Blue Raider Bowl Video Diary...

GoBlueRaiders.com worked on a project all week that chronicles the players' journey through bowl week. Check out some of the documentary...

Day #1


Day #2


Day #3

Watch on ESPN360.com

With the New Orleans Bowl being on Sunday night in ESPN prime time (7:30pm CST) there won't be any competition from other bowl games so the nation will get a chance to experience Middle Tennessee Football at it's best. Along with the television coverage provided by ESPN people will be able to watch around the world on ESPN360.com

Make sure to watch the game Sunday no matter what form of media you choose! You can watch online by clicking on the link below...

Update on the video staff...

Remember the story we did on the video staff earlier in the week? Well today the staff had to breakdown all the meeting rooms and pull up all the 2,000ft of cord and tape. The guys had some fun and rolled the 1,500 odd yards of tape into a ball that weighs over 5lbs and is bigger than a basketball.

View from the coaches' box...

Just like when they are home in Floyd Stadium several Blue Raider coaches will spend the game in the coaches' box calling down plays and analysis of the opposing team. Usually its a short elevator ride up and down to the box before the game and during halftime, this time its a little higher up. Because the Superdome is so large the box is obviously higher and a little further away from the field. Some would argue these coaches have the best seat in the house with a spectacular view of the entire Superdome. Being the home team also has its benefits for the Blue Raiders as they get the bigger box on gameday. With five coaches it could have been a tight fit but the home box has more seating which makes it easier to move around, take notes and talk with coaches on the field.

Here is a glimpse of the game as some of the Blue Raider coaches will see it...

The Louisiana Superdome...

The New Orleans Bowl will kick off in about 7 hours as the Blue Raiders face off against Southern Mississippi in the Superdome live on ESPN at 7:30pm CST. The Superdome is one of the greatest sporting venues especially for football. It has been the home of NCAA basketball tournaments, National Championship games, Super Bowls and everything in between. For Blue Raider fans to appreciate the venue of tonight's game here are some interesting facts about the Superdome...
- Superdome Opened: August 3, 1975
- Total Land Area: (building, garages, and grounds) - 52 acres
- Height: 273 feet (82.3 meters)
- Diameter of the Dome: 680 feet (210 meters)
- Area of Roof: 9.7 acres
- Concrete: 169,000 cubic yards (131,820 cubic meters)
- Structural Steel: 20,000 tons (18,200 metric tons)
- Air Conditioning: 9,000 tons (8,190 metirc tons)
- Parking Capacity: 5,000 cars + 250 buses
- Lighting: 15,200 fully computerized lighting fixtures
- Video System: 2 DiamondVision panels each 28'7" x 36'3"
- Scoreboards: 4 (8' x 60' each)
- Electrical Wiring: 400 miles (640 kiometers), including fiber optic lines.
- Anodized Aluminum Siding: more than 550,000 square feet

Superdome practice...

Some shots from the team's walk-thru at the dome...

Friday Practice Shots...

Some shots from yesterday's practice at the Saints' indoor facility....

New Orleans Bowl Eve has arrived...

It has finally arrived, New Orleans Bowl eve, the day before Middle Tennessee takes the field against Southern Mississippi in the famed Superdome in front of an ESPN national audience. It also marks the first day that the team got to experience the Superdome.

It all started early this morning as the team got its earliest wake-up call of the week. Everyone was up and on the buses headed to the Superdome by 9am in order to complete practice and a team picture. The players quickly changed into their game jerseys for a team picture that will be used for the bowl plaque, part of their gifts from the university. After a few snapshots the guys had got to walk around the field, except for the endzones and 50-yard line which had just been painted, so they could get adjusted to the lights and the expanse of the stadium itself. After a few minutes of "throw & catch" the team broke into offensive and defensive walk-thrus.

After returning to the hotel the team will attend a luncheon organized by the bowl committee in honor of both teams. This end of this event will mark the beginning of the team's "Friday Night" day before a game routine. The team's routine will go as like this:
12:30pm Bowl Luncheon
3:30pm Rest in rooms
5:oopm Team & Offensive/Defensive Meetings
6:00pm Dinner
7:00pm Movies
9:30pm Team Meeting
10:00pm Curfew

Friday in New Orleans...

This marks the third day the Blue Raiders have been in New Orleans and what a busy three days it has been. Wednesday was filled with travel and bowl activities while Thursday was back to business with meetings, practice and then some free time to explore the city. Friday will be similar to Thursday with players meeting in the morning and another day of practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor facility. After returning to the hotel from practice players will be given the rest of the day off to explore more of what New Orleans has to offer.

Here is a glimpse of today's schedule:
9:00am Wake-up Call
9:45am Team meeting & Position Meetings
12:30pm Buses depart for practice
3:30pm Team arrives back at hotel from practice
4:oopm Treatment
4:15pm Selected players visit Children's Hospital
5:00pm Free time

Watch the game online...

One of the benefits of a bowl game is the great publicity generated for the university and the football program. With the New Orleans Bowl being on Sunday night in prime time (7:30pm CST) there won't be any competition from other bowl games so the nation will get a chance to experience Middle Tennessee Football at it's best. Along with the television coverage provided by ESPN people will be able to watch around the world on ESPN360.com

Make sure to watch the game Sunday no matter what form of media you choose! You can watch online by clicking on the link below...

Bowl Gifts gallore...

As we posted earlier in the week the NCAA allows players to receive a certain allotment of gifts from the university and the bowl game. This is something that is not lost on our players because they have been talking all week about the gifts in store for them. Before leaving Murfreesboro the players received their gifts from the university and today they will get all their gifts from the New Orleans Bowl except for the bowl rings which will take a few weeks to make. Equipment Manager Troy Johnson is in charge of distributing these gifts which will go to all the players in attendance, the coaching staff and some administration.


Equipment Manager Troy Johnson has all the gifts stacked in bins ready to give out today


This is what they players will get, a pair of Oakley Sunglasses, Flip HD camera, Oakley Backpack and a flex fit bowl hat

Blue Raider Video on the move...

An essential part of moving the Blue Raider Football headquarters south to New Orleans requires moving all video equipment. Video is essential to the program because coaches use it scout the opponent, show it in meetings and of course practices at the bowl site must be recorded and analyzed.

This is no simple task, its much more than just bringing down a few computers and screens. Video Coordinator Andrew Rossetti and his staff of six students drove to the hotel Tuesday night into Wednesday morning so that they could have enough setup time to be ready for the team's arrival on Wednesday afternoon.

Once the truck arrived early Wednesday morning Rossetti's staff unloaded their equipment and finished setup in less than 3 hours. Not impressed? Well consider some of the following projects completed in that time...
- Setup of a video office that includes, a 400lb video server linking all the coaches' laptops The office also includes 2 video input stations & 2 video stations for film editing
- Running over 2,000ft of ether-net cord to 8 meeting rooms along with using around 1,500ft of tape to secure the cords
- Setting up laptops, projecters and video screens in 8 meeting rooms and linking them to main server
- Sound checking the portable sound system used in the team room for highlight tapes

Along with this setup at the beginning of our trip the video staff must record each day's practice and enter the film into the computer system so coaches can view it after practice. To get this done in time Rossetti must set up a make-shift office at the Saints facility so he can begin entering film at the end of each period of practice. Then when the bus arrives back at the hotel all the video is entered and logged into the server so coaches can view it in their own meeting rooms.


This is a shot of the video office in the hotel, notice the brains of the operation in the corner, that's the 400lb server

Thursday's Schedule...

After traveling most of the day Wednesday and enjoying bowl activities and free time last night, today will be more regimented. This is a business trip so there will be position meetings and practice to ensure that the team is prepared for Sunday's game.

Coach Stockstill will let the guys sleep in this morning and then the rest of today is as follows:
9:30am Wake-Up Call
10:15am Team Meeting
10:25am Position Meetings
11:30am Tape & Treatment
12:00pm Team Lunch
1:25pm Buses Depart for Practice (Saint's Facility)
3:45pm Buses return to hotel from practice
4:15pm Treatment
FREE TIME

Home away from Home...

While in New Orleans the Middle Tennessee Football program headquarters will be based at the New Orleans Marriott on Canal St. in downtown. It is one of the nicer hotels in the city, has a prime location and most importantly is big enough to house the entire football team. Setting up the hotel is much more than just having rooms, its being able to cater large meals for the team and having enough space for a temporary office, staff meeting room, position meeting rooms, team rooms, training rooms and a make-shift equipment room.

All these arrangements were worked out last week when Director of Football Operations Chris Matusek visited the hotel. With quite a bit of planning and preparation on the front end the team has had an easy and normal transition adjusting to their new home.


Here is a shot of the team's meeting hall, the middle is a locker room and all meeting rooms are along the side walls.


Coach Franklin goes over some early morning game planning with Coach Watts & Coach Simmons


Coach Diaz talks shop with the defensive coaches after our early staff meeting

Getting settled in New Orleans...

Today was the big day as the Blue Raiders packed up their operation and headed south to New Orleans. The team arrived in New Orleans around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and was greeted by a traditional New Orleans style band and the bowl committee handing out beads. The fun quickly turned to business for a short time as Coach Stockstill held a team meeting to discuss how practices and position meetings will work and the Sheriff of New Orleans spoke about what to watch for in the city.

Then as most bowls go, the focus turned back to fun as the team headed to Rock'n Bowl, a party at a local bowling alley with food and music. After that Coach Stockstill had a special surprise in store for the guys as they left the bowling party and headed to see the New Orleans Hornets play the Detroit Pistons.

Tomorrow the team will get back into a routine with morning meetings and a mid-day practice before having the evening off to explore the city.

McCoy racking up the awards...

Senior defensive end Chris McCoy has had a stellar senior campaign leading the Sun Belt in tackles for a loss (20)and has 7 sacks. Here is a list of McCoy's awards...
- Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year
- Sun Belt 1st Team All-Conference
- Sporting News Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year
- Sports Illustrated Honorable Mention All-American

Middle Tennessee Racks up Sun Belt Awards...

CoachStockstill.com is releasing this wallpaper to commemorate Middle Tennessee's 2009 All-Sun Belt selections...

Thom Abraham's Stock Report...

Coach Stockstill's interview from earlier this morning on the Thom Abraham show...

Coach Stockstill on Rivals Radio...

Coach Stockstill recently on Rivals Radio which airs on Sirius/XM satellite radio. If you don't have the service or just missed the interview enjoy the audio below...

Bowl game schwag...

Just one of the many perks of going to a bowl game are the bowl gifts! Gifts are given out by the bowl and the university to the participating players. The amount of gifts are tightly monitored by the NCAA but the players still do very well for themselves with several goodies.

Check out some of the schwag the Blue Raiders will get this Christmas:
- Flip camcorder
- Oakley Sunglasses
- Oakley Backpack
- Bowl ring
- Nike Warmups (School)
- Fossil Watch (School)

For a list of all the bowl gifts check out Sports Business Journal's list of all the gifts given out by this season's bowls....CLICK HERE

Back from the Big Easy...

Middle Tennessee's Director of Football Operations Chris Matusek just got back into Murfreesboro this afternoon after spending the past 24hours in a whirlwind doing advance scouting of the Blue Raider's bowl destination. Matusek spent hours in meetings and tours analyzing the logistics of transporting the team's headquarters south to the Big Easy for 5 days during the bowl trip. It isn't easy to just pack up an entire team, support staff and all essential equipment it takes a lot of planning.

Here are some of the issues Matusek had to address on his visit:
- team hotel arrangements
- team meal locations and menus
- practice facility access and availability
- ground transportation
- flight arrangements
- locker room amenities & layout
- how to transport & access the team's expansive video network
- set up a recruiting office headquarters in the hotel
- locate venues of all the bowl's weekly activities

Coach Stock's will help plan your trip...

Check out Coach Stockstill's 2nd acting gig of the 2009 season in his new commercial and let him help plan your trip to the "Big Easy"!

New Orleans Bowl Wallpaper...

Celebrate Middle Tennessee's exciting bid to the R/L Carriers New Orleans Bowl with this great wallpaper from CoachStockstill.com

New Orleans Bowl Invite...

Coach Stockstill discusses the New Orleans Bowl invitation with Chip Walters Sunday night...



If you want more information on tickets for the New Orleans Bowl on December 20th click on the link at the top of our page...

Bowl Update #2

Bowl update from AD Chris Massarro on Monday December 4th....



If you want more information on pre-order bowl tickets or all of the Blue Raider Bowl possibilities click on the link below at the top of our page...

Vote for Jeremy Kellem...

Here is your chance to vote for Jeremy Kellem for this year's Rudy Awards.
Here is an explanation of the award from the website...

"Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger founded The College Football Rudy Awards to honor Division I football players who brought that ‘something extra’ to the team.

Award 2008 Drew Rudy wanted to find the most inspirational and motivational players in America who best defined what he refers to as "The Four C's": Courage, Contribution, Commitment and Character."

Click on Jeremy's picture to go vote..

"Who's Hot" List...

The Blue Raiders are starting to get some national attention. Check out what FoxSports.com had to say about Middle Tennessee on their weekly "Who's Hot" list...

Blue Raider Bowl Update...

Bowl update from AD Chris Massarro on Monday November 30th....



If you want more information on pre-order bowl tickets or all of the Blue Raider Bowl possibilities click on the link below at the top of our page...

Replay of the Historic 9th Win...

Because Saturday's game was on ESPN360.com you can watch the replay online. So if you want to catch this historic game one more time be sure to click on the icon below...