POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State Director of Athletics
Jeff Tingey discusses the start of football season, football scheduling, the excitement of seeing student-athletes return to campus and the importance of scholarship fundraising in his monthly Q&A with isubengals.com.
Did being in Park City trigger the excitement for football season?
It sure does. I love football season. The kickoffs for the Big Sky remind us that everything is kicking off; volleyball, soccer, cross country. It reminds us that college sports are beginning again. We love that but also love the fact that football starts. It is our nation's darling and we sure love it. It is an exciting time.
Talk about the excitement of seeing all the student-athletes come back to campus?
Yesterday I walked into the weight room to speak to our strength coach and it was packed with football and men's basketball athletes. So many of them are back and excited to be back. They are excited about the prospects of another year and it is contagious. There excitement is contagious. They have aspirations for great things. They want to improve on what they did. Football wants to be better than last year and men's basketball wants to go further than they were last year. They were pumping iron and working hard. That is a fun thing to be around. It is nice to be a part of it. I love to get to know and encourage the student-athletes just like anyone else.
With Idaho returning to the Big Sky what is the talk amongst administrators on how scheduling will take place?
There are two main topics that we discuss with football scheduling and how to do it. As it currently sits we currently don't play three teams every year. With the addition of Idaho that will turn to four. One of the topics we have been discussing is increasing our conference games from eight to nine. I am open to it. I actually really like that proposal. I like the idea of moving to nine. It helps us in conference play. The Big Sky Conference is very strong and competitive. We are one of the top if not thee top FCS football conference. Being able to play more teams in our conference will help us decide things better. There was quite a bit of controversy this last year with SUU winning the title. They had the best record but they didn't play two of the three teams just below them in the standings. Adding another conference game will help in determining the champion.
The other topic is trying to keep certain rivalries going. Whether we have one certain rivalry team we play every year or two or three. Those teams change to some extent for us. We always like to play Weber State. They are our closest institution in the Big Sky Conference and we'd love to play them every year. We'd love to play Idaho every year. That is a good in state rivalry for us but beyond that geographically Montana State is the next closest. They are close by and our fans can travel to those games. This year we don't play Montana State. We'd like to play them every year. We need to work those things out. We have asked the conference to go to the man that actually comes up with these schedules. He uses a very advanced logarithm to help us get through that. We are waiting for those things to come out to see who we play and where and what that looks like with a nine game schedule with a one, two or three common opponents that we play every year.
Talk about the facility upgrades with the scoreboards in Holt and softball?
It is fun to do this stuff. The video board in Holt Arena is pretty much complete. There are a few last minute adjustments and we will have training on it in the next couple of weeks. That video board is a great improvement to Holt Arena. It will give the fans and student-athletes a great experience. They are just about done replacing the West end scoreboard. We are keeping that has an analogue scoreboard as it was before. The Idaho Potato Commission was gracious to help us fund these updates to Holt Arena. We are grateful to them. They are a great partner for us being the potato state and being in Southeast Idaho where more potatoes are grown than any place in the world. It is a great partnership for us and we are excited about that.
Our softball construction project keeps going. We are building locker rooms that connect to the dugouts. That will be unique to the Big Sky Conference. No other school has that. It is nice to leave the dugout and walk into the restroom rather than as it has happened in the past where you walk around back to use a Port-a-Potty. That just isn't acceptable for a team of ours who has been Big Sky Championships three of the last four years. It is a very good team and they have been very competitive. Having the locker rooms, restrooms and training rooms for our team is important. Our costs came back a little higher than I thought they would be so I have to give a shout out to ISU Credit Union. We went to them to ask if they could help us bridge that gap and as a great partner as they have always been they were willing to do that. We are naming the dugouts the ISU Credit Union Dugouts. They have always been great sponsors and very supportive of us. Their name is on the football field here in Holt Arena. I am grateful to Rob Taylor and all the leadership at ISU Credit Union.
Talk about the Bengal Athletic Booster Club and what it is and why it is so important?
Scholarships are the life blood of athletics. Without scholarships we don't survive. We have more than 200 scholarships that we give out every year and that price tag is in the millions of dollars. Our fundraising through the Bengal Athletic Boosters, the FAT Club and some of our sport clubs are more important every year because offsetting the scholarships for programs helps us allow the dollars to go further. It helps us to have more room after paying for scholarships for our operating budgets in helping the teams travel and compete the way they need too. Scholarships as we see all over the nation are extremely important. Some fundraising arms do better than others and we can always improve an do better in what we are doing. We have made great improvements in our fundraising for scholarships. Our executive director Donna Hayes works with the BAB board. We are always looking for more members to join, greater ways for us to improve our scholarship profile and footprints for our student-athletes.
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Parting thoughts to Bengals fans before the new school year begins?
Stop by and go to practice. Cheer on your team and get to know them. Come around more and get to know the student-athletes and coaches. Join the BAB if you are not a member already. Whether it is a $1 donation or a $5,000 donation we'll accept it with a smile and maybe a hug if we see you. Buy your season tickets. Help us out that way whether it be football, volleyball or soccer. Come and support your teams. Come early, stay late and have a good time as a Bengal. We have great fans and they have always been good. If you are a new Bengal or someone who hasn't had season tickets make that investment. You will be pleasantly surprised by the great experience you have.
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