Transfers

[Purple rain]

Something to note, our transfers are Graduate transfers. In my opinion, we do it right. I do think Furman needs an MBA program.

['Din Djarin]

Djarin - haven't seen you until recently. Glad to have you!!!

May I ask are you still a student? I ask for this reason - IF you are what would get some kids to come and be loud at the games? Or were you there recently. I am old lol. I haven't been in a Furman class since the early 90s

Thanks. I've actually been a UFFP participant (on and off, under different handles) since way back, and I definitely graduated from Furman a while back. I tried my best to get other students to come and be loud. Furman had a good run while I was there, though, so football was pretty popular with students. One of my favorite things Furman has done was moving all of the Greek tailgates into the area on the berm at the stadium. I've noticed that the uniform of the day for frat boys has evolved from bright pastels to purple and white. This is progress.

[fupaladin01]

Djarin - haven't seen you until recently. Glad to have you!!!

May I ask are you still a student? I ask for this reason - IF you are what would get some kids to come and be loud at the games? Or were you there recently. I am old lol. I haven't been in a Furman class since the early 90s

Thanks. I've actually been a UFFP participant (on and off, under different handles) since way back, and I definitely graduated from Furman a while back. I tried my best to get other students to come and be loud. Furman had a good run while I was there, though, so football was pretty popular with students. One of my favorite things Furman has done was moving all of the Greek tailgates into the area on the berm at the stadium. I've noticed that the uniform of the day for frat boys has evolved from bright pastels to purple and white. This is progress.

Sounds like you may have been there in the 99-05 glory days? I definitely learned to expect frats to show up late, leave early, and only cheer at touchdowns or huge plays. My crew was always in furman shirts and jeans and we never understood why others weren't as excited about the games. If that's changing, I'm very excited to see it. Give JD and DI their due.

BTW very cool name and logo. Already watched S3E1!

['Din Djarin]

Sounds like you may have been there in the 99-05 glory days? I definitely learned to expect frats to show up late, leave early, and only cheer at touchdowns or huge plays. My crew was always in furman shirts and jeans and we never understood why others weren't as excited about the games. If that's changing, I'm very excited to see it. Give JD and DI their due.

BTW very cool name and logo. Already watched S3E1!

I started in 2004, so I got to see those two Ingle Martin-captained seasons right out of the gate. I was in a frat and one of the reasons I joined the one I did was because their dudes were wearing purple and white and going nuts in the student section. I don't get the "let's tailgate instead of go to the game" movement either, particularly at a school where you get into the game for free (or at least we did back in the day). Either way, I like that the school just found a way to get that crowd into the stadium anyway.

Wear purple. Be loud. Stay until the final whistle blows. This is the way.

[The Jackal]

I've also had a theory that you have to continue to put out a good product to connect with future alumni.

For instance, if Furman football is a positive experience for you while you are in school, then you are more apt to continue to support the program when you are out of school (as many of us do).

So, there's benefit of winning now, but there's a tangential benefit of winning that makes the football experience a positive one which, in turn, will continue to bring you back to the program in the future.

My guess is there's not going to be as much fervent alumni support from those that attended Furman in the dark years from roughly 2009-2016.

[gofurman]

Djarin - haven't seen you until recently. Glad to have you!!!

May I ask are you still a student? I ask for this reason - IF you are what would get some kids to come and be loud at the games? Or were you there recently. I am old lol. I haven't been in a Furman class since the early 90s

Thanks. I've actually been a UFFP participant (on and off, under different handles) since way back, and I definitely graduated from Furman a while back. I tried my best to get other students to come and be loud. Furman had a good run while I was there, though, so football was pretty popular with students. One of my favorite things Furman has done was moving all of the Greek tailgates into the area on the berm at the stadium. I've noticed that the uniform of the day for frat boys has evolved from bright pastels to purple and white. This is progress.

Thanks for your reply. Ok. 2004-08 seems recent to me lol. Agree with Jackal that a better product encourages a return of fans. Like you. Not sure we will ever get as many students /attendance as then…. No one does. It’s just a TV ESPN+ thing. I’m guilty of this in nasty weather myself. Pre ESPN+ I might have gone in person. Now you can see any any game on some stream. So I admit if it’s raining I sometimes pass. But I’m there hot or cold. Just need no rain. EVERY TEAM HAS attendance suffer bc of this. Too easy to watch 11 games at home in climate control. Used to you HAD to attend FCS or listen on radio.

Great pt. About tailgates. Beer in stadium. these are exactly the kinds of things we need to have decent attendance - what’s amazing is that we have the top SoCon attendance relative to student population !

[FurmanFan23]

As a current student I believe the issue is that most Furman students are not interested in attending games. Furman pulls academic students which are just not interested in sports. The majority of FU students outside the Greeks could care less about FU football and Basketball. Attendance would be a lot worse if Greek life was to disappear. The majority of students I see at the games in the student section are either have a greek affiliation or are part of another FU sport team supporting basketball or Football

[FurmanFan23]

Furman which gets highly motivated academic students are way more interested in other things than sports

[FurmanFan23]

If spring break was moved until next week like most other NC SC state universities we would have the best attendance at the SOCON tournament

[apaladin]

Something to note, our transfers are Graduate transfers. In my opinion, we do it right. I do think Furman needs an MBA program.

Not all are. Shiflett, Stevens come to mind.

[The Jackal]

As a current student I believe the issue is that most Furman students are not interested in attending games. Furman pulls academic students which are just not interested in sports. The majority of FU students outside the Greeks could care less about FU football and Basketball. Attendance would be a lot worse if Greek life was to disappear. The majority of students I see at the games in the student section are either have a greek affiliation or are part of another FU sport team supporting basketball or Football

The key is to get a core group of students. Have those students bring friends. Go on the road and watch the team play.

Forget the naysayers. There are plenty of folks that would rather sit in their dorm and watch South Carolina lose again instead of supporting the school they actually attend. Forget them. You weren't going to get them anyway.

[Thorny]

As a current student I believe the issue is that most Furman students are not interested in attending games. Furman pulls academic students which are just not interested in sports. The majority of FU students outside the Greeks could care less about FU football and Basketball. Attendance would be a lot worse if Greek life was to disappear. The majority of students I see at the games in the student section are either have a greek affiliation or are part of another FU sport team supporting basketball or Football

The key is to get a core group of students. Have those students bring friends. Go on the road and watch the team play.

Forget the naysayers. There are plenty of folks that would rather sit in their dorm and watch South Carolina lose again instead of supporting the school they actually attend. Forget them. You weren't going to get them anyway.

I would like to on record that I, as a student, preferred to pay to watch a game streamed on my laptop than go to a game for free. I'm a Furman fan first and foremost...but nothing was going to get me in that stadium.

I was one of those little kids that slid down the hill and thus was raised on Furman Football.

[FurmAlum]

Excuse me Thorny but what a Wus attitude. The only reason I watch the games on TV is because I live 6 hours from Greenville.

And I still go to some of them.

When I was a student I went to all of them at home (football and basketball) and some on the road. Went to all the BB North/South Doubleheader games.

I can recall going to ETSU, App State, Davidson, and Presbyterian football games on the road. One time me and several fraternity brothers decided at 12 Noon on Sat. that we were going to ECU in Greenville, N.C. which was 6 hours away for a 7 P.M. football game. We had a few drinks on the way, got into a car wreck in downtown Greenville, N.C. and still made it to the game by the end of the first quarter. I don't know how we didn't end up in jail.

I just remember the games were a lot of fun and what else was there to do? Watching a game on TV when you can walk to the stadium is beyond comprehension to me. Surely you were just kidding?

[Thorny]

As a current student I believe the issue is that most Furman students are not interested in attending games. Furman pulls academic students which are just not interested in sports. The majority of FU students outside the Greeks could care less about FU football and Basketball. Attendance would be a lot worse if Greek life was to disappear. The majority of students I see at the games in the student section are either have a greek affiliation or are part of another FU sport team supporting basketball or Football

I disagree.

Admittedly, I graduated a little over 10 years ago so things HAVE probably changed but I think the issue is that the students who are interested in sports, and I do believe they exist, aren't interested in watching Furman specifically. Most students interested in sports were raised watching other teams and if they follow Tennessee, Clemson, FSU, or any other nationally relevant college football program at best they go to the games while they are a student because they like football and plan to lose interest after the graduate (at least this is what other students told me their plan was back in the day).

Having now graduated, I do run into alumni of FCS programs periodically. Most alumni would describe their school's team as terrible because they are comparing them to the national powers that they are more familiar with. The fact that their school's football program had a winning record and had some play-off appearances while they were a student means nothing to them short of said program making it to the national championship.

I don't see Furman students or alumni building a substantially stronger relationship with the football program. I LOVE Furman football but what benefits it has with alumni outreach, etc. I am skeptical of. However, many small programs throughout the South are adding football (ETCU, Stetson, Mercer, Coastal Carolina, GSU, etc. ) or reinvesting in their football programs (VMI, Davidson, etc.). I don't think university administrations would be adding football or reinvesting in it, including Furman's peers, if they weren't confident there were benefits. One of those benefits I suspect is that a university's academic street cred seems to have become increasingly tied to whether it can field a football team and at what level that football team competes at.

When I came to Furman the Palidins were ranked #5 nationally and were a perennial power in the FCS. At that time, the students took a ton of pride in the football program but by the time I graduated... So, I think Furman needs to be a perennial power in the FCS to hold the students attention both while attending Furman and as alumni.

[Thorny]

Excuse me Thorny but what a Wus attitude. The only reason I watch the games on TV is because I live 6 hours from Greenville.

And I still go to some of them.

When I was a student I went to all of them at home (football and basketball) and some on the road. Went to all the BB North/South Doubleheader games.

I can recall going to ETSU, App State, Davidson, and Presbyterian football games on the road. One time me and several fraternity brothers decided at 12 Noon on Sat. that we were going to ECU in Greenville, N.C. which was 6 hours away for a 7 P.M. football game. We had a few drinks on the way, got into a car wreck in downtown Greenville, N.C. and still made it to the game by the end of the first quarter. I don't know how we didn't end up in jail.

I just remember the games were a lot of fun and what else was there to do? Watching a game on TV when you can walk to the stadium is beyond comprehension to me. Surely you were just kidding?

My idea of a good time never includes going to a sporting event in person. I may be a wus but it is legitimately not something I enjoy.