Why no scholarships in football?

[valpo89]

I'm not a defeatist. I'm a realist. All I'm saying is that Valparaiso - the university and the town - could not support or would not be able to support lets say a 15,000-seat stadium. I'm not saying coach Carlson isn't capable of building a winning program. I'm just saying that Valpo football is right where it belongs in the college football landscape - Division I-AA non scholarship. It would be a waste of time and money to try anything different, just look back to the Division II days in the late 80s and early 90s. Does anyone remember Grand Valley State 91, Valparaiso 0?
I'm not a defeatist. I've seen more VU football games since 1990 than probably anyone who posts on this board. I am a realist.

[vu72]

Apr 15, 2010 9:07:06 GMT -5 valpo89 said:

I'm not a defeatist. I'm a realist. All I'm saying is that Valparaiso - the university and the town - could not support or would not be able to support lets say a 15,000-seat stadium. I'm not saying coach Carlson isn't capable of building a winning program. I'm just saying that Valpo football is right where it belongs in the college football landscape - Division I-AA non scholarship. It would be a waste of time and money to try anything different, just look back to the Division II days in the late 80s and early 90s. Does anyone remember Grand Valley State 91, Valparaiso 0?
I'm not a defeatist. I've seen more VU football games since 1990 than probably anyone who posts on this board. I am a realist.

Do you remember all the way back to 2003 when we not a PFL championship as well as the...whatever it is called championship with that other conference?

I agree with89 that winning against scholarship teams will be next to impossible, and the losing to bigger programs goes back further than the 90's. In the 60's and 70's, and maybe before, when we played teams like Ball State and Indiana State, the results were not fun.

Having said that, I agree that we need to be excited and back the new coach. He is the first coach, maybe ever, who came in here from a winning tradition. He will bring an up tempo exciting brand of football to Valpo. Winning brings out fans and also brings in better athletes. I'm looking forward to this coming season even if we get drilled from time to time. In the PFL teams can and do turn a round fairly quickly. Just look at Butler.

[ml]

I have worked at schools that competed at both the FBS and the FCS scholarship level. The cost of competing at both of those levels is significant. You don't have to look any farther than the recent announcements at Northeastern and Hofstra to see the strain FCS scholarship football places on the Athletics departments at private schools.

Playing in a football conference with Butler, Dayton, Drake, Davidson, San Diego, etc. is a positive for the University and the Athletics department. We will be successful within the section of FCS we have chosen to compete and will do it in a manner that best utilizes the University's resources.

[crusaderjoe]

Apr 15, 2010 9:07:06 GMT -5 valpo89 said:

I'm not a defeatist. I'm a realist. All I'm saying is that Valparaiso - the university and the town - could not support or would not be able to support lets say a 15,000-seat stadium. I'm not saying coach Carlson isn't capable of building a winning program. I'm just saying that Valpo football is right where it belongs in the college football landscape - Division I-AA non scholarship. It would be a waste of time and money to try anything different, just look back to the Division II days in the late 80s and early 90s. Does anyone remember Grand Valley State 91, Valparaiso 0?
I'm not a defeatist. I've seen more VU football games since 1990 than probably anyone who posts on this board. I am a realist.

I have to respectfully disagree. I would love to see VU football move towards FCS schollie. You remember 91-0? I'm sure you also remember 69-25, right? During the 22 loss seasons, would anyone in their right mind have thought that Valpo basketball would have been six points away from an Elite 8 appearance ten years from then?

I guess I just don't understand why is this question is always written off immediately around here. I mean if there is no money, or there is no ability to raise the money for FCS scholarship, that is one thing. Using past results as a reason to not explore FCS scholarship, or as an excuse to schedule down for that matter, really sets the potential of the program back, IMO.

[valpo89]

Apr 15, 2010 11:36:40 GMT -5 crusaderjoe said:

I have to respectfully disagree. I would love to see VU football move towards FCS schollie. You remember 91-0? I'm sure you also remember 69-25, right? During the 22 loss seasons, would anyone in their right mind have thought that Valpo basketball would have been six points away from an Elite 8 appearance ten years from then?

I guess I just don't understand why is this question is always written off immediately around here. I mean if there is no money, or there is no ability to raise the money for FCS scholarship, that is one thing. Using past results as a reason to not explore FCS scholarship, or as an excuse to schedule down for that matter, really sets the potential of the program back, IMO.

Yes, I remember 69-25. I also know there were two guys sitting at home who couldn't wait to get on the court the next season (Schmidt and Redmon) who were capable of beginning a dramatic turnaround.

You can't compare football and basketball. You only have 13 scholarships in basketball. You need bodies to compete in football, and I don't think VU has the financial ability to offer 63 full scholarships in one sport, not to mention build a facility that is going to attract the kind of athletes necessary to win or a local population that would be willing to invest time and money into supporting "big time" football.

I just don't understand why VU fans - Valpo people - can't accept that the school is right where it should be for football? You're not a bunch of beer swilling, gung-ho loud mouths who sit on your couch screaming at the television all day on Saturdays and think, "Hmm, why ain't Valpo football on the TV? Them idiots in the administration don't know what they're missing."

Gimme a break. We've beaten this to death every year, and it always comes up again when a freshman who has no sense of history or the ability to look at the big picture finds this message board and re-starts a 10-year old conversation.