Yesterdays win by
NDSU has many people across Iowa and the country shocked. Not me.
Not for a second. There are four
major reasons.
- Expectations
- Motivation
- Nothing to lose
- Behind the numbers
I will briefly
discuss what leaders can take away from this game and then dive into the
scholarship numbers. A quick behind the scenes look for the college football
junkies. I am going to attempt to keep this brief because I could write about
this all day and it is too nice outside to do that!
- Expectations- NDSU expects to win. They have a history of winning. I have no behind the scenes knowledge of the program, but I would bet they have a player-driven-culture. (for more on that see my blog post below on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats) we often get what we expect in life. What do your teams expect?
- Motivation- Many of the FCS players have a chip on their shoulder from not having got an offer at the FBS level. Hell hath no furry like a kid passed over by the schools of their dreams. What motivates your team and how can you press those buttons?
- NDSU has nothing to lose and they played that way. They competed like kids in the back yard. They have fun. How can create an environment that promotes a culture of fun?
- Ok. Here we go college football junkies.
The FBS (big boys or
1A) teams have 85 full-ride scholarships.
If a student-athlete qualifies for financial aid he can even keep some
money above and beyond for expenses. It
is all or none. You can't break the
scholarship up into partial scholarships. (for more on this see my previous post about recruiting walkons at Iowa State)
The FCS (smaller
schools or 1AA) teams have 63 scholarships that may be divided into partial
scholarships. This is where it gets
interesting. Many of the FBS (big boys)
are offering full ride scholarships to 16 and 17 year old kids. This is an inexact science. Ok, maybe it's not even science at all. There are many multi-sport athletes at small
schools who get much better once they get to college. They focus on one sport and get the
strength/speed/nutrition emphasis they did not in high school.
The FCS teams are
able to hedge their bets a bit and spread out the scholarships over a larger
number of kids with less investment. It
is similar to having a diverse investment portfolio as opposed to having most
of your money in a few stocks. If the
FBS (Big boys) make a mistake in recruiting and offer a player that turns out
to be a bust they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Well-meaning administrators(and needed) create rules to
protect the student-athlete and make it nearly impossible to send a player
packing. If too many players leave it the teams APR score (retention ratio) and graduation numbers. This creates the rock/hard-place scenario.
I am not saying that
FCS (smaller schools) teams have an advantage.
I am not saying Northern Iowa should beat Iowa State. I am not saying NDSU should beat Iowa. I am just explaining why these games are
often closer than most think they should be.
These teams share a recruiting landscape that does not produce a lot of
finished-product, sure-fire, can’t-miss
Division 1 prospects. It does produce a
lot of hard-working, late-developing, mentally-tough kids. Unless you have a crystal ball this levels
the playing field more than most know or care to understand.
As you have seen
already this season, there are plenty of talented players at UNI and NDSU. And
now, you know a little more about the reasons why these games are often closer
that the "experts" say they should be.
