Bmarkey, I do understand your fustration, but as I mentioned there are ways to rectify the problem with that label and like you said the administration will have to fight those individual battles and these things will take time. I do believe that as our University grows along with the athletic programs that label will also change, but with a lot of work from the administration if they feel it is important to them.

Again look at the perception most students have and it reflects the commuter school mentality. Students these days must work there way through college and don't have much time to take part in school activities and I was one of those that worked 40+ hours while going to school and didn't get much of a change to experience the college life and functions the University may have had to offer.

The question then becomes how does the University change that perception that the students have? I think that as the university grows the students coming in will have a different perception and in time that label will change, because the newer students will want the Traditional type of University and experience that type of college life ( the students will be the key).

What else will help is the buzz that hopefully will start to be created with the Basketball, Football & baseball team continue there road to successes.

>>there are ways to rectify the problem with that label and like you said the administration will have to fight those individual battles and these things will take time. <<

I hope FAU is doing that with letters, e-mails, phone calls and more to the offending parties, their editors and publishers.

Has this "tiny commuter school" issue become more prevalent recently? Do you think that the media, especially nationally, are (consciously or not) comparing the FAU system of campuses with the UNC system which has 16 campuses and an enrollment of 185k (especially in articles focusing on Coach Doherty)??

I can sort of understand the commuter school part if someone is just looking at the on-campus (9%) vs. off-campus (91%) housing figures for FAU but the Boca campus has an enrollment that is well in line with the largest institutions in the UNC system so I really don't understand the "tiny" —> more like "up and coming."

That is the slant they use to make the story more interesting to readers. The media is trying to make it seem like Doherty has fallen to the very bottom and now has to work his way back up. Its all just to sell newspapers and magazines. Its more of a human interest story than a sports report. The fact is, not many people outside of Florida have heard of FAU. They have just started hearing about the university up here in Illinois and that is ONLY because of Howard amd Matt.

It's shame that because these "reporters' can't do their job properly and are too lazy to go out the get the facts, they resort to taking overused and regurgitated pot shots at FAU with an air of snobbery to boot.

If you look at the school he has coached what he has accomplished eslewhere - then FAU does appear at first glance as if he has fallen to the bottom of the mountain where he once was the king, even if the time as the king was short lived.

Let's face it FAU is no Notre Dame or UNC - Vitale did say that FAU could be that diamond in the rough, except he forgot to add that the diamond must be found, then cut and then polished, which is what Doherty is in the process of building. Time will tell what type of cut this diamond will take shape and how polished it will become.

And I'm not all to concerned about wheter we are considered a commuter school, but would rather be seen as a very good establishment. Let's be more concerned about the quality of education the students are getting and this goes beyond the books, but the programs and research available to students to further their studies and exeprience in their chosen field of studies and the most important the graduation rate of our athletes. Lets make the FAU experience the students get a very good one, because then you have very committed Alumni's that will continue to support their Alma Mater well after graduation.

Brogan did inherent a University that had expanded to quickly at the expense of quality, he is on a mission to fix that and make quality the most important part of picture.

i read what angelos said at the end of the article, but i also remember doherty saying somewhere about this (FAU) not being just a coffee stop. i remember him saying something about staying put for awhile for his wife and kids. i guess we will have to see. he has been to the top of the mountain and the view wasn't that great.

Yes, Hopefully he will stay until his kids graduate college and get married. Then he has to stick around for his grand children.

Those comments from Angelos could simply be giving Doherty credit for been a great coach, that with a couple years under is belt at FAU could attract better suiter - it's so early in the game that no one can predict what will happen during his stay and how long it will be, I'm sure he felt that his stay with UNC would have been much longer too- only he will be able to answer those questions in a couple of years.. Hopefully he will be content by then and FAU will be able to pay him more. Like I said before lets enjoy the moment he is here.

Then let?s pay the man and keep him here. Our performance vs. Stetson wasn?t that impressive, but I see nothing but good things ahead. But we gotta keep Matt for more than a season or two. Does anyone really want to start rebuilding again next year or the year after?

As far as the ?commuter school? comment, who cares what that moron thinks. I lived on campus in my days, and so what if people do ?commute?? Does that mean if you?re a student who drives 3 miles to school every morning that you can?t/won?t support the sports? Screw him, and so what if we have small signs up to remind students that there is a game?