Bruce Edwards Says Ags Will Go FBS in 5-10 Years
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    From a Davis Enterprise article by Bruce Gallaudet:

    In fact, Edwards says if UCD can win a couple of FCS championships over the next five or 10 years, movement up to the Football Bowl Subdivision is within reach.

    “Of course, we have to be successful at the level that we’re playing,” says the retired Saratoga developer, a 1960 football-playing Davis graduate. “We have to be at the top of the Big Sky. We do that for a while, then we probably — no, not probably — we need to go to the next level where there’s a Mountain West or a Pac-12.

    “The school is just too big, prestigious to stay at this level.”

    Edwards says expanding the stadium and pumping up the budget to coincide with increased travel will be factors, but he adds: “(Winning) a couple of FCS championships will have a bearing on how fast we go to the FBS.”

    https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-football-maintaining-the-lofty-perch/
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • CA Forever
    662
    I'm going to be completely honest. I have no desire to see the Aggies move up to FBS. I would much rather compete in playoffs every year at the FCS level then be a mediocre or bad FBS team that MIGHT make a bowl game every now and then.
    CA Forever Options
  • DrMike
    731
    I’ll just repeat myself AGAIN : moving up requires a conference that wants us. PAC 12 won’t go to 14 (unless it meant Texas and Oklahoma), and I can’t see a reason MWC needs us and another. Only option would be if a MWC school drops
    DrMike Options
  • zythe
    109
    I do like the idea of winning “a couple of championships”!!!!
    zythe Options
  • DrMike
    731
    Just to follow up on my (beating a dead horse point) the PAC-12 is 4th in TV revenue of the big 5 conference (SEC makes over $50M, PAC12 about $38M). I’m guessing the bowl payouts are much lower also. So, how’s does less money divided by more teams help? Don’t think adding the Sac area will boast revenues
    DrMike Options
  • 69aggie
    377
    I’m with DrMike on this. The geography is just flat against us and we can do nothing about that. Sadly, it is all about TV revenue now and the West Coast cannot be moved to a different time zone to change that.
    69aggie Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    ↪DrMike
    ↪69aggie
    A move up would be complicated for sure and building a championship program at the FCS level has to be our first priority. I do believe, like Edwards said, that we are "too big and too prestigious" to stay at the FCS level forever.

    The greater Sacramento area is extremely hungry for an local college program that they can get behind at the FBS level. The only representative FBS program in the central valley is Fresno State. Sure, there's Cal and Stanford in the bay area and Nevada up the hill but there's a huge void from Fresno north to the California border. There's only UCD and Sac as possibilities to fill that void some day and we're a much better candidate for that given our size and prestige than the commuter school across the Causeway.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • zythe
    109
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    Has anyone here been to Fresno State?

    I went there about two weeks ago. It’s a hideous looking school, and I’m being nice.
    zythe Options
  • SochorField
    166
    FBS and FCS landscape could look completely different within 10 years.
    Just never know whats going to happen.
    One thing that is proven, is UC Davis hasn't fared well in the "moving up" department. The move to D1 could have been a lot better from the football perspective.

    I do have faith in Dr. Blue and Coach Hawkins (and staff). It would be a miracle if we still employed these 2 quality individual in 10 years.
    SochorField Options
  • zythe
    109
    ↪SochorField


    Honestly, if we moved up to FBS, they will still be with us.

    That’s the honest truth.
    zythe Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    ↪SochorField
    ↪zythe
    I think Hawk is here to stay. I suppose everyone has number they can't refuse but this is the perfect fit for Hawkins and his love of everything about the Aggies runs deep.

    On the other hand, Kevin Blue is on his way to becoming a hot ticket item and other school's will come calling. Blue loves the Aggie ideals also but he's young and I doubt that we will be able to match some of the offers he'll probably receive. I think Chancellor May will do all he can to keep Blue here but $$$ could be a limitation for us. I hope we manage to keep Blue for a really long time though...
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Bige70
    69
    @drmike is correct; PAC12 is not in the 5-10 year window. But MWC definitely is because I see future pressure on SJSU to drop out or drop down. That's our spot (sorry for my dead horse issue). That's the only way we get major sac area support - not playing Big Sky, but regional rivalries with Fresno, Reno, San Diego State, Boise, etc.
    Bige70 Options
  • SochorField
    166
    I'm not saying Hawkins will jump ship to another program. I'm saying he could retire within the next 10 years.
    Blue is very likely to be lured away by a P5 / MWC institution with a large salary (good for him!).

    They both have achieved a mountain of progress while at UCD, and will continue to do so as long as they are here.
    SochorField Options
  • Bige70
    69
    Blue is definitely a flight risk. But shepherding a program from FCS to FBS may be interesting to him.
    Bige70 Options
  • movielover
    531
    ↪SochorField
    We had one great year, lets not go bonkers. Time to regroup, forge ahead, get the new facility up, and challenge for another league title as we enjoy JM's last year as an Aggie. QB cupboard loaded, what cream rises to the top? Get Logan Montgomery and DL back. Go Ags!
    movielover Options
  • ucdavisaggie05
    125
    Regional rivalries sound great, but we have to be ready for the jump and not half-bleep it like we did moving to D1 in the first place.
    ucdavisaggie05 Options
  • 69aggie
    377
    BlueGoldAggie has a good point. But we have this very unusual love-hate relationship with the Sac media. The Sac Bee hates us and will only do stories on UC Davis when they absolutely have to- then they “like us” for a bit; but its really only stories about interesting individual players that they cannot ignore. Like China; Doss, etc. the only way I see doing this is if we manage to become a “Bay Area” school. That would mean a very hard slog for our AD, but I think the SFChronical would be on board for this. AD Blue maybe could do this.
    69aggie Options
  • Zander
    193
    ↪movielover
    We had one great year, but we have tons working in our favor.

    I looked up some comparisons between the Ags and EWU and NDSU a while ago; the amount of people and money the UCD community has compared to those to schools, and especially EWU, is insane. We could compete with EWU dollar for dollar with only a fraction of the donor, sponsor, and admin interest because of how many more resources we have kicking around.

    But I'll parrot others on here that I'd love to see us become an FCS power first. We can do that with pretty much the current level of interest and investment. Davis could potentially be one of the highest-profile MWC schools too, but it would require much more buy-in than the school's teams currently have.
    Zander Options
  • Riveraggie
    244
    An unknown is whether a successful FCS program in California can generate enough interest to make staying in FCS a good choice. Is being a big fish in a small pond a good option? It might be, but not if the media treats it as just like D2.
    Hypothetical question; if UCD had NDSU or even EWU type success would UCD get coverage in media and fan interest similar to what we’d get as an occasional contender in the mountain west?
    Riveraggie Options
  • ucdavisaggie05
    125
    ↪Riveraggie
    If we had the success of an NDSU I think the regional interest would demand the coverage.
    ucdavisaggie05 Options
  • Riveraggie
    244
    ↪ucdavisaggie05
    If so, why move up?
    Riveraggie Options
  • zythe
    109
    ↪Riveraggie


    It’s the front door to the University. Who knows what doors this will open.
    zythe Options
  • movielover
    531
    ↪Zander
    Not an apples to apples comparison. The entertainment dollar / fan base here is competing with 200 different activities and a changing fan base. I believe we do have a huge advantage being on the west coast.
    movielover Options
  • Riveraggie
    244
    ↪zythe
    If we can get publicity at the lower level then the same doors would be open.
    Winning is the thing that people want to be associated with, not an affiliation. The FCS/FBS thing is overrated; the distinction isn’t binary. There is a gradient of football teams. We have no chance of being a dominant team at the FBS level in the foreseeable future. Why become an FBS afterthought when we can be an FCS contender?
    Riveraggie Options
  • zythe
    109
    If we become a contender at the level of Boise State...we would not have this discussion.
    zythe Options
  • Riveraggie
    244
    ↪zythe
    Just talking about publicity and support, I’m not sure that if we went FBS and were ranked somewhere around 30 and didn’t win our conference that we’d get as much or more press as winning an FCS national championship, or contending for multiple years.

    It would not be easy for us to be a consistent top 30 FBS team, like Boise. If we went FBS we’d likely be more like San Diego State than Boise and that’s being optimistic. I’m not sure we’d get the coverage that San Diego State gets in their local market.
    Riveraggie Options
  • Davisbear
    29
    One good year in FCS...let’s just see how it goes. I appreciate that a major donor feels like we could go FBS, but let’s just focus on continuing to build the program and trying to win a championship. Once that has happened consistently, then maybe it’s time to consider some other options. Don’t want to end up like UConn, their athletic Dept brought in $40 million in 2018, but costs were $80 million!! Big losses due to football. Now is the time to build the donor base and fan base with a winning FCS program.
    Davisbear Options
  • SochorField
    166
    ↪movielover
    Pretty sure I'm not going bonkers.....
    SochorField Options
  • Zander
    193
    ↪movielover
    I'm thinking the entertainment competition argument holds less weight than it used to. All three teams have Netflix as their biggest competitor for eyeballs on a saturday night these days
    Zander Options
  • 72Aggie
    316
    (One argument for taking it easy moving to higher divisions. A couple of years ago UCD rugby club was doing well in the second level of collegiate rugby, then moved up last season. Score from Berkeley today: Cal 136, UCD 0. Two weeks ago it was St. Mary's 78, UCD 3 in a home match.)
    72Aggie Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    ↪72Aggie
    Whoa...those are scary scores!
    BlueGoldAg Options
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