http://www.elonpendulum.com/article/2015...nce-letter

JMU and Delaware are two of the non schools signing some letter saying they will not provide cost of attendance.

That ought to end the speculation.

Yeah, how can you have a supposed $44 million budget and not be willing to pay COA? Football aside, that could devastate your Olympic sports since you compete with FBS programs for those athletes. In football, offering COA for an FCS school that can afford it is the way to really set yourself apart and gain a huge recruiting advantage.

Pretty amazing that they upgraded their stadium to not move up. I dont thing there is anything wrong with saying hey we are a small school program but yes it will hurt them. I figure the real impact is sports other than football where they compete directly with other Division I programs who will offer COA.

The cost of arrogance. No FBS.

(09-23-2015 10:05 AM)CAJUNNATION Wrote:  The cost of arrogance. No FBS.

so they might lose out on some higher level recruits that are getting offers from schools that will pay to play. there are way more graduating high school athletes than fbs scholarships available.

You can imagine how well their fanbase is receiving news that they can no longer compete for recruits with even us at Liberty. I feel bad for those in Harrisonburg who were holding out hope that their leadership would turn the corner toward FBS.

(09-23-2015 10:35 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  You can imagine how well their fanbase is receiving news that they can no longer compete for recruits with even us at Liberty. I feel bad for those in Harrisonburg who were holding out hope that their leadership would turn the corner toward FBS.

Yep, me too.

So along with Liberty and NDSU, have any other FCS schools declared they are all in on COA?

I know that North Dakota & South dakota recently announced they are all in and that Montana & Montana State said they were not. I believe I heard something about South Dakota State possibly doing so as well.

I believe this will taint the FCS, and make it less competitive. I'm also shocked that CAA schools, that pride themselves in football (Delaware and JMU), wouldn't provide COA.

Well we all thought the P5 G5 thing was going to be the great divide in athletics when it is really looking like COA is going to cause a Grand Canyon divide in DIV I. This is going to be huge for the G5's that can pay full COA. No more losing that tweener football recruit to all but a handful of FCS schools anymore.

(09-23-2015 10:52 AM)SENOREIDA Wrote:  I believe this will taint the FCS, and make it less competitive. I'm also shocked that CAA schools, that pride themselves in football (Delaware and JMU), wouldn't provide COA.

JMU and Delaware are really interesting case studies. It seems like the administration at Delaware is trying to destroy their football program while JMU cares, but only so much.

(09-23-2015 08:33 AM)southern edumacation Wrote:  http://www.elonpendulum.com/article/2015...nce-letter

JMU and Delaware are two of the non schools signing some letter saying they will not provide cost of attendance.

Not only does that end the speculation regarding their football prospects for FBS....

It seriously harms their competitiveness in FCS

and

harms their D1 Basketball program and their conference as well.

--
I think that the COA issue is going to cause a split in D1.

Just being a Delaware native and growing up 15 minutes from Newark, I can't believe they are turning their backs on football. Especially coming after 5 years ago they were submitting renderings of Delaware Stadium to be upgraded and joining the FBS. Boy have the mighty fallen, from National Champions and a powerhouse, to the joke of a program they are now.

If I'm commissioner of the CAA, American East or Southern, that letter is an alarm bell.

You have a group of members staking out a position that COA is not compatible with their vision of intercollegiate athletics and you've got other members saying it is.

Looks to me that nine schools have thrown the gauntlet down to their conference and said join us or else.

Figure before the year out there is either a new conference or the leagues realign around having or not having COA.

That sounds like a recipe for FCS independence for us, arkstfan. I hope you are wrong.

I agree with Arkstfan, I get a feeling the CAA and other FCS leagues that have large groups not offering COA will end up splitting because of this.

Can you imagine how that would go with JMU fans, a press conference announcing a new conference around VMI and Elon? This from the school that was too good academically to join the Sun Belt.

(09-23-2015 11:16 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  That sounds like a recipe for FCS independence for us, arkstfan. I hope you are wrong.

I think Liberty would likely end up in the league with the split of the Southern based schools who are offering COA.

Might be the end of Big South football though.

(09-23-2015 09:51 AM)Crump1 Wrote:  Yeah, how can you have a supposed $44 million budget and not be willing to pay COA? Football aside, that could devastate your Olympic sports since you compete with FBS programs for those athletes. In football, offering COA for an FCS school that can afford it is the way to really set yourself apart and gain a huge recruiting advantage.

I think this statement really reflects the differences in reporting structures for athletic budgets.

I recall some JMU fans saying they had a larger budget than anyone in the Sun Belt with less scholarships. Clearly that is not the case, or they are planning on reducing that budget significantly.

Either that, or their administration has no intention of continuing to try and support athletics at the level they are accustomed to.

(09-23-2015 11:16 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  That sounds like a recipe for FCS independence for us, arkstfan. I hope you are wrong.

There's going to be a chasm between the few FCS programs that will pay FCOA and those that wont.

You'll probably be fine in the Big South as they won't kick you guys out if that ends the autobid. Even if you get kicked out, you'll probably just simply compete for FCS playoff bids anyway.

Where it might get interesting is in D1. It looks like the CAA is going to split on the issue of FCOA. So might the Southern. There could be a realignment of schools based upon willingness to pay.

The motivation for a school (perhaps College of Charleston or UNCW) that desperately wants to remain relevant in D1 but feels they can't if they don't offer a FCOA stipend but is blocked from doing so because they're in a conference that bans it might be strong enough to cause them to overlook LU's issues.

My guess is that you'll see nothing happen the first two years. But then as it becomes obvious that there are two tiers in the Big South, the CAA, the Southern, and the OVC...that 'like kind institutions' will start to self sort. Besides, if you aren't paying FCOA, why not just join the Patriot league. And how are you going to retain or hire the best coaches if you don't pay FCOA.

Without Coastal, the Big South really is LU's anyway. My guess is that this actually helps you more than it hurts you.