Malone Drops Football -Immediately

[GLIAC Fan]

Very sad to see this and the timing is awful too. The coach was a good guy and even though they didn't win much this program handled themselves with class.

https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20190...-restructuring

[unc4life]

This is not a surprise. Rumors have been going around for years about them moving down to D3. Honestly Malone should have stayed in the NAIA.

[UFOILERFAN]

Very sad to see this and the timing is awful too. The coach was a good guy and even though they didn't win much this program handled themselves with class.

https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20190...-restructuring

Well, that sucks. Hope the coaches and players can find other places to go if they wish.

[Redwing]

Never good news. No easy way to rip the band-aid off either. Hoping for the best to all those impacted.

[BlueBlood]

Sad day.

Also, this clearly bucks the trend where small schools are adding/maintaining football as an enrollment and tuition driver. In the press release, Malone states that dropping football will eliminate expenses of approximately $1 million annually. They don't say how much tuition/income they will lose. Per Dept of Education, Malone has 116 football players, which is approximately 10% of the school's 1135 full-time undergraduates.

[unc4life]

Findlay has a week 10 opening now, so does Ashland. Make it happen.

[UFOILERFAN]

Findlay has a week 10 opening now, so does Ashland. Make it happen.

Yes, works for me.

[oilerftbll]

I am not sure how the contract worked out for Findlay/Ferris St, but I don’t know why Ashland and Findlay don’t have a yearly OOC scheduled game.

[boatcapt]

It would be interesting to see how Malone came up with the million dollar savings. Dont think this number factors in the tuition/R&B loss from 116 players no lomger enrolling.

Seems like whenever a school adds or drops football, the math get a little fuzzy.

[UFOILERFAN]

It would be interesting to see how Malone came up with the million dollar savings. Dont think this number factors in the tuition/R&B loss from 116 players no lomger enrolling.

Seems like whenever a school adds or drops football, the math get a little fuzzy.

Agree, football is always the target then they make up the math to justify the decision. I'm a little surprised that Lake Erie hasn't done the same thing.

[unc4life]

It would be interesting to see how Malone came up with the million dollar savings. Dont think this number factors in the tuition/R&B loss from 116 players no lomger enrolling.

Seems like whenever a school adds or drops football, the math get a little fuzzy.

I’m actually surprised more schools aren’t dropping football. I’m not sure it will save Malone a million dollars but running a decent football program is not cheap. Coaches, equipment, travel for 50+. Over time that adds up. If you don’t have a serious backing by alumni and the school it’s hard to justify it. Malone’s problems run deeper then cutting the football team. They should never have gotten D2 status to begin with. Would not be shocked to see more schools to this, Lake Erie and Urbana have to be thinking about it. Not sure how some of these schools are even open let alone have a football team.

[dodger]

I’m actually surprised more schools aren’t dropping football. I’m not sure it will save Malone a million dollars but running a decent football program is not cheap. Coaches, equipment, travel for 50+. Over time that adds up. If you don’t have a serious backing by alumni and the school it’s hard to justify it. Malone’s problems run deeper then cutting the football team. They should never have gotten D2 status to begin with. Would not be shocked to see more schools to this, Lake Erie and Urbana have to be thinking about it. Not sure how some of these schools are even open let alone have a football team.

I'm not sure some of these schools wouldn't be open without the students that football brings to campus.

[Dozsa2]

I’m actually surprised more schools aren’t dropping football. I’m not sure it will save Malone a million dollars but running a decent football program is not cheap. Coaches, equipment, travel for 50+. Over time that adds up. If you don’t have a serious backing by alumni and the school it’s hard to justify it. Malone’s problems run deeper then cutting the football team. They should never have gotten D2 status to begin with. Would not be shocked to see more schools to this, Lake Erie and Urbana have to be thinking about it. Not sure how some of these schools are even open let alone have a football team.

What's the future for Walsh football? I don't pretend to be an expert on all things GMAC but it always seemed to me those schools had a lot in common: private, same town, same stadium, same struggles in D2 football.

[BlueBlood]

I'm not sure some of these schools wouldn't be open without the students that football brings to campus.

Absolutely. I’ve said on here a few times that the allure of playing college sports is all that is keeping many small colleges open. If that fascination ever dims, there are a lot of schools that are in (even more) trouble.

[BlueBlood]

For example, the two schools mentioned above:
253 of Urbana’s 417 students are student athletes.
408 of Lake Erie’s 723 students are student athletes.

[Dozsa2]

For example, the two schools mentioned above:
253 of Urbana’s 417 students are student athletes.
408 of Lake Erie’s 723 students are student athletes.

Urbana only has 417 students? That blows my mind.

[BlueBlood]

Numbers are for full time undergrad students per Department of Education.

https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/

[cwfenn]

Urbana only has 417 students? That blows my mind.

Wow, is the school doing OK? Cheyney has more students and they're barely hanging on.

It's always hard when a school drops a sport. I had a hard time following my alma mater's (New Haven) athletic programs back when they dropped the sport in 2003 (they brought it back in 2009). Hopefully the university can bring the sport back.

[laker]

For example, the two schools mentioned above:
253 of Urbana’s 417 students are student athletes.
408 of Lake Erie’s 723 students are student athletes.

Wow. I'm surprised that these are D2 schools.

[UFOILERFAN]

A couple of more schools drop football and all of a sudden we're the GNAC.