Why cant WYOMING be the next Boise State?

[DocHolliday]

I ask this question in all seriousness.

With Colorado State ramping up their efforts to be a much bigger player on the college football stage, why should The University Of Wyoming settle for mediocrity?

I'm not saying that mediocrity is the objective with WYO officials, however, as the only game in the state, with terrific facilities and visionary leadership, why cant Wyoming become the next little engine that could school similar to the development of the Boise State program?

Idaho is better than Wyoming? With all due respect to Idaho and the town of Boise, I'll take Wyoming and Laramie over them any day of the week.

It seems to me that there is both untapped and unlimited platforms of success that Wyoming should be striving for...that as a school with many advantages to it, we should not be a stepping stone football program for coaches, but a destination program where the right coach under the correct parameters could build something special, something enduring, something of lasting value.

I guess in summation what I'm saying is that I feel Wyoming football has the opportunity to be a much more vibrant and meaningful football program than perhaps history has indicated up to this point.

Your follow up thoughts and points would be appreciated.

 

[Wyokie]

My $0.02

1. Lack of vision
2. Lack of $$
3. Lack of T.V. Market

 

[DocHolliday]

So you are conceding that there is a lack of 'vision' within the program?

TV market, yes, however, how big is the Boise TV market?

I appreciate the response but I think those hurdles are ones that can be jumped over successfully and should not preclude an effort to make WYO football bigger & better.

 

[J-Rod]

Lack of "want to" from the state. Lack of population overall. State's biggest town only holds 70K. And the biggest one, but often the quietest, government support. BSU has their way with the SBOE and state government. When it comes to funding and access, BSU is never turned away. Can't say the same about Wyoming.

And another thing about BSU. You see every non-BCS fan base claim this "Why can't we be the next BSU?"

Hate to tell ya, but while Boise's community and government have done an excellent job of rallying behind the school and moving forward, lets be real here. BSU is insanely lucky. The stars have aligned for BSU a bajillion times. Nobody...hear me....NOBODY...will ever be the next Boise State (go from nobody to perennial Top 25 school with vast potential).

 

[DocHolliday]

Fair enough I guess, although I wouldn't be discouraged enough by those claims to let it stop me from trying hard to be bigger and better...I'm a realist in that there is a definite ceiling on WYO football, but count me as someone who isn't satisfied that the program is not yet close to that ceiling.

Tell me this, does the University's athletic department do enough in your estimation to promote and cultivate an appetite for Cowboys football throughout the state, through various marketing endeavors, a 'Cowboys Caravan' that sprinkles the seeds of Pokes football in ever corner of the state, etc?

 

[J-Rod]

Tell me this, does the University's athletic department do enough in your estimation to promote and cultivate an appetite for Cowboys football throughout the state, through various marketing endeavors, a 'Cowboys Caravan' that sprinkles the seeds of Pokes football in ever corner of the state, etc?

Ugh....that is a loaded question. While the answer is most likely "no", I think a lot of posters here could tell you why this is so difficult. Some of this is just math. Wyoming is dead last in the United States in population with around 550K-600K people in the state. Meaning obviously, the audience UW is catering too isn't very large. The best average attendance UW football has ever attracted was only 25K a game. To be fair, in terms of getting to games, the Wyoming winters make it very difficult for even the most hardcore fan to get to Laramie. So while one can hope advertising and reaching out to other towns in Wyoming can help, there always will be that one hold up. Not that its exclusive to Wyoming, but nonetheless it makes things difficult.

Overall though, I think the department could do better. Even with the students. Students like fromolwyoming, wyocowboys2014, etc. are a dime a dozen. Most students at Wyoming don't care for UW football, and are often a fickle bunch. But those are all just a bunch of excuses. I'm no expert and wouldn't have the fainest idea what to do, but clearly there is room for growth if you look at this infamous meme. <<<Note - That is during the best football season since 1998.

 

[DocHolliday]

Is the picture with a smattering of fans the game last season against New Mexico? If so, I was at that game!

 

[J-Rod]

That it is. Believe 15K showed.

 

[WyoBrandX]

15K showed because the roads were closed. New Mexico had to come in via snow plow in 2009.

Here's my $0.02:

1.) We have had a very successful history in football/basketball. Our administration gets set in their ways and thinks winning 10 games a season is good enough. Then we ride our own coattails into the gutter and sit there for a while. This pisses off many hardcore wyoming fans.

2.) Small population in Laramie - I've long said Laramie should try to get to 40-50k people. I believe you would see alot more local support at the games with an increased population base.

3.) Continue investing in facilities - we have done a great job of this the last 8-10 years or so. The 20 before that, we really fell behind, riding our own coattails again.

A.) On a side note, I see the 80 sq mile Ycross ranch jointly owned by CSU/WYO north of Vedauwoo is going up for sale. I've written our congress critters and told them it is unacceptable that the federal government not purchase the ground and make it part of the national forest. I've also written state officials and noted it should be part of a state park. After all, if we really were to increase the population at all, one of the benefits to Laramie is the proximity to the outdoors, and unlike most of the state, its brutal trying to find public ground down here. If you are bored, write them and let them know. </end rant>

4.) Our fan base is odd - it will be interesting to see what they do this year without a TV schedule. However, I think they may just settle listening to the radio. My take: everyone is a cowboy fan, everyone has something better to do than go to the game. Everyone will listen to the game on the radio.

 

[Bryoming]

So much negativity in these posts. I believe that Wyoming CAN get to and sustain a high level of success in the college football world. It wasn't that long ago that we were one of the elite programs in the west. Here are what I believe the steps to our success are:

Leadership - I think that Burman has done an excellent job since the Schroyer debacle of hiring good coaches for all of our athletic programs. If HCDC can get us to 8 wins again this season I think that we'll be set in the football department for leadership. (Note: I am not happy with getting 8 wins each season. I'm just saying that the next step is back-to-back winning seasons.)

Facilities - We're seriously kicking ass on this front. There are improvements that need to be made, but plans are in place to make them. With great facilities come high level recruits.

Winning - This is the bottom line. We keep winning, we keep climbing the ladder. We were in a hell of a hole not 5 years ago, but we have fought and clawed our way out of the basement. This season is should be noted that we could still seriously contend for a conference title. (Granted their are some problems that need to be solved.) Winning will also bring more fan support, better donations, and more national exposure. The better you are, the more people want to see what you're putting on the field.

I feel like we have all of the pieces in place, we just need to execute. Wyoming is poised to take the next step, we just have to take it. :twocents:

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

.

Winning - This is the bottom line. We keep winning, we keep climbing the ladder. We were in a hell of a hole not 5 years ago, but we have fought and clawed our way out of the basement. This season is should be noted that we could still seriously contend for a conference title. (Granted their are some problems that need to be solved.) Winning will also bring more fan support, better donations, and more national exposure. The better you are, the more people want to see what you're putting on the field.

:

I think this is it in a nut shell. I've been a Poke fan for almost 27 years now and have been to games with 10,000 people in the stands and was at the game where we smacked up BYU and tore down the goal posts. The one truth about Poke fans is: they are not going to travel from every corner of the state to watch us lose to Toledo. Die hard fans are DIE HARD and Cowboy fans are die hard, just most of them aren't willing to brave the Wyoming falls/winters to watch teams underperform or outright quit. It's all about winning if you want to put butts in the seats.

 

[stymeman]

We can be, barring major player injury, great recruiting classes and fewer coaching vacancies and this team not being considered a coaching stepping stone. Overall I like the direction we are heading and think with more time we'll become the Brown and Gold of old. With the lack of TV coverage it makes it tough, with us not have any major networks housed in Wyoming and having to depend on the Denver metro it makes it difficult in that aspect. Boise's Metro is still bigger than the whole state of Wyoming, hence better coverage by the media and market. Fans got very spoiled to be able to see almost every game on TheMTN the past 5 years or so, now that this is taken away fans are going to pick and choose those games that they really want to see. I remember the days b4 we were not ever on TV, so we've come a long way in that aspect. I was here during the Roach/Tiller years and man it was truly an exciting time at the War. The capacity was 33,500 but only a few sellouts, now with us being at 29,100 there's not really any excuse we can't come close to capacity more often. Dana Dimel year was fun and exciting but once Vic Koenning came in those years were truly tough to be a Poke fan. We were truly down the in doldrums, Joe Glenn tried but he couldn't recruit D1 players.

Overall the fan base needs to step up and realize that in order to keep good coaches we need to pay them/hence the price of season and single tickets has to keep up. Our facilities are very good but there will come a time that they'll become outdated. I always thought we should drop to FCS status but then we'd have to work like he l l to get back if we dominated that status. It's always been hard for statewide fans to rally around the Pokes with hunting seasons etc....as well.

We're on the right track, with great managment, guidance and support there's no reason we can make a BCS bubble run in the future, man that'd be totally awesome, hopefully the MWC takes note and we do become a conference to reckon with later on down the road. GO POKES

 

[Cheywypoke]

Another thing that hurts attendance is the fact that during this time of year many potential fan's priority is hunting and not football.

 

[WYCowboy]

UW has a unique situation with the small population in the State of Wyoming. Historically we usually only get one or two recruits from Wyoming each year. This results in recruiting being tremendously important for us to be highly successful. In order for us to be able to recruit these players, we MUST have:
1. Not just good, but a great coaching staff that recognizes that not all great athletes are a good fit for UW!
2. Not just average, but great facilities!
3. The administration not only of the Athletic Dept., but the entire University of Wyoming (including the trustees), and the legislature and governor of the State of Wyoming backing the only 4 year university in the state with the funds & transportation necessary to do this nationwide recruiting that is required and an athletic budget that includes salaries for our coaching staff that will allow us to get and keep great coaches & staff!! They must think outside of the "box" that they have been accustomed to thinking in!!
4. Wins, which will bring media attention, coverage, and easier recruiting.
5. Fan support - UW Athletics should be a top priority and source of pride to residents all over the State of Wyoming. UW must market this program to every corner of the state, to it's own students, and to it's alumni.

 

[bladerunnr]

Ok. Laramie has a population of 30k. Boise has 600k and an airport. Boise Cascade, Albertsons and other major corporations have their headquarters there. Their weather is pretty good.

We don't have the t.v. market or weather or population to compete with them. I love Laramie. I'm just not sure the average African American 18 year old sees the allure of Laramie. Lastly, we should have replaced "The War" about 30 years ago. 90 percent of the stadium is bleacher seating and the concessions and parking still suck.

All of this would be somewhat alleviated by a zealous fan base. We win 8 games last year and only get 22k for our home opener. Pathetic. I'm tired of the hunting excuse. Too many people just don't give a damn.

 

[WyoBrandX]

If we want to sell out - serve beer in the stadium. Who wants to watch football sober - not many people. Put a $0.10 stadium tax on all booze sold to go to stadium improvements. We'll have a 100,000 seat stadium plated in gold in no time. Add another $0.10 tax for coaching salaries - we will have the highest paid coaching staff in all of div 1.

 

[bladerunnr]

If we want to sell out - serve beer in the stadium. Who wants to watch football sober - not many people. Put a $0.10 stadium tax on all booze sold to go to stadium improvements. We'll have a 100,000 seat stadium plated in gold in no time. Add another $0.10 tax for coaching salaries - we will have the highest paid coaching staff in all of div 1.

True. csewe sells beer at 5.50 a pop. Probably the only money maker they have. Just cut off sales about 1/2 way throught the 3d quarter or even half time so fans don't play bumper cars on the way home.

 

[BackHarlowRoad]

Too many people just don't give a damn.

^ this. Boise has our statewide population in the town alone. Convenient. It's not that our fans are fair weather or any worse than any of our counterparts. There are aren't as many of the diehards close enough to regularly attend games.

You can't force someone to enjoy football just because they need to make up the population difference.

 

[wellpoke]

If we want to sell out - serve beer in the stadium.

Not the answer to the overall program woes, or to Dino's question. But it would go a long way toward both.

Winning - This is the bottom line. We keep winning, we keep climbing the ladder.

This is it. Winning will bring fans back. The students will come back first, and they are starting to. I saw some days when I was in Laramie (the VIC years) that kids would rather study than go to the game. Study!!! I was impressed with the student turnout at Toledo last week. And they were even fairly rowdy, which was nice to see. Once we start to have regular winning seasons, the casual Laramie fans will return. It'll be a thing to go to the War on Saturday and have dinner afterward. it's not right now. It's getting better, but we're still not there. Win a conference championship or two, and you'll start seeing people traveling across the state to get to the games again. There are a few diehards now, but win those championships, and you'll see them come in droves.

This will also drive the TV market. People want to watch a winner, and winning will drive demand for TV. It'll probably start locally, which is fine. But at least the option will be there for someone else to pick up the broadcast.

Recruiting? Well, it doesn't matter where the program is if kids are winning. Boise is able to recruit talented kids because they win (or at least have in the last ten years or so), not because they have a great night life, hotter chicks, or better facilities. They win, plain and simple, and that gives players hopes of making it to the next level. Give them that, and they'll come here, winter or not.

Of course, this all starts at the University. Someone needs to have the vision to see that. To hire and retain good coaches that can bring in talent and win games. To build facilities that are attractive to players. To set up the best schedule possible for the team. To get as much support from the state as possible. I think we have that in Burman. He has is flaws as anybody does, but he's done a pretty good job getting us out of the huge hole we were in. We've got a long way to go, but we're in a helluva lot better spot now than we were four years ago.

Can UW be the next Boise? Absolutely. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. With a little vision, a little luck, and some damn hard work, absolutely. And I think we're on our way.


GO POKES!

 

[stymeman]

If we want to sell out - serve beer in the stadium. Who wants to watch football sober - not many people. Put a $0.10 stadium tax on all booze sold to go to stadium improvements. We'll have a 100,000 seat stadium plated in gold in no time. Add another $0.10 tax for coaching salaries - we will have the highest paid coaching staff in all of div 1.

I like this idea!!!!!!