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May 31 follow-up: We were told by another FSU official that the two football complex proposals submitted came in at around $100 million. It sounds like those figures are strictly looking just at the cost of building without associated costs. We've heard from other sources that some external items were tied into the overall proposal cost.
Point is, until we get a look at the actual proposals submitted by Populous, which we have requested, we won't know exactly how these cost estimates shake out. In any event, the initial proposals were still incredibly more expensive compared to other football complexes - Florida breaks ground on a $65 million football facility next year.
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Why the delay in breaking ground on the football complex?
It’s been well over a year now since a football-only complex was reportedly in the works. During these last 15 months, no significant progress has been made toward breaking ground on the facility. So, what’s behind the delay?
For one, an unexpected coach change and a disappointing 7-6 season didn’t help move things along for what will be a multi-million-dollar project. Then there’s the constant debate as to whether the complex should be a stand-alone facility or whether the Moore Athletics Center should be renovated to serve the same purpose.
Ultimately, the biggest hurdle is coming up with a workable plan that doesn’t break the bank. Florida State University President John Thrasher told Warchant.com last week that school officials are “going to look at the slightly-less-gold standard” option for the football complex. Those comments didn’t go over well with many Seminole fans, who are tired of hearing that FSU is cheap when it comes to funding its ultra-popular football program. However, that simply isn’t the case here.
Populous, the multi-national company that is known for designing sports complexes, was tasked with coming up with proposals for FSU’s new facility. When these proposals were recently revealed to the FSU decision-makers, the result was massive sticker shock. While unconfirmed, we were told that the two main proposals were both in the $140 million range. To put that into perspective, Clemson’s recently completed football complex, which was considered by many to be excessive, came in with a $55 million price tag.
It’s not clear which extra features were included in the FSU football facility proposal to make the cost so exorbitant, but from what we have heard from multiple sources, the proposals that came in from Populous were almost immediately shot down. It probably didn’t help matters that athletics director Stan Wilcox and his staff also are eyeing tens of millions of dollars of upgrades for other facilities as well.
A couple of things to keep in mind here. First, there isn’t much land available around the football stadium to build a massive football complex. As such, any construction will likely be problematic and costly. One of the locations being discussed for a stand-alone facility is on the parking lot on the west side of the Indoor Practice Facility. The new building would not only be attached to the IPF, but it would abut against Stadium Drive, which is elevated well above the parking lot. There just isn’t much room in that spot to bring in equipment and build a massive facility. So the costs will be much higher than a normal construction project. And in looking at a map view of the location, it's hard to imagine how you could even fit a facility into that narrow area.
The other problem is that pure athletics facilities are not technically revenue generators. As such, banks aren’t as anxious to issue bonds like they would for projects like the Campions Club, which bring in their own revenue. That means this project essentially will have to be paid for by donors, and anything in the neighborhood of $100-plus million is likely a non-starter.
We’ve been told that from here on out, Board of Trustees Chair Ed Burr will be taking the lead in the planning for the football complex. Burr should be well-suited for the task since he’s an expert in property development.
Florida State and ACC still bullish on ACC Network
Two weeks ago, ACC Commissioner John Swofford told Warchant and other reporters in Amelia Island, Fla., that “everything’s all good” with the scheduled launch of a linear ACC Network in August of 2019. Swofford and conference officials have been insisting that when the new network is launched, it will “close the revenue gap” between the ACC and other Power Five conferences. Next year, that gap is expected to be $15-20 million per school when compared to the SEC and Big Ten.
With satellite and cable providers losing 1.5 million subscribers to cord-cutting in 2017, the general thinking is that the time has passed to launch a profitable regional sports network. Despite what appears to be the proverbial “writing on the wall,” administrators both at the ACC and FSU are still confident that the linear network will provide a major infusion of new revenue for member schools.
In February of 2017, athletics director Stan Wilcox stated that the network is expected to bring in $8-10 million per school in year one, and then $10-15 million in future years. However, many discounted those projections as being overly optimistic. Despite the recent decline in cable/satellite subscribers, revenue projections for the linear ACC Network have not changed much.
We recently learned from a highly placed official that the ACC is still confident that the annual per-school take from the network will be somewhere in the $7-10 million range. It’s unknown whether these projections are based on assurances from cable and satellite providers, or whether this amount is being guaranteed by ESPN.
Are the recent basketball transfers cause for concern?
While most FSU fans took point guard C.J. Walker’s decision to transfer in stride, many were up in arms about the revelation that backup center Ike Obiagu also was transferring – and for good reason. Obiagu showed tremendous potential as a true freshman and was already one of the most feared shot-blockers in all of college basketball.
Losing two key players from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight is more than a little disconcerting, and it had some fans wondering if it was a red flag about potential problems inside Leonard Hamilton’s program. From talking to numerous sources, nothing could be further from the truth.
Walker had made it clear with his actions – on the court and in the locker room – that he wasn’t happy about losing minutes late in the season to fellow sophomore Trent Forrest. In fact, several people inside the program were frustrated about some of his antics during the Seminoles’ NCAA Tournament run and were not upset at all to see him leave.
The Obiagu situation was different; he was universally liked by teammates, coaches and others around the program, and the Seminoles desperately wanted him to stay. But from what we have gathered, the person (or people) who helped him make the transition from Nigeria to the United States and also are helping guide his career, wanted assurances about how much he would play next season.
That went nowhere quick with Hamilton for a couple of reasons. Number one, a key to this team’s success last season was the players’ buy-in to a team-first mentality. Promising a certain number of minutes per game – without knowing how the season is going to turn out and how he’s going to develop individually – would eat away at that chemistry. Number two, the Seminoles will have a lot of very good front-court options next season. So while Obiagu likely would have been a huge piece of the puzzle for FSU by the time he’s a junior, he might have had a similar role in 2018-19 than he had in ’17-18.
Not only did FSU get forward Phil Cofer back for an additional year of eligibility, but there’s also tremendous excitement around the program for rising sophomore big man Mfiondu Kabengele. FSU also brings back 7-4 center Christ Koumadje, who played through pain for most of this season and program insiders believe could be due for a breakout senior season. And then there is 6-8 forward Raiquan Gray, who redshirted this past season because he needed to get into better shape. Gray is a phenomenal talent who has wowed teammates and coaches with his offensive skills during practices and scrimmages.
So while Obiagu’s departure will hurt, there was really no way FSU could have guaranteed that his role would have expanded next season.
HS coaches really impressed with Taggart and staff
During the recently completed spring football session, dozens of high school coaches were on Florida State’s campus with their players, either to take part in a Junior Day or watch a practice. Most of these coaches have been coming to FSU for years with their players. As such, they are in a unique position to compare the current and prior coaching staff.
Here’s some of the off-the-record observations when comparing Willie Taggart’s practices to former head coach Jimbo Fisher.
- Players hit more in practice than before.
- The team looks more physically developed.
- Players are enjoying practice a lot more (no surprise here).
- Defensive Analyst Joe Bowen is a rising star. Harlon Barnett did more than just bring defensive coach Mark Snyder with him from Michigan State; he also added Joe Bowen to the support staff.
- Not a high school coach, but a former FSU coach that is close to the program also raved about how well Willie Taggart runs his practices.
Most of these observations aren't a surprise, or are things we've heard already, but it's interesting to get input from unbiased sources that are able to directly compare practices under Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart.
NOTE: War Room by Gene Williams and Ira Schoffel
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