appears they are moving down to FCS… Wonder what conference? 
http://footballscoop.com/news/source-idaho-to-drop-to-fcs/
http://footballscoop.com/news/source-idaho-to-drop-to-fcs/
University of Idaho football
- Thread starter Coug95man2
- Start date
appears they are moving down to FCS… Wonder what conference?
http://footballscoop.com/news/source-idaho-to-drop-to-fcs/
Joining their old Big Sky buddies. The move, makes a lot of sense though, at least for now.
I can honestly see a day where a new WAC emerges. I think the TV appetite for live college football program is still very high. Namely on weeknights (Tuesday and Weds) when not a lot of other alternatives are on. I also think you'll see less late Pac-12 games on TV as well. Which would open up opportunities for the MWC and any other conference that wants to play late games.
Moving to Big Sky, which is the third D-1 conference west of the Rockies. Sadly, jealousy and envy of Boise State drove Idaho to FBS. Now reality is forcing them back to FCS. Good move. Never should have moved up to FBS years ago since they lacked the resources to compete and had no conference that made geographical sense in the wake of the WAC's football demise.
Good move by the Vandals. Actually, it is the only realistic move by them. Continuance in their current status is just not viable. I think we have all seen this coming ever since the Sunbelt cast them out. And I am equally sure that all Cougs wish them well in this change of position. They already play most, if not all, of the Big Sky schools in other sports so the transition should be relatively easy.
As others have mentioned, their football program is now so downtrodden that they will have trouble competing in the Big Sky in the near future. Will be interesting to see if they can remedy this fairly quickly and become contenders in their new classification.
As others have mentioned, their football program is now so downtrodden that they will have trouble competing in the Big Sky in the near future. Will be interesting to see if they can remedy this fairly quickly and become contenders in their new classification.
I hope to see Idaho RULE the Big Sky in the future like they did in the 80's and 90''s!
AND their recruiting should get easier. Is it a question whether players would rather go to a team that win like Montana,Eastern or Portland than Idaho who has done poorly in Div I?
It is a shame, but it is probably the best for them. Your question is something to keep track of from now on. I am curious as well.
I think it's going to be harder for them now. Not so much because of their D-I performance, but because Eastern and Montana are now regularly much stronger programs than they were during Idaho's heyday in the 80s. Those will be recruiting battles for them now.
What does their coaching staff do? Their jobs just took a step backward, I have to think they're all throwing out feelers to everyone they know, begging to get to another D-1 program before they step down.
I was wondering the same thing regarding their coaching staff. It has to be a big step down for the coaches and players alike. Who will be taking new jobs and will there be any players that want to go back to D1 ball.
Also wondering about their staff's consideration of their futures. Less chance of moving up the ladder in D1 now that their resumes are somewhat degraded. Since Big Sky salaries are likely considerably less than that of a D1 school, this is also a consideration. Cannot see Idaho imposing pay cuts but certainly a cessation of any salary increases until the compensation level reaches that of other FCS schools.
A couple of questions. Having no insight into Vandal football other than they are struggling, do they have any players a D1 school would desire? And is there a rule regarding transfers when a school drops down in class? I know that when a school completely eliminates football- I'm recalling the University of Pacific- then a player can transfer with no restriction on playing eligibility. One could make the argument that this impairs an athlete's chance of attaining a professional career due to the lower grade of opposition encountered. Any one have any information regarding this?
A couple of questions. Having no insight into Vandal football other than they are struggling, do they have any players a D1 school would desire? And is there a rule regarding transfers when a school drops down in class? I know that when a school completely eliminates football- I'm recalling the University of Pacific- then a player can transfer with no restriction on playing eligibility. One could make the argument that this impairs an athlete's chance of attaining a professional career due to the lower grade of opposition encountered. Any one have any information regarding this?
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Scholarship limits are lower at that level, so I'm thinking there will be some student losses. I don't remember what the limit is for D-1AA, but 65 sounds familiar. I'm not sure how you lose 18 scholarships without making some really difficult cuts. I count 47 kids that will be off their roster by 2018 (15 seniors, 32 juniors), but don't know how many of those are scholarship players.
I do not believe the move takes affect until the 2017 season. So, I think their next recruiting class is going to be very very small.
It's actually after the 2017 season, so they'll be Big Sky in 2018. So they can spread it over a couple of classes, but it looks like they'll have to limit themselves to 15 or less in each class, unless they have some significant attrition of their current underclassmen, or cut some of them.
I was just looking at their results the last few years, and it looks on the surface like they were actually better last year. They've scored more every season under Petrino, but still can't stop anyone. They were 4-8 in 2015, but the best team they beat was probably a 4-8 Troy team. They haven't beaten a team with a winning record since 2009.
So, that is even better for them. Things usually have a way of working out. I agree, somewhere around 15 scholarships a year seems about right.
My guess is they split the scholarships up. Prob still take 25 kids, just give some kids more or less $ based on their financial aid packages.
Or I could be completely wrong and they go with a 65 man scholarship roster and treat it like a NFL roster.
Or I could be completely wrong and they go with a 65 man scholarship roster and treat it like a NFL roster.
It hadn't even occurred to me til you mentioned it, but FCS can give partial scholarships, so that could help ease the transition. Their limit is 63 scholarship equivalents, so instead of giving 85 full rides, they could take the socialist approach and just drop everyone to 70% in 2018 instead of pulling rides from anyone. That would let them continue to recruit full classes for the next couple seasons.
I believe that the personality of the HC is even more important to program success at the FCS level, due to the limitations on other resources. Get a guy who is dynamic and a good recruiter, with at least average coaching and staff direction ability, and Idaho will do fine. EWU and Montana have no inherent recruiting advantages over Idaho in terms of Western Washington, NorCal or SoCal. With the right Poly assistant there are a lot of good FCS-level kids in Utah and even So Idaho that would also be available, on top of the Western WA and Cal kids.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but Idaho could have chosen to be the biggest fish in the FCS pond and used that status (along with better academics) to promote themselves over BSU. But that was not how the organizational testosterone flowed, and the results were tragic from a football perspective.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but Idaho could have chosen to be the biggest fish in the FCS pond and used that status (along with better academics) to promote themselves over BSU. But that was not how the organizational testosterone flowed, and the results were tragic from a football perspective.
Idaho is lucky to have a football team. They are a resource poor school, and there is no fan base to speak of. I wonder what the net revenue from football is, it can't be much. This may turn their fortunes around, or this could be the last stop before dismantling it altogether.
I've found a couple resources that put their gross athletic revenue at about $19 million. But they also subsidize athletics to the tune of $10 million a year, and it looks like that subsidy might be included in the revenue calculation. Expenses were slightly less than revenue, showing a net profit of about $200K...but that's a highly subsidized profit. The move to FCS might reduce the subsidy level, but most of the FCS teams I saw listed were also highly subsidized.
I'll have to see if I can find that link again. Problem is that it's such fuzzy accounting, different sites had very different profitability numbers for the same programs.
This is the best option for Idaho. It is also a huge blow to their fan base. Just go over to one of their message boards to get a sense of the anger and sense of betrayal from their leadership.appears they are moving down to FCS… Wonder what conference?
http://footballscoop.com/news/source-idaho-to-drop-to-fcs/
I feel bad for them and hope we never face this type of situation.
By the way, I think we'll gain some fans from them due to this. Probably not a lot though.
What does this do to recruits who have signed an LOI already? The players that Idaho just signed in February signed up to play FBS ball, and now they find out that when they're juniors - just when they should be breaking into the starting lineup - they won't be an FBS team anymore. Is there any mechanism that would allow them to transfer without penalty? Because there should be.
Recruits who sign with them in 2017 and 2018 will know exactly what they're getting into. But the ones from 2015 and 2016 especially are potentially getting a seriously raw deal out of this.
Recruits who sign with them in 2017 and 2018 will know exactly what they're getting into. But the ones from 2015 and 2016 especially are potentially getting a seriously raw deal out of this.
