NDSU's Reality

[Jackrabbit]

Mike Daly, former head football coach at SDSU and an assistant football coach during NDSU's glory days in the '80s, often reflected on why the Bison were so dominant. He said a big reason was the ability of NDSU to fully fund the scholarship program. Few DII schools could reach the maximum level. Even at SDSU, student-athletes were required to work (custodial work, grounds keeping, etc.) which was not attractive to a prospective student athlete.

Daly said that because of the ability to fully fund the program, they (NDSU) could attract quality athletes who were second or even third on the depth charts. When a starter would go down due to injury, another quality player could step in. There was no drop off, and sometimes, some real gems were discovered.

Let me explain. In NDSU's glory days they would offer a kid 1/2 to 3/4's of a scholarship. Other schools in the NCC would offer a 1/4 or even a 1/2. Because these schools didn't have the war chest that NDSU had, they couldn't offer anymore. Plus, NDSU had the luxury of taking chances on kids. Some of those kids blossomed and became stars. Well, kids aren't stupid, they followed the money. All of that changed when scholarships were drastically reduced in DII.

In the '90s, if a starter would go down (or leave the program), there was a big difference in the athletic abilities between the number one and number two guys. The number two or three guys weren't wearing Bison uniforms, they were playing somewhere else and getting more of a scholarship.

Sure, tradition is important. Coaching is important. But, today's kids follow the money.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I wouldn't argue with any of that. Seems to me a damn solid argument for leaving D2 and moving up to a level where we can compete and fund a bunch of scholies....Bison dominance is not far away.

[JBB]

Our ability in the eighties to attract players in larger numbers than our opponents resulted in MORE skilled players on the team. Right now we have less than many of our opponents and even when fully funded wont have an advantage over most. This leads me to believe that we are going to have to win on coaching, recruiting and fan support both at home and on the road.

Its clear, even with a good team, most of the teams we play are much better than in the past (see Carson Newman). Looking at the DI-AA statistics compared to DII you see a tighter range and generally lower totals for the DI-AA squads. That idicates a lot more parity.

Even when we werent winning titles in DII we stood head and shoulders above most of the competition and rarely lost. Coach Bohl is right when he says its a new division and the margin of victory is much smaller than it used to be.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I guess I think that the tradition, the fact that NDSU is a flagship school, facilities, fan support and other such factors will put NDSU in a position to out compete schools like UNI or Western Ill. in attracting players. So we may well have a depth advantage over many DI-AA schools. Maybe our advantage won't be as great as in the 80's, but it will be there. I agree with the statement that we do have to win with solid coaching too.

[JBB]

numbers wise we will have the same abount of scholarship players as most of our DI-AA opponents, thats for sure. *But I think WyoBison has touched on something. *NDSU will out recruit all the regional DII schools because of the scholarship dollars and the larger stage we play on in all sports. *That will give us an advantage, at least in the region. *Do you want to travel and play at Cal Davis with a full ride or travel to Winona for a game with a 1/4 scholarship?

[scottheck]

Moving up to DIAA also requires better athletes for those scholarships. *Our competition for the student athlete is no longer Winona/UND/UMD. *At least regionally, it's the UofM, Iowa, Wisconsin. *

We're fishing in a smaller pond with bigger fish...

Oops, and SDSU...

[wfduck]

is we can take a top QB recruit and ask "do you want to sit on the bench at a d1 school and maybe get a chance to challenge for the job when your a jr or senior?" or come to State U and have shot to challenge as a redshirt frosh or sophomore?"

i agree we take the cream from the area D2s and snag a few blue chippers from d1

as they say there is more than one way to skin a cat...but don't expect the cat to help you