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SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 22, 2019

Keith Gill

New Orleans, Louisiana

KEITH GILL: It's an honor and a privilege to stand before you today, particularly because about 25 years ago, which is not a number I like to admit, I was an FBS football student-athlete. So this is a really special event for me.

So before I go too far with my remarks, I really would like to take a moment to recognize the Sun Belt football head coaches and student-athletes that are here with us today. Your hard work and effort is the reason we're here and is the main reason that Sun Belt football continues to reach new heights. If you could stand and be recognized, the student-athletes and the head coaches, please.

On behalf of the Sun Belt presidents, chancellors, directors of athletics, administrators, coaches, faculty and students, I welcome you to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the home of the Sun Belt Conference and Sun Belt football. The Superdome will host an opening-week kickoff game in week one when 2018 Sun Belt West division champion Louisiana takes on SEC foe Mississippi State at 11:00 a.m. central on ESPNU.

The Superdome will also close out the 2019 football season by hosting the Sun Belt champion in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 21st and then the College Football National Championship game on January 13th. We appreciate our partnership with the CFP, and I would like to recognize CFP COO Andrea Williams who's here with us today. Thank you so much for being here.

It is fitting that the home of the Sun Belt Conference and Sun Belt football is a building as iconic as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. This building has hosted Super Bowls, Final Fours, a 15-round brawl between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks and so many other special moments in the history of American sports. Having the Sun Belt office and Sun Belt football games in this historic building is a testament to the power of the Sun Belt brand.

As you may know, I've been on the job for a little less than three months, so I'm still learning a lot every day, but I recently passed an important milestone and now feel like a veteran because I can drive to our offices here in the Sun Belt without using GPS and I don't get lost.

I stand here today in this historic building to say that the state of the Sun Belt is strong, and when the final whistle is blown at the CFP National Championship in this stadium, I will also be able to stand here and say the state of the Sun Belt is strong. It will be another exciting year for Sun Belt football. The competition for the league championship will be as exciting as ever, and the non-conference schedule will treat our fans to some of the best football in the nation.

Our non-conference schedule will consist of 13 games against Autonomy Five opponents, 13 games against Group of Five opponents, four games against independents, and 10 games from teams from the football championship subdivision.

Our non-conference scheduling model is working. Over the past five seasons, only 35 percent of our non-conference games have come against Autonomy Five opponents. Compare that to the beginning of the decade when when the 2010 football season saw that Sun Belt played 75 percent of its non-conference games against the Autonomy Five competition.

The change in how our programs build their schedule is significant because the results prove success. The conference set a single season non-conference win record last season with 24 total wins, and the Sun Belt had the best non-conference win percentage of any Group of Five conference in 2018.

The Sun Belt will crown its football champion following our second annual Sun Belt football championship game, which will take place on Saturday, December 7th, at 11:00 a.m. central on ESPN. The winner of that game will play here in the Superdome in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. We are excited about our continued partnership with all five of our bowl partners. Sun Belt is pleased that at the end of this football season, our teams will have the opportunity to compete in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Mobile Alabama Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, the Cure Bowl, and the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl. Thanks for all the partnership from our bowl partners who are here today. We really appreciate your support.

Bowl season has always been exciting for the Sun Belt, as our best teams have the opportunity to play in highly competitive games and against first-class opponents. Bowl season is particularly exciting for us because we win. We are very proud that the Sun Belt has the best three-year bowl winning percentage among all 10 FBS conferences at nearly 70 percent. College football is at its finest when coaches and young men have the opportunity to raise a trophy in the air and declare themselves a champion. And in the last three years, the Sun Belt teams have done this more than their peers.

The NCAA's upcoming bowl allocation formula means that the new bowl cycle that starts in 2020, the Sun Belt will once again have five bowl partnerships. Details of those games are currently being finalized and announcements will be coming soon, but what I can say is that we'll have some exciting new partners in exciting places and with proximity of our geographic footprint, which should make the games accessible and exciting for our fans.

With all the success we've had, our goals in college football have not changed. The Sun Belt works hard to have multiple teams ranked in the top 25 of the preseason and the final polls. The Sun Belt is dedicated to having its champion be the highest ranked of all Group of Five champions and earn a spot in a New Year's Six bowl. The Sun Belt wants to continue to have the best winning percentage in the FBS, and the Sun Belt wants to be the best Group of Five football conference. We believe that we are on the right path to achieve these goals.

This is a special year because we're celebrating 150 years of college football, as Wright just talked about. The celebration will show case the rich history and traditions of the sport and its contribution to American Society, while also promoting the opportunity it continues to provide to thousands of student-athletes across all of college football. The Sun Belt is an integral part of that history. Most everyone knows where they were when Appalachian State defeated No. 5 Michigan in 2007. In 2012 ULM defeated No. 8 Arkansas 34-31 behind quarterback Kolton Browning's four touchdowns and 480 yards. Super Bowl winning head coach Doug Pederson was an All-American for ULM. Jake Delhomme helped Louisiana defeat No. 25 Texas A&M in 1996. There have been so many great memories in the Sun Belt throughout the years, and we look forward to celebrating them this season.

The state of Sun Belt media rights is strong. We are thankful to our partnership with ESPN that was recently extended to 2028. The agreement will provide a vast amount of exposure for our members, which will allow them to tell their stories and showcase the incredible athletic and academic accomplishments of Sun Belt schools.

The state of Sun Belt academics is strong. Our members continue to focus on the academic and personal development of our students. We are in the education business, and the most important responsibility we have is to support the health, the academic, competitive and personal development of our students. This past spring, 21 teams earned NCAA public recognition awards for APR scores in the top 10 percent nationally, and the Sun Belt had 22 academic All-Americans. In recent years, as many as $70 million in financial aid has been provided annually to the Sun Belt's over 3,000 student-athletes. And the Sun Belt annually awards postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes pursuing graduate studies.

The Sun Belt recognized nearly 2,000 student-athletes for academic accomplishments this past season. Over 1,000 student-athletes were recognized on the commissioner's list for earning a GPA over 3.5. Another 900 were named to the academic honor roll for achieving a GPA over 3.0.

We literally wear these academic accomplishments on our sleeves. Through our Sun Belt graduate patch program, we recognize Sun Belt student-athletes that have completed the requirements to earn their degree. We have 197 total student-athletes that have graduated and earned the opportunity to wear the Sun Belt graduate patch on their uniform this season. We also provide each graduate a Sun Belt stole to wear during their graduation ceremony. Last year we provided 820 stoles to Sun Belt student-athletes participating in their graduation ceremonies. This year we hope to provide even more. The stoles and patches are a visual representation of our commitment to academics. Our presidents, chancellors and directors of athletics believe it is important to regularly honor academic achievement, and we will continue to look for ways to showcase academics and support our work as educators.

Not only are we proud of the strong academic accomplishments among our student-athletes in the classroom, but we are equally proud of what they do for their communities. This last academic year, our student-athletes volunteered 32,000 hours for their respective communities. That contributed to an economic impact among their communities of nearly $1 million. Additionally, the involvement of our student-athlete advisory committee within our conference governance structure has provided our student-athletes an opportunity to engage in conference governance and initiate campus and conference outcomes in the creation of policies and procedures related to health and safety and mental well-being of our student-athletes.

The state of the Sun Belt membership is strong. We believe that we have the perfect number of members; 10 football and 12 all-sport members has us well positioned for success. We are excited about our footprint in the Sun Belt of the United States, from the Carolinas to Texas, and our geography creates strong rivalries and schedules through our divisional framework. We feel great about where we are from a membership standpoint and are quite bullish on our current composition.

We have a great staff here at the Sun Belt Conference office. I want to take a moment to thank and just recognize them. If all the staff members of the Sun Belt Conference office could please just stand and be recognized. They put on this wonderful event. They do things every day to support our championships, support our students, and I just want to take a moment to recognize them today.

Tiffany and I are excited to be a part of the Sun Belt family, and I do want to recognize my partner Tiffany Speaks, so my partner of almost 30 years who's here this morning. She's a great teammate and a great partner for me and is the love of my life. We both look forward to getting to know all of you as we travel the campus and travel to Sun Belt events.

This is the 150th season of college football and the 19th season of Sun Belt football. At the end of this historic season, when the final whistle is blown in this stadium, I will be able to repeat the message I have given today. This is a dynamic conference that continues to grow and achieve at a high level. The state of the Sun Belt is strong.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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