By the way, I guess I should make it clear on the start-up costs. That $300,000 is a minimum, and doesn't include construction of a new facility, locker rooms, etc. A new facility would likely add at least another $1 million to the price tag. Actual start-up costs, minus a stadium, would probably be closer to a half-million.

--patrick

I agree with you Patrick. It would be neat if we could get juco football in wyoming. There is a lot of talent in this state that isn't quite good enough to play D-1 but could definately hold their own at a smaller school. It's too bad because i think there would be a lot of support from fans. I think that would be another problem as well, becaue it would draw away from the fans at UW games, which we already have a hard enough time trying to fill war memorial now let alone if there was 3 or 4 other games going on in the state at the same time.

What would be involved in getting an NAIA program in Casper or Gillette. You then have all the schools from the Dakota 10 conference. Maybe Casper College could become a 4 year school and play NAIA football. I know I'm just dreaming here.

Mike, I think your idea has a lot of merit. And I think a lot of people in the state agree. I think the whole "One state, one university" argument causes as much harm as it does unity. An NAIA or NCAA D-II program would make a lot of sense, and it wouldn't be in direct competition with UW.... Makes too much sense for it to happen, though.

--patrick

Add scholarships and coaches (6 or so) to the costs, along with housing 100+ athletes. Many JUCO programs use HS fields for games, but practice fields, locker rooms, etc are a new cost.
I'm a former JUCO AD and college president who had football.

I'm not an expert on all this, but I believe an NAIA program or such would be great for Wyoming. Look at all the athletes that are leaving the state for schools of these levels. How great it would be to see them come together and play for Wyoming Pride! UW doesn't seem to want many of the home state athlete's, so why should we care if the stands of War Memorial are full or not. They bring in out of stater's to play, let the out of state fans fill the stands. I want to cheer for kids I know and have watched grow & play through high school. I will be traveling to MT to following my son's football career and very thankful that he is being given the opportunity by a NAIA school (Carroll College). If the school was in Casper, it would be the same travel distance for me, (for home games) and my money would stay in Wyoming. It's time the State of Wyoming put its money into schools across the board and support Wyoming kids.

I like football, am a UW alumnus and former season-ticket holder. Wyoming does need something to fill the gap between the Community College system and our present PhD-granting Land Grant Research University, however, football is the least relevant basis for that need.

But, because this a football and sports discussion, my impression is that JuCo schools draw a higher-level athlete and therefore D-II is the way to go. That would put the program in the same division as Chadron State in Nebraska and Metro State Denver. My personal preference would be to see two four-year schools, one each in Cheyenne and Casper. They would serve as both outlets for the non D-I athletes in Wyoming and would also be better positioned to allow many Wyoming students to both work and attend college on-campus. Finally, they would better feed the graduate and professional programs offered in Laramie.

and if we add an naia school here, then there opens the possibility of baseball in wyoming again. Talk about a lot of talent leaving the state. There isn't even a single option for kids playing baseball to stay in the state.

This JUCO football idea is a great one, and one that a group of us in Riverton has looked into a several times. But, like you said, it is expensive enough to start, then add long trips with 40+ athletes and it gets even more expensive. The topic has come up again with the completion of the new artificial field here, because it would provide a facility for CWC to play football on and you wouldn't have the wear and tear with two programs on a grass field. With several other communities putting in artifical turf and Casper alreay with it; would there be a possbility of getting a Wyoming conference to include Casper, CWC, Sheridan, LCCC; then finding a few Jr colleges in nearby states to get a 7-8 team conference.

I think it would a grear platform for Wy high school football players and would give 100's more of them to play beyond high school. Furthermore, I think with that additional playing time and experience, it would be a new recruiting area for UW football.

It is a very interesting idea that I think would be a huge draw for fans in Wyoming and a great opportunity for our high school athletes.

The football program in the JUCOs is a fine idea but I am not sure the Wyoming kids would get an opportunity to play. A few would but the football teams would probably follow the path of the basketball teams. Based on last year Rosters the wyoming kids getting the chance to play in Wyoming JUCOs were pretty limited. Sheridan College - 2 men & 4 women, EWC - 2 men & 2 women, WWCC - 5 men & 3 women, NWCC - 0 men & 0 women, LCCC - 3 men, Casper - 5 men & 5 women. This is just the basketball. I know there is volleyball and rodeo other activities but it seems the numbers were pretty small for basketball. Out of approximately 121 spots on the rosters, only 31 were from Wyoming. That is 26%. Seems low but that is just my opinion. There is alot of talent out there. Central Wyoming will have several talented players from Wyoming and I think they will be very competitive. We should really push for the JUCOs to give Wyoming kids a chance.

Big High School fan,
You've got to remember that these are 12 player rosters we're talking about in basketball, while football would be somewhere around 60 if I'm not mistaken. Using 26% as you did, that is 96 Wyoming football players that would get the opportunity to play college football in our state. I think that would be great for a state the size of Wyoming. You talk about putting pressure on these JUCOs to recruit Wyoming kids, but that is not realistic in my opinion. The truth is that the pressure to win is the only true pressure out there. If these coaches don't win they don't last, therefore they will recruit the best athlete available no matter where they are from. If we force these schools to take athletes based on residence be prepared for the results. I'm a firm believer in the fact that the kid that pays the price will get the results, and therefore the scholarship whether he's from California or Casper. Granted the California kids have an advantage because they play more football, but if an athlete is really motivated he will overcome the advantage by outworking them. Look don't get me wrong here because I love Wyoming football, but the truth is that high school football is taken much more seriously in other states. These kids live it year round so don't penalize them for paying the price. Now I know some people will bristle at hearing this, but I watched in Green River when Paul Nies came in and brought Wyoming football a small dose of Texas high school football. He got constant flack in Green River until they forced him out, and believe me this man lived and knew football. Now, I'm not taking anything away from Jason Fuss and his championship, but I think he would agree that he was the beneficiary of the Texas style program that Coach Nies built. I'm not saying that Wyoming kids aren't capable of accomplishing the same things as these kids in other states, but in my opinion they are being placed at a huge disadvantage because too many in the state resist change and think we already demand too much from our players. Many of them would argue that they are building better rounded individuals to contribute to society, and they are probably right....but if that's the case then let them take the scholarships they are EARNING in other areas, and let the football players get the football schoarships. Now to you 4.0 student athletes out there that might be reading this I congratulate you on your accomplishments and wish you the best no matter what area your scholarship comes from. You'll no doubt be much more happy with the big money you make from excelling in science or math, but before you totally write off the weight room and the extra hours that would be demanded to go after that D-1 football scholarship....don't forget that colleges won't sell out 60,000 seat stadiums to watch you take a science test every week.

A couple of concerns I have with JUCO FB in WYO:

   1. Title IV (equal scholarships for men and women - another cost factor).

   2. The WYO JUCOs may not be competing with UW for kids, but will definitely be competing for fans (unless WYO JUCOs don't play on Saturdays).

   3. Must recruit within your competition base. If its just to be competive within WYO then just recruit WYO kids. If its to be competitive within a region then recruit within that region (which WYO will be a small population percentage of that area).

I like the single college NAIA FB option at Casper College. I would also support WYO JUCO baseball (& softball) program (because it would eliminate concerns 1 and 2).

nies got forced out for havin an affair with the school nurse . good try tho