University of Houston Athletics
Ask the AD - July, 2015
7/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
Ask the AD â€" July, 2015
Houston Vice President for Athletics Hunter Yurachek will answer the questions of Houston fans at the beginnning of each month on UHCougars.com's Ask the AD. Click on the graphic above to submit your question to Hunter. You can also follow the Houston AD on twitter at @HunterYurachek.
Brian Chandler
How can UH go from putting our merchandise sales in others' hands to taking control of the situation and control our own destiny? For example, the Nike items the players/coaches get are normally fantastic looking products. Each time the Black coaches shirts are ordered for Tom H. and staff, why not add 30 more per size to the order and offer them via UHFanshop.com?
Could we make custom purchases via Niketeam.com with the licensed UH logos on them? Make that available only to Cougar Pride members to help increase our memberships/donations.
What's the cost for the extra overhead vs. the revenue brought in from the sales?
Brian, great question. It is a little more complicated than it seems as Barnes & Noble, who runs the UH Fan Shop has to front the cost and makes purchasing decisions based off the past fan purchasing history. That being said, as we have increased our licensing numbers as UH fans like yourself continue to purchase products available, we are able to go back to our vendors to show numbers, thus in turn, allowing our vendors to ask producers such as Nike for additional products. As we continue to sell more and more of what we have, additional products will come online for our fans to purchase and help us continue to paint Houston red!
In regards to the purchases for Cougar Pride members, we are actually having internal discussions regarding purchasing apparel not available to the general public for our Cougar Pride and season ticket members as we continually look for additional benefits for our top supporters.
Chinh Doan
Is there going to be some improvement in the food court? I have had a bad experience waiting in long lines for food and drink. It only happens when the stadium is 70 percent full and above. There a bad need for more variation in food beside hotdogs, nachos and pizza.
Chinh, we are thoroughly evaluating our entire fan experience as is our concessionaire partner Aramark. Throughout July and August we will be releasing enhancements to our fan experience and will along with Aramark announce food options for the 2015 season. We have also evaluated the customer service aspect throughout the stadium and will improve the wait time in lines for concession items and at the stadium's gates.
Jamie Sandoval
As an alum, I have become very excited with how Coach Tom Herman has been making a splash in recruiting for our school. The H-Town Takeover is getting a lot of people excited again with the University of Houston football program. I noticed that the high school athletes who visited UH for Herman's football camps were given fierce looking H-Town Takeover t-shirts as part of their registration. Would there be any way for alumni, students and fans to get a hold of some of these shirts? I know some people who would love to use such t-shirts to advertise and promote UH's growing presence in the city.
Jamie, we are working with our licensing partners and vendors to set up the production and sales of shirts promoting the H-Town Takeover that is sweeping the City of Houston. Once we have shirts available and for sale, we will announce on UHCougars.com and will work to have them available for sale on UHFanShop.com.
Alison Bouter
I am so sad to hear that Yulia Pakhalina will not be returning as the diving coach. On a personal level, she and my daughter Micaela really worked well together last season, and Micaela was really looking forward to great things with her as her coach next season. Can you give me any ideas of the plans for a new coach at UH for the upcoming season?
Alison, while we too were sad to hear Yulia would not be returning, we were also excited for her young family as she steps away from the sport to devote additional time to her family including her newborn son.
New swimming & diving head coach Ryan Wochomurka and assistant Hannah Burandt are currently conducting a national search for our next diving coach with the intention of finding an individual that will push Micaela to reach your highest academic, athletic and personal aspirations. I am personally excited for Micaela's sophomore year after an impressive freshman season. Quite commendable to qualify for the NCAA Zone Diving meet and be named to the All-American Athletic Conference team as a freshman!
Steven
TDECU stadium is great! My question is regarding the bare concrete walls that surround the playing field. Are there plans to cover the walls with padding or banners? If so, what is the time frame for doing so?
Looking forward to football season!
Steven â€" great news! We are currently designing a field wall wrap with our partners at IMG and will look to install a new field wrap prior to the season that will not only give great exposure to our valuable sponsors but also assist with our branding and bring a valuable splash of red inside TDECU Stadium.
Adam Dick
When will the stadium be complete regarding the tarps on the exterior? It will look much better with the cage!
Adam, as you'll read in June's Ask the AD, the exterior skin of the facility has been completed. During the design process, stadium architects placed value on air flow throughout the stadium to keep occupants cool and enhance the fan experience. The open concept has allowed just that, especially in some of our warmer months. Look forward to you and others filling the stadium full of red this fall! If you haven't purchased your season tickets yet, do so at UHCougars.com/2015.
Hildy Warner
Last year I asked if ice cream or soft serve could be offered at games in addition to dipping dots. Didn't happen. What about this season? Go Coogs!
Hildy, as mentioned earlier in my response to Chinh, we are thoroughly evaluating our entire fan experience as are our concessionaire partner Aramark. I will personally check with our partners at Aramark on what ice cream options we will have available at TDECU Stadium this fall and your first ice cream this fall is one me!
Jeanine Hernandez
I am a UH alum and currently living in Shanghai, China for a year. I wanted to try and see the UH Coogs play the Jiangsu China team. Where can I get more information about where they will be or play?
Jeanine, we are excited to head to China in August and glad to hear we'll have a UH alum in the stands! We'll depart Houston on August 11 and play games August 14-17 in four different cities. Full information on the China trip can be found here. I hope to meet you in China this August and hope our fans stay tuned to UHCougars.com for full coverage of a unique trip for our student-athletes.
Cole
What has the feedback been when speaking to boosters on the new/renovated basketball arena? Are there any interested parties in a new facility?
Cole, we have had great feedback regarding future plans on Hofheinz Pavilion. In May we presented a feasibility study to our Board of Regents with three options to renovate Hofheinz ranging from $50 to $85 million in cost. Our next step is to present a fundraising and finance package at the next Board of Regents' meeting in August. Our goal is to have total completion in time for the 2018-19 basketball season.
Charles
Is there a reason why the Houston Athletic Department does not publicize or share current and future construction projects? It is very hard for alumni or even future recruits to get excited when renderings and floor plans are not available to see. For example the general public can see the exterior views of the Basketball Development Center but there are no floor plans. There is talk of a renovation of the soccer/ track and field facility but no exterior views or site plans. In general plans for TDECU were never shown to the public until it was well under construction.
Charles, as we finalize renderings and designs for all of our construction projects, we immediately release them for you and our fans, our current student-athletes and potential student-athletes. You can currently view renderings and photo updates from the Basketball Development Facility here.
As far as the new construction at Carl Lewis International Track and Field Complex, we currently do not have renderings to share at this point. We have selected Houston-based PBK Sports as the project's architects and will release renderings and designs this fall on UHCougars.com with construction expected to start in November at the conclusion of the Houston Soccer season. Stay tuned.
Gordon Atkins
Does our Athletic Department recognize the fact that life out of the Power 5 dooms us to mediocrity? The Big 12 will never admit us, and our efforts should be exploring opportunities in the Big 10 and the ACC. Yes, the American is nice for now, but I hope UH realizes that athletic growth can only come from budget increases tied to Power 5 television contracts.
Gordon, appreciate your insight and positivity! As you'll read in June's Ask the AD, I believe we have a great opportunity to make the University of Houston a prominent national name across all of our sport programs. Our goal is to place Houston in the best possible position across the national landscape, and at this point in time, we have a great opportunity with The American Athletic Conference. We have to be the flag carrier of The American, and we are setting standards for each of our sport programs in regards to conference competition. To become a fixture on the national scene, it is imperative all of our sport programs are in the upper echelon of The American and advancing to NCAA postseason competition on a yearly basis.
David Kirtley
Dear Mr. Yurachek; Congratulations on your hiring. I thought we might honor JJ Watt by retiring jersey #99. He seems to have adopted Houston as his home. I know he's a Badger, but he might like being an honorary Cougar!!! Thanks for your time & GO COOGS!!!
David, thank you for the suggestion. With all due respect to Mr. Watt, we are going to hold off jersey retirements for only the best-of-the-best who have suited up in the red and white of the Houston Cougars. We certainly invite JJ out to our games and will accommodate him accordingly if he can make a game, but understand if he is a little busy in the fall.
Charles
What is the status of Legends Plaza? When are we going to see some development there acknowledging the rich history of Houston Football? Will it be statues? Plaques?
Is the department planning to showcase any of the All-Americans inside the stadium?
Charles â€" Along with the entity charged with the design and creation of the Legends Plaza, we are finalizing an installation date for the area. It will happen prior to the season. We will have further details this month on UHCougars.com including the date of the unveiling ceremony of the area designed to honor our Houston Football greats. Keep an eye out for the announcement. If you can't make the unveiling, we'll have plenty of photos and video on our digital platform and you'll be able to visit the area outside Gate 1 before and after home games this fall.
