Alabama, Clemson, OSU and other football programs are pseudo professional and play by different rules than us. That is the primary reason we can't really compete. What we try to do is pay 8 figure contracts (that dwarf all other employees at the university) to make up the difference but it doesn't. And I think the gap in competitiveness has increased over the past couple of decades. Because of financial pressure (TV, donors, ticket sales), it has forced us to live in a gray area - where we compromise some values but not enough to reach their levels. In essence, certain programs have become professionalized. We are not quite there so we lose.
How have these top tier programs done it?
- various types of benefits to players - financial, living facilities, scam academic programs, sophisticated training geared for the next level
- turning the other cheek to PED use (and perhaps conspiring to assist with same) https://www.postandcourier.com/colu...cle_6615cdf8-219d-11e9-9663-cfd49594d1b2.html
- incredible marketing to recruits and willingness to flaunt recruiting rules
- willingness to not look out for health of players - CTE, etc.
- willingness to turn the other cheek to the off the field activity of players and/or gain cooperation of law enforcement to cover up such activity
Do we cross the line on certain of these issues? Sure. But I do not believe it's to the level of the programs on the top.
The problem is that different schools have different priorities. Different schools have different academic reputations. Different schools have a different perspectives when it comes to health, safety, and welfare of students. Different schools operate in different demographic and political environments than others. Winning is simply more important to alums, donors, and faculty in some schools vs. others. Accordingly, different schools are going to be more willing to cut certain corners than others. These factors make a difference on the margins - especially in a sport such as football with such a large roster of players and where the game itself is so intertwined with safety and health and academic obligations.
What is the solution? I still maintain it is to find a group of schools that are interested in playing by (and setting up a system to enforce) a system of rules consistent with certain values (the most important of which is probably the value of legitimate academics). I'm not exactly sure which schools those are - certain come to mind - Northwestern, Duke, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Cal Berkley - perhaps other high level public schools like Wisconsin. I'm sure there are more. And I think creation of an alternative league might lead a number of other schools (especially other schools that can't compete in the current system and that force them to operate in uncomfortable gray areas like us) to consider joining. What would this new system require?
- much stricter academic protocols and requirements that are consistent with the requirements imposed on non-football players
- much stricter recruiting rules
- much stricter PED testing and enforcement
- much stricter health and safety protocols
- much more resources dedicated towards enforcement of the rules
- much tougher penalties for violation of the rules
- elimination of non-campus games
I know people want to be the absolute best - to win a championship of all schools. I know people don't want to lose rivalries like Michigan vs. OSU. But times change. Leagues change. New rivalries develop. Where we are now and where we are headed is not good in my opinion.
Last night I watched a devastating hit on a kid by a linebacker whose body simply did not look natural to me. He was apparently shot up with painkillers and allowed to continue playing without the possibility of knowing what kind of trauma was caused to his body (including his organs).
I heard last night about football players earning degrees in 2.5 years despite the fact that we all know that they commit the vast majority of their time playing and training for football. This is an impossibility until you start reading about post graduate degrees earned in a year based on classes that sound more like first vocational courses. These courses have little to do with academics - they are solely devised to allow players to stay eligible to play football. They are a fraud.
We don't do that at Michigan. And if certain teams do, we really shouldn't be in the same league as them or really expected to compete with them.
It's time for a change IMO.
How have these top tier programs done it?
- various types of benefits to players - financial, living facilities, scam academic programs, sophisticated training geared for the next level
- turning the other cheek to PED use (and perhaps conspiring to assist with same) https://www.postandcourier.com/colu...cle_6615cdf8-219d-11e9-9663-cfd49594d1b2.html
- incredible marketing to recruits and willingness to flaunt recruiting rules
- willingness to not look out for health of players - CTE, etc.
- willingness to turn the other cheek to the off the field activity of players and/or gain cooperation of law enforcement to cover up such activity
Do we cross the line on certain of these issues? Sure. But I do not believe it's to the level of the programs on the top.
The problem is that different schools have different priorities. Different schools have different academic reputations. Different schools have a different perspectives when it comes to health, safety, and welfare of students. Different schools operate in different demographic and political environments than others. Winning is simply more important to alums, donors, and faculty in some schools vs. others. Accordingly, different schools are going to be more willing to cut certain corners than others. These factors make a difference on the margins - especially in a sport such as football with such a large roster of players and where the game itself is so intertwined with safety and health and academic obligations.
What is the solution? I still maintain it is to find a group of schools that are interested in playing by (and setting up a system to enforce) a system of rules consistent with certain values (the most important of which is probably the value of legitimate academics). I'm not exactly sure which schools those are - certain come to mind - Northwestern, Duke, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Cal Berkley - perhaps other high level public schools like Wisconsin. I'm sure there are more. And I think creation of an alternative league might lead a number of other schools (especially other schools that can't compete in the current system and that force them to operate in uncomfortable gray areas like us) to consider joining. What would this new system require?
- much stricter academic protocols and requirements that are consistent with the requirements imposed on non-football players
- much stricter recruiting rules
- much stricter PED testing and enforcement
- much stricter health and safety protocols
- much more resources dedicated towards enforcement of the rules
- much tougher penalties for violation of the rules
- elimination of non-campus games
I know people want to be the absolute best - to win a championship of all schools. I know people don't want to lose rivalries like Michigan vs. OSU. But times change. Leagues change. New rivalries develop. Where we are now and where we are headed is not good in my opinion.
Last night I watched a devastating hit on a kid by a linebacker whose body simply did not look natural to me. He was apparently shot up with painkillers and allowed to continue playing without the possibility of knowing what kind of trauma was caused to his body (including his organs).
I heard last night about football players earning degrees in 2.5 years despite the fact that we all know that they commit the vast majority of their time playing and training for football. This is an impossibility until you start reading about post graduate degrees earned in a year based on classes that sound more like first vocational courses. These courses have little to do with academics - they are solely devised to allow players to stay eligible to play football. They are a fraud.
We don't do that at Michigan. And if certain teams do, we really shouldn't be in the same league as them or really expected to compete with them.
It's time for a change IMO.
