Doug Woolard: USF Serious About an On-Campus Football Stadium Now

[Triple B]

Glad to hear that it's on the "to do" list and that it WON'T be done on the cheap. Now we just need some specific OCS donation rallys/campaigns to kickstart the process. I know plenty of alumni who don't currently give, but would be willing to break open the wallet towards an OCS.

 

Well, yeah, but he also said this:

 

 

 

However, Doug brought up that his next target is a $14 Million dollar indoor practice facility.

 

So I think an OCS is still quite far away.

Yeah, the thread title is a lttle misleading. Like Greg said, the stance really hasn't changed. Doug's fine with an ocs now ..... if someone came forward with $250 million towards one.

[charsibb]

I haven't heard anything about tennis moving from its current location. And there's absolutely nothing new in what Woolard's saying about the stadium. Yes, USF wants one, yes, money is the only hurdle. USF wants alums to see campus when they come for home games. At the same time, they like the experience of playing in Raymond James Stadium for now.

 

Thanks, but we're all dying to know where Doug would put it - IF we got the donor.

 

The space south of the Sundome is gone, and if the tennis courts aren't moving, then what's left in terms of space?

[Triple B]

A recent thread had a USF plan with a footprint of a stadium just south of the Dome. That would be the perfect place, in amongst all the other athletic facilities.

 

Won't fit with the extension of the Patel Center and the two 5 story parking garages that are slated to be built there.

There should be plenty of room between the Dome and Fowler to configure a stadium.

[Paisa el Toro]

you cant justify it if usf remains outside big 5

 

nothing should happen until usf starts piling up conference championships

 

 

Silly rabbit, this is about maximizing revenue for the long term. If there's something that USF does have control over, it's where it plays its games. You constantly belaboring the point of being currently outside of the big-5 does nothing. If USF does have does indeed start piling up AAC championships AND it has an OCS, I think it'll make it a much more attractive option to jump into another conference. How's that donation for the stadium coming along?

[TherapyBull]

I've always been a huge proponent of an OCS, but this talk is cheap and nothing more than what any good politician would say. Until a picture is drawn, a location identified, and a request for donations, it's all USF BS, they can say whatever they want and nobody can hold them to it.

I guess it makes good offseason banter on this board...............

[WoolyBully]

 

I haven't heard anything about tennis moving from its current location. And there's absolutely nothing new in what Woolard's saying about the stadium. Yes, USF wants one, yes, money is the only hurdle. USF wants alums to see campus when they come for home games. At the same time, they like the experience of playing in Raymond James Stadium for now.

Is there a graphic depicting air rapidly exiting a balloon?

When I read the story I read it as the same position we've always had, just delivered more like a politician would.

 

Yep, in listening to the AD, it was pretty much a statement of 'we want this, it's on the whiteboard', but with no deadlines or commitments. that's about as far as it's going to go for some time to come.  Didn't he joke about having a T.Boone Pickens type donor drop $200M? There's no sense of urgency to put together 'something' just to say you have an OCS. And RayJ will probably be just fine for about another fifteen years (wasn't that the projected point at which some major upgrade$ would be needed?).  He was right about the level of expectation regarding what the OCS would necessarily have to have, as far as amenities are concerned. No silver bleachers with 7/16 bolts and cotter pins. It sounded like, yeah, we plan on getting one, but we're not in any rush.

[charsibb]

 

How about http://kylefield.com for a model?   More seriously, when we decide to do an on campus stadium, we need to forget about building an NFL type of stadium with posh amenities.  We don't need lounge areas like the RJS end zones where fans are oblivious to what is happening on the field.  That would be a major negative in my opninion and is probably the number one reason why the in game atmosphere suffers at Raymond James.  Put concession and mingling areas behind the stands.

 

 We need corporate suites because they pay for themselves and more with the donation costs.  We need an enclosed bowl for atmosphere, and we need the ability to get up to 85,000 or so for future expansion.  That number may sound ridiculous now, but there is no telling what the future holds; it might as well be planned at the start.

 

The stadium should be designed for maximum noise to make it to the field, and for focus on the game.  I'm not sure we shoud even have individual seats instead of benches, or maybe a combination of both.  Notre Dame had benches and it was a great game atmosphere.  The benches at old Tampa Stadium weren't bad either.

 

We don't need a palace of luxuries.  We need a home for the Bulls.

 

 

Go Bulls!

Funny...your description is an exact fit for UCF's Bright House Networks Stadium.  Full bowl, designed for maximum noise.  Bench seating (like most college stadiums have) with seatbacks for most sideline seats.  Expandable with an additional level around three sides and the suites can be extended along the other sideline.  Chairbacks for Club Seats.  Corporate Suites.  Concession areas behind the stands. 

 

 

Haven't been inside (yet), but two major drawbacks make a copy of the wok a non-starter for me.

 

It needs to be of concrete construction, not metal. The wok sways too much.

 

The seats need to be on a steeper incline to focus the noise towards the field.

 

That said, if I was still a student, I'd rather have the wok - on campus - than the RJS off-campus

[Bull-by-Marriage]

 

 

I haven't heard anything about tennis moving from its current location. And there's absolutely nothing new in what Woolard's saying about the stadium. Yes, USF wants one, yes, money is the only hurdle. USF wants alums to see campus when they come for home games. At the same time, they like the experience of playing in Raymond James Stadium for now.

Is there a graphic depicting air rapidly exiting a balloon?

When I read the story I read it as the same position we've always had, just delivered more like a politician would.

 

Yep, in listening to the AD, it was pretty much a statement of 'we want this, it's on the whiteboard', but with no deadlines or commitments. that's about as far as it's going to go for some time to come.  Didn't he joke about having a T.Boone Pickens type donor drop $200M? There's no sense of urgency to put together 'something' just to say you have an OCS. And RayJ will probably be just fine for about another fifteen years (wasn't that the projected point at which some major upgrade$ would be needed?).  He was right about the level of expectation regarding what the OCS would necessarily have to have, as far as amenities are concerned. No silver bleachers with 7/16 bolts and cotter pins. It sounded like, yeah, we plan on getting one, but we're not in any rush.

 

 

I agree with you, but IMO there is no way that the bucs would play in Ray Jay for another 15 years. Years for a stadium are like dog years. It's "already" 15 years old.

[WoolyBully]

^-- with any luck at all the Bucs get moved to Europe for the Great NFL Europa Expansion Explosion and USF inherits RayJ. As for the 30-year mark...I'm pretty sure that was the number from the interview. 

[Hem]

Bunch of Negative Nancie's and Debbie Downer's on this forum. DW said he and Judy want to build, and will do so as soon as economically allowable. Nothing more. Didn't hear anything about 15 or 30 years...some of you people love to throw numbers out there

 

Also heard DW say that since Judy has been there, shes overseen and acted with over a BILLION DOLLARS worth of new construction/upgrades at USF.

 

Edited June 7, 2013 by Hem