NJOWL said

Rick I think less enthusiasm over the schedule reveal itself because the opponents were already set.

That said… this schedule is a GAUNTLET. Such quality opponents we get in Boca too - ECU, UTSA, and Tulane… all quality programs coming off good and great seasons with followings that travel very well.

2023 is going to really be the start of something new in FAU history.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 9:53 PM #412585

Maybe, but we didn't know who was when and the fact that we get all of the AAC folks at home aside from USF was a very nice favor of fortune IMHO…also the bye period wasn't defined.

People just don't comment as much anymore and that is fine.

It's just disheartening with all of the work that goes in behind the scenes to put up the content at the exact same time as it is released.

I'm definitely going to be adjusting some things moving forward though. Simply not worth the effort for the return being realized.

Rick said

NJOWL said

Rick I think less enthusiasm over the schedule reveal itself because the opponents were already set.

That said… this schedule is a GAUNTLET. Such quality opponents we get in Boca too - ECU, UTSA, and Tulane… all quality programs coming off good and great seasons with followings that travel very well.

2023 is going to really be the start of something new in FAU history.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 9:53 PM #412585

Maybe, but we didn't know who was when and the fact that we get all of the AAC folks at home aside from USF was a very nice favor of fortune IMHO…also the bye period wasn't defined.

People just don't comment as much anymore and that is fine.

It's just disheartening with all of the work that goes in behind the scenes to put up the content at the exact same time as it is released.

I'm definitely going to be adjusting some things moving forward though. Simply not worth the effort for the return being realized.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 10:06 PM #412586

I can only really speak for myself, but I think the readers really appreciate it. Especially the content on the VIP forum.

Rick said

NJOWL said

Rick I think less enthusiasm over the schedule reveal itself because the opponents were already set.

That said… this schedule is a GAUNTLET. Such quality opponents we get in Boca too - ECU, UTSA, and Tulane… all quality programs coming off good and great seasons with followings that travel very well.

2023 is going to really be the start of something new in FAU history.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 9:53 PM #412585

Maybe, but we didn't know who was when and the fact that we get all of the AAC folks at home aside from USF was a very nice favor of fortune IMHO…also the bye period wasn't defined.

People just don't comment as much anymore and that is fine.

It's just disheartening with all of the work that goes in behind the scenes to put up the content at the exact same time as it is released.

I'm definitely going to be adjusting some things moving forward though. Simply not worth the effort for the return being realized.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 10:06 PM #412586

Definitely appreciate all the content. It is much appreciated. 

Excited for the year and the schedule in general. I do like we have a good shot to be 2-0 going into the money games 

Appreciate the content. Maybe we win a game outside of florida this year

Please do not be disheartened, since I believe most followers are readers who appreciate the content, they just do not comment.
Keep it coming Rick.

NJOWL said

Rick I think less enthusiasm over the schedule reveal itself because the opponents were already set.

That said… this schedule is a GAUNTLET. Such quality opponents we get in Boca too - ECU, UTSA, and Tulane… all quality programs coming off good and great seasons with followings that travel very well.

2023 is going to really be the start of something new in FAU history.

Posted On: Feb 23rd 2023, 9:53 PM #412585

ECU loses 7 starters on O AND 7 starters on D.

UTSA lose 5 on each side of the ball.

Tulane loses 6 on O and 5 on D.

So very good teams last year, will see how well they replace that many starters.

We have a good shot at all of 'em at home and I am confidant Coach Herman will be a MUCH better HC than WT was. NO comparison IMHO!

FAU Fan said

Please do not be disheartened, since I believe most followers are readers who appreciate the content, they just do not comment.
Keep it coming Rick.

Posted On: Feb 24th 2023, 6:31 AM #412592

Agreed we all appreciate the effort Rick! 

As for the schedule, not really sure what to expect we have a decent amount of returning talent but QB is a major question mark. Hoping for a 2-0 start and just see where it goes from there. USF is in the middle of another major rebuild and I don’t think we’ll have issues with Rice or Charlotte (assuming Herman can actually win on the road) so 5 wins is sort of the bottom mark for me hopefully we can squeeze put a home W against Tulsa or ECU and get back to a bowl that would be my hope for a “good season”

I agree with the others. Although it may be disheartening to not get a lot of engagement on some topics, I feel its really important for the entire athletics program to have an active fan forum..I really appreciate everything Rick and staff do here.

I'm not sure what your relationship is with the AD and other admin at FAU, but I wonder if there's promos you could coordinate with them to get more people here. Like weekly/monthly contests - IE person who guesses the correct score of the spring game wins a t-shirt or something like that.

I mentioned it last year, but I really feel Taggart tanked our fan base enthusiasm. I suspect we may need some big time wins/media to drive engagement around here

faufan2017 said

I agree with the others. Although it may be disheartening to not get a lot of engagement on some topics, I feel its really important for the entire athletics program to have an active fan forum..I really appreciate everything Rick and staff do here.  

I mentioned it last year, but I really feel Taggart tanked our fan base enthusiasm. I suspect we may need some big time wins/media to drive engagement around here

Posted On: Feb 25th 2023, 2:41 AM #412610

I agree with all comments concerning the enthusiasm and engagement of our fan base. Although, I read several times a week on this platform, I rarely have time to engage. It has nothing to do with the content or fans, unfortunately there are so many social platforms out there (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that It's tough to maintain a focused fanbase on any platform.  

With that being said, I do also believe that we are turning the corner on increasing our fanbase with many of our sports dong so well. I also agree with fanfan2017 and others that going to AD or President and coming up with promotions, or some sort of advertising on campus, or contests.  

We have come a long way from when I graduated. All we had was intramural sports for football and basketball and look at us now. Now that Taggart is gone, I have a renewed spirit about our University. I'm so stoked that I drove down from Virginia to attend two basketball games. Taggart definitely set our football program back a couple years, but the future is super bright with Coach Herman and the American Conference. Not to mention all of the returners on the football team. Just my two cents…Go OWLS    

faufan2017 said

I'm not sure what your relationship is with the AD and other admin at FAU

Posted On: Feb 25th 2023, 2:41 AM #412610

It's excellent and involved.

Appreciate everyone's feedback, but not interested in buying peoples interest with contests and promotions. It takes a LOT of time (we did it for years on pick 'ems and Final Fours) and there is no return. People just want the free thing and they're off. I could name you numerous examples from our former contests' winners.

Like owlforever pointed out, the fact of the matter is people have a choice to come here (which takes effort) or go to the cell phone app and be fed a constant feed of information from 1,000 places (used to be only a few).

For example, another outlet with 20K on Instagram took my schedule image I spent hours on creating and sent it to their followers as their own content. It received over 1.25K likes while our post got 225. I had another situation where a long time member of this site for years (who started their own blog) took our schedule image and posted it on their site with an article (very close to ours in reading) with zero credit or mention. Then they actually tagged us in their social media posts I suppose to promote their piece? LOL

This happens to be one the biggest pieces of news for the entire year. So yeah, combine this change in consumption and usage and there is a big model shift from that of 5 years ago and huge when compared to 10 years ago.

Anyway, there will be changes. That's the bottom line. This is a LOT of work in the current process flow. I have to figure out a way to change the paradigm of time invested and how the information is being delivered.

If anyone has a coding background and would be interested in possibly partnering (as a gesture of good faith), please hit me up via DM. Would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Rick