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Time to expand Williams Stadium
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NewTimes Offline
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Post: #1
Time to expand Williams Stadium
It's time for LU to make another statement to entry level FBS conferences, recruits, and to college admins. A statement and action free of political/social/moral issues and one to place a positive position before the public.

That action is to expand Williams Stadium. As Coastal gets denied to expand from 9,000 to 22,000 and then 19,000 and fails to meet it's FBS minimum requirements, LU can make a statement to expand by enclosing the visitors end zone. With seating then approaching 25,000 or more, a major push would be to continue to increase attendance. Liberty must make itself more attractive with it's on field activity with attendance and on field success.

As the VHSL has decided to withdraw 14 high school games/playoffs from LU due to it's social/political stands, expansion and attendance increase are LU's best option to increase it's appeal.
05-06-2016 08:06 AM
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army56mike Offline
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Post: #2
Time to expand Williams Stadium
Expansion would be great. I think closing off the visitor EZ and adding a student side tower is a great answer.
05-06-2016 09:37 AM
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Libertygrad01 Offline
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Post: #3
RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
If you've been to a game recently you've noticed that Liberty had created a great atmosphere with the students packed in behind the visiting team. I'm wondering if Liberty doesn't want to lose that atmosphere by building a larger stadium? You have to remember that when/if Liberty goes FBS visiting FBS teams will bring fans, some of them will bring thousands of fans. The larger stadium will be needed then to accommodate the numbers. With the new indoor practice facility being built I don't think conferences have any doubt's about Liberty's commitment to football.
05-06-2016 11:17 AM
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GE and MTS Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
I'm all for expanding Williams Stadium once we start selling out at or above capacity. Right now, I believe we aren't there so I see no reason to expand.
05-06-2016 06:33 PM
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NewTimes Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-06-2016 06:33 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  I'm all for expanding Williams Stadium once we start selling out at or above capacity. Right now, I believe we aren't there so I see no reason to expand.
Waiting until attendance demands it is valid but not the point. That's the traditional way. Wait until the need is there then do it. In LU's case, the thread's intent is to place emphasis back on LU's sports and facilities rather than on political/social/moral issues that influence the perception.

LU will simply be more appealing as a FBS program as it more resembles one with facilities and FB and basketball attendance. Emphasis should be to expand the stadium with a strong emphasis on filling the stadium to capacity with the new capacity at or near 25,000.

What does LU do if it doesn't be proactive and continue to improve it's position by means it can control as stated, attendance and facilities? Can LU afford to sit back and wait until the offer comes? Even JMU with it's fumbling and bumbling is a stronger candidate than LU at present. Coastal's invite is the writing on the wall where LU lands within the SBC.

Or does LU seek indy and/or sue the NCAA which has been mentioned many times here and on other threads? The best and most wise action, that LU controls is to continue to develop the facilities and increase attendance. And tone down the rhetoric.
05-06-2016 08:22 PM
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GE and MTS Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-06-2016 08:22 PM)NewTimes Wrote:  
(05-06-2016 06:33 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  I'm all for expanding Williams Stadium once we start selling out at or above capacity. Right now, I believe we aren't there so I see no reason to expand.
Waiting until attendance demands it is valid but not the point. That's the traditional way. Wait until the need is there then do it. In LU's case, the thread's intent is to place emphasis back on LU's sports and facilities rather than on political/social/moral issues that influence the perception.

LU will simply be more appealing as a FBS program as it more resembles one with facilities and FB and basketball attendance. Emphasis should be to expand the stadium with a strong emphasis on filling the stadium to capacity with the new capacity at or near 25,000.

What does LU do if it doesn't be proactive and continue to improve it's position by means it can control as stated, attendance and facilities? Can LU afford to sit back and wait until the offer comes? Even JMU with it's fumbling and bumbling is a stronger candidate than LU at present. Coastal's invite is the writing on the wall where LU lands within the SBC.

Or does LU seek indy and/or sue the NCAA which has been mentioned many times here and on other threads? The best and most wise action, that LU controls is to continue to develop the facilities and increase attendance. And tone down the rhetoric.

I don't think Liberty announcing the expansion of their football stadium would sway university presidents. I think if they announced a new academic building, such as a state-of-the-art school of engineering (or something of that nature). Why not increase enrollment to 20,000 on-campus residents to make us of similar size to many public schools that we are trying to impress? Why not add new majors (not predominantly religion-oriented)?

Make the statement something like, "While other schools are focused specifically on athletics, Liberty already has cutting edge athletic facilities. Liberty isn't ignoring their goal of empowering students to expand their knowledge and bring their new skills and top-flight education into the workplace and have added the following degrees to further serve the needs of today's working environment: XYZ. To support these new degrees, Liberty is building dorms to house X number of students on-campus and are releasing these plans for more academic buildings with brand new equipment using the top technology. Liberty University is committed to the students and are giving them everything to set them up for success."
05-06-2016 08:59 PM
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army56mike Offline
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Post: #7
Time to expand Williams Stadium
Pretty sure LU has already been doing this. They have added millions of dollars worth of new academic buildings, fantastic new student housing, all the while still improving athletic facilities. I even believe the school has added new fields of study. I know medicine is relatively new.
05-07-2016 08:23 AM
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Ewglenn Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-07-2016 08:23 AM)army56mike Wrote:  Pretty sure LU has already been doing this. They have added millions of dollars worth of new academic buildings, fantastic new student housing, all the while still improving athletic facilities. I even believe the school has added new fields of study. I know medicine is relatively new.

Honestly, I wish you guys offered Physical Education because I ended up going to The University of Louisville because it wasn't offered at Liberty. My wife graduated from LU and I had taken two years there (business administration) before changing my major.
05-16-2016 11:11 AM
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army56mike Offline
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Post: #9
Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-16-2016 11:11 AM)Ewglenn Wrote:  
(05-07-2016 08:23 AM)army56mike Wrote:  Pretty sure LU has already been doing this. They have added millions of dollars worth of new academic buildings, fantastic new student housing, all the while still improving athletic facilities. I even believe the school has added new fields of study. I know medicine is relatively new.

Honestly, I wish you guys offered Physical Education because I ended up going to The University of Louisville because it wasn't offered at Liberty. My wife graduated from LU and I had taken two years there (business administration) before changing my major.

Are you in or near Louisville still?
05-18-2016 02:41 AM
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army56mike Offline
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Post: #10
RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
Someone jog my memory. If we add the second tower on the student side of the stadium with an upper deck to mirror the Baptist side, and close in the visitors end of the field with bowl seating, does that bump capacity up to 30-35K?

Of course, I would add the tower and upper deck with luxury suites on the student side first.
05-18-2016 07:55 AM
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SlyFox Offline
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Post: #11
RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
The tower on the student side will actually be a larger structure than the current one on the Baptist side but I was shocked how little it increased the overall capacity. I believe I heard it would push us up to like 24-25k and the blueprints are ready to go. Closing in the west end of the stadium would push us into the 30k vicinity.
05-19-2016 07:05 PM
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GhentFan Offline
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Post: #12
RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
JMU messed up their chance earlier, but do you think you guys will be picked over them if Coastal is told to hit the road?
BTW I'm not a JMU fan.
05-19-2016 08:51 PM
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Libertygrad01 Offline
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Post: #13
RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
I don't think coastal will be told to hit the road by the Sun Belt. That would be allot of crow to eat for those college presidents that invited them. I see a scenario in that Coastal will scale the project way down and will get the needed seats added. In fact, Coastal having these financial issues probably makes them feel right at home in the Sun Belt. UL Monroe has an athletic budget of 12,000,000. They have no business being FBS. As state budgets get tighter and tighter some of these schools will continue to feel the squeeze put on them. Several of those schools in the Sun Belt will face some financial hurdles. It would only make sense for the next invite to go to EKU.
05-20-2016 08:09 AM
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GE and MTS Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
I'd be very surprised if the Sun Belt told Coastal "no thanks" and revoked their invitation. Some Coastal fans even brag about how they were invited for their non-football sports which sounds like just another way of saying that their football wasn't desired.

If there was a change of heart or something happened to keep Coastal from joining the Sun Belt, I very much doubt Liberty would be selected as the replacement. Liberty is the "break in case of emergency" school, so unless they NEED another school to survive, the Sun Belt has the likes of Eastern Kentucky, New Mexico State, Missouri State, James Madison, and likely others as schools to target rather than Liberty. It's rather frustrating as a Liberty fan and graduate and I'd rather be in any other FBS conference or independent than the Sun Belt due to their constant denial of Liberty. Is that fair? I don't know. But right now the only way to FBS is through a conference invitation and the Sun Belt is the only one that is truly capable (or should I say in a position) of handing out invitations at this time.
05-21-2016 07:38 AM
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SlyFox Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
Coastal isn't going anywhere. They will be a member of the Sun Belt for the foreseeable future.

Should dominoes begin falling that lead the Sun Belt to expand, we'd be somewhere in the mix with EKU who is a far inferior option that somehow looks better to many in the Belt. JMU has zero interest in the league and apparently Missouri State has similar views. NMSU has been passed over time and time again just like us. Unless we were brought in together I don't see either of us getting in anytime soon.
05-21-2016 09:31 AM
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GE and MTS Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-21-2016 09:31 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  Coastal isn't going anywhere. They will be a member of the Sun Belt for the foreseeable future.

Should dominoes begin falling that lead the Sun Belt to expand, we'd be somewhere in the mix with EKU who is a far inferior option that somehow looks better to many in the Belt. JMU has zero interest in the league and apparently Missouri State has similar views. NMSU has been passed over time and time again just like us. Unless we were brought in together I don't see either of us getting in anytime soon.

I agree, this seems to be the lay of the land. I don't expect anything to change that would open up a Sun Belt slot in the near to intermediate future which would test this theory. Our hope seems to rest in the unlikely event that FCS schools are allowed to move up as independents.
05-21-2016 06:49 PM
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Ewglenn Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-18-2016 02:41 AM)army56mike Wrote:  
(05-16-2016 11:11 AM)Ewglenn Wrote:  
(05-07-2016 08:23 AM)army56mike Wrote:  Pretty sure LU has already been doing this. They have added millions of dollars worth of new academic buildings, fantastic new student housing, all the while still improving athletic facilities. I even believe the school has added new fields of study. I know medicine is relatively new.

Honestly, I wish you guys offered Physical Education because I ended up going to The University of Louisville because it wasn't offered at Liberty. My wife graduated from LU and I had taken two years there (business administration) before changing my major.

Are you in or near Louisville still?

As of now I am but I am moving back to my home state of SC at the end of the month for the schooling issue that is the same with LU.
05-22-2016 06:38 AM
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Bobcat2013 Online
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-21-2016 07:38 AM)GE and MTS Wrote:  It's rather frustrating as a Liberty fan and graduate and I'd rather be in any other FBS conference or independent than the Sun Belt due to their constant denial of Liberty.

Hasn't every FBS conference kind of denied y'all though? I think y'all would be a good add though.
05-22-2016 01:39 PM
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GE and MTS Offline
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-22-2016 01:39 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  
(05-21-2016 07:38 AM)GE and MTS Wrote:  It's rather frustrating as a Liberty fan and graduate and I'd rather be in any other FBS conference or independent than the Sun Belt due to their constant denial of Liberty.

Hasn't every FBS conference kind of denied y'all though? I think y'all would be a good add though.

The MAC has been at 12 or more for some time now. They haven't had a reason to expand and by effectively kicking out UMass (inviting them knowing they would decline and end up independent), they have no reason to expand over 12. CUSA is already past 12 and has no reason to expand. Liberty was a candidate but the conference went other directions pretty early in discussions (as far as I know).

The Sun Belt seemed to reluctantly look at Liberty. They effectively held their noses towards Liberty and even used Liberty as a pawn to try to get JMU to accept an invitation. The Sun Belt has acted snobby and too good for Liberty despite being the bottom of the FBS totem pole.
05-22-2016 02:45 PM
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Bobcat2013 Online
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RE: Time to expand Williams Stadium
(05-22-2016 02:45 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  
(05-22-2016 01:39 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  
(05-21-2016 07:38 AM)GE and MTS Wrote:  It's rather frustrating as a Liberty fan and graduate and I'd rather be in any other FBS conference or independent than the Sun Belt due to their constant denial of Liberty.

Hasn't every FBS conference kind of denied y'all though? I think y'all would be a good add though.

The MAC has been at 12 or more for some time now. They haven't had a reason to expand and by effectively kicking out UMass (inviting them knowing they would decline and end up independent), they have no reason to expand over 12. CUSA is already past 12 and has no reason to expand. Liberty was a candidate but the conference went other directions pretty early in discussions (as far as I know).

The Sun Belt seemed to reluctantly look at Liberty. They effectively held their noses towards Liberty and even used Liberty as a pawn to try to get JMU to accept an invitation. The Sun Belt has acted snobby and too good for Liberty despite being the bottom of the FBS totem pole.

I realize the top part. I just meant that if some other conference thought you were worthy they'd add you regardless of their numbers situation.

I'm curious how the Sun Belt has acted snobby?
05-22-2016 05:21 PM
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