FOOTBALL Guesses on attendance for blackout game?

[MT01]

100%

I've seen people claim "Well no one showed up in '18 at the championship game". Well let's recap that season as to why.

We started 2018 with a 7-35 drubbing by.....Vandy. You know, the SEC school in the area we are trying to grow in. Nice impression to start the season. We also lost to KY, another opportunity. Did beat WKU but they finished 3-9 that year.

So we come in to the champ game at 8-4 with our FBS wins over teams who finished a combined 32-41 with only two wins over winning teams, Marshall and UAB. Having lost to three SEC teams by 37-118.

In the general public eye, we were a 8-4 team (awful record for a division champ) who beat only bad teams. Of course no one showed up. Not to mention no one trusted Stock to best UAB twice in a row. And...he proved us right with the ole 12 men on the field gag.

It takes multiple seasons of wins and champs to get people to show. They aren't going to show the first go round.

Both of you are dead on with this. I would offer that one season (particularly backing into the title game) does not a season MUCH LESS a program make. Much like Nick this year, Brent spent most of the year running for his life. Brent was sacked 39 times that season THIRTY FREAKING NINE.

Team was 22-17 combined the three years prior going 0-6 against western and Vandy in those three seasons.

Even with all that, I still showed up. I paid my last minute flight from DC for about $500 only to watch CRS get outcoached as UAB made all the adjustments from the prior week while hoping we'd just do the same thing and win like the week before. And then 12 men on the field taking away Brent's chances to leave here a legend. And then you get absolutely skull drug by App St in the bowl game. And I haven't been back since. Nor will I until, well you know.

 

[MTLynn]

It takes multiple seasons of wins and champs to get people to show. They aren't going to show the first go round.

Kevin Creasy, the head coach of Oakland High School, would be an exception. Since he has won multiple state titles, he would receive immediate attention (much like Rick Insell). Could he recruit and win a conference title at MT? That is another question.

 

[blueraider315]

Even if Stockstill was gone next year, the damage done by him to fan enthusiasm and attendance will take years of winning championships to redo all the damage done by stockstll which was damaged by mccollum already.

I don't trust Massaro and McPhee to correct that damage by make the tough choice which is evident to everyone else on campus and in Murfreesboro and the midstate. Stockstill has to go.

To some extent, i agree with you, but it might perk some people up and bring them back for the sole fact that it's not Stockstill. But some huge marketing would need to go into the season.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Kevin Creasy, the head coach of Oakland High School, would be an exception. Since he has won multiple state titles, he would receive immediate attention (much like Rick Insell). Could he recruit and win a conference title at MT? That is another question.

To some extent, i agree with you, but it might perk some people up and bring them back for the sole fact that it's not Stockstill. But some huge marketing would need to go into the season.

Oh, no doubt it would increase some right off. As would donations. And a local giy would help even more. But to get 20k+ every game will take years of consistent winning. Troy and WKU both have proven it can be done even if your guy gets poached or you hire the wrong guy and have to move on. The standard just needs to be set higher than what our admin has allowed it to be.

 

[mtfblue]

Even if Stockstill was gone next year, the damage done by him to fan enthusiasm and attendance will take years of winning championships to redo all the damage done by stockstll which was damaged by mccollum already.

I don't trust Massaro and McPhee to correct that damage by make the tough choice which is evident to everyone else on campus and in Murfreesboro and the midstate. Stockstill has to go.

With the right hire, you could get people in the stands and put a better product on the field.

 

[RaiderDoug]

With the right hire, you could get people in the stands and put a better product on the field.

I think you could turn around a program quick. The transfer portal means you can flip a roster, and you get a HC who wants to recruit, who looks like he wants to be here, who wants to interact with the fans/alums, who wants to get buy in and do more than "compete".

Sourpuss Stock ain't it.

I think you'd get people in the door just for the curiosity factor and the novelty of something, anything new.

And if the guy could actually coach (as opposed to what we've seen for near 2 decades), and the guy got off to a good start - we'd be in business.

 

[mtfblue]

I think you could turn around a program quick. The transfer portal means you can flip a roster, and you get a HC who wants to recruit, who looks like he wants to be here, who wants to interact with the fans/alums, who wants to get buy in and do more than "compete".

Sourpuss Stock ain't it.

I think you'd get people in the door just for the curiosity factor and the novelty of something, anything new.

And if the guy could actually coach (as opposed to what we've seen for near 2 decades), and the guy got off to a good start - we'd be in business.

and with the facilities being built, now you can get kids to come here

 

[ewglenn]

There are over 600k people in Nashville, with over 1.3m in the metro area. Over 150k of them in Murfreesboro.
We have over 20k students.

Out of all that we can't get 20k or 25k? The only reason why, the product on the field. And there's one person in charge of that. We could have the worst game environment ever. The worst PA guy (which thankfully we don't have). No family zone for kids. No beer sales. But if we were winning consistently, they'd still show up. Period. And contrary to what some say on the interwebs, just because you have an overall winning average doesn't mean you really are winning.

2.1 million the the metro now and Rutherford County is 352k. It’s worse than what you said so don’t short it lol.

 

[ewglenn]

100%

I've seen people claim "Well no one showed up in '18 at the championship game". Well let's recap that season as to why.

We started 2018 with a 7-35 drubbing by.....Vandy. You know, the SEC school in the area we are trying to grow in. Nice impression to start the season. We also lost to KY, another opportunity. Did beat WKU but they finished 3-9 that year.

So we come in to the champ game at 8-4 with our FBS wins over teams who finished a combined 32-41 with only two wins over winning teams, Marshall and UAB. Having lost to three SEC teams by 37-118.

In the general public eye, we were a 8-4 team (awful record for a division champ) who beat only bad teams. Of course no one showed up. Not to mention no one trusted Stock to best UAB twice in a row. And...he proved us right with the ole 12 men on the field gag.

It takes multiple seasons of wins and champs to get people to show. They aren't going to show the first go round.

This is why scheduling matters. People see 8-4 and think “they have no business in a conference championship”. The casual fan isn’t going to look and see they have 3 losses to P5 teams. That team was 7-1 against G5 opponents (removed the FCS game). If they replaced two P5 teams with G5 teams they are likely 10-2 rolling into that game. That record would draw casual fans and students. Our marketing and planning departments are terribly bad at their jobs. Literally 95% of other G5 teams use the 1 money game, 2 G5 home and home series, and one FCS game every year. It’s mind boggling they continue to drop the ball on easy stuff like this and wonder why people are not showing up. Optics are important. No one is going to remember that Liberty didn’t play a P5 team this year. They will remember they are 12-0 or 11-1 and ranked at the end of the regular season. That’s how you grow programs like ours.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

2.1 million the the metro now and Rutherford County is 352k. It’s worse than what you said so don’t short it lol.

Geez. The Google figures I pulled must have been super far off. Makes it even worse we can't draw 20k.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

This is why scheduling matters. People see 8-4 and think “they have no business in a conference championship”. The casual fan isn’t going to look and see they have 3 losses to P5 teams. That team was 7-1 against G5 opponents (removed the FCS game). If they replaced two P5 teams with G5 teams they are likely 10-2 rolling into that game. That record would draw casual fans and students. Our marketing and planning departments are terribly bad at their jobs. Literally 95% of other G5 teams use the 1 money game, 2 G5 home and home series, and one FCS game every year. It’s mind boggling they continue to drop the ball on easy stuff like this and wonder why people are not showing up. Optics are important. No one is going to remember that Liberty didn’t play a P5 team this year. They will remember they are 12-0 or 11-1 and ranked at the end of the regular season. That’s how you grow programs like ours.

100%. They are working on that and Lee has stated as such. I will give them credit that once this strategy is chosen it takes a while due to making these agreements so far ahead. But this should've been the strategy all along.

'24 is like this year (along with Memphis and TN Tech..2 must win games) and '25 will have to lose someone.

Part of me wishes they would do a 9 game round robin starting next year. Make 3 out of conf a FCS, a G5, P5 $. Don't think they will though as we wouldn't have made deals with 2 G5 teams in the same year. We all know we can't afford to not have a $ game each year.

 

[ewglenn]

Yeah we need a money game and the schedule is improving in the future. It is extremely needed. We also need to beg the conference to help us out. They do us no favors either. 3 of our first 4 conference games are against the best teams this season. No one knew JSU was going to be that good so I’ll let that one slide but everyone had either WKU or Liberty winning it. Why is it we seem to always play the top teams in the conference in the beginning of conference play?

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

My bro sends me this picture of a game he attended at Montana State yesterday. I know it’s the only thing in town there but MT brand is dying. Hard.

 

[MT01]

Thirteen years ago, we played on a Tuesday night. Roughly 28,000 in attendance (and laid an egg of course).

We've been dying a slow death ever since.