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UAB dropping football after 2016? Could this become a trend?

To address the OP - I do think this will be a trend. We are definitely moving toward an era of "haves" and "have-nots". Schools like UAB are looking at their budgets and coming to the conclusion that they can't continue to throw money at an athletic department that is sucking resources from the general fund. They can re-purpose the stadiums to be in line with their academic goals.
 
sackman said:
They can re-purpose the stadiums to be in line with their academic goals.
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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...provides-local-produce-dallas-cowboys-stadium

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big changes are happening, for sure. madden is on the radio everyday up here. he advocates that there should be no tackle football before high school. flag only.

this is much different than the culture that produced him and that i played in. i started full contact in 3rd grade and didn't stop until i graduated high school.

i am sure i had multiple concussions over those years and i have other physical issues as a result. [go ahead and mock now]

the only smart call i made was to not go and play small college ball and instead go to CU and try to focus on other stuff.

and there is no way i'd let my own kid play tackle football now. maybe in high school. i'm not judging. i'm just acknowledging that things are changing.
 
CVilleBuff said:
On another note, Idaho is in deep **** with the collapse of the WAC and the MWC having no interest. Boise State refusing to play them anymore - which would be a huge financial boon for Idaho - isn't helping. Idaho is stuck in the Sun-Belt, playing UL-Monroe and South Alabama. The Kibbie Dome holds 16k for football and they aren't even close to filling it. Without a miraculous MWC olive branch (won't happen as long as Craig Thompson is MWC commish), I don't know if Idaho can stay afloat. Seems a question of when they'll retreat to FCS and the Big Sky.
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Moscow is a pretty little town. The problem is its like Longmont, cute but a not a lot is there, and Moscow lacks proximity to anything. Pullman is the next closes city. Spokane and Cour d'Alene are way north. Boise way to the south. Its not off of an interstate either. I think Idaho football will always struggle in part because of geography.
 
Add to the equation the Ohio State player with CTE taking his own life (just found his body in a dumpster), smaller schools are going to look at the economics and the potential for lawsuits and I think we'll see a lot of schools shut down football. There are going to be a lot fewer scholarships available, and if you're a good athlete but you're never going to be 6'8" and 315 lbs, you may as well focus on basketball or baseball or soccer.

It may well be the start of a downward spiral for the sport.
 
Looks like its officially donzo, the real story here I think is how how they're quietly trying to crush the university as a whole (get rid of sports, get rid of undergrads) from competing with UAT. It's like CU Boulder trying to prevent CU Denver from becoming the awesome school it is because of alumni allegiances.

But if anyone is really feeling bad, here is a fun story to make you feel less bad about UAB football going away. http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no12uab.html
 
Colorado Track Fan said:
Makes all the sense in the world. Many more schools should do this.

Geez, CU is in the P12 and doesn't field men's baseball, tennis, swimming, etc. It's ridiculous to prop up a football program when it's hemorrhaging money. Maybe you could run the program more like a club or high school sport on a very limited budget. It becomes all about the student-athlete (just like it is for most of the other sports). Schedule only local/regional opponents. Limited facilities and coaching/training staff. Pragmatic expenditures for equipment. etc. Basically, the original model and objectives for amateur athletics.

If I were CSU, I'd drop football and instead throw resources at building a national powerhouse with some other sport: soccer, lax, hoops, track/xc, etc.
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Agree that some schools should consider dropping football because of the cost. Lots more should consider dropping down to a much more affordable level be that FCS, D2, or even D3.

At the same time note your own user name. If the decision is made based strictly on balance sheet you realize there would be no such thing as D1 T&F, swimming, gymnastics, and virtually every other sport other than football, men's basketball, and maybe a few baseball, volleyball, and women's BB programs. Nobody makes money off the huge majority of the sports played at the college level. Even if you eliminate scholarships most don't even cover the cost of coaching, equipment, and travel, even if that travel is mostly local.

You have to consider the cost of subsidizing the program vs. the benefits of having the publicity from the program, the ability of the program to add to the campus climate and experience, to maintain connections with alums and donors including non-athletic donors, etc.
 
I was just thinking about this subject. IMO this could be not just a trend, but necessary as these schools try to move up to quickly. The financial side of running a football program, traveling and only putting a few thousand ass' in seats with half those being free college kids tickets.
 
Anybody watching this on gameday? They didn't talk to their top donors about the decision?

One thought that a buddy and I discussed this week, would something like 7-on-7 football be a middle ground for small colleges?
 
hokiehead said:
Anybody watching this on gameday? They didn't talk to their top donors about the decision?

One thought that a buddy and I discussed this week, would something like 7-on-7 football be a middle ground for small colleges?
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It isn't P5 level or bust. Lot's of schools are financially viable at the FCS level. It is very good football but with some reasonable budget restraints.

No need to go full panic just because you can't keep up with the huge money programs.

The idea of dropping football all together or going to some D2 or D3 level is like someone saying I can't afford to buy a new Mercedes S-Class for $100,000 like my neighbor so I'm going to go to a 20 year old Subaru instead. Lots of those people who can't afford the S-Class can still easily support a new Buick or Ford or Toyota or may want to go to a 3-5 year old Mercedes E-Class for $30,000.

It is just a question of making decisions based on what are the needs and wants compared to the available resources. If the resources aren't there you do without but if the resources are there but limited you do what best fits for what you can afford. I think an extended FCS is going to be very popular in the future with schools who figure out that they can't keep up with the billionaires down the street but still want something nice.
 
Villanova would be a great model for a lot of schools. 1AA football with a commitment to winning. Everything is D1 and they commit to winning at all they do, but they have accepted that they're not the type of place that can compete for championships against the P5 football elites so they were smart enough not to blow the budget to chase that dragon.
 
Buffnik said:
Villanova would be a great model for a lot of schools. 1AA football with a commitment to winning. Everything is D1 and they commit to winning at all they do, but they have accepted that they're not the type of place that can compete for championships against the P5 football elites so they were smart enough not to blow the budget to chase that dragon.
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Perfect example. Also of course North Dakota State, Jacksonville State, etc. University of San Diego is able to be successful on the field and financially while San Diego State hemorrhages money while getting beat up trying to pretend like they are a big time school.
 
Good way to turn over a roster and handicap a coach unless they'll see him thru the rebuild.
 
Reading a little between the lines it looks like a few boosters stepped up and threw some cash at the school to keep the program afloat. If I'm going to read even further between the lines I would suspect those same boosters made it clear that additional conributions could be expected but only if the football team remained.
 
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