Leatherneck Nation

Leatherneck57 wrote:Let's get back to talking football...

Here's some stat comparisons from Coach Fishers offense versus our former staff...

Rushing
School - Player - Rushing - Team Total NET
WIU - Nikko - 1196 - 1831
Richmond - Green - 1596 - 2673

Passing
School - Player - Passing - Team Total NET
WIU - Norvel/McGuire - 3288 - 3288
Richmond - Lauletta - 3598 - 3653

Receiving
School - Player - Yards
WIU - Lenoir - 1184
WIU - Borsellino - 849
Richmond - Brown - 1450
Richmond - Diggs - 901

Total Offense
Team Total
WIU 5119
Richmond 6326 Difference +1207 yards

Ave yards per game
WIU 393.7 (13 Games)
Richmond 451.8 (14 games)

Points
WIU 327 25.1 points per game (13 Games)
Richmond 462 33 points per game (14 Games)

Also remember that Coach Fisher switched from the Spread offense to the I to compliment his running back this year. To be able to put these kind of numbers up and never playing the I at Richmond prior and having this much success in one year...I think it's pretty safe to say he knows what he's doing when it comes to coaching offense.

rocki wrote:I recall way back when too. Actually, Frank Winters (Packers' center for 15 years) was the very first student that I met on campus and he lived across the hall from me on the 5th floor of Thompson. But back then they weren't cutting programs, either, to keep the football program on a ventilator. To me, that is very disturbing. WIU has cut (and may be looking to cut) other programs to keep a very expensive (and generally losing or around .500 record) program afloat at the expense of other, far less costly programs, and where the football program does absolutely nothing to increase the prestige or enrollment of the university.

And I am not sure you can really say with a straight face that the WIU football program is, or was ever, a "premier" football program. Since WIU first participated in a football conference in 1915, 100 years ago, WIU has won just 10 conference championships outright (it shared the championship three other times) and appeared in post season play just 11 times (the NCAA began Division II playoffs in 1973). WIU did appear in 3 Corn Bowls back in the 1940's and 50's and played against "powerhouses" like Wheaton College and Luther College. Since the NFL draft first began in 1936, WIU has had 28 players drafted in those 79 years.

What all of this means is that, on average, WIU will win its conference 1 time every 10 years, will appear in post season play about once every 4 years, and will produce an NFL draft quality player (not necessarily a player that will actuallyplay in the NFL) about once every 3 to 4 years. That record is not "premier" by any standards.

The current football coaching salaries combined are in excess of $700,000. The salaries of the coaches of ALL of the WIU womens' teams COMBINED total about $400,000. The cost of running the football program, given that there are some 80-plus members of the team, plus coaches, is likely exponentially higher than any other sport, and likely dwarfs all womens' sports combined. Even though the football program BARELY has a .500 record over its existence (.529), the school is cutting other programs... To me, that is absurd. Many, many division I schools have cut football, and maintained their enrollments and have produced other quality sports programs. I can send you a list if you would like... If WIU cut football, other program would stand to benefit greatly, enrollment would not dive, nor would the reputation of WIU academically and, after a year or two, no one would notice or care, in my opinion.

Contrary to what some people may think, the typical college student doesn't select a school because of the football team (and especially a football team that on average produces a .500 record). A recent UCLA survey lists the top 23 reasons identified by college students as being "very important" for choosing a college. Athletics was ranked 18th, and then was only listed as being very important when the student was offered an athletic scholarship. In case you want to see the list, here is it:

1. College has very good academic reputation (63.8 percent)
2. This college's graduates get good jobs (55.9 percent)
3. I was offered financial assistance (45.6 percent)
4. The cost of attending this college (43.3 percent)
5. A visit to this campus (41.8 percent)
6. College has a good reputation for its social activities (40.2 percent)
7. Wanted to go to a college about this size (38.8 percent)
8. College's grads get into top grad/professional schools (32.8 percent)
9. The percentage of students that graduate from this college (30.4 percent)
10. I wanted to live near home (20.1 percent)
11. Information from a website (18.7 percent)
12. Rankings in national magazines (18.2 percent)
13. Parents wanted me to go to this school (15.1 percent)
14. Admitted early decision and/or early action (13.7 percent)
15. Could not afford first choice (13.4 percent)
16. High school counselor advised me (10.3 percent)
17. Not offered aid by first choice (9.5 percent)
18. Athletic department recruited me (8.9 percent)
19. Attracted by the religious affiliation/orientation of college (7.4 percent)
20. My relatives wanted me to come here (6.8 percent)
20. My teacher advised me (6.8 percent)
22. Private college counselor advised me (3.8 percent)
23. Ability to take online courses (3.2 percent)

That's my two cents.....


Just out of curiosity, why should any university have any sports at all, then? If they are only important to those who are on the teams, isn't that completely throwing money down the proverbial toilet?

When you consider that there are only a few sports that would tend to even try and bring revenue in to support themselves, why bother?

I guess my question is really "what's your problem with football?"

Oh, and for us old-timers, WIU football games WERE part of the social activities on campus. It was THE place to be on Saturday afternoons. Rickety old stands packed shoulder to shoulder.....those were the days.

WIU0812 wrote:http://www.goleathernecks.com/documents ... t_2015.pdf

This report will probably make things more confusing, but I did see it online. The worst thing is some how they just even all sports out to a $0 dollar profit so I do not know what the real number is by looking at this.

beauspencer wrote:You question that WIU football has never been premier??? Just over a decade ago WIU was the #1 team in the nation. And for those quoting football expenses and salaries....do you not realize the program brings in several hundred thousand dollars per year on guarantee games alone and that money is distributed throughout the athletic dept.

brewer2125 wrote:

beauspencer wrote:You question that WIU football has never been premier??? Just over a decade ago WIU was the #1 team in the nation. And for those quoting football expenses and salaries....do you not realize the program brings in several hundred thousand dollars per year on guarantee games alone and that money is distributed throughout the athletic dept.

Well, you are only partially correct. WIU does get guarantee game money. But, most, if not all of that money goes back into football. If you don't believe me, do some research and find news articles where Bob Nielson stated "a lot of that money goes back into your budget to help fund your program." Western's coaching salaries exceed $700,000. The guarantee from the Wisconsin game was $450,000. That, to me, is still deficit spending. They added another guarantee that year against Northwestern but not enough to offset the program's salaries. Now, the team has to pay the costs associated with getting to those games, housing, meals, blah blah blah. So those guarantees are gross numbers, not net. But, much credit to you for raising that excellent point, which was unlike Leatherneck57 whose only contribution to ths discussion so far has only been "football is a great game - duh." By the way, it is my understanding that there is discussion in the Big Ten about doing away with the gaurantee games because they almost always end up in a rout (WIU lost to UW 34-10, some might say that is not a rout necessarily, but you can't call that a close game, either - and this year WIU lost to Illinois 0-44 and that is a rout).

As far as WIU being ranked #1 in the nation in the past, the key part of your comment was "just over a decade ago." And when during the season was that ranking? Year end? And that year, did they get past the NCAA Division I-AA playoff quarterfinals (see 2002 and 2003) or did they get knocked out in the first and second rounds (see 2000, 2010, 2015). In 1998 (which is almost two decades ago) they were knocked out in the semifinals. So what is your point? As I stated in my earlier post, they win conference about once every 10 years on average, and get into the post season about once every 4 years on average (and then generally get knocked out in the early rounds). I'll stand by my earlier comment that the record does not deserve the tag of a "premier" program.

But all in all, very good points you raised for discussion. Thank you.