The pieces are still falling into place from the breakup of the Freedom Football Conference, a process which started more than four years ago.
The New Jersey Athletic Conference’s announcement that Buffalo State would be joining for football in the fall of 2006 was the latest change in affiliation in the region, but it’s not the last. Sources tell D3football.com that the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Plymouth State will join the New England Football Conference for 2006 as well.
For Coast Guard, this will be the second switch in conferences. The school, which helped lead the charge out of the Freedom Football Conference in June 2001, when it bolted for the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association, along with Kings Point and Worcester Polytech, gave the Liberty League about 12 months before leaving again.
And to think, the entire conference changed its name to Liberty League with the three football schools in mind.
Grading the moves
Buffalo State: Good move. Their football Web site says the program “has evolved into a national power.” While that boast became inaccurate about four years ago, this is a change the Bengals needed if they wanted to improve and gain some respect.
Coast Guard: Bad idea. I understand the geography is better for the Bears in the new league but they move from the No. 18 conference (D3football.com’s 2004 ranking) to the No. 25 conference. Out of 25 conferences. What kind of message does it send to the cadets when their administration is taking the easy road? One 1-9 season (0-7 Liberty League) is not reason to downgrade your program.
Plymouth State: Good idea. Any conference affiliation is better than being an independent.
What’s next? We could see a team shift from the Empire 8 to the Liberty League, which would leave the E8 short of the necessary schools for an automatic bid. Becker, Husson and Mount Ida applied for the NEFC and were rejected. The NEFC could still split up, as the MASCAC has six schools in the league and could qualify for its own automatic bid by splitting off and taking someone like Mass-Dartmouth with them. (The waiting period might be a deterrent.)
Similarly, the North Atlantic Conference could attempt to lure schools away from the NEFC and claim its own automatic bid — Becker, Husson, Maine Maritime and Mount Ida each have football, giving the league the minimum four members it needs to start adding single-sport affiliates.
And further down the road, when SUNY-Morrisville completes its move to four-year status and becomes a full Division III member, the SUNYAC would have four football-playing members. They could all come back home and attract three other schools to join them.
Odd man out right now is Brockport State — the outlying school in the ACFC. Perhaps SUNY-Maritime will step into this league after it starts up football in 2006.
Nice article but you guys always slant your insight and evaluation of programs based on making it to the tournament. Not every school is concerned about making it to the dance. The more important thing for most schools is being able to offer a competitive program in their league/region and staying on a budget. Why is Coast Guard coming back to their roots a bad thing? They’ll be playing in a league where they can compete for a championship every year. They will save money on travel expenses and have one of the largest budgets in the conference. Having a chance to go to the tournament is an added bonus but not the reason kids decide to go to the academy to play football.
The only schools where coaches are concerned about the tournament are those that put a great deal of emphasis on winning. These schools have at least 3 full time coaches with as many GA’s as needed. They have the ability to recruit all over the place, get any player accepted, and tie in a financial aide package as enticement. Which schools in the NEFC have this? Curry? Endicott? Nicholl’s? I think the only one who really meets those criteria is Endicott. Curry has Nelson and some guys who have more time to spend coaching then most, have money to spend and can get most guys in when the want but they don’t have the ability to send many coaches on the road recruiting and neither does Nicholl’s
Stat’s are nice, rankings are nice and making the tournament is an added bonus but they are not the end all. You will get players because of the history of your program, the coaching staff, facilitites, and the players on you team. If a student wants to come to your school only because he has a chance to go to the dance that player probably won’t really fit into your program in the NEFC until schools decide to compete on a National level.
“Not every school is concerned about making it to the dance.”
“They’ll be playing in a league where they can compete for a championship every year.”
Which is it? Where’s the emphasis again?
I agree, not every school is concerned about making it to the dance. It appears CGA is, or at least is concerned about being able to win more than one game, that it’s willing to lower its level of competition. What happened to competing with like institutions?
D3Fan,
you were off to a good start in the first paragraph before you started making up facts.
You’re right, a lot of our coverage is focused on the pursuit of playoffs berths and by extension the national championship. And I’m pretty sure every school outside the NESCAC and maybe UMAC would like to win and is trying to make the playoffs.
But the real issue is that almost all football-playing d3 schools operate under some kind of limitation, not just in the NEFC … most can’t go “all over” to recruit. A lot don’t even leave their home state, except on rare occasion or by postal service. A lot don’t have as many full time coaches as they want, or have GAs at their disposal. And many cost so darn much that even a nice need-based finanicial aid package doesn’t compare to the price one can get at a state school. And I bet every Division III school is wary of overspending its budget, which they believe is too small.
Frankly, I can’t imagine a level where it’s harder to recruit and stay afloat. And that’s part of the charm of this level … everybody’s here because they want to be, because they love the game and believe in the value of football as a tool to educate.
That’s the mission almost everywhere, not just in the NEFC, whose coaches might take it as a slap in the face when you say they don’t put an emphasis on winning. Are they not trying? And do you mean to say that Division III coaches who do win care more about the final score than the development of the young man?
Hogwash.
Keith, my point wasn’t that D3 coaches don’t put an emphasis on winning. In good programs, at our level the emphasis should be on family, school, and football. D3 football is about developing character and competition, not going to the NCAA’s. If you get a chance, especially in the NEFC, great but the odds are truly against you. Coaches use it as a recruiting tool but if you were to poll the ones who have been around for a while, I bet they would prefer to end the season after the championship game or just play in an ECAC game where they may play a team that they are better matched against.
Look at the last few NEFC teams to play in the NCAA’s. Curry, UMass-D, and Westfield State. Were they 3 of the better teams to come out of the NEFC? Yes! How did they fair against some of those schools with 3 fulltime coaches, GA’s, bigger budgets and yes who go on the road to recruit? They were beat soundly! They were trying, the score mattered, the players played hard, the coaches coached hard but they were outmatched by schools that put a greater emphasis on their programs. If that were not true explain what has happened to Plymouth State. They have deemphasized football at one of the most dominant D3 programs in our area and now they are struggling to compete locally.
I’m not sure what facts you feel I’ve made up but I’m only commenting about what I know. In no way was I putting down any of the programs in the NEFC. By my account they exceed all expectations by any comparison.
Basically, I’m saying that the emphasis IS on family, school, and football at most Division III programs, regardless of record.
Maybe you were speaking about the NEFC specifically, but I bet most coaches would prefer to end the season as deep in the playoffs as possible … out of sheer competitiveness for one, but also because another win means another week together, another week to teach and learn, and another week to be with “family.”
Having traveled to schools large and small in Division III, I don’t find that the mission differs from place to place. The constraints do … some schools are public with low tuitions, some have help in the admissions office getting players into school, and some get more support from their administration.
But many programs do the majority of their recruting in-state or in neighboring states, and a lot of it by phone and mail. Most have some kind of hurdle to overcome to stay competitive, so I don’t think those are good excuses for not being competitive against other teams in the playoffs. And if I understand correctly, you’re saying that some coaches aren’t that concerned with winning? I find that to be hogwash. Winning is not the end-all, be-all at most programs, even the ones that do win consistently, but I don’t think anyone prefers not to win.
You say D3 football is about character and competition, not going to the NCAAs. Think about that for a second. If you don’t have goals, how are you competing? Pursuing an NCAA berth (or just trying to win each week, as in the NESCAC) pushes the players and coaches to get the most out of themselves, as they develop character in the process.
In other words, d3football is precisely about going to the NCAAs, because the pursuit of such (the competition) and the experience for teams that do make it helps develop that character that you speak of.
Keith you still have me confused! I understand a lot of what you’re saying and I’m sure you speak from experience as a player and reporter. I have experiences too.
In none of my replies have I stated anywhere that coaches don’t want to win. They all want to win the most games and championships they can. I was initially responded to the negative review given to Coast Guard because they decided to join the NEFC. I’m sure they want to win football games and realize that the best place for them to do that within the limitations specific to CG is in the NEFC. I believe it is a good move for them. They are in a league that they have a real chance to win a championship in.
I supposed most of my comments are specific to the NEFC but I’m sure they hold true throughout all of D3. I agree that each school has their own hurdles to overcome and do the best that they can to excel with in those limitations. The problem is that the limitations that the Curry’s, UMass-D’s, WSU’s face can not be compared to those that the Springfields, Ithica’s, Union’s… You are comparing apples and oranges…Yes it is good for the NEFC to play these teams year in and year out but to constantly bash the NEFC as a league because they haven’t won an NCAA game or struggle to compete with those schools is ridiculous. Instead this web site should be praising them for attempting to compete at that level.
Again what facts have I made up?
I guess my points were pretty much directed at the “woe is me” attitude you seem to have about the NEFC, and a specific paragraph in which you brought up a bunch of supposed advantages that everyone but the NEFC has. You certainly may know some things I don’t know about the schools in question, but I think it’s more apples and apples than you think.
Look at the teams that have beaten NEFC schools in the playoffs the past four or five years: Hobart, RPI, Muhlenberg, Western Connecticut. Not exactly a who’s-who’s of East Coast football. Good programs for sure, but no Rowan, no Lycoming and no Ithaca, Springfield or Union, as you mentioned. The teams that are beating the NEFC schools are similarly-sized state and private schools that should be competing against the state and private schools in the NEFC, since they probably attract a similar type of student-athlete.
Maybe I inferred this from your post and you are not actually saying this, but it sounds like it’s a forgone conclusion that a NEFC team can’t and won’t ever win a playoff game … If I was a NEFC coach, I’d probably take that as a slap in the face. Especially if you look at a game like Curry-RPI in 04, when it was 27-20 with 7 minutes to go. RPI won and went all the way to the final four … which sort of signifies that NEFC teams aren’t as overmatched as some other years’ scores might indicate. West. Conn. beat Westfield 8-7 in 01, Ursinus beat Bridgewater 43-38 in 99. I know that’s going back a bit, but those scores should be proof that just because a NEFC team HASN’T won a playoff game doesn’t mean one CAN’T.
I don’t see where having the playoffs as a goal hurts the overall mission of Division III football. Everybody tries to do the best with whatever their limitations are, on or off the field, and the best football teams get to decide it on the field. That’s worthy of focus, to me. Staying on budget is great, but nobody wants to read about it.
As far as the facts you made up, this paragraph here really threw me: “The only schools where coaches are concerned about the tournament are those that put a great deal of emphasis on winning. These schools have at least 3 full time coaches with as many GA’s as needed. They have the ability to recruit all over the place, get any player accepted, and tie in a financial aide package as enticement.”
* “The only schools where coaches are concerned about the tournament are those that put a great deal of emphasis on winning.” … OK, that’s subjective, but I’d like to know how you know who is concerned with the tournament and who isn’t. You said “in none of my replies have I stated that coaches don’t want to win.” Really? That’s not how it looks.
* I think you’re right that many schools have 3 full-time coaches, but I can’t imagine many have “as many GAs as needed.” Maybe some have extra volunteer coaches, but I doubt many have unlimited paid positions or GA spots in the budget. Where did you get that idea?
* Who in Division III has the ability to recruit all over the place?
* Who can get any player accepted?
* Some schools find ways to give financial aid to athletes, but some admissions offices really and truly don’t treat their athletes differently than the regular student body (gasp!). Division III schools have to play by the same financial aid rules, and schools that cost less to begin with are in good shape against expensive private schools.
Just because some schools have more administrative support, or admissions office support doesn’t mean a whole conference of schools should stop aiming high. Maybe I’m missing an important detail. Perhaps that above paragraph was about certain NEFC schools only, but I took it to mean the other playoff schools in the region, and nation.
Maybe if you came out with some better specifics I could feel your pain. I re-read your first post. You have really good points to make, but when you start following them with blanket statements, you end up sounding like you don’t know what you are talking about. And I don’t mean it to be a personal attack, I just have a hard time reading some of that and not saying anything back.
I don’t have a problem with your thoughts on Coast Guard’s move, but I don’t think I personally would ever endorse playing weaker competition as a way to better yourself. That’s not true improvement. If Coast Guard says “it’s a better fit because of x, y and z,” fine … but if the argument is “this is a good move because they’ll win more games,” that’s just plain weak.
Also, me personally, I don’t “constantly bash” any league. But at the same time, I have to be honest with the readers. To someone in another state that knows nothing about a team, conference or situation, we can’t soften it up to be nice, and give people false impressions. You lose credibility that way, and when you don’t have that, people can’t trust or respect your reporting anymore.
If reporting facts that don’t necessarily shed the best light on someone or something is bashing, then I’ll take issue with your definition of the word some other time.
This is why I don’t post on the message board. I get wrapped up in time-consuming discussions way too easily.