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Houston: Serious Question - Bearcats#1 - 05-22-2015 06:55 AM You guys used to have a big time football program and a big time basketball program. Then you guys went from powerhouse to horrible. Can a UH fan give me a brief summary of what happened, I supposed starting with the collapse of the SWC? I know that probably was the biggest thing, but TCU also was 'left out' and they still maintained and built a football program. So I assume something else happened at UH. RE: Houston: Serious Question - BIgCatonProwl - 05-22-2015 07:59 AM Our admins, did not place great emphasis on sport success (after the SWC days) like the present admin does. Now, we did have a lady as Chancellor Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett, at the time who talked one of our alums into making the largest donation ever to a university at time of 55 million to UH, to build its indoor football practice facility back around 1990, but we were still in the SWC at the time, and she died (some type of cancer) within a 2 year time span after taking helm of the University, she kind of was like the present Chancellor we have Dr khator, who place great emphasis on sport success. She had survived she would have been the one to lead UH through the dark days of being in conference USA, but it wasn't meant to be, she passed away prematurely. RE: Houston: Serious Question - pesik - 05-22-2015 08:00 AM short summary, i think someone will give you an indepth summary overall: the SWC collapsed, it was between houston and baylor to be the last pick, the rumor everyone says is the texas governor was a baylor alum at the time and pulled some strings for them coaches: string of horrible coaches who were kept too long in the 90's..both football and basketball were essentially killed by 1 coach each around the same time..brooks took a regular tourney team to a regular 9 win team in 3 short years, helton in football took a power in the SWC to a team that couldnt compete with some teams at the mid major level... fan support plummeted when you drop from a top 3 cenference to a startup conference, who when you look at the list now it had some decent names but at the time were nobodies its hard to motivate your fans and alum to invest in a situation like that mixed in with losing, so we didnt, tcu comaprison; will point out that TCU was picked up by the MWC the top midmajor at the time with byu, utah so they had the softed landing ground.. but will point out like every other transfer team they did plummet, the difference between tcu and houston is when tcu started climbing out it got its coach to stay...if we had got briles or sumlin to stay like coach p we almost likely would have been as highly regard RE: Houston: Serious Question - CougarTruth - 05-22-2015 08:06 AM (05-22-2015 06:55 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote: You guys used to have a big time football program and a big time basketball program. Then you guys went from powerhouse to horrible. Fan apathy in late 80's and early 90's coupled with series of absolutely terrible AD's and administration turnover were partially to blame. UH's VP of Government Relations was a T sip and slept while Baylor out maneuvered him in lobbying with state as Big 8 chose SWC partners. Went through a decade where governor(s) appointed mostly non-alums to Board of Regents, some of whom had never been on campus prior to their appointments. They subordinated athletics and viewed our "place" as a commuter school and wouldn't fight for UH in Austin. This was a huge hurdle and effective lobbying by Houston Alumni Org. etc. resolved it, but it was disastrous at the time. Fans spoiled by winning 4 out of 5 first football championships in early SWC days and three final fours in basketball, 16 national championships in golf under Bill Yeoman /Jack Pardee, Guy Lewis, and Dave Williams respectively, led to disappointment in their successors. Attendance was disgraceful in that timeframe. White knuckling onto sterile and outdated Astrodome for football games when we should have built stadium on campus sooner was also a factor. Let basketball venue Hofheinz deteriorate simultaneously. This has largely been overcome as realignment caused wakeup call to alums and fans. Many other factors also- I'm sure others will chime in. RE: Houston: Serious Question - ElectricCoogaloo - 05-22-2015 08:28 AM One of the biggest follies was UH's lack of preparation for the the SWC collapse. During the glory days, UH fielded nationally competitive teams in both major sports, and filled up stadiums due to the local interest in SWC teams. However, no one capitalized on this. UH made no effort to build its own on-campus football stadium, even as we knew the Astrodome was fading into obscurity, nor did they put much effort into keeping its historic basketball arena modernized despite having one of the most successful programs in NCAA history. Outside of athletics, UH was slow to rid itself of its commuter culture (which has all but vanished now!). Now fast forward to the 90s. The football and basketball programs are in a major downswing (it happens to everyone) at the worst possible time. The SWC is starting to crumble, and UH has just had what might be its worst 5 year run in athletics in its entire history. Fan support has all but evaporated (commuter culture can be overcome with winning, but if you start to lose watch out). The facilities are non-existent to sub-par at best. Worse yet, UH had zero political support. The formation of the Big 12 was heavily influenced by the Governor and Lt Governor, Baylor and Texas Tech graduates, respectively. So, more or less, UH's stock was at an all time low when musical chairs began. The fall from SWC to CUSA was nearly a program killer. I tip my hat to TCU for bouncing back like they did. Many of our own left us for dead, but after bottoming out in 2001, there's been a remarkable renaissance the last 15 years. RE: Houston: Serious Question - The Original Timmy Chan - 05-22-2015 09:06 AM I would also include the collapse of Houston's economy in the 1980's as a contributor to UH's athletics plunge. As oil prices dropped from $40/barrel to $10/barrel, Houston's oil-dependent economy plummeted. Houston lost 212,000 jobs between 1982 and 1987, mostly oil and related services, but then extending to banking, real estate and others. RE: Houston: Serious Question - ShockerBob - 05-22-2015 11:34 AM What everyone says is true. But not hiring Deloss Dodds was a GIGANTIC MISTAKE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS IN SO MANY WAYS. Short but true story: Deloss was actually our Athletic Director for a few hours. But the Board axed it later in the evening. Earlier in the Day he was waltzed around the Athletic Department being introduced. Then axed. No wonder he hated us. No wonder he wanted us OUT of Big12. Another tidbit: we had open SEC invite sitting on table late 80s.. We really shat ourselves and can only look within to blame. RE: Houston: Serious Question - GO Coogs GO!!! - 05-22-2015 11:43 AM (05-22-2015 11:34 AM)ShockerBob Wrote: Another tidbit: we had open SEC invite sitting on table late 80s.. Ehh.... We were in discussions to accompany A&M if they moved. Had they at the time we would have gone along. Saying we had an invite in hand is a bit of a stretch though. RE: Houston: Serious Question - NTXCoog - 05-22-2015 12:58 PM I hate to bring it up, but NCAA sanctions also did MAJOR damage. We had major scholarship restrictions over several years that caused the talent level, especially depth to fall off dramatically. Even the great 1989 team near the start of the sanctions felt impact on their depth. That team had exactly 2 QBs and 2 RBs on the roster. The 1989 team also had no TV sanctions. So instead of gaining momentum from having a Heisman worthy QB on TV every week, Ware had the best season by a QB that no one saw since the TV era began. Those "tough" sanctions they announce today are nothing compared to what happened to many teams in the SWC in the '80s and '90s. The negative sanction impact on UH was high in the next tier below SMU's highest level. RE: Houston: Serious Question - BearcatMan - 05-22-2015 01:08 PM Thanks guys, definitely gives some insight that this Northerner did not have before. RE: Houston: Serious Question - Danger in Carolina - 05-22-2015 01:12 PM (05-22-2015 11:34 AM)ShockerBob Wrote: What everyone says is true. Great post. Had no idea. Very interesting. RE: Houston: Serious Question - Bearcats#1 - 05-22-2015 01:23 PM Good info thanks to all for sharing. When you were in the SWC did Texas and Texas A&M look down on you or were you or were you accepted/respected? RE: Houston: Serious Question - Ghis - 05-22-2015 01:23 PM Cedric Dempsey Tom Ford Rudy Davalos Bill Carr Chet Gladchuk Our list of "distinguished" ADs between Harry Fouke and Dave Maggard. Add those numbnuts to our prior administrations' indifference to athletics, and you see recipe for disaster after breakup of SWC. RE: Houston: Serious Question - Bearcats#1 - 05-22-2015 01:25 PM The fan apathy piece I get...you go from home games vs big name teams/Texas (localized) teams to CUSA against teams nobody in UH land cared about (UofL, Cincy, etc). Hard to fault fans for that. RE: Houston: Serious Question - ElectricCoogaloo - 05-22-2015 01:28 PM (05-22-2015 01:23 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote: Good info thanks to all for sharing. After joining the SWC, and promptly kicking everyone's teeth in (winning the conference 3 times in the first 4 years), we had their respect athletically... but it always manifested itself in ridicule and mockery academically. Very much red headed step-child syndrome. RE: Houston: Serious Question - vcoog - 05-22-2015 01:30 PM Meh doesn't matter. The best time for the program is ahead and we will help the conference get there too. Obviously we don't need P5 assistance and other programs here are on the rise as well. Houston: Serious Question - True Bearcat - 05-22-2015 01:45 PM Wow I did not know a lot of what has been said about the Houston Cougars. So when the SWC collapsed the folks over in CUSA were excited to be getting such a big fish. I hope Houston will be a power again in football and basketball. RE: Houston: Serious Question - YNot - 05-22-2015 02:00 PM (05-22-2015 01:30 PM)vcoog Wrote: Meh doesn't matter. The best time for the program is ahead and we will help the conference get there too. Obviously we don't need P5 assistance and other programs here are on the rise as well. It's the great "American" gamble. P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L. There is plenty of it in the American. Way more than any other G5 conference. I hope BYU and the American stay close together. Teams in Texas and Florida hotbeds. SMU and Houston were once top-notch programs. UConn, Cincinnati, and UCF have played in BCS bowl games. Most programs already with 30-40K home attendance. Great markets from Philly to New Orleans to Tampa. Landing a 5-star recruit is a great step in the right direction for Houston. RE: Houston: Serious Question - rosewater - 05-22-2015 02:32 PM Dang, I thought we (Cincy) got kicked in the nuts. You guys got it like three times and twice as hard. RE: Houston: Serious Question - mbtex - 05-22-2015 02:43 PM Quote:The University of Houston and the SWC |