Does the hockey buzz help football recruiting or hurt it

[Momster]

My son is super excited about Junior Day.  Recently, he found out several of his friends have decided to go to school there (not participating in sports guys) in part because of just choosing the school for academics -- but one of the tipping points for his buddies is because of how well the hockey team does and the buzz and fun that comes with it.  What is the atmosphere like this week in town?  Several of his friends are going to some kind of orientation thing going on next weekend at the same time Junior Day for football so having some familiar faces on campus is really nice to think about.  Hopefully the town is in full on celebrate mode on the hockey front and the Football Junior Day kids will see a community all in about one of their student athlete programs.

So my question is more about pros-cons of being a traditional hockey school--does it help or hurt football recruiting?  I know the facilities all of the kids have access to have to be better for having such a great hockey team traditionally from year to year....I would think that is an asset.

One of his buds though who does play football was of the other view--why would anyone want to play football at a school known for hockey?  What are the pros/cons of how hockey affects recruiting for other sports?

 

 

 

 

 

[CMSioux]

Grand Forks does support the football team - although not to the point it did in the early 2000s but it is coming back and there has always been a loyal following of fans throughout the transition. UND has maintained attendance of around 8,000 and the momentum is growing. Look back at when they were at the peak of DII and the support was stupendous which contributed to a huge home field advantage. The latest statistics I could find were attendance of 8,130 per game in 2014 (and that year we were 5-7) I'm guessing 2015 was up a bit and next year it will be up more. The bigger challenge is that attendance at all college football is decreasing (even Alabama) and it seems like the student section doesn't know how to get into the game.  

Another point to be made is that because of hockey, and soon basketball, UND is not a suitcase college. Students stick around on the weekends.   

[darell1976]

29 minutes ago, Momster said:

My son is super excited about Junior Day.  Recently, he found out several of his friends have decided to go to school there (not participating in sports guys) in part because of just choosing the school for academics -- but one of the tipping points for his buddies is because of how well the hockey team does and the buzz and fun that comes with it.  What is the atmosphere like this week in town?  Several of his friends are going to some kind of orientation thing going on next weekend at the same time Junior Day for football so having some familiar faces on campus is really nice to think about.  Hopefully the town is in full on celebrate mode on the hockey front and the Football Junior Day kids will see a community all in about one of their student athlete programs.

So my question is more about pros-cons of being a traditional hockey school--does it help or hurt football recruiting?  I know the facilities all of the kids have access to have to be better for having such a great hockey team traditionally from year to year....I would think that is an asset.

One of his buds though who does play football was of the other view--why would anyone want to play football at a school known for hockey?  What are the pros/cons of how hockey affects recruiting for other sports?

 

 

 

 

 

UND had Women's basketball, hockey, and football all in great shape in 1999-2001, each sport winning a National title, and the fan base basically fed off each other's success. Hockey will always be a fan favorite due to the 8 national titles, but women's basketball won 3 national titles in 1997-1999, and football won a title in 2001 and playing for one in 2003. The early 2000's saw UND's athletic popularity boom especially with the opening of the new REA and Alerus Center. Attendance in both was/is great. It takes a bad streak (football) to bring down one sport over another. Now we have seen the football team grow with Bubba, just missing the playoffs, but attendance has increased and better recruits are coming into the door, this NC by the hockey team will electrify the crowd in other sports causing a surge in attendance, especially if the product on the field is winning. Does it hurt being a hockey school, no. Does it help being a hockey school, maybe. It all comes down to the product on the field. Win and the rest takes care of itself.

[homer]

Helps.  The athletic dept needed a shot in the arm to get over the hump.  The bar will be equally high next season for the football and basketball programs (men's and women's).  Along with the volleyball team. 

[Longtime fan]

Hockey has been the top sport at und for decades and they have reserved the right as they now have won 8 national championships.   With that said, when und football won their championship in 2001 and runner up in 03, those years and the ones that followed that the attendance was full capacity and a buzz was felt in the alerus. Lennon left and so did the winning as did the bandwagoners.  This was not do to hockey.  

 One of the things that und football has going against it, is that they will be hard pressed to ever have a night or late evening game, depending on scheduling , due to hockey games played at night.  Evening games seem to bring a more elevated fun factor as you can have social hour or tail gate at a decent time as tailgating in the morning is not for everyone.  It becomes more apparent or noticeable when its HUNTING season and everyone with a beard is rifled up in the shelter belts during game time.  The attendance drops in late November.    This is due to hockey as football cannot schedule night games . 

 The major unfortunate is that team to the south has pulled the Bandwagoners it's way.  They will be back as bubba is building a team that can and will compete with the other top programs out there.  He literally bleeds Kelly green and puts his everything towards the kids.  This is not due to hockey. This is due to mussman.  

 Und supports it's football program and all other athletics quite admirably.  Football is on the way back and gaining steam.   Its tough to say if that winning a championship in hockey would necessarily have any effect on the other athletic programs at und as they have been a perennial power since the 50s. Or Maybe with the hockey team winning last night it will excite the bandwagon jumpers to come back and support all und athletics.  I just don't see a direct  correlation between a hockey championship and how it would affect the football program, but none the less a championship regardless of sport is a good thing to a university. 

[Vegas_Sioux]

I think it helps. All the athletes go to the games if they are in town, you see the defending division 1 hockey champs in the front row of the student section harassing the opposing team at the alerus it's got to psych you up. 

[geaux_sioux]

Success trickles down in the athletic department. Everyone loves a winner. Hockey had a special place in the hearts of GF natives but everyone also like football. Give them a team worth supporting and they will. I look at this title for the hockey team as pumping positive momentum into the entire school. It's good for everyone.

[Hayduke]

I trust that Bubba will have the football team in the playoffs this year and keep the positive momentum going.  They hockey team will always be #1 on campus, but there is room for more support with the other programs.  

[Old School Guy]

Success is contagious in a school environment.  Hockey trophies give the students something to be excited about. The football team had a solid year while getting snubbed by the playoff committee, the basketball ball team had a buzz this season as well. Winners like being around other winners and our football team is stacked with kids that won prior to arriving in Grand Forks. I foster the trend continuing this fall. UND hockey success will permeate the athletic facility and help recruiting. 

[F'n Hawks]

I want strong student support at the potato bowl against South Dakota... Need a good showing in that game to keep the students there.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Although I would love to see a positive correlation, I don't think there will be. The support football gets is independent of the hockey program; UND football needs to produce and build their own support. UND football has been average at best since moving up from DII; however, if Bubba and company can do what is expected of them in 2016, then I think the fan base will improve, along with hopefully the in-game atmosphere and features. 

Leave no doubt in 2016! With the facilities improving, UND football needs to keep growing, as well. Should be an annual top BSC club. 

[homer]

Just now, UND-FB-FAN said:

Although I would love to see a positive correlation, I don't think there will be. The support football gets is independent of the hockey program; UND football needs to produce and build their own support. UND football has been average at best since moving up from DII; however, if Bubba and company can do what is expected of them in 2016, then I think the fan base will improve, along with hopefully the in-game atmoshphere and features. 

Championship Club $$$s is the correlation between the two.  

[UND-FB-FAN]

Just now, homer said:

Championship Club $$$s is the correlation between the two.  

If that financial boost causes UND to put more effort into football gameday at the Alerus, then that absolutely will increase support. Irregardless, UND football winning (or the lack thereof) will be the ultimate factor. 

[SiouxVolley]

21 minutes ago, homer said:

Championship Club $$$s is the correlation between the two.  

Would add that increased TV exposure and more dollars with that don't hurt either.  Without hockey, UND's broadcast capabilities would be greatly diminished.

[Sioux>Bison]

Football is coming back to its glory years of a packed Alerus. New rivalries start to grow and success is getting bigger every year. I think hockey's success is isolated from affecting football as their own teams set their popularity. The night game scheduling does hurt football in late October and November but it does help out of town fans make it a full day of Sioux games in one saturday.

[SiouxVolley]

There are UND football fans all over, but nothing has been going on for years to get them excited.  Contrast that with the Frozen Four where there were tons of Sioux fans that just had a passing connection to UND and Grand Forks but make the Frozen Four an annual event.  It's a mistake to just assume that Grand Forks and ND are the only places that UND fans will come from.  FCS does not provide much opportunity for a big celebration at season end where UND football fans from all over the country can gather at the end of the season.  That has happened with the school down south, and it builds on itself.

[UND-FB-FAN]

46 minutes ago, SiouxVolley said:

There are UND football fans all over, but nothing has been going on for years to get them excited.  Contrast that with the Frozen Four where there were tons of Sioux fans that just had a passing connection to UND and Grand Forks but make the Frozen Four an annual event.  It's a mistake to just assume that Grand Forks and ND are the only places that UND fans will come from.  FCS does not provide much opportunity for a big celebration at season end where UND football fans from all over the country can gather at the end of the season.  That has happened with the school down south, and it builds on itself.

Umm...Frisco, Texas would look awful nice filled with kelly green...

With that said, I agree that UND football hasn't given fans much of an opportunity to rally with each other and get excited. Even FCS playoff games in the Alerus Center offer an opportunity that has yet to be presented to the UND faithful. 

Hopefully 2016 yields several Alerus Center playoff experiences...

[Longtime fan]

There was a lot of changes from 07-13 in regards to the football program that provided the downward spiral and why the average fan might have swayed:

1. Lennon leaving. Not only a great coach that won a national championship but a fantastic individual!!  This one hurt!  Considering it was in the transition year made it all the more difficult.  

2. Moving to a new conference with no rival as USD backed out at the last second and accepted an invite to the MVFC leaving UND alone on an island.  This left the average fan being familiar with only montana and montana st as a known name or connection.  Still to the day, I believe most people couldn't name 1/2 of the teams in the big sky.  This is where the marketing people and und need to step up and promote each and every team that und plays. Familiarize the fans on who und is playing and the how the big sky is one of the top fcs conference in the nation.  

3.  The school to the south started to become what they are and the bandwagoners were in full adios mode.  Additionally mussman did not recruit locally, in return, these players had no distinct connection to the area.  This led to a digression for tailgating and games as there were fewer and fewer groups of families and friends that attended.

4. Mussman was a mess of head coach!  Great guy that is better suited for OC.  I've had the pleasure of watching und for 30 years and the anticipation of a beat down didn't exist until his helm.  Every week I had a feeling we could lose or lose big.  Then Sioux Falls happened.....a beat down at home from an NAIA team was the icing on the cake.  

5.  Nick name issue.  Not necessarily on it's own, but in combination with everything else that was going on within the football program it was just adding salt to the wound. 

2014-16: hallelujah!!!!

1.  Bubba was hired!!

2. Recruiting locally 

3. Wining record at narrowly missing the playoffs.

4. Bubba was hired!!!

5. Und has gone back to its core: defense and run the ball up your throat.

6. Like it or not the nickname issue is over and ncaa should be off of our backs.  

7. Expectations are finally high going into a season

8. Bubba was hired!!

what you are seeing currently for the hockey program is what the und fans will do when bubba and crew lift their trophy.  

[Ozzie82]

The original question was does the hockey team's success help or hurt football recruiting. 

 

I don't think there is a clear answer... I'd say that it depends on the individual and what they are looking for in a program. I've talked to athletes on both sides of the coin on this issue. 

[77iceman]

In my world, whatever the hockey program is doing doesn't effect my football goggles.  I'm a football fan . . . and the fact that hockey is doing well only helps get the UND name out there.  I would think that any kid playing football would focus more on what the football program is doing and that's about it.

[UND-FB-FAN]

UND football needs to consistently win (and that means playoff games given the bar that NDSU has set). Once that happens, UND fans will take action and go out to the Alerus Center to support UND football to victory. 

So in that sense, I see UND hockey success being largely independent on UND football. Of course, the point of finances was brought up and that does possibly provide some crossover. 

[Old School Guy]

Today's recruiting is fluid and dynamic in the sense, athletes recruit other athletes as much if not more than coaches do. UND football laid a good foundation the past two years and is trending upwards.  It's important not to take a step backwards in 2016. There is a "cool factor" building at UND with the success of the sports teams, and winning the hockey crown can only help. I don't think UND will lose any football recruits because of hockey.  Championships bring in money,  which brings in better equipment, facilities, uniforms etc. across the board. All this stuff matters to recruiting.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Coach Schweigert's take on whether or not UND hockey's national championship affects UND football: 

http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=210881216

 

Quote

Head coach Bubba Schweigert addressed his team after practice and asked for a raise of hands of those who watched Saturday night's hockey game that saw UND win its eighth national title ... As a majority of the hands quickly rose, Schweigert said we can do the same thing in our program ... He had this to say about how the hockey team's success can carry over into other program:

"I think it's huge. I think team culture is contagioius. I think when you can see effort on the ice, the court or the field, I think it rubs off on people. I am a firm believer that culture is huge, not just within your program, but within the department as a whole. I think you can learn by observing others and we know on Saturday night, our hockey team accomplished something that is really special and it wasn't all about talent. Obviously, we have a talented group of players, but it's about how you compete and doing that day-after-day and doing things the right way to get to that level and that is what we are shooting for in this program."

 

[northernraider]

31 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Coach Schweigert's take on whether or not UND hockey's national championship affects UND football: 

http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=210881216

 

 

what a great motivation speech! 

[Sioux94]

In general I agree and think it helps.  It can be argued though why go play football at a hockey school.  But I'm pretty sure when we were a deep playoff team every year in the late 90's and then won a championship in football I don't think that was too big of a deal and doubt kids were saying they didn't want to go to UND because it was a hockey school.  We were a winner and we had been winning for several years.   When your team and program are down, that is when kids aren't as excited about going there.  We are digging out of that mess, still have some things to prove though.   A while back when Florida was pretty dominant in football and they also won a basketball championship, I'm thinking kids would think it's pretty cool to go to a school that had two top programs.  We definitely had a bad stumble there, but going forward I don't think the expectations of our football program will be any less or different than Montana State or Montana each and every year.  It's not like we are Duke or maybe Kansas football programs, they've probably had some good years but are probably thought of as average or below average football programs if you look at the past 50 years.  UND has a pretty good past 50 years in football overall, even though we've had a couple of rough patches.  We actually have a better head to head record against NDSU, it's not like Kansas has a better overall record against Oklahoma the past 50 years.  (And for you NDSU trolls I'm just stating a fact to prove a point in bringing up the head to head, no need to reply on here now telling us how much better you are than us)