Marshall University Athletics
A Message From Marshall AD Mike Hamrick
8/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 13, 2014
As summertime wanes and the 2014-15 school year is about to begin here at Marshall, I wanted to reach out and again thank you for your support, while at the same time expressing some thoughts that go in tandem with the national attention and respect our Thundering Herd is getting this football preseason.
I find the synergy between those soaring forecasts for Coach Doc Holliday's team and program and other parts of our athletic program compelling. The Herd is prospering in so many ways. At the same time, I understand the landscape isn't always smooth. After all, we are located in the Mountain State, right?
Let me get to the point and be blunt about it. Change is difficult and the recent stadium reseating plan and the one pending for the Cam Henderson Center were necessary. Going ahead with that plan was and wasn't a difficult decision. It was a tough call for our athletic staff and the Big Green, but it was one that was made with great thought and passion.
Like everyone else among my fellow alumni, I want a Herd program in which we can take pride. The reseating plan is helping us make that happen. I went to school here; I played football here. I know what the landscape was, but what was more important was what I thought it could be - and I was far from alone in those thoughts.
When I came back to Marshall as AD in July 2009, I quickly got a sense that our fan base wanted more, but a lot of people just didn't know how to accomplish what was needed. It was a program that was languishing, partly because we had a fan base that wanted to help, but wasn't quite sure how to help.
Well, we've changed that. Look around.
I knew the reseating plan would be a change and a challenge, but you know what? It was necessary. It was overdue. Long overdue. And it's having a significant positive impact, if you drive by on Third Avenue and look to your left at the imposing structure adjacent to our stadium. The reseating plan is helping to get us where we want to go. It's going to help deliver the athletic program that you want, that I want.
Don't think we or I don't appreciate the longtime loyalty of our fans. The longevity within our fan base is important and it's part of who we are, just as the 1970 football team plane tragedy and our Division I-AA championships are part of our fabric. But that doesn't mean you refuse to look for additional supporters, people who want to be part of the success we are building here.
We're still fighting the battle, but we're winning. The battle isn't among us or within us over a stadium and arena reseating plan. It shouldn't be. We can't afford to let it be. The battle is about where Marshall wants to stand and can stand in Conference USA. It's about our mushrooming national profile in major college athletics.
With the great support of our university president, Dr. Stephen Kopp, we are taking the program where you want it to go, and where it needs to go. With the recent announcement of a home-and-home football series with North Carolina State, we have power conference teams visiting Joan C. Edwards Stadium three times from 2015-18. For the first time, we have visits scheduled by ACC (NCSU and Louisville) and Big Ten (Purdue) teams that are part of home-and-homes.
In men's basketball, we have Big Ten (Penn State) and SEC (South Carolina) teams coming to Huntington, again as part of home-and-home deals. It's been rare to have one power conference here, much less two, in one season. And in bringing back favorite son Dan D'Antoni as our coach, we have a chance to have more of the same. Dan has already said he wants to schedule aggressively. Another of Coach D'Antoni's desires is his push and plan to recruit players in-state and in the region, giving our Herd a "homegrown" flavor that has waned in the past couple of decades.
Our growth and enhancement in facilities is amazing. We have a new soccer complex. Our tremendous Indoor Athletic Facility and track and field oval will be dedicated the afternoon of Sept. 6, in the hours before our football home opener. Our first MU Athletics Hall of Fame home will open Oct. 25. The academic and sports medicine centers will follow in the next calendar year.
We have new turf in Edwards Stadium; the floor in the Henderson Center is ready for its second season. We have made significant improvements for our baseball program with the turf at the Route 2 YMCA ballpark. The fan experience has been enhanced in our two stadiums and basketball and volleyball home.
Six of our teams have gotten new head coaches in recent years, and we've solidified what others see as our potential success in football with Coach Holliday's recent contract extension. Speaking of solidified, that's what happened in Conference USA - a great home for the Herd to have sustained success as we move forward.
So, here's what we're doing and here's where we're going. What I'm asking is for your help in building our season ticket base. It is one place where are numbers are not what they could be, or should be, considering other things we are doing and want to do. And you have my continued pledge we spend every dollar wisely and judiciously.
OK, you say you have season tickets? Great. We need you to corral a friend or two or three to join the Big Green, to join you onboard a train that's leaving the station.
Some people say they want to see better teams play the Herd at home. Well, there are the aforementioned teams, plus other teams like East Carolina, former MAC foes like Miami (Ohio), Akron and Kent State, not to mention our neighboring rival Ohio and the Naval Academy.
We will soon be announcing the culmination - and success - of our Vision Campaign for Athletics. It's not too late for you to be part of it, or to play a larger part in helping the Herd climb the heights.
We've had a whole lot of helping hands in lifting the Herd. We still need more. Marco the mascot, that dude is heavy! Facilities ... football ... future ... it's all falling into place. We'd like you to join us on what should be a fun ride.
Again, my thanks.
