Opinion Staff Editorial

Staff editorial: Listen to Tom Herman

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Justin Tijerina/The Cougar

Earlier this semester, we wrote a staff editorial encouraging students, alumni and fans to show up for the football games this season. Head coach Tom Herman placed a big emphasis on the fan involvement and wanting to see a sold out stadium this year.

The students are doing a great job, so far. The student section has been loud and proud each game, although perhaps leaving a little early.

But the alumni, faculty, staff and non-student Houston fans in general still leave something to be desired.

While average attendance numbers from this season and last season are somewhat similar, down around 1,000 attendees from last year, the product on the field this year is much better.

Last season started off with a sold out game in the grand opening of TDECU Stadium, which the Cougars flopped in a 27-7 loss.

This season, the Cougars have yet to reach a sell-out crowd, despite an undefeated record. Now UH is ranked in the AP top 25 for the first time since 2011.

The last home game drew just over 25,000 fans, marginally better than the Cougars’ third home game from a year ago, which saw 23,408 in attendance.

The biggest issue with not packing out TDECU is that the fans are falling well short of Herman’s expectations.

UH fans talk a big game about a move to the Big 12, but we can’t expect an invitation to the next level when we can’t even pack a 40,000-seat stadium to see an undefeated team on a week to week basis.

That’s not the kind of fan base and team a Power-5 conference wants to add to their ranks.

UH has a recent history of being a stepping-stone program for coaches looking for bigger and better things, with notable head coaches Art Briles and Kevin Sumlin leaving the Cougars for the greener pastures of Baylor University, a program once the continuous floor-mat of the Big 12, and Texas A&M University, a program moving into the Southeastern Conference with many wondering if they could compete with their new peers.

This football season isn’t even over yet and already a number of high-profile head coaching jobs at notable Power-5 schools have opened up, such as the University of Southern California, the University of South Carolina and the University of Miami.

If the Cougars and their faithful want to keep Herman around for a while, fulfill your end of the bargain: come early, be loud, wear red and stay late.

Show that you are taking ownership of this program.

You have a chance to show up when the Cougars play host to Vanderbilt University on Halloween night. The game is a prime-time match-up, which will be featured on ESPN 2, with 18th ranked UH having a chance to further their cause in a game against a SEC foe.

It’s time for the fans to start walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Sell out TDECU Stadium and show the nation that we mean business.

-The Cougar editorial board

5 Comments

  • OK I know I will take heat for this but this was expected. One I would wager that people leave early for two reasons, one the getting to and out of their parking spaces. When the University built the stadium it only built a 3 story parking garage next to it while taking a lot of what used to be parking around the old stadium. Poor planning. The garage needed to be at least twice the size with more than two entrances/exits.

    Second, this University has a different dynamic of students. A lot work, have lives outside the school, kids etc. I would imagine many don’t want to hassle with coming and going to the game and would rather watch from their living room.

    I probably upset some people with this but I will ask just one question, seeing how the University has a winning football team, why isn’t the stadium packed?

    • I don’t know why you think people would be upset with that type of reasoning. Nothing you said was inherently offensive to the school itself.
      And I agree, poor planning is a running tradition of UH. I’ve asked people why they have left games early and the answer so far has been 100% unanimous: “I want to beat the traffic.”

      That’s pretty telling when you see half a stadium empty because they want to avoid traffic headaches.
      People like to underestimate the importance of infrastructure, but the simple act of improving transmittance of people in and out of campus would do wonders.

  • I admire the enthusiasm of the writer. Selling out the stadium requires more than chastising fans to come to games. The fans are coming to the games. It’s obvious we do not have enough fans. In fact, if you go through the annals of UH Football History you will find our highest average attendance was in 1966 with just over 41,000. That was in the brand new Astrodome and no NFL team yet established. 2011 was one of the best years for football in recent memory. We averaged 31,000 per game. Of course that is close to selling out Robertson Stadium.

    TDECU Stadium was built with growth of the fan base in mind. There are two ways of growing our base. 1) Getting students more involved and excited about Cougar Football where it becomes a habit to attend. 2) Sell the general Houston public that UH Football is an event worth attending. On #1 we are doing a great job. The students are coming in big numbers and are loud & proud. Hopefully, they will remain loyal and proud to return after graduation. On #2 we are not doing a good job on selling tickets.

    Sales is hard work. Yet good salesmanship is revenue positive. It shouldn’t be a hindrance to a department’s budget to build a successful sales team that can generate enough general & group sales to fill the stadium. It takes work and leadership.

    If you want sellouts UH needs to go out and sell some tickets.

  • Home games this season:
    Tennessee Tech
    Texas State
    SMU (Same day as a Texans game and Astros playoff game on a Thursday)

    Upcoming home games:
    Vandy (SEC)
    Cincy (Homecoming)
    Memphis (Ranked and potential game day)
    Navy (Potential top 25 ranking)

    Coming from a fan who is at every game it’s pretty easy to see why we aren’t selling out. That first stretch of games isn’t going to draw in new fans or fans who typically don’t go to games. This has to do with scheduling weak opponents and part to do with the fact that we haven’t played at home since becoming ranked. We will see a bump in attendance for the next few games (even though I am concerned about attendance on Halloween.)

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