In the wake of reports that Alabama-Birmingham is going to shut down its football program, Georgia State administrators pledged their developing football program will continue.
The Panthers have yet to experience consistent success on the field, at the turnstile and in general interest since their first game in 2010.
The team has one win in its past two years, and two in the past three. It twice set program lows this season for actual attendance, the nadir being the 3,485 that attended Saturday’s 54-31 defeat to Texas State in the final home game this season.
But a Georgia State spokesman said the university believes in the future of the team and there are no plans to follow what may be happening at Alabama-Birmingham.
“There have been no discussions about a change in direction for the football program at any level and we are eager to continuing the building process,” the spokesman said.
Despite its lack of success, Georgia State has at least one thing that Alabama-Birmingham seemingly lacks right now: leadership that is committed to football.
“Football is an incredibly part of Georgia State and we are just getting started,” recently appointed athletic director Charlie Cobb said in a Q&A posted on the athletic department’s youtube channel on Nov. 7.
Cobb referenced in the video the history of some of the current powers in college football as evidence of what may happen at Georgia State.
“Who would have thought Oregon could do what Oregon can do?” he said. “It’s obviously something we have to build for. Nothing’s gained overnight. It’s a process for us and we’ve got to grow. We have a young roster. It will take some time. But in 10 years football will show great benefits to Georgia State.”
The Panthers have ideas, big ideas, for the program.
President Mark Becker unveiled a $300 million plan earlier this year detailing the university’s hope to buy Turner Field and the land surrounding the stadium. The jewel of the plan would be repurposing the Braves home into a new 30,000-seat stadium for football. Alabama-Birmingham plays in the aging Legion Field and efforts to build a new 30,000-seat, $75 million stadium on campus were rebuffed by the University of Alabama System board, according to ESPN.
The question of Georgia State’s future, as Alabama-Birmingham’s unfolds, comes up not just because of their recent win-loss records, but because the Panthers and Blazers share a few similarities, some of which are coincidental and some of which may be part of each school’s recent issues.
- Both are located in the largest cities in their state;
- Both play in conferences that aren't considered among the most prestigious so they don't have marquee matchups: the Blazers are in Conference USA and Georgia State is in the Sun Belt;
- Both universities are considered to be in the shadows of two larger in-state schools with deeper histories in football;
- Until this year in Birmingham, both have struggled at the turnstiles and in generating revenue.
With an undergraduate enrollment of 8,312, Alabama-Birmingham reported operating expenses for its football team of almost $9 million with similar revenues from Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014, according to a database operated by the Department of Education.
With an undergraduate enrollment of 18,267, Georgia State reported operating expenses for its football team of $6.1 million with similar revenues from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, according to the Department of Education database.
But there are distinct differences that cause the question of Georgia State’s future to be raised because it isn’t succeeding where the Blazers are this year: Alabama-Birmingham’s attendance more than doubled this season to 21,841 compared to last year. Georgia State’s announced attendance decreased from 15,557 in 2013 to 15,006 this year.
The Blazers went 6-6 this season, their best finish since 2004. The Panthers went 1-11 this season with their only victory coming over an FCS team. The team has yet to defeat an FBS opponent and was outscored this year by an average of more than 20 points per game.
The Blazers also have interest. Students have staged rallies to save the program. Other than those in the band, few students have shown up to Georgia State’s games, a trend mirrored at other schools on the FBS level. The average attendance at Georgia State’s game hasn’t surpassed the high of 16,750 established in 2010.
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