Skjellyfetti
August 26th, 2008, 06:00 AM
As college football's season nears and the first anniversary of Appalachian State's mind-set-shifting victory at Michigan arrives with it, the rest of division I-AA shares a similar sentiment. At no point, several coaches said, has I-AA football ever enjoyed a higher profile than it does at the moment, owing mainly to two events that bookended last year's season. It opened with Appalachian State appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And it closed with Delaware's Joe Flacco becoming the second quarterback selected in the NFL draft.
The attention burst, depending on whom you ask, has led to either a boon in recruiting or scant effect at all. More and more, Lamb and Keeler said, elite I-AA programs are landing recruits who once would have played for teams in lower-tier I-A conferences, such as the Sun Belt and MAC.
"We win those battles all the time now," Keeler said. "This is how we recruit: Bigger is not better. Better is better. Oh by the way, we had a first-round draft choice. It does give validation to our story.
"The ESPN people tell us we're a better atmosphere than a lot of the I-A teams. Eighty-five [scholarships, as opposed to] 63. That's the only difference. When you have an Appalachian State beating Michigan and you have Joe Flacco, you have all the attention that comes with it, there's more validity."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082503099.html?hpid=sec-sports
The attention burst, depending on whom you ask, has led to either a boon in recruiting or scant effect at all. More and more, Lamb and Keeler said, elite I-AA programs are landing recruits who once would have played for teams in lower-tier I-A conferences, such as the Sun Belt and MAC.
"We win those battles all the time now," Keeler said. "This is how we recruit: Bigger is not better. Better is better. Oh by the way, we had a first-round draft choice. It does give validation to our story.
"The ESPN people tell us we're a better atmosphere than a lot of the I-A teams. Eighty-five [scholarships, as opposed to] 63. That's the only difference. When you have an Appalachian State beating Michigan and you have Joe Flacco, you have all the attention that comes with it, there's more validity."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082503099.html?hpid=sec-sports