Mercer

[SCPALADIN]

https://www.macon.com/sports/college/mercer-university/article30126447.html

Lamb's contract is up at the end of this season. Given the developments of the past three weeks, are there any scenarios where he holds on to the HC job?


One other question for Mercer fans...why do 20-25% of your players not have their names on the backs of their jerseys??

[apaladin]

I am afraid our friend BL is on the way out. They may not win another game. They have already played WCU.

[BearDownMU]

https://www.macon.com/sports/college/mercer-university/article30126447.html

Lamb's contract is up at the end of this season. Given the developments of the past three weeks, are there any scenarios where he holds on to the HC job?


One other question for Mercer fans...why do 20-25% of your players not have their names on the backs of their jerseys??

It doesn't seem likely. Having spent a little time with the President of Mercer, all I can tell you is 1) he believes athletics is one of the key components of the University's visibility and profile, 2) he demands a high standard, 3) he hates losing. The thing that strikes me as different this year than prior years is we were always competitive. In the last 6 years I can really only think of 5 games where we got housed (excluding the Alabama and Memphis games, but including the Auburn and GA Tech game), or more importantly, where I didn't feel like we had any shot at winning. 2014 Wofford, 2015 Samford, 2016 Chatt, 2018 Wofford (maybe) and 2019 Furman. I'm not sure that kind of regression can or should happen giving our facilities and the resources that have been made available by the university. It's a big investment (that I think has paid off in spades so far), but I don't think going backwards is really acceptable.

Regarding the jerseys, I don't actually know this to be a fact, but I think 1st year players don't have their names on. Also, I think last week no one had names and my guess is that was done as some sort of motivational/punishment/statement move? I don't know. Both of those things just sound silly to me, personally. Either put names on everyone or don't. It looks ridiculous with a bunch not having it. Maybe the Mercer seamstress is on the injured list? Anyway, spend more time working on offensive and defensive creativity and execution, less time on jersey decisions. Just my personal opinion.

[FUBeAR]

I am afraid our friend BL is on the way out. They may not win another game. They have already played WCU.Mercer is capable of winning every game remaining on their schedule, with the possible exception of the UNC game. That said, your comment is not wrong; they may not win another game.

[rtzlunar]

Based on butts in the seats yesterday it appears the fan base has written this season off and is ready for women’s basketball.

[BearDownMU]

Based on butts in the seats yesterday it appears the fan base has written this season off and is ready for women’s basketball.

Really? How's Finley looking these days?

[youwouldno]

Lamb is a goner for sure . . . the silver lining is that he's a pretty solid recruiter, so a new coach could probably turn things around pretty quickly.

[Milktruck74]

Really? How's Finley looking these days?

Empty. It always looks empty. When we averaged 11,000 per game it looked empty since half of the seats were Empty. If Mercer's attendance record game were held in Finley, it would look empty!!! It really doesn't matter what Mercer announces as attendance (what was it 8900), the reality is HALF of Five Star was empty....and that means you may have had 5100 people actually there watching. The comment about the fans writing the season off is an accurate one....regardless of how empty Finley looks.

[BearDownMU]

Empty. It always looks empty. When we averaged 11,000 per game it looked empty since half of the seats were Empty. If Mercer's attendance record game were held in Finley, it would look empty!!! It really doesn't matter what Mercer announces as attendance (what was it 8900), the reality is HALF of Five Star was empty....and that means you may have had 5100 people actually there watching. The comment about the fans writing the season off is an accurate one....regardless of how empty Finley looks.

Always looks empty, huh? Is that from your extensive number of trips? Because I've been at every one of them.

Oh, and if it's ALWAYS empty, then why is it different now, than the rest of ALWAYS? Either it's empty now, or it's always empty. Can't be both.

Point is, if you want to have a conversation about fans disengaging, that's fine. But it doesn't have to be done in quite the jerk-ish way. Particularly when you do roughly the same numbers as we do, with, what 3-4x the student body size, recent years of highly ranked teams, and what? About 70 more years of recent football history?

Glass houses, partner.

[ElCid]

Empty. It always looks empty. When we averaged 11,000 per game it looked empty since half of the seats were Empty. If Mercer's attendance record game were held in Finley, it would look empty!!! It really doesn't matter what Mercer announces as attendance (what was it 8900), the reality is HALF of Five Star was empty....and that means you may have had 5100 people actually there watching. The comment about the fans writing the season off is an accurate one....regardless of how empty Finley looks.

Yup. Been there, a few times and seen it. Announced attendance was close to sell out and half the seats were empty. I think it was determined a couple years ago that they count tickets sold, not turn style numbers. No other answer for it. They have had some good crowds, that is not in doubt, but when I saw it for myself, I knew they are doing some creative accounting when necessary.

[Milktruck74]

Always looks empty, huh? Is that from your extensive number of trips? Because I've been at every one of them.

Oh, and if it's ALWAYS empty, then why is it different now, than the rest of ALWAYS? Either it's empty now, or it's always empty. Can't be both.

Point is, if you want to have a conversation about fans disengaging, that's fine. But it doesn't have to be done in quite the jerk-ish way. Particularly when you do roughly the same numbers as we do, with, what 3-4x the student body size, recent years of highly ranked teams, and what? About 70 more years of recent football history?

Glass houses, partner.

Lighten up Francis!!! I was answering your question "Really? How's Finley looking these days?" That is why I quoted your post...My comment about about always looking Empty was referring to Finley. Try to follow along. From there I referred to the fact that the stadium is too big and would even look empty if we had 10,200 fans (a sellout in Five Star), because more than half the seats would be empty. MU has had big crowds in the past and that was not the case yesterday. That is the first indicator of disengaged fans. So take that and do with it what you want.

Point is butts in the seat count. Chattanooga catches hell b/c they get 5500 people in a 21k stadium, but that is basically the average attendance at any SoCon Game.

[Mocs123]

I think most every university counts tickets sold not butts in seats, 1.) because it's a larger number, and 2.) because it's easier to count.

I was surprised at how empty Five Star Stadium looked. I think it seats a little over 10K and they announced 8,900 but there were nowhere near that many people there. Is that usually the case or did the 3 game losing streak and afternoon heat keep people away. Either way, it's a beautiful facility and I would love to have that size stadium for the Mocs.

Yes, Finley looks empty, and to be honest our attendance is down. We've had two afternoon games in the heat and the last one was during the country fair and the ironman which didn't help. We tend to average about 10K a game and even then the stadium looks empty as it seats over 20K. To be honest, though both are nice facilities, Finley Stadium and McKenzie Arena are both too big for Chattanooga. We need a stadium that seats 10K in FB and an arena that seats 5K in BB, but it is what it is.

[BearDownMU]

10.2k is numbered seats. Full capacity is about 12.5k. There is a program for non-seated tickets.

[Milktruck74]

Yeah, and Finley could be at 25k with SRO in the Beer Garden, the grass hill and the curve on the east side....but we will never eclipse 12k, so it doesnt mater.

[ElCid]

I think most every university counts tickets sold not butts in seats, 1.) because it's a larger number, and 2.) because it's easier to count.


I'm pretty sure we do not do it that way. We count butts in seat.

[SCPALADIN]

I'm pretty sure we do not do it that way. We count butts in seat.

Ditto

[PaladinFan]

Mercer sells a lot of season tickets and sells those tickets affordably. A lot of those season ticket holders tend not to show up for the game.

Mercer's method of counting tickets sold is an acceptable way of doing it. I do think it invites blowback, though, when it is clear that the announced attendance doesn't come close to the actual attendance.

[walliver]

I'm pretty sure we do not do it that way. We count butts in seat.

But you seem to have fewer seats in which to put those butts every year.

[BearDownMU]

Mercer sells a lot of season tickets and sells those tickets affordably.

If we don't make a correction, my primary concern is this is in pretty severe jeopardy.

[walliver]

Mercer sells a lot of season tickets and sells those tickets affordably. A lot of those season ticket holders tend not to show up for the game.

Mercer's method of counting tickets sold is an acceptable way of doing it. I do think it invites blowback, though, when it is clear that the announced attendance doesn't come close to the actual attendance.

It is interesting what schools charge for individual and season tickets. From watching adds on the ACC network, it appears that Duke football season tickets are much cheaper than Wofford's (I guess you get what you pay for). Of course at Duke, football is just something to do waiting for basketball season. The last time I went to see Wofford play at the Citadel, I was about to get my wallet out when someone from Piggly Wiggly was giving our free tickets. The last time I went to a game in Metropolitan Boiling Springs NC, tickets were $5 (It's been a while, though).

[BearDownMU]

It is interesting what schools charge for individual and season tickets. From watching adds on the ACC network, it appears that Duke football season tickets are much cheaper than Wofford's (I guess you get what you pay for). Of course at Duke, football is just something to do waiting for basketball season. The last time I went to see Wofford play at the Citadel, I was about to get my wallet out when someone from Piggly Wiggly was giving our free tickets. The last time I went to a game in Metropolitan Boiling Springs NC, tickets were $5 (It's been a while, though).

Well, to be fair, Duke's football product has gotten much better since Cutcliffe took over. Looks like for a reserved seat, it's about $168 for the full season for one seat. That's not bad. Ours are around $125 per seat. The magic question, tho, is what is the giving requirement to get access to those seats. Our giving requirement isn't crazy, but not really cheap either. And there are other perks, as certain giving levels give you access to a parking pass in certain areas, and available areas change as giving increases. We also go cross sport, which bigger programs don't do. Example, my giving level counts if I want to do basketball season tickets and parking as well. I don't have a separate giving requirement to carry over to basketball.

[ElCid]

But you seem to have fewer seats in which to put those butts every year.

Well, the new side is coming. Plus I heard talk of putting even more in the endzone

[walliver]

Well, to be fair, Duke's football product has gotten much better since Cutcliffe took over. Looks like for a reserved seat, it's about $168 for the full season for one seat. That's not bad. Ours are around $125 per seat. The magic question, tho, is what is the giving requirement to get access to those seats. Our giving requirement isn't crazy, but not really cheap either. And there are other perks, as certain giving levels give you access to a parking pass in certain areas, and available areas change as giving increases. We also go cross sport, which bigger programs don't do. Example, my giving level counts if I want to do basketball season tickets and parking as well. I don't have a separate giving requirement to carry over to basketball.

Duke is actually aggressively advertising on cable TV, so I doubt any giving is required - I also doubt they are fifty yard-line tickets. Duke is the third most popular football team located in the Research Triangle, and may even be behind ECU in general interest. I think it is hard to sell tickets for a private school with a mostly northern, affluent, and white student body in a mostly minority city. On the other hand, their basketball team proves that winning sells tickets.

Wofford doesn't require any giving for football season tickets and all are between the 30's. At least a $500 donation is required to purchase a parking pass for football. Basketball season tickets are harder to get and good seats require a donation. NCAA tournament tickets are reserved for much higher donors than my giving level.

[PaladinFan]

If we don't make a correction, my primary concern is this is in pretty severe jeopardy.

I thought a lot about this question as it relates to Furman.

Like fans of most FCS schools, folks probably do not grow up Mercer fans. They become fans because of their close affiliation with the University based on their own attendance or that of a family member.

Small schools like Furman and Mercer are at risk, I think, of losing future fans in the form of their current student body with uninspired play. UGA, for instance, will always have a fan base, but if students at some of these smaller FCS schools don't get hooked on the football program while they are in college, odds are they won't stay hooked once they are out of college.

Furman's down seasons over the last 10 or so years probably cost them 1000s of potential fans over the long term. Those students and their families just never really would have had a positive experience with Furman football sufficient to connect them to the program long-term, especially when there is so many other programs vying for their attention. Those students still tend to have a positive experience with the University, they just aren't going to be connected to the football program.

Without question, my best memories during my time at Furman were football games. We had a big group, we'd travel, we'd eat good BBQ, and show up and watch a team that won a bunch. If the team had stunk, I'd probably been less likely to have done that and even less likely to be posting on an FCS message board about it 15 years later.

[BearDownMU]

I think one of the big challenges at Mercer has been engaging students, if I'm being honest. Granted, the undergraduate enrollment in Macon is around 3,000 (you will often see 4,700, but that includes alternate campuses like Atlanta, online programs, etc.). I'd say we maybe get 500ish students at the games. 15% or so. I don't know if that number is small, but I'd really like for it to be bigger. But I just don't know how you get there. And on top of being there, but staying for the whole game. I've talked to some of the students and given the level of rigor, some of them just aren't interested in athletics. And Mercer is still a place where a lot of kids clear out for the weekend. So, it's a challenge.

But, I agree with you, you have to get them vested while they are there. I worked with the Athletic Foundation a couple of years ago to establish our Letterman's Club (something, surprisingly, we hadn't done before 2016). We are working pretty hard on that, to get graduating athletes to stay engaged with the school and the Athletic Department. Because I think that is also a big pool for potential future season ticket holders.

This is one of the reasons I'm really happy with all the things Mercer is doing to augment the game day experience. Concerts, bouncy villages for the kids, tailgates with food for different groups (individual areas of study, former athletes, fraternity/sorority alumni tailgates, etc.), the Beer Garden. You really can get to the campus early and do TONS of stuff. And it's kid friendly.

But, to your point, I think it's very hard. And it's very hard when you are trying to build a tradition where one has not previously existed.

[walliver]

Unfortunately, decreased student interest in football is a nationwide phenomenon and will cause problems for all of us in the coming decades.

When I was in college (1978-1982) there was only one national broadcast of a single college football game a week. If you wanted to watch a football game, people attended their local college games. The football game was the place to be for most students to be on a Saturday night. Now, FCS games are competing directly against Clemson, Alabama and UGA on TV. And even Clemson and Alabama have problems with students not staying past halftime.

Unfortunately, at Wofford, a basketball ticket is now in much higher demand. Some of that is related to winning 5 of the last 10 championships, but to a great extent, it is just a reflection of demographic changes at work.

[paward]

Mercer has a great game day atmosphere IMHO. It is in a prime spot Middle Georgia. At one time I thought it would be the second Georgia Southern. By that I mean jump start the program quickly. As much as I hate to say it a new coach will bring life to that program. Lamb is a good man but not a good fit for Mercer.