Keep talking without walking.

Some quotes rom The Athletic article:

“This was unquestionably the hardest thing I’ve ever been part of,” Wood told The Athletic. “Because everybody was rooting against this, rather than rooting for us.

“Let me be real: It is an investment, and it is a lot of money. I also think that in five years, people are going to say, ‘Wow, that was a sweetheart deal.’ Because I think the price of doing business is only going up. The value of being at FBS is only going up.”

For MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, the deal offered little risk and plenty of reward.

“It ended up being a very strong business deal for our conference,” Steinbrecher said. “Which was certainly attractive.”

“It’s a status,” Orr said. “We can legitimately tell our student-athletes, our recruits, and our community, this is the highest level of Division I football.

“Sacramento State now has a pathway, not only to a bowl game, but to play for a national championship. As crazy as that sounds. A week ago, there was no pathway.”

“We’re going to be on ESPN and CBS Sports on a regular basis,” Wood said. “That’s the win. We won right before we’ve even played a game, we won. … Nothing brings in donors, alumni, enrollment, or community engagement like athletics.”

“Our marker of success really is, can we use football and sports to generate revenue in a way that most campuses can’t because of this unique situation of not having an impacted media market?” Wood said. “Then, second, does it raise the visibility of the university?”

Wood said. “We didn’t do it the way other campuses have done. We didn’t win 10 national championships to become FBS. Instead, we were a case study in intentional disruptive marketing to get where we needed to be, and we were able to do in two and a half years what takes other campuses a lot longer.”

“I never once changed (my determination) even despite all the pot shots people were taking at us. At the same time, it’s hard for people to see a place they’ve never been yet,” Wood said.

“We were fortunate to basically have executed on a playbook that hasn’t been used, and to do it well. I would say to give it some time.”“I never once changed (my determination) even despite all the pot shots people were taking at us. At the same time, it’s hard for people to see a place they’ve never been yet,” Wood said.

“We were fortunate to basically have executed on a playbook that hasn’t been used, and to do it well. I would say to give it some time.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7109995/2026/03/13/sacramento-state-football-mac-president/

Let's all check in 5 years from now and see how it went. Legitimately, I want to see where it all ends up for Sac.

I guess I just don’t see how playing on ESPN and CBSSN has raised Akron’s and Kent’s status in the country’s opinion. But, that’s just me