ASK the AD - Jan. 4

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:13 pm

http://bgsufalcons.cstv.com/genrel/010409aac.html

Ask The AD -- Jan. 4, 2009

Greg Christopher takes your questions.

Jan. 4, 2009

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Bowling Green State University Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Greg Christopher answers a few of the many questions that have been submitted to BGSUFalcons.com. Here is the latest installment ...

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As we enter the New Year, I hope that everyone had a terrific holiday season. We are excited about what 2009 will bring for Falcon Athletics and appreciate the support all fans provide our student-athletes. To start things off, here are a few updates and notes, followed by a couple of questions that were submitted.

CLAWSON ERA UNDERWAY
We welcome Dave, Catherine, Courtney and Eric Clawson to the BGSU Family!

When Dave was introduced as the 17th head football coach in Bowling Green's history on Dec. 12th, it ended a two-week search for a new leader of our football program.

While the press conference may have concluded the search process, the whirlwind was just beginning for Dave. He immediately jumped into a prime recruiting weekend, hosting prospects on BGSU's campus. The following days were spent on the phone and road, calling and visiting other recruits, along with assembling the new BGSU football staff.

The search for a new head coach began with a list of priorities - 15 in total. Using the list as an underpinning, we reached out to coaches, contacts and others throughout the country. Hundreds of phone calls were narrowed to a workable list of candidates, which resulted in about 10 substantive conversations and five in-person meetings away from campus. Ultimately, three finalists emerged and were brought to Perrysburg for interviews.

In the end, we believe that Dave Clawson matched the needs of BGSU football. His successful experiences as a head coach - managing an entire program - stood out among the candidates.

In about a week, our players will return to campus and begin winter workouts, leading toward spring practice. This off-season will be important as the team establishes a new foundation. It may seem like a long way off, but we are all looking forward to our season opener under the lights at The Doyt on Sept. 3rd, when Troy comes to Bowling Green. Make a note on your calendar now, because we'll need to fill Perry Stadium in order to set the tone for the 2009 campaign.

MEN'S SOCCER SEARCH
Now that the football search is completed, we will move forward with another head coach opening. With Fred Thompson stepping down, we will fill the head coach position with men's soccer in the coming semester.

Senior Associate Athletics Director Janna Blais, Women's Head Coach Andy Richards, and I will work together in the next few weeks to begin the interviews. Similar to any search within BGSU Athletics, we will utilize a set of priorities like those put together for the football search to guide our hiring in men's soccer.

While perhaps not as high-profile as football, the men's soccer hire is just as important for the future of the program. Men's soccer has a rich history at BGSU and it's a sport in which we should compete for MAC championships.

STROH CENTER UPDATE
In early December, we unveiled the initial Stroh Center plans to Falcon Club members at a pre-game reception, followed by a public release through the media. We also announced that we stand at $12.8 million in gifts and pledges toward the $14 million needed to complete the private giving portion of our overall Stroh Center campaign.

While everything continues on schedule with the Stroh Center project, we will need the help of all Falcon fans to make the vision of the Stroh Center a reality. No facility project ever in the history of Bowling Green State University has attempted to raise $14 million. The fact that we are on the home stretch is a testament to the generosity and leadership of a handful of amazing supporters. Now, as we transition to the wider grassroots campaign, we will need an "all hands on deck" mentality to finish off the project.

As information is made available later in 2009, we hope everyone associated with BGSU will find a way to be a part of the Stroh Center. This facility will become the new front porch to campus, so whether it's a naming opportunity or a brick in Falcon Plaza, we would like to see your name on the Stroh Center when it opens in 2011.

Renderings of the building can be seen on our website at www.bgsufalcons.com

SPRING FOOTBALL GAME
The kickoff of the Dave Clawson era is officially Sept. 3, 2009 when BGSU hosts Troy in The Doyt. Your first opportunity, though, to see the Orange and Brown under the new coaching staff will be the spring game on Friday, April 24th. An exact start time will be set later, but the game will be played under the lights at Perry Stadium on Friday night.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS...
Look for details in the spring, but we hope that you can join Falcon fans for one or more of these fun events this spring and summer. Whether it's Falcon Bash on campus, or one of the Barnstorming stops, the outreach events are a great way to meet other Falcon fans, our coaches and student-athletes, and simply support BGSU.

* April 17 - Toledo Barnstorming at the Mud Hens' game

* May 13 - Columbus Barnstorming at the Clippers' game

* June 2 - Detroit Barnstorming at the Tigers' game

* June 11 - Cleveland Barnstorming at the Indians' game

* August 22 - Falcon Sports Kickoff at Doyt Perry Stadium

And finally, a few questions from fans...

Q: Since we finished 6-6, I know that we were "bowl eligible." Did we get invited to any bowl game?
Trent in Cleveland
A: No - I was not contacted or called by any bowl representatives or the conference office about a possible bowl slot after the season ended. In the weeks leading up to the season's finale, we prepared and shared our bowl marketing materials and had various conversations about possible scenarios. In the end, things broke just right for a few 6-6 teams to receive bowl invitations. Our head-to-head loss to NIU likely impacted the circumstances, along with the fact we were focused on a head coach search.

Q: Has the MAC ever considered switching to nine conference games in football? Instead of just playing eight?
Gary in Bowling Green
A: The discussion actually just played out last year among the football coaches, AD's and the conference office. Similarly, the Big Ten went through an extensive research and decision process regarding eight vs. nine conference games. In the end, both the MAC and Big Ten decided to stay at eight conference games for now, although the reasons were different.

At the Big Ten level, one driver was protecting their ability to get to six or seven wins and thus bowl eligible. A ninth conference game could mean one less non-BCS opponent and a perceived potential win. Within the MAC, our schools felt the opportunity to play games outside the conference and capture "name" victories was important, along with some logistical issues tied to how far out many schools have games scheduled and the concepts behind an unbalanced conference slate (nine games would mean an unequal number of home/away conference contests).

Q: I've read about the layoffs and budget cuts on campus. Will the athletic department be impacted?
Larry in Bowling Green
A: Yes - similar to all parts of BGSU's campus, we will have to do with less in Athletics. The institution's enrollment decline, coupled with the State of Ohio's economic woes, is hitting everyone. Our Fiscal 2010 (July 2009 - June 2010) budget won't be put together until the spring. By that time, we hope to have a better picture from Columbus on what may be happening at the state level, along with a more accurate trend line for enrollment. For now, we are planning on a level of reductions, with additional budget models prepared depending on which direction is required. As I have told our coaches, the top priorities will be protecting sport operating budgets and our student-athlete scholarships. Those two areas impact our competitiveness more than anything else we do.

Q: I saw that Coach Clawson is retaining John Hunter and Doug Phillips. Any announcements on other new assistants?
Bill in Toledo
A: This has been a popular question. Dave has been working the phones with recruits and coaching candidates since the day he was hired. Once the dead period hit for recruiting, his time has been spent almost exclusively on building a staff. Over the last 10 days, several coaches have been on campus and by the time this is printed, a majority of the staff will be in place. Our intent is to hopefully have one release with all assistant coaches announced at a single time. I'm excited about the experience and connections Dave is putting in place for the Falcon football program.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:22 pm

The spring game will be under the lights on Friday, April 24? Interesting move.

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:32 pm

Not sure how many people are going to make it on a Friday night. I was looking forward to it being on a Saturday.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:38 pm

Tricky_Falcon wrote:Not sure how many people are going to make it on a Friday night. I was looking forward to it being on a Saturday.

Saturday makes sense because people can plan for it, make a day of it and it can be as long and relaxed as they want to make it.

On the other hand, I can see giving Friday a shot... the night game gives it a "big time" feel, and it may allow for more families to come out for some free football without soccer/baseball/spring sport practices and games to schedule families around on Saturday.

Another thing I noticed in the article later... I don't know how well-attended the past barnstorming events were, but it seems like tying them to a pro ballgame might hurt some of the casual observers. I first met Gregg Brandon at a CBJ game, which was cool, but it was $50 a ticket, which was fine, but if I was to spend $50 on something BG-related, I'd hope much of the price went to the university.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:41 pm

TG1996 wrote:The spring game will be under the lights on Friday, April 24? Interesting move.

Which pretty much means we won't be having a post spring game golf outing this year

It's just as well since they also made it the same weekend as the draft. If they had it on Saturday the 25th I wouldn't even be at the game.

Should be a fun time, but probably not a lot of time for tailgating.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:33 pm

That's pretty ghey about the spring game.

FMBfan07 · Post by **FMBfan07** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:35 pm

well i'm going into work tomorrow and requesting that day off!

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:57 am

hammb wrote:
TG1996 wrote:The spring game will be under the lights on Friday, April 24? Interesting move.
Which pretty much means we won't be having a post spring game golf outing this year

Take the day (or just the afternoon off) and we start the day with golf and then head over to the football game.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:23 am

hammb wrote:
TG1996 wrote:The spring game will be under the lights on Friday, April 24? Interesting move.
Which pretty much means we won't be having a post spring game golf outing this year

Ah well, the less time I have to spend around BO, the better.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:00 pm

Warthog wrote:
hammb wrote:
TG1996 wrote:The spring game will be under the lights on Friday, April 24? Interesting move.
Which pretty much means we won't be having a post spring game golf outing this year
Take the day (or just the afternoon off) and we start the day with golf and then head over to the football game.

Meh. If I'm going to use vacation time to go golfing it won't be in April...I'll wait until it's actually warm out.

cw08 · Post by **cw08** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:28 pm

The question that needs to be asked after "ask the AD" is, do the people that said we turned down a bowl think GC is lying?

FMBfan07 · Post by **FMBfan07** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:33 pm

cw08 wrote:The question that needs to be asked after "ask the AD" is, do the people that said we turned down a bowl think GC is lying?

honestly I think he is lying. I have heard from a couple people that work or are managers in the athletic office and was told we were asked but turned it down.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:59 pm

I LOVE the fact the home opener is on Thurs Sept 3. Mrs. Freak and I are going to Sanibel Island, FL for our 15th anniversary the week of Sept 6-13. I am hoping BG is at Mizzou on the 12th...I wouldn't be able to make the trip to Columbia anyway. I can take half the day off on the 3rd, take the 4th off and boom...I have a week and a half off! Troy will be a challenge. If BG is at Marshall on the 12th or hosts WY, I'll have to miss that game.

Spring game on the 24th under the lights...just make sure it doesn't start at 6.

8 would be great.

I am ready for Falcon Football NOW.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:27 pm

The semi-reliable nationalchamps.net future schedules says the BG-Mizzou game is, in fact, the 12th. Better yet, I think I have the wife considering another roadie to see that one.

Oh, and with the Troy game on a Thursday, it makes getting home for the opener easy.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:35 pm

TG1996 wrote:The semi-reliable nationalchamps.net future schedules says the BG-Mizzou game is, in fact, the 12th. Better yet, I think I have the wife considering another roadie to see that one.

Oh, and with the Troy game on a Thursday, it makes getting home for the opener easy.

Well, that would work for me! I'd love to see BG beat Mizzou in Columbia since we seem to play very well there.

However, Mrs. Freak has been way too understanding with me going to 9-10 (sometimes more) games a year. It wouldn't kill me to miss one game for our Anniversary.