Charlie Cobb just finished his first football season as Georgia State’s athletic director, during which the Panthers were 1-11 and often played to small crowds.
While very optimistic about the future of the program, Cobb also recognizes that there is a lot of work to do with fundraising, construction and interest to help coach Trent Miles and his program fulfill its potential.
Cobb last week shared his thoughts on the team, his plans for the department and the process it will take to transition Georgia State into a competitive football team in the Sun Belt Conference.
There is hope for Panthers fans and that hope that doesn’t bank on the Turner Field acquisition proposal.
Cobb said the department has raised the necessary funds to build a scaled-down version of a strength-and-conditioning facility needed to help improve recruiting and on-field results. He and his staff are also working to line up games to replace the home-and-home series lost when UAB decided to shut down its football program. Cobb would prefer another home-and-home and not two money games against major opponents for 2015 and 2016.
Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: How would you describe the state of the football program right now?
A: It's a building process. I think everybody would have liked to have won a couple of those games in the early part of the season to see how the momentum would have taken. We have to recognize where we are in terms of youth and then stay positive and build forward.
Q: What are your short-term goals for the program?
A: We've got to figure out a solution to the weight room. We have an internal goal of having it constructed before August. We want to make it a functional facility that will allow us to have a weight room that can meet that immediate need and recognize the long-term opportunity of what Turner Field represents. It won't be the grand scale presented two years ago, but will be a functional part of the program.
Second, we need to have a great spring recruiting.
Q: What are your long-term goals for the program?
A: I'm further convinced that there's a niche in the Atlanta sports market for Georgia State to build a fan base and external support. But we have to answer facility questions, not just for football but also other sports.
There are five pieces of the puzzle when recruiting: living in Atlanta and all that comes with that; academic experience of Georgia State; that our teams are fully funded; that we have the operating dollars for those teams to travel.
The (fifth) facility piece is the outstanding issue for many of our teams. That’s the transformational idea piece that Turner Field offers not only for football but for other sports. It’s the long-term solution. An athletics village is part of the community master plan. It’s what gets you excited. The challenge is that’s three, four, five years away, not the fall of 2015 when we have to show some improvement.
Q: How do you get there?
A: Work your butt off. You have to have passion for what you do. All of us that are involved have a great passion for kids playing sports on college level. We've transitioned some staff. I feel good about the group of people we have in place and coaches overall.
The challenge starting in the spring is to pound the pavement. We have to increase donations to the Panther Athletic Club. We have to figure out how to sell tickets.
When you are 1-21 the last two years, how do you create excitement? We had a marketing meeting yesterday for football 2015 where we had people brainstorming ideas. Have to keep pushing student engagement. It’s a huge part of how we grow this. We have to create an atmosphere on game day that allows people to get excited. MARTA has to be a part of the piece. Parking is limited (near the Georgia Dome). There are a number of different opportunities to create that engagement piece.
We’ll do a spring tour with coaches and be out and about with PAC. That’s the 365-days-a-year engagement. We are really trying 365 days a year to engage the Georgia State community
Q: What will define progress for the team next year?
A: We have to win some more games, continue on a pattern of building. We will have more older kids next year and don't anticipate a lot of attrition of kids who play meaningful minutes (this season). We have to stay healthy. Academically, we have to continue to improve along that spectrum.
Q: What is the status of fundraising for the strength-and-conditioning facility?
A: We envision 7,000 square feet. We have the money to build the facility we envision. It's a matter of the process … the on-campus process (of planning and construction). We estimate spending about $500,000 when it's done for the building (not the equipment). (We) have money for both.
Q: Will the school continue with Saturday games or might you go in a different direction with middle-of-the-week night games when students are on campus? Or is that bad for the season-ticket holders?
A: That was one of the conversations yesterday. What is the ideal date of games, time of games? There are differing opinions. At least one Thursday night game, maybe two, would be a huge benefit. … I do think playing Thursdays would be beneficial for us. I've also learned that I don't want to get into mindset of scheduling around other teams. If you are a Georgia State fan, I want you to be a part when Georgia State plays. Everything is on table in that regard. If your (readers) have a strong opinion, let us know.
Q: Has (Conference USA) reached out to you to gauge interest now that UAB may be gone?
A: No.
