@ElliottHoo makes a great point about the amount of time it’s taken for the program to stumble into the wilderness. Excepting a helicopter evac in the form of massive fundraising (thinking about programs like BYU here) and probably even with that, it’ll take a while to navigate our way back out.
Apologies for the self quote, but it kicked off a good side discussion with @BDragon about Big Football culture, a lot of the practical reasons it has taken root where it has, and how many of those factors are not present at UVa. I learned a lot.
But that doesn’t mean we just roll over. EH is right that this is recoverable (and the team is doing its part, but programs are measured in decades). It means we gotta start bushwhacking.
We’re not bereft of football history, far from it. But younger fans (and even not-so-young ones) would be challenged to make that connection. These generations of would-be die-hards are an order qualifier for restoring the program’s proud tradition.
So how do we bring them home? Honestly, let’s make a list.
Wild ass idea here: show classic games on the jumbos with free GA entry for students and anyone with a VA id. Sure it’ll cost money to operate, but you can make some back off concessions. And it would go a long way to making UVa feel more accessible to the average Joe. Small dollars add up too…and they show up reliably for other programs.
If we accept that this is a flywheel, how long must the team (and by extension big gifts) sustain success before the fans match/augment the positive inertia? And what could UVa (remembering all that entails) do to accelerate their engagement?
Seriously, no bad ideas. Maybe the right person will see your idea and make it happen 