FIUGoldenPanthers.com

http://gridironnow.com/butch-davis-fiu-coach/

Pretty cool article. I wanted to post it on the board but it just had too much.

I had seen the article on twitter and was guilty of simply retweeting it.

Finally read it.

We've met coach, as I've shared with you guys on this forum. He looked genuinely excited to be here. And As time passes, I'm thinking he's become more excited about the opportunity to build an powerhouse (or something like that)....but, he's going to need fan support.

I hope we can do for him, more than what we've done for the other coaches in the past. Speaking purely of fan support.

I live close to campus so it has given me the opportunity to go to his press conference. The signing day event, the upcoming Spring game, etc... and while there have certainly been more people at the latter two events, I was expecting more people.

I hope Butch doesn't give up on us if the support isn't there early on.

He may think he knows the challenge in front of him on this campus. But he won't really taste it until opening day, or second game of season.

I also share the same fear. It's my hope that once the program starts winning, the buzz will return and Coach Davis can really build on that momentum. But the beginning (as in next year) may be pretty brutal. I think Coach Davis is realistic though, and knows the first home game won't even be close to being sold out. As I've always said, the key will be to bring in student support. Get the students to actually get inside the stadium and cheer on their peers. It would be nice for Butch and co. to start some kind of campaign to go door-to-door in the dorms and ask the students to go and support the team.

In the end, like anything in Miami. It's all about W's and TV exposure.

Coach Davis has a huge task ahead of him.

1.Winning: Hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.

2.Student support: This will prove to be hard for a number of reasons. FIU Athletics has not really been consistent with their marketing programs to FIU students. Athletics has to start brainstorming and come up with something that engages and excites them.

3.Faculty and staff support: Who have so many people from different areas of the globe and getting them to go to the games is a huge task. We have a very large faculty and staff but a lot of those people are from somewhere else. Their support of the school is small to nonexistent at best. But in order to get people in the seats that has and should change. How, I don’t know, but we need some ideas very soon.

4.Alumni Support: Is very important almost on par with student support. Alumni Relations has to become a more active partner. This is vital to build the support among the rank and file alumni. Maybe the FIU Athletics and the Alumni Association can share costs with marketing targeting alum.

5.Community support, will be a hard sell to Butch heyday was many years ago in Miami. This community is a very transient one; some may remember others may not.

6.The media has to be embraced like never before. Local media is the key, because some if not all are part of a larger media pie, that covers the South Florida Sports scene. We are a medium market and growing, we need to utilize, that to the fullest. Some of us have seen sport highlights concerning FIU on some of the local stations and ESPN.

7.Small side note; the food options at the stadium, have to change to a professional food and beverage company that can provide a great level of first class service and food options.

Butch will have a really hard time in his first couple of years getting support for the program.

The old school alumni will not support until Pete is gone...this is what I have been told by many of them. Maybe Butch being named coach will change that..we shall see

The biggest need is the students though...that's the key. The problem is that it isn't just one problem.. A lot of the students who attend FIU now, who actually like football, grew up liking another team (Miami, UF, FSU) most likely due to parent, older brother, or some other influence. Dade county kids grew up going to Joe Robbie ( hard rock, land shark, pro player) stadium. They know what big time football looks like, sounds like and feels like. Going to watch FIU at a glorified high school stadium (for now) just isn't appealing (especially concessions).

Hard rock as shitty as it was up until the recent renovation, was still a big time football stadium which hosted Super Bowls and big time college football games. South Florida, Miami in particular is not some small town somewhere in the middle of the country where the only thing to do on Saturday is to watch the local college team play. Hugo nail it, we have to win and win big consistently if we want that fan base to start building again.

I hate to continue bringing up the past, but Pete pretty much killed the program when he hired Ron "no life" Turner. The fan base gave up a long time ago, the ones that show up no matter what are not a fan base, we are the outliers, the diehards and unfortunately, we alone can't fill the stadium. No one will give the team the benefit of the doubt if they don't go bowling this year, just because it is Butch's first year. We need to go bowling this year and the next and the next while our wins go up in numbers. This to me is do or die fellas. Go cats

Could not agree more on the need to put a winning team on the field. That is why it is a little odd to me that (so far as we know) there was no trolling of the juco ranks for a few head cases who might have been able to bolster both sides of the line, for instance. BD is going to have to try and win, primarily it would seem, with the talent that Turner left behind. Can coaching alone do it? I guess we are going to find out.

Plus that story the gal wrote about BD was pretty cool. Sure sounds like he is all about positive energy.

Hello Fellow Panthers,
After reading your various posts, it is alarming to me how little faith some "fans" have in our future - in Coach Davis and in the players we currently have on our roster. A GREAT coach means a 3-4 game swing over the course of a season. As noted in one of my previous posts, we were essentially a couple of plays away from being a 6-6 team last year with a terrible head coach (to start the year) and an interim head coach (who did an excellent job) to finish the year. Coach Davis WILL deliver - he ALWAYS has. I will go on the record, again, and tell everyone who will listen that we will be 8-4 next year - minimum. For those of you who are still MC fans, remember, Butch Davis is a better recruiter (check 247Sports all time FIU top 25 recruits - almost 1/2 are currently on the roster) and a MUCH BETTER GAME DAY COACH.
Additionally, winning ALWAYS puts rear ends in the seats. It ALWAYS breeds more winning. The biggest step forward for our program was the hiring of Butch Davis - he will make all of this happen. New turf, practice fields, Jumbotron etc. Does anyone doubt that all this would have happened so quickly if some one else had been hired? If he can deliver on all of these things, how much better is the product on the field going to be?
Fellow Panthers - get "geeked" up for the upcoming season. It is going to be great!!!
As always, I'm interested to hear what y'all have to say. FIUPhil

Phil, we're all geeked here. We're not the issue, we showed up for Turner and we will most definitely show up for Butch "the god" Davis. Let's hope he has success early so fans start showing up to the more important games later in the season.

Amen, brother SP. BD will have a squad with one more year of experience, Budwig back on the OL, Maxwell adding depth at RB, and a few freshmen adding depth, but basically he will be working with the same crew that Turner assembled, and without a lot of depth in the trenches. I sincerely hope that Phil is right, but it will be all about the coaching--not the recruiting--in 2017. Given that I have never seen a half-time coaching adjustment--nay, an coaching adjustment of any kind over the course of an entire season--unless you want to include Don Strock going out to squeeze in a quick 18--it will be something to behold at FIU.

On our schedule, because it's conference USA, there are always at least 6 winable games. This year we have about 8. Those games come down to coaching, (being able to come up with a scheme and motivating the kids) and conditioning. Our previous staff failed at both so we won little games. The talent at a mid major could always be better, but I think with what we got (depending on injuries) Butch should be able to at least manage to win 6 games. 8 games would be amazing in his first year, which would be a blessing for the recruiting class in 2018.

I just can't wait for the season to start already. And for the first time in many years, I'll be attending the spring game.