I have heard and seen a lot of stuff about the new major emphasis on nutrition at the UW for athletes, but this makes it all much more "real" in my mind. Great write-up, Mr. Caple. I would want to try just about everything they have, at every meal. Dillon certainly sounds like he is on top of every possible aspect of this. It is absolutely worth the money - I am just glad that there are donors with the money to fund this. And I am very, very glad that ALL of the UW athletes can benefit from this new facility.
This is the good stuff. Really think this will, and already has, make a big impact for athletes. Very happy to see they have this. And really well used use of existing space.
I was over eating catering from El Guacho at UW events years ago can't imagine facing it multiple times a week. Obviously lots of moving pieces to feed so many athletes, but damn! Glad UW has made it a priority.to fuel better. Loved the article.
I wish you'd included some examples of calories in-take for different sized players based on losing, maintaining or gaining weight. Not trying to be a jerk but I'm curious how many calories a 300 pound lineman needs to eat if he wants to add 20 pounds of muscle.
Would love to get one of those “sweat rate sensors” just to watch the staff be completely dumbfounded by how I, the sweatiest man in America, can in fact sweat that much.
So they get access to a first class nutritionist, free food both on an off campus, free tuition and room, a stipend and still they are poor abused athletes who can jump to another school at the drop of a better NIL deal. Would it be better to just pay them, let them pay their own nutritionist and chef and tuition etc., and put them under contract? At least we wouldn’t have the charade of the “student” athlete
I agree but was being a little facetious, because, frankly, I am a little tired of hearing that players are some sort of Oliver Twist orphans being abused by a Fagin sitting atop a pile of ESPN money. A full ride scholarship does have a substantial value- is it equitable given the revenue the sport of football produces? Sure doesn’t seem that way but the “billions” that get bandied about is not net profit in the same sense that a corporation “makes” billions, if it were Athletic departments shouldn’t operate in the red. The crux for me is what is equitable? Assuming revenue sharing is just around the corner maybe the model is a Corporate one, in which all compensation, including scholarship value ( tuition, room and board, health care, tutoring) are calculated against net not gross revenue. Here’s one last thought if gross revenue was back at 1995 levels would the players still be considered grossly under compensated? At some point in the future TV contracts will reach a point of diminishing returns and revenue will flatten and maybe even contract, when that happens will Universities question whether their athletes are over compensated? As with all of industry (and college football IS an industry) I guess the market will eventually dictate what happens and, who knows, maybe we’ll be calling these the good old days at some point in the future
I’ve heard the billions theme for years- colleges are not “making” billions in the same sense that companies are earning net profits. If they were then every athletic department would have a surplus which is simply not the case. I think I object to the idea that scholarship athletes get nothing for playing a sport they ostensibly love. Is tuition, room and board, health care, tutors and a stipend inadequate? If you compare it to gross revenue and coaches salaries it would certainly look that way but that’s not the whole story- especially for a school that is not part of a conference with a huge TV contract and is supporting a low revenue but important sport like men’s and women’s crew. Look at the finances of the Huskies- they’re carrying a pretty sizable debt load and certainly aren’t netting a “billion” dollars
They are making billions off of football, and a much lesser extent, basketball. They hide the profits by spending on sports that lose money. Football athletes absolutely deserve everything they are getting now.
If you use the NFL figure of 50% of revenue goes to the players, you’d be looking at a far more substantial figure than the true cost of tuition, room and board, food, medical, etc etc for a football team. UW athletics brought in roughly $190m in revenue in their last FY according to reports I found on Google. Figure 80% of that is generated by football, so let’s just say $150m. 50% of that puts you at a $75m allocation to the athletes if you follow the NFL model. So around $750k per football athlete if given equal distributions. Even if we said roughly HALF of the athletics revenue was from football, each football athlete on equal distribution would be well north of a scholarship, free food, and a free dorm room.
I completely agree that the transfer portal is frustrating. It will be nice to see multi year contracts from the university for players in my opinion. While I support a player’s ability to earn on their NIL, you won’t find me “donating” to Montlake futures. To that end, I’d also like to see coaching contracts actually mean something.
That’s why you see so many retired linemen who are significantly lighter than when they played, eating that much is practically a full time job in and of itself
Christian, any plans to add some branding in the DJC? Pretty sparse. Can’t say I see a single UW-branded design, especially compared to some other schools’ facility branding.
If anything, this article highlights how off the back UW has been and limited in space compared to its peers.
They do have some plans for cosmetic additions, including branding, but it’s a little tricky due to the dual-purpose nature of the facility. Actually had that in an early version of the story but it got lost as I rearranged some stuff.
Once, after a serious medical condition, I was treated to an Apple Cup game by the Tyee director. To say it was a wonderful experience would be an understatement. Wonderful people and a fun experience.
articles like this are why on montlake is worth every penny of a subscription. great work christian we are lucky to have you on the beat
I have heard and seen a lot of stuff about the new major emphasis on nutrition at the UW for athletes, but this makes it all much more "real" in my mind. Great write-up, Mr. Caple. I would want to try just about everything they have, at every meal. Dillon certainly sounds like he is on top of every possible aspect of this. It is absolutely worth the money - I am just glad that there are donors with the money to fund this. And I am very, very glad that ALL of the UW athletes can benefit from this new facility.
It's an expensive endeavor to stay in the P4. Sounds like the Athletic Program is all in.
Good stuff Christian, thank you! Would love more in depth tours on other facilities too!
This is the good stuff. Really think this will, and already has, make a big impact for athletes. Very happy to see they have this. And really well used use of existing space.
I was over eating catering from El Guacho at UW events years ago can't imagine facing it multiple times a week. Obviously lots of moving pieces to feed so many athletes, but damn! Glad UW has made it a priority.to fuel better. Loved the article.
Crazy that we just now implemented something like this. One of the positives of the Troy Dannen era I guess.
Perhaps THE positive ... :-)
Really a terrific article.
Thanks.
I wish you'd included some examples of calories in-take for different sized players based on losing, maintaining or gaining weight. Not trying to be a jerk but I'm curious how many calories a 300 pound lineman needs to eat if he wants to add 20 pounds of muscle.
Going to go on the Jonah Coleman chipotle diet now!
Would love to get one of those “sweat rate sensors” just to watch the staff be completely dumbfounded by how I, the sweatiest man in America, can in fact sweat that much.
https://nixbiosensors.com/pages/nix-solo-individual-app?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&utm_content=141705570122&utm_term=nix%20sweat&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18040786502&gbraid=0AAAAAobacy1p0Th2IAOH7UpD39JLcBAVy&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_8rBBhCFARIsAJrc9yAFSI2kVnmjMWM6OF4teegbv-auwKuWbhxc24StAvA2PoxfvgwkSu4aAmFREALw_wcB
So they get access to a first class nutritionist, free food both on an off campus, free tuition and room, a stipend and still they are poor abused athletes who can jump to another school at the drop of a better NIL deal. Would it be better to just pay them, let them pay their own nutritionist and chef and tuition etc., and put them under contract? At least we wouldn’t have the charade of the “student” athlete
NFL teams all have nutritionists, team-provided meals, etc. The contract/employee era is coming in college sports, but these benefits won’t go away.
I agree but was being a little facetious, because, frankly, I am a little tired of hearing that players are some sort of Oliver Twist orphans being abused by a Fagin sitting atop a pile of ESPN money. A full ride scholarship does have a substantial value- is it equitable given the revenue the sport of football produces? Sure doesn’t seem that way but the “billions” that get bandied about is not net profit in the same sense that a corporation “makes” billions, if it were Athletic departments shouldn’t operate in the red. The crux for me is what is equitable? Assuming revenue sharing is just around the corner maybe the model is a Corporate one, in which all compensation, including scholarship value ( tuition, room and board, health care, tutoring) are calculated against net not gross revenue. Here’s one last thought if gross revenue was back at 1995 levels would the players still be considered grossly under compensated? At some point in the future TV contracts will reach a point of diminishing returns and revenue will flatten and maybe even contract, when that happens will Universities question whether their athletes are over compensated? As with all of industry (and college football IS an industry) I guess the market will eventually dictate what happens and, who knows, maybe we’ll be calling these the good old days at some point in the future
“I can’t really make it to lunch, because my classes are kind of overlapping into when we start meetings and stuff,” Coleman said.
If they aren't students, what 'classes' is Jonah talking about?
And college football brings in billions off the work these kids do.
I’ve heard the billions theme for years- colleges are not “making” billions in the same sense that companies are earning net profits. If they were then every athletic department would have a surplus which is simply not the case. I think I object to the idea that scholarship athletes get nothing for playing a sport they ostensibly love. Is tuition, room and board, health care, tutors and a stipend inadequate? If you compare it to gross revenue and coaches salaries it would certainly look that way but that’s not the whole story- especially for a school that is not part of a conference with a huge TV contract and is supporting a low revenue but important sport like men’s and women’s crew. Look at the finances of the Huskies- they’re carrying a pretty sizable debt load and certainly aren’t netting a “billion” dollars
They are making billions off of football, and a much lesser extent, basketball. They hide the profits by spending on sports that lose money. Football athletes absolutely deserve everything they are getting now.
If you use the NFL figure of 50% of revenue goes to the players, you’d be looking at a far more substantial figure than the true cost of tuition, room and board, food, medical, etc etc for a football team. UW athletics brought in roughly $190m in revenue in their last FY according to reports I found on Google. Figure 80% of that is generated by football, so let’s just say $150m. 50% of that puts you at a $75m allocation to the athletes if you follow the NFL model. So around $750k per football athlete if given equal distributions. Even if we said roughly HALF of the athletics revenue was from football, each football athlete on equal distribution would be well north of a scholarship, free food, and a free dorm room.
I completely agree that the transfer portal is frustrating. It will be nice to see multi year contracts from the university for players in my opinion. While I support a player’s ability to earn on their NIL, you won’t find me “donating” to Montlake futures. To that end, I’d also like to see coaching contracts actually mean something.
"Graves said he emphasizes lean protein — one gram per pound of body weight is the goal for most"
He is right, but imagine being a lineman and having to eat 300 grams of protein a day... makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it.
That’s why you see so many retired linemen who are significantly lighter than when they played, eating that much is practically a full time job in and of itself
I’m reading this at midnight & yet just got extraordinarily hungry!
Christian, any plans to add some branding in the DJC? Pretty sparse. Can’t say I see a single UW-branded design, especially compared to some other schools’ facility branding.
If anything, this article highlights how off the back UW has been and limited in space compared to its peers.
They do have some plans for cosmetic additions, including branding, but it’s a little tricky due to the dual-purpose nature of the facility. Actually had that in an early version of the story but it got lost as I rearranged some stuff.
Once, after a serious medical condition, I was treated to an Apple Cup game by the Tyee director. To say it was a wonderful experience would be an understatement. Wonderful people and a fun experience.
Enjoyed your writing, as always. Just one question…what’s for dessert?