Florida A&M exit not rattling MEAC (conference will be more balanced)

[Jafus (Thinker)]

Florida A&M exit not rattling MEAC
-conference will be more balanced-

By KRISTIAN POPE
Staff reporter
08/02/2003

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/sports/2003/08/02floridaamexitno.html

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- As the nine Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football coaches sat at a podium during Friday's preseason media day, just eight helmets from the schools were placed on the accompanying tables.

Florida A&M coach Billy Joe sat smiling, despite having his team's helmet missing from the lineup. The gesture was no big deal to Joe. But, quietly, it said a lot about how the conference is handling Florida A&M this year.

They're here, but not really.

After this season, the Rattlers will leave the Division I-AA MEAC and move to Division I-A in 2004.

All the talk Friday revolved around Florida A&M.

Publicly, there is short-term disappointment over losing a valuable member. But there is the long-term optimism for conference holdovers like Delaware State, South Carolina State and Hampton, which no longer have to worry about Florida A&M on their schedules.

"It sets the tone for someone to step up," said first-year Norfolk State coach Willie Gillus Jr. "Let's take advantage of that. We're still going to be a competitive conference, but someone has to take their place."

Earlier this summer, the MEAC eliminated Florida A&M from its conference championship. The school also will be ineligible to play in the Division I-AA playoffs.

"We have no ill will or negativism regarding FAMU," MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas said. "Each institution has a right to do what's best for themselves."

After this season, when Florida A&M is gone, eight teams from the MEAC will offer football. Plenty of coaches see other teams ready to step up, although most admit it will be difficult to live up to the legacy that Florida A&M has established.

"We're losing a lot of tradition," Hampton coach Joe Taylor said. "I hate to see that leave. But the conference will be OK. There will be a lot more balance."

Beginning this season, the MEAC will see some of that balance come to life. Behind defending conference champion and preseason favorite Bethune-Cookman (11-2 overall in 2002, 7-1 in the MEAC last year), other teams are thought to be making inroads.

Hampton (7-5, 5-3) is picked to finish second in the conference and Morgan State (7-5, 5-3) is third. DSU (4-8, 2-6) is picked to finish seventh ahead of Norfolk State.

"There is a lot of parity in the conference now," first-year North Carolina A&T coach George Small said. "It's always been competitive and that's not going to change. This gives a chance for teams to catch up."

For years, the rest of the MEAC chased Florida A&M. With dreams of putting its program on a higher level, the Rattlers will be the ones doing the pursuing.

"It's a milestone," Joe said. "It's historic. We just want to make sure 100 years from now, we've had a good run."

Notes

? DSU coach Ben Blacknall was absent from media day. Blacknall is in Canton, Ohio, to attend this weekend's ceremony to induct his close friend and former North Carolina A&T teammate, Elvin Bethea, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

? Thomas said the MEAC is looking into expansion but still has not received any official applications to join. He said that he has no timetable for adding teams and that he has criteria in mind for any college seeking to join the MEAC, the first being it has to offer football.

? Florida A&M is still awaiting a decision from the NCAA on the status of Division I-A transfers to its program this season, including Clemson quarterback Willie Simmons. Because of the school's approval to change its football status to Division I-A, a one-time NCAA rule normally granted to football players transferring to Division I-AA does not apply. The school is seeking a waiver of that rule. Joe said he is hopeful the NCAA will make a decision by Aug. 6 when the Rattlers begin practice. "If they are ruled ineligible this season, we're going to be in bad shape," Joe said.

 

[jstate83]

Instead of beating them, tha rest of tha conference is glad because .....now they have a shot at tha championship with them gone? :idea:

What has everybody been doing all these years, starting tha season playing for second?

 

[Jafus (Thinker)]

MEAC football coaches: Expand

By Marty O'Brien
Daily Press
Published August 2, 2003

ARLINGTON -- Florida A&M's move from Division I-AA to I-A in football was the topic of discussion at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's football Media Day on Friday. MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas and several of the league's coaches were among those who spoke about the effect FAMU's move will have on the rest of the league.

Thomas said that the conference has not decided whether FAMU's other programs will remain in the MEAC after the 2003-04 school year.

"It's an advantage (for FAMU to stay in the MEAC) because the schedules are set," Thomas said. "This is a football-only move. Some of the public doesn't understand that only football has a different classification in Division I."

Thomas added that expanding to replace FAMU in football "is not a priority." Several coaches think expansion would strengthen the league.

"It would be nice if we had 12 teams and a playoff at the end of the year," South Carolina State's Buddy Pough said. "That would give us more competition and another source of revenue. But we've got to figure out who.

"It's a tough sell trying to get Division II programs, because they would have to add 25 or 30 scholarships."

Donald Hill-Eley of Morgan State and Willie Gillus of Norfolk State think adding teams from the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is a good idea. Hampton and Norfolk State were in the CIAA before moving to the MEAC in the mid-1990s.

"I'm a CIAA guy, and when you talk about the other aspect of football, dollars and cents, it makes a lot of sense," Gillus said. "Virginia Union, Virginia State; those are the teams the fans want to see. When Norfolk State was in the (CIAA) conference, just look at the attendance. That attendance, the dollars and cents people bring, allows you to improve your program.

"Being able to attract one of those teams, a Winston-Salem State, would be huge for the conference."

Few coaches in the conference believe that FAMU's departure will affect their programs. Alvin Wyatt, who guided Bethune-Cookman of Daytona Beach, Fla., to the title last season, is an exception. B-CC and FAMU will continue to play once a year, and Wyatt says it will no longer be a fair game.

"We're recruiting under different rules from them, now, which is a major setback for Bethune-Cookman College," he said.

"They can recruit and sign 22 more athletes than us. They're able to add three more coaches, which will help them recruiting-wise, and they're adding $2 million to their football budget.
"Eventually, they're going to be too powerful for us to stay on the field with them."

Pough doesn't think that is the case this year. In fact, he's not sure FAMU would finish in the top three this season. He and his peers picked B-CC to defend its title.

In any case, FAMU is not eligible to win the conference because of the move. Nevertheless, the Rattlers will play every MEAC team and are motivated to finish well.

"Even though we're not eligible to win the conference, I told the kids if we finish with the best record in the MEAC, they are going to get championship rings," FAMU coach Billy Joe said.