To put it kindly, UR does not want to be associated with Hampton or NC A&T in the CAA. UR has no right to look down its nose at any other football school, unless it can beat them on the field.
The move to the PL will kill UR football.
Do you approve of the move to the Patriot League?
- Thread starter Ferrum Spider
- Start date
The move to the PL will kill UR football.
The CAA was a great football conference. It has been run worse than any other conference and now is middling at best. It’s oversized and has way too many weak teams. I’m not saying the Patriot is great but there’s not a huge delta amongst any of the FCS east coast conferences currently.
Agree with everything here. It's twice the size of the PL so all being equal it should get twice the participants in the playoffs. If the CAA gets 4 the PL should get two. I think the PL is trending up and the CAA down. CAA hope that Nova doesn't follow Richmond.
Money must be behind the decision to join the Patriot League. The NIL costs to field even a good CAA team have got to be substantial. .
I know the FBS scholarship limit is increasing for football - I assume the same for 1AA, which has always been slightly less - so yes, I think money is a major factor. Again - UR prides itself as this wealthy school with multi-billion dollar endowment. Which I know you can't use the endowment, but it is a sign of the strong financial backing the school has. But when it comes to spend money on sports or there is a concern of money in sports - we then act like this small school, private, not a lot of students or alumni - so we act like we can't afford anything.
While the FBS is having the number of scholarships increased, they are also being required to reduce
the size of their rosters. Leaving more players available for FCS football.
But, call me naive, but I agree with Gallipolli and think the Patriot League move is based on the
conference’s teams. I believe that W & M and Nova will be showing up as Patriot League teams.
the size of their rosters. Leaving more players available for FCS football.
But, call me naive, but I agree with Gallipolli and think the Patriot League move is based on the
conference’s teams. I believe that W & M and Nova will be showing up as Patriot League teams.
If they do the PL will be the Premier East Coast FCS league.
Are you saying a PL with UR, W&M, Nova and Elon might be bette than a CAA whose strongest teams are Bryant, Campbell and Monmouth?
I feel they had been mentioned with the PL before joining the SoCon.
That is a big IF - lets not forget, we are talking about the Patriot league. This is one step below the IVY league, and they are more concerned about academics and reputation than they are being the best FCS football conference. We fit the profile because we are a small liberal arts college, with a strong endowment, and high academic standards. And while some other schools may fit the profile somewhat - I just don't know if the Patriot league is looking to become a premier league for FCS football. They are very similar to the UR mantra - they like to compete. So maybe they have some good teams here and there that can "compete" in the playoffs. But not sure they are looking to become a destination for schools or large amount of transfers coming to FCS.
Former season ticket holder for 22 years here. This included a time when I was in college (not a student at U of R)
Id rather of us move up with JMU and become a doormat in FBS over the move we made to the Patriot League. Sure, its a delusional thought, but IMO not much more delusional to think a move to the PL is going to elevate our program, especially if Nova/WM stay parked in the CAA.
The CAA isn't what it was, I get wanting to leave....that doesn't mean the Patriot League will turn out like we hope.
Sometimes I don't get our fans. I have regularly seen fans blast terrible administrative decisions and swear off supporting the program because of their small potatoes mindset. Then turn around and are completely supportive of this move, to a league we regularly shit on our athletic department for trying to emulate their ethos, then act like their visionaries all of a sudden.
When schools leave a conference willingly, its almost always for better competition and more money, that was not the case here.
Imagine JMU deciding they had enough of the CAA and went to the Patriot instead of the Sun Belt. And I don't want to hear the comparisons about demographics, the fact is we competed with and regularly beat this school who is played their cards perfectly while we have gone backwards the past 8 years.
I don't know what's more concerning for the future of the football program. That half the fan base applauds this move, or that we only had 50 fans vote on this poll.
If you thought we had trouble selling tickets before playing schools like Hampton, WM, Towson coming to town, just wait until Holy Cross invades The Rob.
Call me negative all you want, but its embarrassing to see how little the admin cares about football and until they're called out on it, will continue.
Id rather of us move up with JMU and become a doormat in FBS over the move we made to the Patriot League. Sure, its a delusional thought, but IMO not much more delusional to think a move to the PL is going to elevate our program, especially if Nova/WM stay parked in the CAA.
The CAA isn't what it was, I get wanting to leave....that doesn't mean the Patriot League will turn out like we hope.
Sometimes I don't get our fans. I have regularly seen fans blast terrible administrative decisions and swear off supporting the program because of their small potatoes mindset. Then turn around and are completely supportive of this move, to a league we regularly shit on our athletic department for trying to emulate their ethos, then act like their visionaries all of a sudden.
When schools leave a conference willingly, its almost always for better competition and more money, that was not the case here.
Imagine JMU deciding they had enough of the CAA and went to the Patriot instead of the Sun Belt. And I don't want to hear the comparisons about demographics, the fact is we competed with and regularly beat this school who is played their cards perfectly while we have gone backwards the past 8 years.
I don't know what's more concerning for the future of the football program. That half the fan base applauds this move, or that we only had 50 fans vote on this poll.
If you thought we had trouble selling tickets before playing schools like Hampton, WM, Towson coming to town, just wait until Holy Cross invades The Rob.
Call me negative all you want, but its embarrassing to see how little the admin cares about football and until they're called out on it, will continue.
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I hear your concerns Ferrum and feel the same sentiment in some ways. There's no question that without W&M and Villanova joining that the Patriot League is a step down from the CAA, even with a CAA that has teams like Hampton and Campbell and will no longer have Delaware and JMU. I think there are a lot of considerations our athletic department had when making this decision and I think the move to PL now for football given the current landscape of CAA and college athletics is different than when Cooper wanted to do it close to 20 years ago.
At best, UR's intentions are genuine in wanting to position UR to be successful long-term in football and felt with the current state of the CAA that this was the best approach. Us going FBS is unrealistic and will necessitate a lot more resources than we have/are willing to give. Also, many would rather be successful and do well at the 1-AA level than be a doormat in a terrible FBS conference. Football is not a money maker for us and I don't think there will be much of a difference in ticket sales whether we play Hampton or Holy Cross. Our home opener for Wofford was half empty and tickets were going for $8.04 so demand is already pretty low.
At worst, UR really doesn't give a crap about our football program and hopes to continue de-emphasizing it in a stepwise way and this is the first step. Right now a lot of the older generation remains involved with football and they don't want to deal with upset donors by completely de-emphasizing it. In the next 30-40 years, where will UR football be, I have no idea.
I tend to be more optimistic and think that UR's intentions are more genuine in balancing UR's best football success with the realities of resources/investments in a program. I am 100% with you in hoping that UR has the mentality of wanting to be the best in athletics and that athletics and our overall reputation can be synergistic with one another. I will say, I am okay with the crowd not getting the proverbial pitchforks about this move simply because of how the CAA is now. I am also okay with not going to FBS because the investments/resources for that is too much for very little benefit. I think our focus should be on working to be among the best FCS teams. Whether Patriot League is ultimately the best move for that, time will tell. I do disagree with the timing of us going to PL and also did not like the reason for being more geographic and alumni aligned as a reason. We should be in the best conference to help us be the best football team. If it happens to be with other like minded institutions then great. This idea that we have more alumni in the northeast and that will some how make any more difference in attendance/interest in our football program is not a good one in my opinion.
Elephant in the room. With the expense of 63 full rides, how long does the Brass accept abysmal attendance? Love Spider football, even more than basketball, but the program as virtually all FCS programs is bleeding money.
The zenith of our football program nationally was a few decades ago when we routinely competed with the "Big Boys." Now, the Big Boys are in the process of stiff arming mid level basketball programs too.
Sad state of affairs.
The zenith of our football program nationally was a few decades ago when we routinely competed with the "Big Boys." Now, the Big Boys are in the process of stiff arming mid level basketball programs too.
Sad state of affairs.
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The athletic department and the school in general do nothing to promote athletics locally. It's their own making.
What happened to the local high school bands that would at least provide a modicum
of gametime noise and halftime entertainment?
These are very good points. The rule is play in the best conference that provides a school with national exposure, in which we can compete for a national championship and which is affordable. The Patriot League does none of that.
Our recruiting will fall off and interest in the program will decline. We will no longer be playing W&M in the last regular season of the year, with playoff implications on the line.
The admin is cutting off the football program at its knees. I suspect the Athletic Department and coaches only rubber stamped the decision by the new president, who wanted to leave his mark on the school. He did it, that's for sure.
Rule #1, just because they are in charge, doesn't mean they are smart.
