Monday Afternoon Long Snapper (6/16/08)

Only a little over 2 months away from the start of the 2008 season…

• Check out this article on Rivals.com concerning the rising salaries of head coaches. Since 1995, the highest salary has gone from $1 million to $4 million. At that rate, some coach will get a $5 million per year deal in the very near future.

It seems crazy – and many supporters of other college sports probably think it’s disgusting – but I have to ask a question. What sports make money for the universities? In most cases the answer is football. That’s it. Schools are run like businesses and we are going to hear about situations such as Arizona State or Rutgers where other sports were dropped, but the football coach was given a big salary. Well the harsh reality of it is you support items that make sense financially. College football makes sense financially. Ticket sales and TV revenues alone bring so much money into the school that it makes sense to pay more for a coach you believe will be able to make the program better and in turn bring in even more money. You want the best; you have to pay for the best.

The problem arises when schools have to cut other athletic programs. People immediately come out of the woodwork with statements such as: “but so much money was just put into expanding the football stadium, why can’t we have a soccer team?” The reason is exactly as I stated. The football team brings in money. In many cases, not only do those other sports not bring in money, but they actually lose it. It’s sad that big schools have to cut sports at all, but the reality of it is the sports not being able to support themselves. People don’t go to the games and the media doesn’t cover them nearly as much, but to blame the money given to the football programs is ridiculous. I would bet the money brought in by football helped fund a number of those other sports at most schools. Just think what a BCS bowl appearance alone could do for a school’s athletic program.

• The SEC has changed a rule that might allow certain individuals to get on the field a little quicker. In the past, if a football player didn’t qualify for entrance into a school, he was required to attend and graduate from a junior college before enrolling in the university. However, the rule change allows individuals to attend the school they wish to go to for one year with no financial aid and attempt to become eligible. The individual would not be able to play during that first year, but would be at the school. This is consistent with a rule already in place with the NCAA. On one hand it was nice to think of the SEC as having slightly stiffer rules than some of the other conferences, but on the other, should some rules be uniform throughout the NCAA?

• Former Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky coach Bill Curry will become the head coach of Georgia State’s new football program. I have nothing against Curry – and he seems to know a great deal about college football – but I’m not so sure about asking a guy with a career record of 83-105-4 who hasn’t coached since 1997 to help build a program from the ground up.

For you UF fans out there, Curry was 0-11 against the Gators and his teams were outscored by an average of over 4 touchdowns.

• I’m not the biggest Bobby Petrino fan, but he did the right thing in dismissing linebacker Freddie Fairchild from the Arkansas football team. Fairchild started 11 games for the Razorbacks last year, but was arrested in March for battery and false imprisonment.

• Ron Zook lost another Mendenhall. Rashard’s brother Walter Mendenhall has decided to leave Illinois due to limited playing time. He has already graduated but has a year of eligibility left which he will use at Illinois State. It seems that neither of the Mendenhall’s were big Zook fans, which makes them alright in my book.

• Over at The Wizard of Odds, there is a link to an article listing the worst fans in the ACC. Who would make the top 5 in the SEC? I’ll go with Tennessee as the runaway #1. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never met a Vol fan who’s had anything remotely intelligent to say.