Q & A:

Is the Texas State athletic department going to start taking a harder line with regard to winning? Too many of our teams are mediocre, at best, and it doesn't seem like the school has been interested in making changes in these programs. The change in the football program was excellent progress. However, the programs that concern me the most are the basketball programs. Coach Fox is 76-120 over her 6+ years as head coach here. That is hardly a successful tenure. I'd like to see the university take a hard line to ensure that coaches do not become complacent in their positions and accept mediocrity.
- Casey - Austin, Texas

Casey, I am a pretty straightforward person. The direct answer to your question is YES, we do want to win in all of our sports, but before you fire some unnecessary bullets, I want to arm you with some facts. Let's start by talking about the Commissioner's Cup, given to the institution that displays the best overall athletic proficiency in the Southland Conference. Last year, we won the cup for the third time since 1998. No other school in the SLC can say that.

Now, specifically in regards to basketball. While Suzanne Fox's record is below .500 overall in her six-plus years, that can be a somewhat misleading number. A number of those losses are generated in November and December when our program is playing the likes of LSU (currently ranked first in the country), Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Tulane, Arizona and other schools that are nationally ranked and recognized.

Both Coach Fox and Coach Nutt are evaluated on a number of factors, including success in Southland Conference play, but their overall record must have an asterisk by it in regards to using it as an evaluation tool. Coach Nutt is 38-38 in Southland Conference play for his career. I want to see our conference winning percentages improve on an annual basis, and we need to continue to make Strahan Coliseum a pit for visiting teams to play. In asking this question, Casey, I hope you attend as many of our home games as you can.

I admire your passion for our programs to win and hope you support the Bobcat Athletic Foundation and/or our programs by buying season tickets. Thanks for wanting to be part of our Bobcat family.

Larry, besides coming to the games, what we can do as Bobcat fans to support Texas State Athletics? My kids are involved in a number of activities and weekends are pretty full for us usually. We love the Bobcats, though. What are some ways to be involved?
- Randy - Austin, Texas

Randy, I love your question. In fact, I would love to answer this question over and over for lots of people who ask it. There are many ways to show your support for Texas State Athletics. Specifically, you can join our Bobcat Athletic Foundation. Dollars raised by the BAF go directly back into support for our student-athletes and coaches for recruiting and other specific areas that affect student-athlete welfare. Learn more about the BAF here on the web site.

Another way to show your support is by purchasing season tickets. Even if you can not make all the games, we can set up a plan where your seats are donated to a local charity or designated to specific civic groups on your behalf. This has been a popular program for us in the past.

We are excited about our capabilities for our online store that is a part of the new site, and that should fully develop in the coming weeks. I encourage you to show your Bobcat Pride!

This is just a starting list of ways to be involved. If there is ever anything you would like to do for our department that would be "outside the box", please contact our athletic compliance office. We use the phrase "ask before you act" to help our boosters remember there are NCAA guidelines to follow.

I know you can not talk about specific players or prospects, but what does football recruiting look like as we head towards signing day in February?
- Joey - San Antonio, Texas

This is the million-dollar question. Especially in the state of Texas, recruiting has almost become its own sport. With today's technology, information resources, and the world of convenience that we live in, the anticipation towards signing day continues to heighten each year. I know this year we are certainly approaching football signing day with heightened anticipation.

David Bailiff and his staff have been tremendous in their efforts over the last year in resurrecting pride and stability to this football program. Between what they have done on the field, in the classroom, and throughout our campus, community and alumni outreach, I fully expect their efforts to be equally successful on the recruiting trail.

I know David is excited, we are excited, and by early February, I hope you will be also.

Why don't I, as an alum, hear more about recruiting for the various sports? I would be mainly interested in what is going on in the recruiting for baseball and football. One way to fire me up about T State athletics is to keep me informed about what's coming down the pipeline.
- Rob - Houston, Texas

Thanks for the question, Rob. Per NCAA guidelines, we are not allowed to talk about specific student-athletes that are being recruited by any of our programs. Once our sports go through their signing periods each year, our media relations office works with the program to compose a release about that recruiting class. Baseball's fall signing class for the 2006 season is on their page right now. Football will have their signing day on February 2, 2005, and we will be very active in getting the word out about Coach Bailiff's first recruiting class. We plan to keep you fired up!

First of all I wanted to tell you that you have done a great job with the athletic department. My question has to do with facilities. As a former soccer player I was blessed to be able to play on the most beautiful soccer field in our conference. With the success of the soccer team throughout the years, are there any plans to expand the seating or put in locker rooms?
- Kristen - San Marcos

Thank you for the question, Kristen. We enjoyed watching you as a student-athlete, and I am glad you plan to stay engaged with our program. The short answer to your question is yes, soccer expansion is our strategic plan for our facilities. It is a five-year plan that goes through 2009. In addition to the many facility projects we have completed in the last two years, we also have plans to renovate baseball and softball and make some other improvements throughout the department, but soccer is definitely in the plan. Thanks again!

I know your next facility priority is baseball/softball. Can you give a specific update what the timeline/immediate plans are?
- Randy - Houston

Sure. Phase I of our baseball/softball renovation will begin June 1 (or immediately after baseball season is completed) with the installation of a new playing field at baseball and improvements to the drainage at softball. Currently, the baseball playing surface can handle a minimal amount of rain before it is unplayable. We must address this in the off-season and are on track to do so.

We have recently sent our final draft of concept sketches back to the architect and plan to create fund-raising materials right after the first of the year for Phase II, which includes major renovation and construction of offices, locker rooms, new stands, and an overall "ballpark" look for both complexes. We will then hit the road with our message, including a presentation at our baseball and softball alumni weekends at the end of January.

This major project will have to be a true "team" effort, so if you would like to be involved with the project or know someone who is a prospect for involvement, please contact either myself or Tim McMurray, our Associate Athletics Director who is the point person on this important endeavor.