Portland State AD expects football program to deliver more wins and fans to 'turn the corner'
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After a football season that featured as much frustration as excitement, Portland State athletic director Torre Chisholm said Wednesday that he’s encouraged by aspects of the team’s progression under head coach Nigel Burton, but noted that the program hasn’t “fully turned the corner.”
The Vikings’ 6-6 record this season represents a three-win improvement over 2012, but four losses by seven points or fewer — including consecutive one-point losses to close the season — left fans, players, coaches and administrators wondering what might have been.
“I think everybody expected a little bit more in the win-loss column,” Chisholm said. “That said, we certainly did see some phenomenal moments and excellent play this season.
“Unfortunately, we work in a field in which most people measure things in wins and losses, and while 6-6 is an improvement we hoped for more.”
Through four seasons, Burton has an overall record of 18-27 with Portland State, which includes an 11-21 record in Big Sky games. The former Oregon State assistant has two years remaining on his contract.
“I think there’s a lot of good things to be said about him,” Chisholm said of Burton. “He’s brought in quality players and done a great job with academics. It gives me confidence that we’ve recruited the sort of student-athletes that can compete at the highest levels.”
Chisholm also mentioned there were some “glaring issues” that need to be addressed, such as late-game defensive breakdowns and a place-kicking unit that missed 13 of 16 attempts.
“There’s another step we need to make,” he said.
On the field, that step would be a first FCS playoff appearance since 2000. A better product could also help flagging attendance, which declined by 13.5 percent from last season.
Chisholm explained that some of the lag could be attributed to a marketing plan with a third-party agency that was put into place “too late” to pay off this season.
“They weren’t engaged with us during the primary season-ticket push or primary advertising,” he said. “They created some interesting promotions but we didn’t get into it early enough to see the full impact. Next year we’ll have results we can measure.”
The Vikings drew an average of 5,148 to Jeld-Wen Field this season for six home games, the lowest mark at that site since 1986, when it was known as Civic Stadium.
“This has become a tremendously competitive market for sports with the success that pro teams are having, plus Oregon and Oregon State,” said Chisholm. “It’s going to take creative marketing and a good product.”
Chisholm came to Portland State in May 2007, shortly after larger-than-life ex-NFL coach Jerry Glanville was hired to resuscitate the Vikings program.
Though Glanville’s arrival did create an uptick in fan interest, the team tanked on the field, going 9-24 in three seasons before Glanville resigned.
The Vikings have a long history of coaches with outsized personalities — most notably Mouse Davis and Pokey Allen — but Chisholm believes longterm success in the stands will come from building a winning team.
Though Burton’s engaging and thoughtful, it’s hard to envision him riding around on an elephant or threatening to be shot out of a cannon into the backyard of anyone who doesn’t buy a season ticket, as Allen famously did.
That’s OK with Chisholm, as long as the program continues an upward trajectory.
“We evaluate the whole thing, the most recent year and looking to the future,” Chisholm said. “There are a lot of factors you have to analyze to see if your program’s going in the right direction.”
