In all the recent comments concerning the large deficit in the University of Hawaii Athletics Department, I have not heard this suggestion I think makes sense and would be worth trying before more drastic changes occur: Change the football program to the FCS (Football Championship Series).
Among the significant advantages:
>> The football program would continue, which is quite important to a significant portion of the public.
>> The FCS football level is NCAA Division I, so moving to FCS would not have a negative impact on Wahine volleyball, men’s volleyball, baseball, Wahine softball, or any other intercollegiate sports UH now participates in.
>> The football scholarship limit is only 63, rather than the 85 allowed under UH’s current FBS level.
This amounts to a considerable savings. While the FCS schools may divide the number of scholarships so that more than 63 athletes receive help while playing football, the total cost remains constant.
>> Further savings will occur in the number of coaching staff allowed in the FCS.
FCS schools may employ up to 11 coaches. If graduate assistant coaches or undergraduate assistants are hired, these count toward the 11 allowed.
>> A potential savings will occur in travel costs and subsidies to visiting teams.
As most teams playing UH would also be in the FCS classification, the teams and coaching staffs would also be of similar numbers.
FCS football opponents would not have high-cost programs to support and probably would not require the "contribution" UH must now pay to Mountain West opponents when they visit Hawaii.
While UH would still be playing mainland teams, guaranteed payouts would be smaller and travel distances would generally be shorter.
>> The program could begin at the FCS level as an independent and affiliation with a conference in the Western states of the mainland could be negotiated. The FCS-level programs in the West are in the Big Sky Conference.
The Big Sky Conference now contains 11 members and two associate members for football only — the University of California at Davis; and Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. The schools are in California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Colorado and North Dakota.
>> A final advantage to a change to the FCS level is that, as the name clarifies, there are playoffs post-season in which conference champions and some other schools are seeded into post-season playoffs.
This would allow the University of Hawaii to compete for a national championship in football.
This is not feasible in the current arrangement. After all, only the champions of the five conferences sometimes referred to as the "lower middle-class" conferences can hope for an appointment to one of the prestigious bowls if the team is ranked high — which frequently means undefeated.
In the FCS playoffs this year, three teams from the Big Sky Conference participated: Eastern Washington, University of Montana and Montana State University.
It is time for the UH Athletics Department, particularly the football program, to cease trying to be something it cannot afford to be.
Opting for the FCS within Division I of the NCAA would spare the football program, allowing UH to continue its tradition of playing football — which it began in its second year of existence, 1908.
With competition in football placed at a level in which the university’s team could become highly competitive, attendance at games will increase. The other athletic programs will continue to thrive in Division I competition.
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ON VACATION: Richard Borreca is on holiday break; his "On Politics" column returns Jan. 6.
