Bama's Flight Records While Securing Nation's #1 Recruiting Class

[J.B. TexasEx]

Looks like we need to get CFS a UT-branded helicopter and a jet!  Anybody know if Jamail or McCombs will loan theirs to him?  Yeah, we mock aggie...but their "swaggercopter" does make it convenient for Sumlin to buzz around the state.  The jet allows Saban to recruit nationally.

Time to up the ante!  #LetsRide 

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2014/07/tracking_alabama_football_recr.html

 

[Randolph Duke]

Looks like we need to get CFS a UT-branded helicopter and a jet!  Anybody know if Jamail or McCombs will loan theirs to him?  Yeah, we mock aggie...but their "swaggercopter" does make it convenient for Sumlin to buzz around the state.  The jet allows Saban to recruit nationally.

Time to up the ante!  #LetsRide 

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2014/07/tracking_alabama_football_recr.html

Trust me, Charlie Strong ain't taking Megabus on recruiting trips. 

Besides, we ain't no gadget program. 

That plane is a 25 year old Israeli built Gulfstream G100 clone. 17 year old redneck kids might be impressed with that, but its not a plan anyone really wants to be cooped up in for any length of a flight. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Trust me, Charlie Strong ain't taking Megabus on recruiting trips. 

Besides, we ain't no gadget program. 

That plane is a 25 year old Israeli built Gulfstream G100 clone. 17 year old redneck kids might be impressed with that, but its not a plan anyone really wants to be cooped up in for any length of a flight. 

Agreed.  I doubt CFS travels commercial everywhere, but I thought the article was interesting because it detailed Saban's travel itinerary and how many hours he logged on the private plane.  Like it or not, Bama is the benchmark for recruiting success right now.  I wonder how many hours our staff logs on leased or University jets?

I can't help but think investing athletic department resources on convenient travel is a better spend than contracting Disney to "improve our fan experience".  Just sayin'

 

[Randolph Duke]

Agreed.  I doubt CFS travels commercial everywhere, but I thought the article was interesting because it detailed Saban's travel itinerary and how many hours he logged on the private plane.  Like it or not, Bama is the benchmark for recruiting success right now.  I wonder how many hours our staff logs on leased or University jets?

I can't help but think investing athletic department resources on convenient travel is a better spend than contracting Disney to "improve our fan experience".  Just sayin'

I don't know if you have ever driven over to the General Aviation terminal at Bergstrom on game day, but the burnt orange air force is probably the most extensive and impressive in all of college football. One of the pieces I wish Nick the Genius over in Bellmont would get put together is on just how well UT fans travel and what the impact is at local airports on game day when UT is playing. Love Field on Texas/OU game day is probably biggest college force collection in the nation. I know the UT/Notre Dame game in South Bend a back in the 90s was insane. 

As for the 25 year old Astra Nick Saban is flying around in, it's really no big deal. i don't know precisely what plane he is flying around on, but I do know that Don Evans and George Tucker have willingly lent their planes when requested. Maybe someone we know (*cough*Shevis*cough) could offer Nick some help in putting together a piece on just how well UT fans travel and get it aired on LHN. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

I don't know if you have ever driven over to the General Aviation terminal at Bergstrom on game day, but the burnt orange air force is probably the most extensive and impressive in all of college football. One of the pieces I wish Nick the Genius over in Bellmont would get put together is on just how well UT fans travel and what the impact is at local airports on game day when UT is playing. Love Field on Texas/OU game day is probably biggest college force collection in the nation. I know the UT/Notre Dame game in South Bend a back in the 90s was insane. 

As for the 25 year old Astra Nick Saban is flying around in, it's really no big deal. i don't know precisely what plane he is flying around on, but I do know that Don Evans and George Tucker have willingly lent their planes when requested. Maybe someone we know (*cough*Shevis*cough) could offer Nick some help in putting together a piece on just how well UT fans travel and get it aired on LHN. 

LOL..."Nick the Genius"

I have a friend from Ole Miss who was in awe of our alumni flying into Oxford.  He'd never seen so many private planes.  So, yeah, it'd be nice if LHN or anybody would play this up in the media.

I'm tired of hearing about the "swagcopter"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXw71EQBSpk

 

[texasdobbs]

I think it would be more interesting to see Strong riding bareback on a longhorn to the recruits home.... but seriously I think he gets around in pretty good fashion. ..

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

F it...let's get one of these

 

[texasdobbs]

F it...let's get one of these

Lol... paint that burnt orange and put some horns on the top of it and were in were good to go...

 

[armadillo slim]

an astra isn't exactly a POS, and its got a long leg on it.  damn good airplane to hop around the country in.

the G100 is a clone of it, not vice versa

 

[Randolph Duke]

LOL..."Nick the Genius"

I have a friend from Ole Miss who was in awe of our alumni flying into Oxford.  He'd never seen so many private planes.  So, yeah, it'd be nice if LHN or anybody would play this up in the media.

The things old "Nick the Genius" could be doing are so obvious to a lot of people, yet so far outside his imagination, it is truly sad. The Burnt Orange Air Force is just one aspect of what makes Texas unique. Let someone (cough*Shevis*cough) do a program on game day tailgaiting and see if LHN would air it. At the Baylor game in 2012, they had the guys with the 360 interactive hi-res camera that was well received. Digitize the photoarchives and create a website where fans can order copies of various pictures for display in their home, office or to give as gifts. We can have a photographer in the Oval Office when the President of the United States orders the Marines into action, but we can't have one getting some behind the scenes shots on game day?! How many people have ever seen the hardware collection the school has amassed over the years? What about a poker tournament with various celebrity alumni and former athletes akin to the WSOP and get it shown on LHN? 

There are an incredible number of things, big and small, that can be done to help shape the image of the program and to let others see how being part of the UT alumni and being a former athlete at UT entails. 

We don't need a helicopter or any silly gadgets. We need to fire Nick Voinis and get someone in his place who understands how to use the media to allow others to understand what makes the program unique. 

 

[Randolph Duke]

an astra isn't exactly a POS, and its got a long leg on it.  damn good airplane to hop around the country in.

the G100 is a clone of it, not vice versa

I stand corrected on the G100 lineage, but if I was spending a lot of time flying around on I can think of other planes I would rather be in. There have been at least a few advances in short haul corporate aviation since the Reagan administration. And my point isn't to start a discussion of the relative merit of various short haul corporate jets. My point is that the plane the Alabama staff is using isn't anything special. They can be purchased for about $1 mil used. http://www.globalair.com/aircraft_for_sale/Business_Jet_Aircraft/IAI/Astra__1125_for_sale_71879.html