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Great article from the Chattanooga newspaper on the power of having a successful program.

App State shows power of success

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Here's how football can unify a campus. How one game can capture the hearts and wallets of an entire nation.

How applications can increase, average SAT scores rise and retail sales multiply with the right leadership, a marketing plan with vision and, of course, a pretty darn good football team.

Here's a story you wish could happen to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. If it can happen at a tiny resort town in the Blue Ridge Mountains named after Daniel Boone, it can happen here, right?

The fervor over Appalachian State athletics used to be confined to the mountains in Boone, N.C. Come down the mountain, and the black and gold colors faded into the blues of North Carolina and Duke. Black and gold meant Wake Forest away from the Blue Ridge. People didn't know much about the Mountaineers.

North Carolina and Duke fans just knew they probably didn't want to play them in football.

Appalachian State came to Chattanooga and won the I-AA title in 2005, but the echoes from the roar couldn't be heard down the mountain. You could not find much national championship gear outside of Boone.

"It was disappointing," said athletic director Charlie Cobb, who came to Appalachian State from N.C. State that year.

But the school's chancellor, Dr. Ken Peacock, said he wanted a new era for Appalachian State athletics. And Peacock, who can often be seen doing push-ups on the sideline or riding a wave of hands in the student section, knew that a lively football atmosphere was one of the best ways to brand a school.

Cobb's first mission was securing Boone as an Appalachian State town. He helped enhance the game day atmosphere, make Saturdays an event. He tabbed his buddy from N.C. State, Lewis Hardy, to serve as a liaison between the school and retailers who sell its product. Hardy, the president of Licensing Resource Group, began a movement to get Appalachian State products into stores across the state.

The Mountaineers came to Chattanooga and won another title last season. Momentum continued to build. Applications skyrocketed.

And then 34-32 happened.

Hardy was on the Appalachian State team plane leaving for Ann Arbor, Mich., and he was with the players on the way back after stunning Michigan on Sept. 1.

"I don't think they needed a plane," he said.

Did they ever really land? Isn't the school still on a high? The local Wal-Mart could not keep new Appalachian State merchandise on the shelves for a week. Not just after the Michigan game. Any week.

"By the time we get a shipment, it's all gone before the next weekend," Wal-Mart associate Tammy Dickenson said. "It's been like that pretty much all season."

The school needed to hire more staff and open a warehouse to handle all the merchandise requests. Sure, a sizable percentage of sales headed toward Ohio and Michigan for those giddy Buckeyes and Spartans fans. Vendors in those states received permission to print Appalachian State shirts in Ohio State and Michigan State colors.

One style of Michigan State shirt -- in green, of course -- reads, "At least we didn't lose to Appalachian State."

Average attendance for regular season games this year was 27,140, double the average in 2004 of 13,556. The school is doing close to $10 million at retail. Sales are up 250 percent to 300 percent, and that's coming off of a national championship season. The same fans aren't stocking their closets with shirts. The school is making new fans in places like Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh.

Freshmen enrollment was about 2,900 last fall, but the school received almost 18,000 applications. Admission is more difficult and average SAT scores are up.

Appy Mania is sweeping across North Carolina.

And the passion only intensified in Boone.

"If you walk through campus," safety Corey Lynch said, "more than 50 percent of the students have some kind of championship gear or something representing the football team. It's fun going on campus and seeing everyone."

So there's your formula, Chattanooga: A chancellor committed to football, a visionary for an athletic director, an inspired marketing plan and one heck of a football team.

And a win over a top-5 school wouldn't hurt, either. Oh, and three straight national championships would be helpful. Just ask Hardy.

His plan is to ready the shelves in Boone at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, you know, just in case.

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