Bring Back Titan Football

If there ever was another university that was almost a mirror image of Cal State Fullerton it would be Georgia State University. In a landmark announcement set to be delivered during a press conference on April 17, 2008, Georgia State officials are expected to announce the university will field a NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Team as early as 2010. This expected announcement begs the question, “If Georgia State can start a football team from scratch, why can’t Cal State Fullerton bring Titan Football back?”

(Please read the news item on msn.foxsports.com and ESPN.com for the full details of Georgia State University’s expected announcement.)

UPDATED: Georgia State to Kick Off Football Program in 2010 courtesy of the Colonial Athletic Association official website.

For the sake of comparison, let’s take a look at Georgia State against Cal State Fullerton. Information was gleaned from both the Georgia State Wikipedia page and the California State University, Fullerton Wikipedia page for the purposes of comparison.

Cal State Fullerton exceeds Georgia State’s student enrollment by over 10,000 students yet both schools offer about the same amount of student housing. Both schools have long time been considered “commuter schools” due to the shortage of on-campus housing. Both schools are in heavy urban areas and both campuses are “land locked”, meaning the campus acreage can not expand beyond the current borders. Athletically, GSU fields 17 Division 1 teams while Cal State Fullerton has 13 teams in both men’s and women’s sports. With so many similarities how is it that Georgia State will be playing college football in two years yet Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium sits dormant during the football season? The blueprint is there and thanks to Georgia State, Cal State Fullerton could be playing football once again if we can follow the lead of Georgia State.

Here is how they did it:

Georgia State’s athletic program completed a feasibility study that looked at the interest and potential cost to add a Division I-AA college football team. The feasibility study included a survey in which the majority of the students, faculty, staff and alumni expressed their support for this addition. The study included the various financial costs involved ranging from the renovation of a local stadium in Atlanta to the complete transformation of the current sports arena to a football and basketball arena.

In April 2007, Georgia State held a pair of town-hall meetings on the subject of football, in which students, alumni, and faculty were able to comment on the addition of football. At this time, it was stated that if football were to proceed at Georgia State they could play at the Georgia Dome.

Later the same week, Georgia State announced that former NFL coach and native Georgian Dan Reeves was to assist with the study of football, and to help with fund raising for the sport.

On October 19, 2007 the Georgia State University Mandatory Student Fee Committee unanimously approved a proposal from the Athletics Department for an $85 per semester increase to support football, additional women’s sports and a marching band program.

Of course Georgia State and Cal State Fullerton are not carbon copies of each other but the similarities are quite close. Ultimately the current Cal State Fullerton students will make the decision if Titan Football will once again return to Fullerton.

Now that you see that it can be done at Georgia State, does this change your mind if Cal State Fullerton can bring back Titan Football?

The Cal State Fullerton Associated Students are seeking input from current students, alumni and community supporters to determine the level of interest in reinstating the Titan Football program. You can express your level of interest by taking one of the surveys aimed at collecting this valuable information.

There are two surveys, both dedicated to the reinstatement of the Cal State Fullerton Football Team. One version of the survey is geared towards current students, while the other is aimed at alumni and community supporters. Both surveys have some of the same questions, while asking specific questions that would be of interest to the two interest groups.

It is imperative for anyone who supports this effort to not only take the survey but to pass it along to others that would be interested. A positive response to this survey can do great things in order to advance our effort of getting our team back and playing on the field. The survey will take you less than three minutes to complete and you can do so online right now.

Alumni/Community Members click HERE to take the Survey

Current CSUF Students click HERE to take the Survey

As the final seconds of the Big West Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game ticked off the clock, I couldn’t help but have a rush of emotions come over me. Seeing the Cal State Fullerton Basketball Team earn a bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after a 30 year wait was pure elation. Head Coach Bob Burton, his staff, and a talented group of Titan Basketball players should be heartily congratulated for a great season that still has yet to end. So as the Cal State Fullerton Basketball Team prepares to take on the Big Ten Champion Wisconsin Badgers, I can’t help but think that now the time is ripe to bring back Titan Football.

Prior to the Titan Basketball Team winning the 2008 Big West Conference, many would dismiss the program as a perennial loser. Who could blame them? Before Bob Burton’s arrival on campus, Cal State Fullerton Basketball was the laughing stock of the Big West. Fullerton Basketball was no stranger to 20 loss seasons under Burton’s predecessors Donny Daniels and Bob Hawking. Prior to Burton’s arrival, many scoffed that no matter how great a coach he was, changing the culture of losing, overcoming inferior facilities, and turning around overall fan apathy would be a losing battle. Burton didn’t listen and with solid recruiting classes and the right system, Cal State Fullerton Basketball is now going to the Big Dance after a 30 year hiatus.

So how does the Titan Basketball Team’s success this year affect the prospect of bringing back Titan Football in the future? Quite a bit actually. The same arguments you just read about the Titan Basketball Team being a poor program are the same complaints you will hear in regards to returning football to Cal State Fullerton. Fan apathy. A losing culture. Improper facilities. They all can be argued as a reason to not bring back the football team. Some may argue (including myself and the rest of the committee to bring back Titan Football) that if the 2008 Cal State Fullerton Basketball Team can make those changes, so can the football team. Times are different now.

Watching the Cal State Fullerton Basketball fans rush the court at the Anaheim Convention Center (twice, no less) demonstrated to me that fan apathy is not a problem anymore. With more students living on campus and more student housing off-campus, the climate now is much different than it was when football was dropped. Football Saturdays are an event complete with tailgating and socializing before and after the games. At other football schools, whether the team has a winning or losing season, many students will come out to support that activity, not just the team.

So why didn’t they support it back when Cal State Fullerton had a football team? Two simple reasons: (1) There was no on-campus stadium. Even the most die-hard students and fans would not drive to the Santa Ana Bowl to watch Cal State Fullerton play, (2) By the time Titan Stadium was built, the writing was on the wall and most knew the program’s days were numbered.

No matter what the end result is with the Cal State Fullerton Basketball Team in March Madness, the momentum and the excitement of this season will be a positive ripple effect in bringing back Titan Football. By just making an appearance in the NCAA Basketball Tournament will not only raise the awareness of Cal State Fullerton nationally but will heighten the students’ excitement to field a football team as well.

Cal State Fullerton already has demonstrated it can field championship caliber teams. With a conference championship in men’s basketball already in hand and the Cal State Fullerton Baseball Team looking strong again in 2008, it is time to complete the trifecta and bring back Titan Football. Speaking of the Cal State Fullerton Baseball Team, did the NCAA Tournament Committee inadvertently schedule a “home game” for the Titans in the first round of March Madness? The Titans first set of games are in Omaha, Nebraska. Titan Baseball fans know that Omaha is the home away from home for Cal State Fullerton. Let’s just hope that success transfers north from Rosenblatt Stadium to the Qwest Center downtown this weekend!

The Bring Back Titan Football Committee is creating its own chapter within the Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association. Creating an alumni chapter within the CSUF Alumni Association will pay huge dividends towards reaching the goal of returning the Titan Football Team to the playing field. The Alumni Chapter is forming now and you can be a part of it. Joining the Bring Back Titan Football Alumni Chapter costs only $10 if you are already a member of the Alumni Association, and $39 if you are not yet a member. Much of these funds will be available to the Alumni Chapter to use for further promotion of restoring the Titan Football Team.
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If you are visiting this web site, odds are that you are interested in learning more about bringing back Cal State Fullerton Football. The Bring Back Titan Football Committee is seeking to expand its membership in an effort to get the Titan Football program back and playing on the field. You can be a part of this process and it will not cost you a single penny. It does not matter if you are a current student, a CSUF alumnus, or just a fan of college football in general. The more people working towards a common goal can only help to enhance this project.

Please click HERE to find out more about joining the Bring Back Titan Football Committee. If you would like more information about getting onto the season ticket list, please click HERE.The Bring Back Titan Football Committee is not asking for your money. We only want your great ideas to help make this effort to bring back Titan Football a tremendous success. Thanks for visiting and we hope you will join us during this very exciting time.

Although the Titan Football team will not be playing on January 26, 2008, you can still show your Titan Pride by attending a college football game at Titan Stadium. On January 26, 2008 our stadium will play host to the American Heritage Bowl which is an All Star game with players from America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities participating. The Bring Back Titan Football Committee encourages everyone who supports the return of Titan Football to attend this game and to wear orange clothing. This game is scheduled to be carried on one of the ESPN family of networks. If Titan Football supporters show up wearing orange and holding up signs, the TV cameras will surely notice this show of support. Read the rest of this entry »