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March 26, 2003
Corvallis, Ore. -
The following comments are from Oregon State University Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis. De Carolis was the guest on Tuesday night's Beaver Sports Talk show from the Headline Caf? in Corvallis.
Q. Have you noticed the excitement of fans about spring football and the return of Mike Riley?
A. "We are very excited about the staff that Coach Riley has been able to put together. The staff is very diverse, which is a plus for Oregon State. We have a good team returning and I think the transition will be easy. The student-athletes are excited about the staff and the start of the season, and the fans expectations are high - that's a good thing."
Q. How are the "Raising Reser" and Gill Annex projects developing?
A. "The Raising Reser Campaign is going well, we are about four months into a fundraising campaign to raise $28 million. We have heard from 54 percent of our season ticket holders, and about 30 percent of those individuals have opted for tickets on the new side of the stadium - that represents about $6 million. The good news is, there is a lot of support for the stadium upgrade, but there is also a lot of work that has to be done. We haven't started our phone campaign and we're in a little bit of a lull right now. Once spring football begins and as the excitement grows for the new season, things will begin to pick up again. We have had meetings with the architects, and they are very excited about how the east side is developing."
Q. Are you still working on how the new addition will appear once completed?
A. "There is a basic concept that we are working with, it is very similar to what has been shown in our printed material and on the video. There are still some aspects that are up for discussion, because we have some unique designs for the stadium that have not been done in the past. There is some tweaking going on, but the main concepts are fairly intact."
Q. When you talk about unique and different aspects to the stadium. Do you have working models or are you creating something new for college football?
A. "We are working with something new in terms of college football. There will be an upscale restaurant in the back of the stadium and there will be two levels of the loge seating. We are experimenting with viewing angles, how you access different seating areas, and we are still discussing various amenities."
Q. What is the status of the Gill Annex?
A. "Gary Payton has publicly stated that he is supporting this project. Once he receives his new contract this summer, his pledge will be delivered to Oregon State. This is about a $9.5 million project. First, we need to move the practice football fields closer to the Truax Center, so we have room for the 35,000-foot Annex. The good news is the cost for moving the practice fields is about $600,000 under budget - our fundraisers are happy about that. We have about $7 million committed on the overall project. We will be breaking ground within a week on moving the practice fields."
Q. You have some goals to get OSU's student-athletes out in the public more. What are your desires in this area?
A. "When I took the job over in August, one of my goals was to enhance and challenge our student-athletes to be more involved in community service areas. We have challenged the student-athletes to be involved, and we are already over 50 percent more in participation than what we did all of last year. We are planning a huge community service day May 10, which is currently being developed by former soccer player Courtney Carter. We have invited 40 agencies within the Willamette Valley to meet at the Valley Football Center and participate in activities. We'll have more information as the date approaches."
Q. What are your thoughts of a football schedule that includes playing all nine conference opponents and scheduling a higher caliber of foes?
A. "The problem with going with a round-robin slate in an 11-game schedule is the fact that you would only have two non-conference games. From a financial standpoint that is going to hurt people, because potentially you could have only five home games. There is a lot of debate at the national level about going to a permanent 12-game schedule, and if that happens, you will see a true nine-game Pac-10 schedule. In terms of seeing schools the likes of Michigan and Oklahoma in Corvallis, an expanded Reser Stadium gives us the opportunity to play teams of that caliber. The days of Oregon State playing somewhere for a payday are not going to happen under my watch. Quite frankly, we are good enough to play some top caliber teams on the road, but those teams are not going to return to a 35,000-seat stadium."
Q. Are you planning to continue to upgrade Gill Coliseum?
A. "We are looking at a lot of things within Gill. We are planning to paint the remainder of the seats, we are going to paint a mural on the upper wall inside the building showcasing the tradition of basketball, and we are looking at the lights and scoreboard. It takes resources, so we can only do so much. But, there are a lot of things on our list."
Q. You have a special event coming up next month, tell us a little about it.
A. "We haven't had the OSU Hall of Fame ceremony since 1997, but we have reinstated it for this spring. The event will be April 25th in the Truax Center, and it is open to the public. We should have an announcement early next week on this spring's inductees. The event is going to be a special night, we have heavy horsd'oeuvres, video presentations, and live entertainment. We are also planning another Hall of Fame ceremony for the fall, and then yearly from this point on. Connecting to the past is very important for this school."
Q. Losing Dennis Erickson was a jolt to "Beaver Nation," but there seems to be renewed excitement with Mike Riley being on board. Are you sensing the same thing?
A. "Absolutely. We know Mike, we are comfortable with Mike, and we know what he can do as a coach. Mike has been very well received all over Beaver Nation. You can tell by the excitement in his voice that he his fired up to be back. He is excited about the support he has within the university, the team he has returning, and the facilities that he didn't have when he was here before."
Q. Overall, this has been a very good year for OSU. Would you agree?
A. "I thinks so, especially when you consider the changes and adversity we have gone through since the summer. We lost the lives of two student-athletes, which was very traumatic, we lose the A.D., we lose Dr. Risser, and our football coach leaves - but despite all of that, and the bad economy, there are a lot of things that have gone well. Our donors have stepped up, and our student-athletes have stepped up. There are a number of good things going on at OSU, and not just in the athletic department, but at the school itself."
