Seawolves Fans

  I just read Shawns latest  blog posted today .  He has accomplished quite abit nd has plans or a lot more.   These could be exciting times on the horizon . Have to give him for getting things done.   Considering money is tight at the Brook now he is ambitious.

I read this and then went to read the blog. Extremely ambitious. A few things jump out to me.

Expand the seating capacity of Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium to a minimum of 15,000 and add fan amenities, including new restrooms and points of sale for concessions, merchandise and tickets.

15K is the magic number for FBS football, so that's not a shock. The new concession stand is already in on the north side of the stadium and is a great addition.

Provide appropriate facilities for new women's program(s) to be added in the future.

As per Title IX, if you're going to add scholarships for FBS football, you'll need to match that with 22 additional women's scholarships. Which sports he has in mind is anyone's guess, but comments like this are consistent with going FBS in football.

Develop a soccer-specific venue for training and competition.

Now this is where we start going off the rails here. I know soccer is gaining popularity in the US, but I was previously of the opinion that if we were going to go FBS, we'd need to cut men's soccer in order to make the scholarship increase easier to stomach. Doubling down on soccer with a dedicated facility is going the opposite direction. Obviously the women's team could use it, but with words like this, Shawn has no intention of cutting anything anywhere. I'm curious how this will ultimately shake out as if we're going to go FBS, the move will have to be made in the next 5-7 years to align with the next College Football Playoff contract. How we're going to pay for 22 more football scholarships, more women's sports, the stadium expansion, and staffing costs associated with those moves is of great interest to me. We're already paying Coach P FBS money (seriously, look it up), but if we're going to be a respectable FBS program, we'll need to at least double the current allotment to coaching salaries for football.

Not saying we can't pull it off because we clearly can, but something is going to have to give somewhere. College Football Playoff distributions, FBS conference distributions, TV revenue, NCAA tournament credits (thank you UMBC) can offset many of these costs, but I'd rather be cautiously optimistic than be super bullish.