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The Paisano Presents :
THE K ICKOFFThe UTSA Football Guide
What is the price of football? pg. 13
2012 Football Schedule pg. 9
WAC welcomes Roadrunnerspg. 4
Contents:
Team breakdown pg. 10
The PaisanoEditor-in-Chief: Katy SchmaderManaging Editor: Stephen WhitakerInterim News Editor:Matthew DuartePaseo Editor: Sarah GibbensArts Editor: Erica CavazosSports Editor: Rex CastilloPhoto Editor: Alyssa GonzalesAds Manager: Kevyn KirvenBusiness Manager: Jenelle DuffWeb Editor: Victor H. Hernandez Senior Copy Editor: Alyssa TorresContributing Writers: Devon Bond, Zach TaylorAdvisor: Diane AbdoAdvisory Board:Steven Kellman, Mansour El Kikhia, Jack Himelblau, Sandy Norman
The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, edu-cational organization. The Pai-sano is operated by members of the Student Newspaper As-sociation, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, financed or endorsed by UTSA. New is-sues are published every Tues-day during the fall and spring semesters, excluding holidays and exam periods. All revenues are generated through advertis-ing and donations. Advertising inquiries and donations should be directed towards:
© The Paisano14545 Roadrunner Way San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: (210)690-9301 Fax: (210)690-3423E-mail: [email protected] Ph
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Welcome to the WACpg. 4
How much does
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Welcome to the WAC
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Stephen WhitakerZach TaylorManaging Editor /Contributing [email protected]
After 50 years and numerous members, 2012 will be the final football season for the Western Athletic Conference.
It will also be the first and only season in which UTSA and Texas State meet as conference rivals before moving on to the Conference-USA and Sun Belt, respectively. The exodus of teams in 2013 will also include Louisiana Tech to Conference-USA, San Jose State and Utah State moving to the Mountain West Conference and Idaho be-coming an independent football school.
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs are favored to win the WAC for the second consecutive season thanks in large part to an offense that returns eight starters. Lead-ing the Bulldogs’ charge will be QB Colby Cameron who played in only seven games last season. Cameron will have nearly all of his weapons back from last fall, including WR Quinton Patter-son, who is on the pre-season Biletnikoff Award watch list for best WR in the land, and RB Hunter Lee, who went from true freshman starter last season to a preseason spot on the Doak Walker Award watch list.
On defense, the Bulldogs return six starters from the conference’s best squad last season. The Bulldogs will return nearly the entirety of the defen-sive backfield in Jamel John-son, Javonte Crowe and Chad Boyd who together combined for seven interceptions, three fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles
The Utah State Aggies, like LA Tech, return eight starters on offense, including WR Matt Austin, who led the team in receiving last season with 465 yards and six touchdowns.
The Aggies defense returns six starters this season, including defensive backs Jumanne Rob-ertson and McKade Brady.
Roadrunners join the Football Bowl Subdivision
The Roadrunners are set to make history yet again in 2012 as they will move to the Football Bowl Subdivision in their second year, the quickest move in NCAA history.
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Robertson led the Aggies with 12 passes broken up last season while Brady broke up six passes on the year with 86 tackles, 16 of those coming against Idaho. DE Connor Wil-liams who finished 2011 with 28 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks, will lead the Aggies defensive line in the trenches.
If there were a team that could benefit from the revolving door of teams coming and going from the WAC this last season, it would be the San Jose State Spartans. The Spartans fin-ished last season tied for fourth at 3-4 in the WAC.
The Spartans return seven starters on offense. Notable among the returnees for the Spartan offense are WR Noel Grigsby, who finished 2011 with a school record 89 catches, and TE Otten who was a First Team All-WAC selection last season and is on the John Mackey Award watch list entering this season.
Their defense will play a large part in deciding whether or not the Spartans can unseat LA Tech. DE Travis Johnson was First Team All-WAC defensive end last season with 73 tack-les and 9.5 sacks, including a school-record four against Idaho in 2011. James Orth is a three-year starter at safety who finished 2011 with 78 tackles and four interceptions.
The New Mexico State Ag-gies will also benefit from the old departures and new arrivals in the WAC. The Aggies lost nearly as many starters as they returned this season. Leading the Aggies on offense will be QB Andrew Manley who went from freshman backup to sophomore starter with his 2011 campaign. Manley will hope that OT DA-vonte Walker can protect him long enough to find an open WR Kemonte Bateman who finished 2011 with 414 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
The Aggies defense has up-perclassmen leadership spread throughout with Lavoy splitting time between the defensive end
and linebacker positions last season in eight games. Lavoy is poised to have a breakout year in his final campaign in Las Cruces. Bryan Bonilla is a qual-ity linebacker whose numbers may not be flashy but who plays every down. In the backfield, Darrien Johnson will look to add to his 2011 numbers that included three tackles for loss and one sack.
The Texas State Bobcats are, like their rival UTSA, playing
their first season of FBS football. Though the Bobcats have a 106-year head start on the Roadrun-ners in terms of history, in 2012 they will most likely finish right above the Roadrunners.
Offensively, the Bobcats return eight starters from a 2011 club that finished 6-6 while playing an FCS independent schedule.
Leading the charge will be QB Shaun Rutherford who threw for 1227 yards in 2011 with 12 touchdowns. The leading re-ceiver returning for the Bobcats is Battle, who finished 2011 with 368 yards and five touchdowns. When not passing, the Bobcats will be running on the legs of RB Marcus Curry, who ran for 637 yards in 2011 with three touchdowns.
The Bobcats defense is heav-ily laden with upperclassmen including CB Darryl Morris who finished 2011 with 62 tackles (six for loss) three sacks, an interception and a fumble re-covery. LB Bartu finished with 51 tackles, one interception, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.
The UTSA Roadrunners will look to improve on their four wins from 2011. Unfortu-nately the level of competition has improved from last season, meaning the wins might be hard
to come by this season.QB Erica Soza, who finished
2011 with 2148 yards passing and 14 touchdowns, will lead the Roadrunners offense, which returns every starter from last season. The big threat will come from Jones who became the first receiver in school history with 100 yards receiving last year en route to 578 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, the Roadrun-ners will hope for a big year
from Evans Okotcha and the other stable of running backs.
The Roadrunner defense re-turns nine starters from last sea-son. Notable among those are Brandon Reeves, who finished 2011 with 69 tackles, eight and a half tackles for loss, six sacks and a fumble recovery.
Coming back to join Reeves in the linebacker corps is Steven Kurfehs, who was the first player in school history with a 10+ tackle game and an interception returned for a touchdown. The secondary will be led by Nic Johnston, who tallied 59 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two inter-ceptions, three fumble recover-ies and two forced fumbles in 2011.
This could be a rough year for the Idaho Vandals as they will be led by an unproven QB in Taylor Davis, who finished 2011 with just 234 yards passing with one touchdown and four interceptions thrown.
The running back will also be new with Ryan Bass getting to start after spending 2011 as a back up. Things in Idaho are not good as Bass is the team’s most experienced running back with limited starts. WR Justin Veltung will look to have a bounce-back year in 2012 after injuries sidelined him for most of 2011.
On defense, the Vandals will bring back only four start-ers from last season. Three of the four returning are seniors whose leadership will be as valuable as any stats they put up individually. Gary Walker is the team’s leading returning tackler with 109 in 2011.
Aaron Grymes finished 2011 with 55 tackles, one intercep-tion, seven passes broken up, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Mayowa will anchor the Vandals defensive front coming off a 2011 cam-paign that saw him tally only 17 tackles with 4.5 of those for loss, three sacks, two passes broken up, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
PredictionsProjection for 2012 WAC final standingsRank Team WAC overall1. Louisiana Tech 6-0 8-42. Utah State 5-1 9-33. San Jose State 4-2 7-54. New Mexico State 3-3 5-75. Texas State 2-4 4-86. UTSA 1-5 5-77. Idaho 0-6 0-12
2012 will be the final football season for the Western Athletic conference
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Rex CastilloSports Editor
In just their second season the Roadrun-
ners are moving up to Division I Foot-ball Bowl Subdivi-sion competition
in the West-ern Athletic
Conference ( W A C ) . But the 2012 edi-
tion of UTSA foot-ball has wel-comed the new level of competition by intensely
p r a c t i c i n g through the bru-
tally scorching South Texas summer days.
“We aren’t ready yet but we are get-ting there. We are going to get ready for the competi-tion and I think it’s exciting and a new challenge for us,” head coach Larry
Coker said. UTSA’s offense will
also have new leader-ship in the 2012 sea-son, with Kevin Brown
as the new offensive coordinator. Brown was
promoted from his previ-ous position as the tight ends
coach last season.
“He’s tough-minded and he expects the offense to be disci-plined and to be tough minded,” said Coker. “We are trying to be-come a more physical team and a better running team.”
Brown inherits a UTSA of-fense that produced 219.7 yards per game last year with their passing game, but his running attack produced 144.8 yards per game. Those numbers were not good enough for a winning re-cord 2011 season.
The players are adjusting to
Brown’s philosophy and are fine-tuning their skills to deploy an offense that will show multiple threats.
“We have the old veteran in coach Coker, and we have the new guy in coach Brown, but he knows his stuff. The offense is so multiple that we can do a lot of things,” returning quarterback Eric Soza said.
Last season, UTSA quarter-back Soza started all 10 games. Soza completed a decent 57 percent of his passes for 2,148 yards for 14 touchdowns as the Runners posted a 4-6 record. Soza was not afraid to take mat-ters into his own hands as he ranked second on the team with 285 rushing yards, scoring three
times with his legs. Despite all those credentials,
the starting quarterback job is still up for grabs.
“Eric Soza and Tucker Carter have had really good camps. We have three in the mix to start,” Brown said. “Eric is the starter coming out of the spring but Carter and Ryan Polite are push-ing him to get better.”
The competition for the start-ing job has proven to be a ben-eficial to Soza’s development and his hard work hasn’t gone unno-ticed.
“Soza has become a leader, stronger now and more confi-dent. He has to compete for his job and that has made him bet-
ter,” Coker said. After the 2012 training camp,
Soza has emerged as the clear cut starter for the Roadrunners. He will definately need the support of his teammates to succeed this season, against much tougher and stronger defenses.
One of the big signings for the Runners was former Geor-gia State running back Marcus Wright; unfortunately Wright will not be attending UTSA. Wright will play at Incarnate Word but the Roadrunners backfield will still have two huge weapons.
TEAM BREAKDOWN
“The players are stronger, more experi-enced since they have been in the system for a year and they like playing this system.”Larry CokerUTSA Head Football Coach
Sophomore running back David Glasco II and junior run-ning back Evans Okotcha tied last year with five touchdowns each, making them the scoring leaders for UTSA.
One of the concerns for the Runners is their depth at the offensive line. “We are very, very thin at the offensive line. We have some good players there but they just don’t have the experience,” Coker said.
The Runners hope that more experience for their offensive line will help set up their other offensive weapons and stay competitive in the WAC.
A strong offensive line will also help the Runners with their low third down conver-tion percentage from 2011. UTSA only converted on 39 percent of all third down con-versions. Brown believes last year’s expereience provided valuable maturity for the up-coming season.
“Those guys got thrown into the fire last year,” Brown said. “I think those guys have done a good job this camp.”
A year’s worth of experience in Coker’s system has helped mature the returning Roadrun-ners defense as they enter their first season in Division I foot-ball.
“The players are stronger, more experienced since they have been in the system for a year and they like playing in this system,” said Coker.
Senior linebacker Brandon Reeves and junior linebacker Steven Kurfehs have emerged as leaders on the Runners de-fense, and they look to main-tain their high level of perfor-mance against a much tougher schedule of opponents.
“I think that everyone is a little nervous, but everyone is also really excited about the new competition, and it’s showing in practice. We are all intense at practice and trying to get ready for the new season,
A sneak-peak of the upcoming season as UTSA prepares to battle in the WAC
6
times with his legs. Despite all those credentials,
the starting quarterback job is still up for grabs.
“Eric Soza and Tucker Carter have had really good camps. We have three in the mix to start,” Brown said. “Eric is the starter coming out of the spring but Carter and Ryan Polite are push-ing him to get better.”
The competition for the start-ing job has proven to be a ben-eficial to Soza’s development and his hard work hasn’t gone unno-ticed.
“Soza has become a leader, stronger now and more confi-dent. He has to compete for his job and that has made him bet-
ter,” Coker said. After the 2012 training camp,
Soza has emerged as the clear cut starter for the Roadrunners. He will definately need the support of his teammates to succeed this season, against much tougher and stronger defenses.
One of the big signings for the Runners was former Geor-gia State running back Marcus Wright; unfortunately Wright will not be attending UTSA. Wright will play at Incarnate Word but the Roadrunners backfield will still have two huge weapons.
Players to watch:
Quaterback:Eric Soza (pictured far left)#8, Junior 2011 statistics – 214.8 pass-ing yards/game, 56 percent passes completed, 14 TDs
Wide Reciever: Kam Jones #1, Sophomore2011 statistics –578 total yards, 57.8 receiving yards/game, 2 TDs
Wide Reciever:Brandon Freeman #84, Sophomore2011 statistics – 419 total yards, 41.9 receiving yards/game, 88.1 all purpose yards/game, 4 TDs
Linebacker: Brandon Reeves #53, Senior2011 statistics – 69 total tackles, 6 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Linebacker: (pictured left) Steven Kurfehs #44, Junior
2011 statistics – 61 total tackles, 1 sack, 2 intercep-tions, 1 forced fumble
Sophomore running back David Glasco II and junior run-ning back Evans Okotcha tied last year with five touchdowns each, making them the scoring leaders for UTSA.
One of the concerns for the Runners is their depth at the offensive line. “We are very, very thin at the offensive line. We have some good players there but they just don’t have the experience,” Coker said.
The Runners hope that more experience for their offensive line will help set up their other offensive weapons and stay competitive in the WAC.
A strong offensive line will also help the Runners with their low third down conver-tion percentage from 2011. UTSA only converted on 39 percent of all third down con-versions. Brown believes last year’s expereience provided valuable maturity for the up-coming season.
“Those guys got thrown into the fire last year,” Brown said. “I think those guys have done a good job this camp.”
A year’s worth of experience in Coker’s system has helped mature the returning Roadrun-ners defense as they enter their first season in Division I foot-ball.
“The players are stronger, more experienced since they have been in the system for a year and they like playing in this system,” said Coker.
Senior linebacker Brandon Reeves and junior linebacker Steven Kurfehs have emerged as leaders on the Runners de-fense, and they look to main-tain their high level of perfor-mance against a much tougher schedule of opponents.
“I think that everyone is a little nervous, but everyone is also really excited about the new competition, and it’s showing in practice. We are all intense at practice and trying to get ready for the new season,
because the talent is going to be way better and we are get-ting ready for it,” Reeves said.
Reeves was one of the hard-est workers on the Runners defense last season. He led the team in tackles with 69, with 27 solo tackles and also forced one fumble last season. After that great season, Reeves strived to become even better in 2012.
“I feel like I have improved
tremendously from last year. I’m more comfortable with the defense and take up more of a leadership role with Steven Kurfehs,” Reeves said.
L i n e b a c k e r Kurfehs was just behind teammate Reeves with a total of 61 tackles for the 2011 season, 32 solo tackles along with two inter-ceptions. Ku r f e h s made his p r e s e n c e well known on Sept. 17, against S o u t h -ern Utah U n i v e r -sity with 13 total tack- les , eight solo tackles. On Sept. 24, when UTSA faced off against Bacone College, when Kurfehs intercepted a pass and returned it for a 45-yard touchdown for the first defensive score in school history. Kurfehsand became
the first defensive player to re-cord double-digit tackles in the program’s history.
The defensive unit for the Roadrunners will be a crucial part for UTSA’s success in the WAC. Last season, UTSA’s op-ponents gained an average of 212.3 passing yards per game and also 126.2 rushing yards per game. But the Runners’ defense stepped up and played
very well at home.
7Photos Courtesty of Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics
“I think everyone is a little nervous, but everyone is also really excited about the new competition, and it’s showing in practice.”Brandon ReevesSenior Linebacker
Continued on page 15
Front Row (L to R): Kam Jones, Cody Berry, Alondre Thorn, Crosby Adams, Brandon Armstrong, Head Coach Larry Coker, Tucker Carter, Ryan Polite, Eric Soza, Marcellus Mack, Brian King.
Second Row: Quincy Kibbett, Travis Menn, David Glasco II, Earon Holmes, Zach Conque, Brian Vaughn, Tre Rosser, Tris-ton Wade, Josiah Monroe, John Simmons, Erik Brown, Kenny Harrison.
Third Row: Sean Hesler, Maurice Poullard, Charles Wort, Nic Johnston, John Walker III, Darrien Starling, Mauricio San-chez, Ja’Len James, Nate Shaw, Terrance Wilburn, Treston Coleman.
Fourth Row: Christian Wood, Joseph Lizcano, Drew Douglas, Miguellino Byrd, Sean Luchnick, Xaviar Archangel, Evans Okotcha, Lekenwic Haynes, Kristian Stern, Richard Mendoza, William Ritter, CheRod Simpson.
Fifth Row: Sal Martinez, Cody Rogers, Steven Kurfehs, Drew Johnson, Parker Cundiff, Josh Ward, Gage Hadlock, Domi-nique Henderson, Robert Singletary, Payton Rion, Blake Terry.
Sixth Row: Brandon Reeves, Brandon Guerrero, Nate Leonard, Dalton Miller, Andy Flores, Ferrington Macon, Jesse Me-drano, Richard Burge, Jamie Bernal, William Cavanaugh, Franky Anaya.
Seventh Row: Michael Roberson, Zach Hester, Aaron Grubb, Cody Harris, Brent Swanson, Cody Cole, Jerry Bynum, Rileigh Davis, Cade Laufer, Josh Walker, Alex Delgado.
Eighth Row: Patrick Hoog, Scott Inskeep, Cole Hicks, Kenny Bias, David Morgan, Cole Hubble, Brandon Freeman, Jer-emiah Moeller, Seth Grubb, Trevor Stevens, Jordan Gray, Austin Rushing.
Ninth Row: Assistant Equipment Manager Tom Scanlon, Jarron Harris, John Roper, Sean Ianno, Brendon Brinkmann, Dan Winter, Jason Neill, Ashaad Mabry, Leighton Gilbert, Codie Brooks, Director of Operations Shane Elder.
10th Row: Assistant Athletic Trainer Rhodie Moss, Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Greeson, Assistant Coach Charlie Reeve, Graduate Assistant Matt Kraft, Assistant Coach Kevin Brown, Assistant Coach Perry Eliano, Associate Strength & Condition-ing Coach Travis Reust, Equipment Manager Mike Villa, Graduate Assistant Jeff Bowen, Team Operations Coordinator Adam Cain.
11th Row: Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Charlie Dudley, Assistant Coach Tony Jeffery, Graduate Assistant Benny Morrison, Assistant Coach Eric Roark, Assistant Coach Nathaniel Jones, Assistant Coach Polo Gutierrez, Assistant Coach Neal Neathery, Viedo Coordinator Brad Sternberg, Assistant Coach Jim Marshall.
2012 UTSA Football Team
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Date Opponent Location Time (CT)
Aug. 30 South Alabama (ESPN3) Mobile, AL 6:30 p.m.Sept. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce Alamodome 1 p.m.Sept. 15 Georgia State Atlanta, GA 5 p.m.Sept. 22 NW Oklahoma State Alamodome 1 p.m.Sept. 29 New Mexico State Las Cruces, NM 7 p.m.Oct. 13 Rice (FCS) Houston, TX 2:30 p.m.Oct. 20 San Jose State Alamodome 1 p.m.Oct. 27 Utah State Alamodome 1 p.m.Nov. 3 Louisiana Tech (ERT) Ruston, LA 3 p.m.Nov. 10 McNeese State Alamodome 4 p.m.Nov. 17 at Idaho Moscow, ID 4 p.m.Nov. 24 Texas State Alamodome 1 p.m.
2012 Football Schedule
Larry CokerHead Coach
• 33 years of collegiate coaching experience
• 2009 – present : UTSA (head coach)
• 2001- 2006: University of Miami (Fla.) (head coach)
• 1995-2000: University of Miami (Fla.) (assistant coach/offensive coordina-tor)
• 1993-1994: Ohio State University (assistant coach)
• 1990-1992: Oklahoma University (assistant coach/offensive coordina-tor)•1983-1989: Oklahoma State University (as-sistant coach/offensive coordinator)• 1979-1982: Tulsa Uni-
versity (assistant coach/offensive coordinator)
• First ever UTSA football head coach
• Two-time National Coach of the Year (2001, 2002)
• Coached 2001 BCS National Champions University of Miami Hur-ricanes
• Overall head coaching record 64-21 (.753)
“Larry Coker has been at the pinnacle of the college football world, and he got there by pay-ing his dues and working ex-tremely hard for many years. He’ll bring that same kind of energy to UTSA. They are lucky to have him,” University of Texas Longhorns football Head Coach Mack Brown said of the first-ev-er head football coach at UTSA.
Coker has led college foot-ball players for 31 years and was named the Roadrunners’ head football coach on March 6, 2009. The Roadrunners started their new football tradition with a proven winner leading them. UTSA finished their inaugural season 4-6, but the excitement for football is here to stay in the Alamo City. When Coker was asked for his reason for coming back to coach college football, he responded, “Two things I missed: one was the competi-tion, and the other thing was ca-maraderie and relationship with the players and coaches.”
-Originally published on Feb. 21, 2012 Rex Castillo
Sports Editor
A Few Good MenRoadrunner coaches bring decades of experience
Neil NeatheryDefensive Coordinator
• First ever UTSA defen-sive coordinator and linebackers coach
• 18 years of coaching experience
• 2010 – present: UTSA• 2008 – 2009: Drake Uni-
versity (assistant coach/defensive coordinator)
• 2001-2007: Wabash College (Ind.) (associate head coach/defensive coordinator)
• 1997-2000: Ottawa Uni-versity (Kan.) (assistant head coach/defensive coordinator)
• 1994 – 1996: Sterling College (Kan.) (assistant coach/defensive coordi-nator)
• 8 years of coaching experi-ence
• 2011-present: UTSA• 2007-2010: Texas State (as-
sistant coach)• 2003-2006: TCU (graduate
assistant)• First season as offensive
coordinator • Former UTSA tight-ends
coach• Former Texas State receiv-
ers coach
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10 Photo Courtesty of Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics
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Football o n t h e
r i s e
TSA and the city of San Antonio are set to welcome
back the Roadrunners’ grid-iron squad as it prepares for its second full season of NCAA football and first full season as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team.
It’s almost surreal consider-ing that the once foreign and far-fetched notion of a Division 1 football team in San Anto-nio rested almost entirely on findings from a feasibility study that was conducted by The Carr Sports Associates, Inc. in 2006. Led by an ambitious Lynn
Hickey (Athletic Director) and her UTSA delegation under the guidance of President Romo, a community conceived a vision and was determined to have it executed.
It was a tremendous under-taking, and one that would eventually see the rise of a colorful, new program that, from inception, has exemplified the entirely refreshed notion of school spirit and culture.
Ever since the conversation of starting a football program at UTSA arose, there have been numerous debates as to whether the program is more of an asset to the university or a liability.
There are both positive and negative attributes of having a football program at a university that’s relentlessly working at achieving Tier 1 status. Nev-ertheless, when assessing the feasibility of any institution from an economic perspective, other factors of value must be consid-ered in order to attain a more comprehensive understanding. Factors of value, such as social and cultural impact, play key roles in determining how practi-cal a football program is on a broader spectrum.
Football is a sport that captivates and unites its fans in a remarkable fashion, and in
no other place is that fact more obvious than here in the Lone Star State.
Texans eat, sleep and dream football. In fact, it is almost impossible (emphasis on almost) for one to grow up or be as-similated into true Texas culture without having an encounter with the sport in some way or another.
Local Economic Benefit
Indeed many may argue that UTSA has always had an iden-tity, but none can deny the fact that the football program
What happens to a city after college football comes to town?
by Devon Bond
U
has now helped to enrich that identity and has catapulted the university onto the stage of be-ing ‘The’ University of Texas at San Antonio. UTSA is one step closer to becoming as important to San Antonio as UT-Austin is to Austin.
As UTSA redesigns its profile in the world of athletics, new economic opportunities will surely arise in the form of local job creation and stimulation of the private sector from tour-ists and visiting teams. The establishment of new athletic facilities as a result of the foot-ball program is projected to generate approximately 244 jobs
per annum to specifically fuel construction needs as outlined in the joint study conducted by UTSA and the Institute for Economic Development.
These jobs would provide work for the many contractors and construction workers in an industry typically plagued by bouts of seasonal unemploy-ment. The study also shows that the addition of the new athletic complex alone will boost the local economy by some $193 million.
Several studies have shown that FBS (both BCS and non-BCS) schools are at a greater advantage than their Football
Championship Subdivision (FCS) counterparts. The Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crim-son Tide are great examples of two well-renowned FBS teams that have dominated the revenues department for college sports in recent years.
In raw figures, one database on college athletics finances, published by USA Today, shows that the highest revenue earners between the periods of 2006-2011 were Texas and Ohio State, earning a total of $150,295,926 and $131,815,821, respectively. The numbers depict a very high disparity when compared to top earning non-BCS schools
like New Mexico State of the Mountain West Conference, which brought in a total of $59,544,869- still a far cry from most FCS schools.
UTSA was fortunate to have had the seamless opportunity for upward mobility through the college sports system as it would have traversed two FBS division conferences in the first three years of its football program’s formation.
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This is an unprecedented achievement in a system char-acterized by very rigid dividing lines, particularly since it was forecasted that the program wouldn’t accomplish such a feat until after four years of com-peting as an FCS school. Thus, UTSA now has the chance to take advantage of increased earnings potential that may one day catapult it to the realms of top earning Bowl Champion-ship Series (BCS) schools like Texas or Alabama.
However, if this information doesn’t serve as any consola-tion to the critics, one can peruse the NCAA’s 2004-2010 Revenues and Expenses report. The report’s findings indicate that FBS schools have experi-enced a 71.1 percent increase in revenues over the period while FCS and non-football schools experienced revenue growths of 66.5 percent and 50.8 percent respectively. Thus, considering all of the quantifiable as well as intangible benefits depicted, the question of feasibility should no longer doubtfully ask ‘if ’ football creates value, but should instead assess ‘how’ it does.
In addition to job creation and increased revenues, the program also adds some variety to the list of sports for the university’s athletic department. It has provided the opportu-nity for interested students to participate in a sporting event different from the usual basket-ball or baseball games that had been the more common options at the university.
Now hundreds of local foot-ball enthusiasts attending San Antonio high schools no longer have to dream of the day when a football program will be offered at the sole Division-1 University in San Antonio.
As the athletic program and the university simultaneously grow so will the ability to lure students not only from the San Antonio area but also from the far reaches of the state of Texas
and the entire USA at large.
The Cost To StudentsThe sport that many have
grown to love, however, does not come without some notably significant costs. The continued success of an athletic program in the FBS will depend heavily on its ability to spend, and for many of the rookie teams in the sub-division such as UTSA, it will be an endless game of catch-up as they try desperately to attain the status common to the veterans of the college sports world.
UTSA has embarked on sev-eral strategies in an attempt to raise the sufficient funds neces-sary for maintaining the football program. One of these strategies currently involves involuntary participation primarily from students who joined the univer-sity after the fall 2007 semester.
During the proposal stage of the football program, 66 percent of students cast their vote of approval for an increase in the Athletics Fees from $10 per semester credit hour to $20 per semester credit hour that would last over a five-to-seven year pe-riod. It must be noted, however, that only 4,602 students partici-pated in the online election that was held for two days on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12, 2007.
The increase resulted in the total Athletics Fees per student rising from a maximum cost of $120 per semester to $240 per semester. This fee increase of $120 may be viewed by some students as a necessary evil, while others see it as a contrib-uting factor to the deepening grave of student debt. With the continually rising costs of education such as tuition and books, the rise in Athletics Fees added tremendously to the burden of acquiring a tertiary education for many students.
The Cost to AthletesWhenever something is new,
it generally receives the majority of attention as compared to ex-isting programs. The addition of the football program curtailed the attention from other sports programs that had been pres-
ent at the university for several years. The emphasis and effort that was invested into launching the new program caused many student athletes from other sports to feel uneasy and unap-preciated.
The university invested hun-dreds of thousands of dollars to purchase uniforms, equip-ment, and hire a head coach and several assistant coaches for the football program. Broadcasts about upcoming football games during the first season flooded the airwaves, and sign boards could be noticed at numerous locations around San Antonio.
As the football team received immense publicity, the basket-ball, track & field, soccer, tennis, golf and baseball teams were left to fend for themselves.
The Cost to the University
Nevertheless, one must not forget perhaps the biggest cost of the football program as it re-lates to an increase in spending by the university. The NCAA Revenues/Expenses Division 1 Report for the period of 2004-2010 highlighted the enormous revenues that FBS schools were earning, and it also revealed another alarming statistic.
Over the seven years of study, FBS schools had experienced a median combined total of
$53,960,000 in net losses. An-nual expenses were on average $10.2 million in excess of an-nual revenues. The report also indicated that athletic aid and compensation are the two items that account for the majority of annual expenses.
This is no surprise as football teams under the NCAA regula-tion receive 85 full scholarships for their athletes. This results in increased spending for FBS schools as they attempt to generate sufficient revenues to maintain their athletic program.
There are many other ad-vantages and disadvantages of having a football program. Many of the stated pros and cons cannot be fully quantified in a way that would please statisti-cians, but it is difficult to argue against the fact that football, and sports in general, add value to a society like it did during UTSA’s inaugural season. As Mayor Julian Castro rightfully said in his comment about UTSA foot-ball, “This is a fair and strong agreement for both the city and UTSA. It will bring football to the Alamodome and make a great difference in enlivening downtown.”
From Page 7
Band members performing at half-time.
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The Runners’ defense was mostly exposed when defend-ing against the passing game. In those four wins, the Runners still gave up an average 175 passing yards. The average jumped to a staggering 217.7 passing yards when the Runners lost the game. This caused UTSA’s defense to worry about their opponents’ passing game, which spread the defenders across the field. It also exposed the Runners’ defense to a running attack. UTSA allowed their opponents to rush for an average of 189 yards in their six losses last season. Four of those losses were on the road.
Last season, the Roadrun-ners worked against the grow-
ing pains of their first football season. The coaches and players both agree that in this season, the opponents will be faster and stronger. While the inaugural season’s problems might be fixed in this year’s training camp, the Runners will have a whole new set of pains in the WAC. Fans can expect more bumps and bruises for the blue and orange this upcoming season.
That reality hasn’t escaped the players and coaches this season, but that doesn’t mean UTSA will just roll over every game and give up. The Runners will use this op-portunity to show the rest of the WAC that they belong.
From Page 7During his tenure at Miami,
the Hurricanes were consistent-ly in the national spotlight and contenders for the national title.
In 2001, Coker led the Hurri-canes to victory in the National Championship in his first season as a head coach. It was the first time a rookie head coach had accomplished that feat in 53 years.
Coker finished his career at Miami with a record of 60-15. He has coached players who have not only advanced to the NFL, but have also become elite talents and leaders for their respective teams. Some of the players on Coker’s 2001 champi-onship roster for the Hurricanes included Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson, Caro-lina Panthers tight end Jeremy Shockey and Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed. A few of Coker’s players also played recently in last season’s Super Bowl: safety Antrel Rolle for the Super Bowl Champions New York Giants and the New England Patriots’ defensive tackle Vince Wilfork.
New Orleans Saints’ line-backer Jonathan Vilma gradu-ated from Miami with a degree in finance and continued his football career in the NFL. He was named the 2004 Defensive Rookie of the Year and later helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV. Vilma credited his current success to the lessons he learned from Coker, and not all of them were on the football field.
“He’s been a big influence, more so, a leader. He let me de-velop as a person and as a man. He let me develop as a player. Coaches can be overbearing and force the issue on a team,” Vilma said. “The best thing about Coker was that he cared about you on and off the field. That’s one thing he wanted guys to understand.”
In Coker’s career, 73 student athletes have earned academic all-conference distinctions. Coker continues to push his students to succeed in the class-
room. “I think the biggest thing that
I’m proud of is the fact that we did graduate our players at Miami. My last recruiting class there was tied with Notre Dame with a 100 percent gradua-tion rate,” Coker said. “I’m very proud of that. I have more play-ers playing in the NFL than any other coach out there. But the fact of the matter is that most of my players aren’t playing in the NFL. The graduation part is a very big part of it,” Coker said.
The coach believes that his players should represent the very best of what a university has to offer and become the best people they can be.
“The coaches emphasize not only hard work on the football field, but in life and in school. I really appreciate that from them,” UTSA wide receiver An-drew Hall said, “Every time after practice, Coach Coker would come talk to us as a group. He always tells us to be the best on the field and the best off the field.”
Coker enjoys the energy that UTSA students and San Anto-nians have brought when they watch these young men take the field.
“The city is awesome; it has been a great experience. The university has been so sup-portive, and we really appreci-ate that,” Coker said. However, people can expect even bigger things to come from UTSA’s football team.
“I see us going to a very high level and very well. We will be a Division I football team. I see us being very competitive in Division I. Competing and win-ning bowl games; that’s what I see in five years. I would love to see a UTSA championship ring on my finger,” Coker said. “I’m very honored and privileged to be here. It’s been one of the greatest moments of my life to have the opportunity to start up this program. Hopefully, we will see it come to fruition where we expect it to be.”
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E nj oy t h e s e a s onf rom you r f r i en d s at T h e Pai s an o
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210.691.5746 15726 Chase Hill Blvd San Antonio, TX 78256
http://alpinparksa.com
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