We seem to emphasize academics more than any school in the MAC. We had (and might still have) the academic person's office in the football suite at the Sebo Center right along with the offensive and defensive coordinators, unheard of almost anywhere else. We win awards, spend a ton of money from our meager budget on it and hold lavish banquets centered exclusively around academic achievement. When asked what we're going to do during the bye week getting ready for a championship run, the first thing our head football coach says is "focus on academics." Mmmmmm....falconfan1 wrote: we have to battle on every front to win at all levels- on the field, in the classroom etc. It is difficult but doable.
Now is the time for the "of course's": of course we want our athletes to succeed in the classroom, of course we want them to be well-rounded people, of course we want to retain the ideal of "student-athlete" when that is being deemphasized elsewhere and of course it's not a negative to succeed in the classroom. Still, I can't help but contrast our achievements in this realm with the yearly realities of the Reece and Jacoby Cup standings and wonder if an overemphasis might be at play (especially in the non-revenue sports) to the detriment of competitiveness, particularly with the previous administration.
