selling point. :D
Kstud, you gotta get onto Akron's campus one of these days. They are not three combined into one - they are three separate facilities. Rhodes Arena. The Rec Center. And the Fieldhouse, which does have an access to the new rec center.
I was going to post facility pics from the gozips.com website, but they haven't been updated and don't show the huge weight room.
I won't lie that Akron had to play catchup facility-wise, but they've gone above and beyond what they needed to do to be on par with Kent. Now they just need to get that on-campus stadium (with easy traffic accessibility :)).
As far as the inner-city "stigma," you are projecting your own biases onto potential student-athletes. As I said before, if that line of thinking were actually true, everyone would be clamoring to play for OU. Star student-athletes care about three things: the coach and staff, the day-in, day-out practice facilities, and the ability to win. If they believe there's a greater chance of getting those three things at Akron as opposed to Kent, they're going to Akron.