Just read where Illinois State is building the largest weight room in the country for Division 1-AA programs and it should be completed by August. Largest doesn't always mean the best quality, but this should help elevate Illinois State to compete with WIU and make it more difficult for Joe to recruit walk-ons.

Not much on there website, but it appears they are not afraid to start raising money without a big donnor to kick it off. I think this is for non football, becasue they already added a Football only training center.

Besides being a larger population area compared to DeKalb there are many white collar workers and executives for State Farm, Country Companies and other local corporations that they can approach for donations.

Any of you think they are starting to build up their program so they can eventually make the jump(likely to tthe MAC) when we lose a few teams?

Not a bad idea for Illinois State to contemplate. Their basketball program has generally been good over the years. In hoops at least, they would be one of the top teams in the MAC. Football is an all-together story. The investment and committment necessary to build a football program, even to the "low" standards of the MAC, might be too big a mountain to climb for ISU. Given that ISU is a public university in the State of Illinois, they likely have similar financial woes to NIU.

I agree with Alum. If we struggle to get funding for a D1A football program, where is ISU going to get the financial support in order to make the jump up. If they could make the commitment it would definitely help NIU from a rivalry perspective.

$$$ will prevent them from making the jump. But then again, their administration sees a 40%+ jump in applicants from NIU this year and realizes in some respects they are being left in the dust.

ISU could learn a lot from the past mistakes at NIU. Building a top class weight room that can be used in 1-AA or 1A competition is a shrewd move. They would need to really jump the attendance level with at least 5-years of high level competitive winning before they should think of jumping to 1A. I just don't see it happening soon if ever.

ISU's stadium is small and old. When I lived there a crowd of 12,000 was huge. I think that they would need a substantial financial committment to add on to the existing facility. Plus parking is an issue already. But with the big money living in the community anything is possible.

What if the entire Gateway conference jumped into the Div 1A ala the sunbelt a few years ago. If you think about it, there are a few teams that can compete with Div 1A teams right now--WIU, Northern Iowa.

North Side Huskie Wrote:$$$ will prevent them from making the jump.  But then again, their administration sees a 40%+ jump in applicants from NIU this year and realizes in some respects they are being left in the dust.

ISU could learn a lot from the past mistakes at NIU.  Building a top class weight room that can be used in 1-AA or 1A competition is a shrewd move.  They would need to really jump the attendance level with at least 5-years of high level competitive winning before they should think of jumping to 1A.  I just don't see it happening soon if ever.

Sorry for getting back to the proposed facility again, but...

Since NIU has received recognition and an increase in registrations (read $$$ due to the sucess of the football team, one would think that the administration would make the football facility their absolute no. 1 priority above all else. If we have to rely on one donor who is relying on the market to maximize his gain, we are in trouble. If all falls through with him, is this project a total bust?

This may be an incorrect assumption, but I assume that the university has courted grads/donors across the country, including the big money guys (like Manny Sanchez). I also assume that the university has marketed the proposed facility to every major corporation in the northern Illinois area (e.g. Monsanto, etc.). If it takes naming rights, let's give it to them. This facility needs to be built and it needs to be built NOW, not 3 to 5 years down the road, when Joe retires.

Football is now making money for the university and it's time to pump money back into football. In addition to getting this facility built as quickly as possible, there needs to be a massive marketing campaign to highlight the 2003 accomplishments (the video highlights tape wouldn't hurt) and preparation for a marketing blitz beginning in June/July. You need to strike while the iron is still hot and you need to do everything to keep it hot.

I know that the pat answer is money, or - more appropriately - lack thereof. I am tired of hearing this. NIU has had hundreds of thousands of successful graduates. Certainly more than one has lots of bucks. What has been done, if anything, to reach out to these people? Is everyone disgusted with the education they got at NIU?

If I had the ability to fund this project myself, I would do it. Then I would ask that the facility be named after Coach Novak, who has put his heart and soul into the program. Unfortunately, my donation will be limited to 4 figures. But I'm sure that there are lots more like me out there. How do the smaller schools with better facilities do it? It would be a travesty if this project got shelved because one man decides not to give.

My biggest concern is losing the momentum for the last two seasons. I agree, we cannot wait to have a facility operable in 5 years. Five years is a long time in Football. If 25,000 aum each gave $100 we would have $2,500,000 which would put us half way there. If we can't find 25,000 alum willing to give $100 each (about the cost of one night out dinner for two and boozing) than we have a real problem. Perhaps this kind of committment would help the daddy warbucks person that is sitting on the fence make the move. Just a thought.