Buffs A.D. George talks facilities, football, CU-CSU

GREELEY — Facilities, football expectations, a new Nike deal and the Colorado-Colorado State series were just a few of the topics addressed Monday by CU Athletic Director Rick George at a media roundtable at Greeley Country Club.

George met with reporters following the annual Casotti Classic, named in honor of former Sports Information Director and Associate Athletic Director Fred Casotti, who served at CU for 50 years.

George, who is approaching the third anniversary of his hiring, called the last academic year "a really good year in CU athletics." He noted that 10 CU teams received NCAA postseason bids while producing three national championship runner-up teams (men's and women's cross country and skiing), and also had 30 All-Americans, 28 all-conference honorees and 81 academic all-conference selections.

He also noted that Buffs student-athletes recorded a cumulative 2.968 grade-point average in the fall semester — the best in CU history. It was also the fourth consecutive semester with at least a 2.9 cumulative mark, a standard CU student-athletes have reached as a whole only five times.

"Our student athletes are excelling on and off the playing surface," George said. "We also did over 2,600 hours of community service, which is outstanding. They're really doing a lot, and we're really proud of our student athletes."

George also spoke at length about the recently completed Champions Center and adjoining indoor practice facility, buildings that have literally drawn international attention for their functionality and design.

"Honestly, because of the collaboration we had, I think it's better than I expected it to be," George said. "We knew we weren't going to get another shot at it for another 25 or 30 years, so we wanted to do it right. We were very thoughtful, we talked to a lot of people and we looked at a lot of different facilities to do what we thought was right for CU. Our whole priority was we wanted it to be beneficial to all of our student athletes, we wanted it to be an essential facility for campus, and we wanted it to be what's best for CU — and I think we did that. Whether it's the best or the fifth-best or whatever, that doesn't really matter. It is absolutely the best thing for CU athletics."

Meanwhile, he said, the Drive for $105 Million fundraising effort current currently sits "right at $95 million." That number is will no doubt grow significantly as CU continues its pursuit of naming rights for the club areas and facilities, a process George said his staff is actively pursuing.

And, he noted, the recent brick campaign that will pave the new Buff Walk that stretches along on the east side of Folsom Field and into the Champions Center area grossed more than $600,000.

But one issue that raised the eyebrows of reporters on hand was the status of the CU-CSU football series. George said he and CSU counterpart Joe Parker have been engaged in discussions about the series. The current 10-year contract for the rivalry is scheduled to end with the 2020 game. After the 2020 game, CU does not currently have a non-conference opening until 2023.

"Joe Parker and I have had a number of conversations," George said. "I would expect us to do something or make some kind of announcement, maybe before this football season, on the future."

But George stressed the game will not be in Denver, but will be played on the respective schools' campuses.

"With their new stadium, and with Folsom … for us, we need to do that (play on campus), and I think with a new football stadium for them, they're going to want to host it there as well," George said. "I can't speak for them. But we won't do a deal to play that series if it includes Denver."

George didn't eliminate the possibility of CU playing a future game at Sports Authority Field in Denver — but it won't be the CU-CSU series.

"I think there's some games that you could potentially play there," George said. "But when you have a cross-town rivalry like that — I know it's not cross-town, but it's close — that game belongs on campus. I've been saying that for two years; I haven't changed that tone. I think it would be better for the Boulder businesses and the Fort Collins businesses to reap one of the highest attended games of the year in their own community. And I think it's better for our students and their students that they don't have to drive."

As for the upcoming football season, George made clear what his expectations were for Mike MacIntyre's Buffs. MacIntyre is entering his fourth season at the helm for CU and is coming off a 4-9 finish that included several close losses.

"This is going to be a good year for them," George said. "Our goal is always to win more than we lose. That's our expectation, that we'll win six or seven games — or more — and get back into a bowl game. That's what we expect. … It's been 10 years since we've had a winning football season. We've got a history and tradition that's one of the top 25 to 30 in the country, and we need to get back to that level. I think every year we continue to get better, but now we need it to translate into wins and losses."

George made no bones about the fact that the Buffs need a winning season to help the department generate more revenue.

"I think if you look at what we're doing, the area that we need the most improvement on is revenue generation," he said. "We've got to get better at that. We do a little better every year, but we need to do a lot better. Part of that is football, we all know that. (Attendance of) 38,000 in a 50,000-seat stadium leaves money on the doorstep. We can't do that. As our football team continues to get better, we expect our ticket sales and our gate to get better. We'll be focused on that."

As for other facility improvements in the works, George said the next project will be installing rails in the aisles at Folsom Field and the Coors Events Center. He noted that the department just finished installing a new, state-of-the-art sound system at the Coors Events Center, and said a new sound system at Folsom Field is still "probably about a year away."

"We've talked about our facilities a lot," he said. "Our facilities have a lot of catching up to do. The Champions Center and the facility that we just built was the start, but it doesn't mean we're going to start anything (else) soon. We've got to ensure that this is totally paid off and we've got the resources coming in for that. It's the little things that people don't think about. The sound system in the Coors Events Center is six figures. Things just don't happen, particularly when you're coming out of a budget that has been challenging, at best, prior to my arrival.

"We want to make sure that we have our financial footing underneath us. ... The sound system in Folsom, we've got some rusting in there. It's a beautiful stadium, but it's an older stadium. We have to make sure we're thoughtful about that. The west side of the stadium in the Flatirons Club, those seats need to be repaired and corrected. We haven't prioritized what those are yet; we'll do that over the next 12 months."

Also in the works, he said, is a video board/scoreboard hanging at center court at the Coors Events Center.

"Hopefully we'll be able to do something in the next 12 to 24 months there," George said. "I think that would really add to the atmosphere in that facility."

Details about the new deal with Nike will be released Tuesday, but George said it basically amounts to a $30 million deal over 10 years.

Other issues addressed included:

Athletic department budget: "We balanced our budget again for the second year in a row with a small surplus. When I got here that was a priority for us. We had a significant deficit. Last year we balanced; this year we balanced and we're excited about that."

Game-day plans for Franklin Field and the IPF: "We're going to have something similar to what they do at The Grove at Ole Miss. Our donors have already selected their spots. They'll have a space where their tent will be, and we'll do it on the exterior. They'll park in the parking structure under the indoor facility. We'll still have (the field) open so kids can still go out there and throw balls, like they have historically. That was important to our fans. We'll have a valet service that will help them set up on game day. They'll come, be met and go in and set their stuff up at their tailgate area. They won't have to hurry and get there to get their favorite spot; they'll already have a predetermined spot."

George also said they hope to have music, food and beverage along the Buff Walk before games, and the Buffs will begin a new tradition of walking down the Buff Walk from Colorado Avenue when they get to the stadium. The indoor facility, he said, will have games for children as well as a tailgate area.

On possibly upgrading Balch Fieldhouse: "We're looking at it. At this point we haven't made any determinations on that. We're going to take our time and look at it over the next several weeks and figure out what exactly we do in that space. That's an important space for us on game day. It connects campus with athletics. We're going to be really thoughtful about how we use that space. We know it's going to have multi-functional purposes for us."

On whether CU hopes to host more concerts (the Dead and Company will play at Folsom on July 2-3): "Like everything we do, we want to go slowly at it at first. We want to make sure people have a great experience there. It's something we want to continue to do because I do think it makes sense."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu

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