To build or not to build? [UH Stadium and Player updates]

Nice read. Talks about a new tier one facility or just upgrading the entire Stadium.

Touches briefly about Jackson Jeffcoat and possibility he will commit to UH!

link: http://blogs.chron.com/cougars/2009/09/to_build_or_not_to_build_thats.html

To build or not to build? That's the $64 million (give or take) question.

Kevin Sumlin likens the Houston Cougars' football season to a poker game. Win one game, the next one gets bigger. Keep winning, and the stack of chips for the taking — or losing — gets bigger and bigger.

"The price of poker," Sumlin said.

Could the Cougars' surge into national prominence prompt UH movers and shakers to up the ante on planned upgrades to the facilites?

Mack Rhoades has been trying to play catch-up to all the phone calls, e-mails and text messages this week. Being the new athletic director at a school that has climbed to No. 12 in the football national rankings has its moments.

The fans had barely begun storming the field — and in some cases, pilfering helmets — at the end of a nationally televised 29-28 victory Saturday against Texas Tech at a rocking Robertson Stadium when Rhoades' phone went under siege.

"I heard from some donors asking, `When are we going to build a stadium?'" Rhoades said.

Yes, building a stadium has emerged as one of the options since Rhoades arrived at UH in August. UH was bandying about plans to refurbish Robertson before the arrival of Rhoades, who spent 3½ years as the AD at Akron.

The price tag of the proposed renovations to Robertson falls in the $48 million to $52 million range. That got Rhoades to thinking about the long term: Is the best way to serve UH for the foreseeable future to upgrade a stadium built in 1941 and renovated in 1999, or to build from scratch?

Rhoades said he doesn't know the answer. Yet. He figures — to use one of his pet phrases — that part of his "due diligence" is to find that answer.

At Akron, Rhoades pushed through a $61.5 million stadium project. InfoCision Stadium seats 30,000 and includes 522 club seats, 152 loge seats, 17 suites, a state-of-the-art video board and scoreboard , 21 restrooms, 10 full-service concession locations, two team shop and an end-zone facility that house the team meeting/locker room, press room, equipment and sports medicine operations.

The good news for UH is, Rhoades knows how to get that kind of thing done. The bad news for Rhoades is, he knows how many things he has to align properly to generate the money and support to either renovate Robertson into a Tier One facility or build something new.

"We're going to have to have a lot of folks on speed dial if we're going to make it happen," Rhoades said. "I think we can make it happen, and I think we'll need to make it happen.

"I don't like the word sustaining, but in terms of improving upon what we're doing ... part of the equation is we have to address our stadium.. I feel very confident that in the future we will do something in terms of the stadium. Hopefully for us, the sooner the better."

Rhoades said he has "no preference" as to which way to proceed. A key component to getting the stadium done in Akron was selling 20 years worth of naming rights for $10 million. Maybe the Cougars' recent fortunes will bring donors out of the woodwork. And maybe the first UH defeat — if there is one — short-circuit the phone calls and offers to help.

The path of least resistance — and cost — would be to upgrade a stadium that bears a storied name in UH history. With Kevin Sumlin breaking down the barriers that have been holding back UH for the better part of two decades, though, maybe Rhoades can mobilize the fan base in ways previously unthinkable.

"What we need is a facility that our fans are going to enjoy coming to every game," Rhoades said. "Six to seven home games a year where you've got some nice restrooms and concession stands, the great premium seating, suite levels, the clubs. That's what we need. A facility that when coach Sumlin is out there recruiting speaks to commitment to the program.

"Parents and students and prospective student-athletes want to know you're committed to the program and that you're doing everything you can do put together a first-class product."

The most logical place for the Cougars to play, Rhoades said, is at the current site. Either transform Robertson into a place that will do UH proud for future generations, or tear it down build anew at that spot. In that scenario, the Cougars would have to find a temporary home off campus.

On way or another, on-campus games will be a staple of UH life in the foreseeable future. The atmosphere on Saturday underscored why Rhoades didn't consider moving the game to Reliant Stadium a viable option.

"I've always preferred to play football on campus," Rhoades said. "You had more than 32,000 people out there. You probably had about 40,000 people converge on campus. Just the spirit and the alumni and everything happening on that campus ... I just think there's something special about that. I really do. I think you grow a base for your alumni when they have memories about going to school and playing on campus and all the excitement and the tailgating. I just think that's part of college football."

• • •

One of the 32,114 on hand on Saturday was five-star prospect Jackson Jeffcoat, the son of UH defensive line coach Jim Jeffcoat.

"He comes to every game he can get to," Jim Jeffcoat said. "My wife is only three hours and 45 minutes away. He'll be here for SMU. He'll be here for Southern Miss."

Jackson Jeffcoat is a 6-5, 230-pound defensive end at Plano West who is generally considered one of the top five high school players in the country. His list of potential schools remains UH, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC and Arizona State.

"He's looking at six, and he's going to make a decision when he's ready," Jim Jeffcoat said. "It might be tomorrow, it might not be until February. We talk as father and son more than we talk about that stuff."

• • •

Quarterback Case Keenum has moved up to third place in the latest voting at heismanpundit.com. In the latest poll of 13 Heisman voters, Keenum trails Florida's Tim Tebow and Texas' Colt McCoy. Cincinnati's Tony Pike and California's Jahvid Best are running 4-5.

"I'm always honored when I get mentioned in the same sentence as some of those guys," Keenum said. "All that comes with us being successful. The only thing we can do is keep it going. We can't let it get to our heads and take anything not seriously."

Keenum has turned heads by leading UH to fourth-quarter comebacks against two Big 12 teams. He his third in the nation in passing yardage (386.7 yards per game), second in total offense (401.0) and 18th in passing efficiency. Neither McCoy nor Tebow have had any signature moments yet this season, and reigning Heisman winner Sam Bradford has played only part of one game (a defeat against BYU). Tebow suffered a concussion Saturday against Kentucky, setting the stage for a possible dramatic return in top-ranked Florida's next game on Oct. 10 against No. 4 LSU.

As for Keenum, he'll be playing this Saturday against 1-3 UTEP in a game that isn't televised. McCoy faced UTEP this past Saturday, completing 28-of-35 for 286 yards, three touchdowns and one interception that got run back for a score in a 64-7 victory.

"I think everybody dreams about (winning the Heisman) and watches the Heisman ceremony and pictures themselves up there giving the speech," Keenum said. "But we just have to keep winning games, not get ahead of ourselves, take it one week at a time, and we know UTEP is a talented team and is going to play hard."

UTEP built a 29-9 lead in last year's meeting against UH at Robertson Stadium. The Cougars pulled off the largest comeback in school history, churning out 306 yards and four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win, 42-37. This week's trip to El Paso is the first of three consecutive road games for the Cougars.

"We know we're going to get everybody's best, we have a target on our backs and we welcome that," Keenum said. "I want to play everybody at their best. We want to play our best, too, and I hope ours is better."

• • •

The UH coaches' player of the game selections after the Tech victory: guard Jordan Shoemaker, the entire defense and Roisean Haynes on special teams.

 

If we can get him to come here. Im sure there will be other big names we can recruit as well. I believe!