Scholarship Debate

[gkautz10]

A friend and I were arguing about schools honoring players commitment for a 4 full years. I know ND does it whether you go on medical hardship or what not, but he is arguing that college football is strictly a business and these schools owe nothing to the kids that commit to them. I disagree 100% with that premise and I think it is a dumb and ignorant argument to make. He was also arguing with me that schools do not kick student-atheletes off the team based on poor performance or to make room for better players that are being recruited. Again I disagree with him on that. I guess I have 2 questions. 1) Does anyone have any articles that prove my point that schools do kick players of for a number of reasons other than grades or conduct off the field? We argue about SEC schools doing this all the time but I do not know if I have actually seen a news article on it. And secondly, what do you all think about this subject? I think it should be a 4 year commitment on both sides not just one sided as it is now.

 

[kmoose]

he is arguing that college football is strictly a business and these schools owe nothing to the kids that commit to them.

This is the justification that many fans of other schools use, so that they don't have to face the reality that their school is merely paying lip service to the phrase "student-athlete". If it is all about the business end of it, then the ends justifying the means becomes a much more acceptable attitude, and, therefore, the unethical behaviors become much more acceptable as well.

 

[gkautz10]

This is the justification that many fans of other schools use, so that they don't have to face the reality that their school is merely paying lip service to the phrase "student-athlete". If it is all about the business end of it, then the ends justifying the means becomes a much more acceptable attitude, and, therefore, the unethical behaviors become much more acceptable as well.

Agreed, if a kid is going to make a huge life decision to go to a certain school, why are the schools not held to the same standard? He argued that in your career you can be fired. My argument is that you are fired based off your inaction's or because of something you did, not because you did everything that was asked of you and did the right things.

 

[IrishLax]

1. Yes, there are lots of articles out there. Here's an example or two.

Alabama Crimson Tide Football Has Some Unhappy Castaways - WSJ.com
From champs to chomped: How Urban Meyer broke Florida football - NCAA Football - Sporting News

2. See below...

There are three easy solutions to the scholarship problem... and none of them will happen because of the "little guys" who make up the majority of the NCAA.

1. Deregulate. Allow schools to offer as many scholarships as they want. So if you have earned a free education than you get it... and if you are no longer "earning" that scholarship for whatever reason then you lose it. This is the simplest solution and beyond intuitive. Even if you don't completely deregulate, making the cap something like 100-115 would go a really far way.

2. Make all schools guarantee a 4 year scholarship and remove the 85 cap while setting a yearly total somewhere in the 22-25 range. This incentivises teams to keep kids eligible and push them towards a degree while keeping them out of trouble.

3. Simply increase the 85 cap to something like 95 or 100 while keeping the yearly limit at 25... most of BS would resolve itself. No more forced medicals, "scholarship not renewed", etc.

As is you will always have some teams at a competitive disadvantage as "morals" and optimization conflict.

 

[kmoose]

Agreed, if a kid is going to make a huge life decision to go to a certain school, why are the schools not held to the same standard? He argued that in your career you can be fired. My argument is that you are fired based off your inaction's or because of something you did, not because you did everything that was asked of you and did the right things.

Not sure how old you are, or how much life experience you have, but make no mistake about it........ you can do everything that is asked of you, and do the right things, and still get fired. If a manager takes a disliking to you, they can always come up with some excuse to send you down the road.

 

[gkautz10]

Not sure how old you are, or how much life experience you have, but make no mistake about it........ you can do everything that is asked of you, and do the right things, and still get fired. If a manager takes a disliking to you, they can always come up with some excuse to send you down the road.

Ok agreed, but I think that is not really a huge issue in most cases. That is due in large part to contracts, unions, HR policies and mostly because of lawsuits. Most of the time if you are disliked by a manager or boss, they will put everything you do under a microscope and find a reason to fire you other than "dislike of employee". That has lawsuit written all over it. I guess I was looking at it through a college football perspective. If I show up to workouts, team meetings, conduct myself with high morals and ethics, and become a good team player and spokesmen for the team/school, I am not going to make too many enemies. Maybe I am too skewed to how ND does things but hey.
Thanks for the articles, I will give them a read and forward them onto my friend for review.