WEST LONG BRANCH — Albany’s leaving, Rhode Island’s not coming and the Northeast Conference is reeling, divided about the direction of football.
Consequently, Monmouth University finds itself in a precarious position as it celebrates its 20th season on the gridiron, needing to improve both the level of play and the school’s commitment to the program if it hopes to remain relevant on an ever-shifting landscape.
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“When conferences go shopping for new members,” Hawks head coach Kevin Callahan said, “they’re looking for people that have the whole package. They’re looking for people that will be competitive on the field. They’re looking for people that have the facilities to create a quality game day experience. It’s more critical now than it’s ever been to make sure we’re positioning ourselves in all of those areas.”
No one knows what the future holds, particularly in the NEC.
Some schools, like Monmouth and Robert Morris, seem willing to move upwards from the 40 scholarships they’ll have in 2013, perhaps all the way up to 63. While members like St. Francis (Pa.) have no interest in escalating the issue.
So if there’s a decision that has to be made down the road, make sure you’re in an advantageous situation. Then you can decide whether it’s worth going all the way up to a full 63 scholarships, with annual expenditures on the sport jumping from around $1.2 million to $4 million, including more money on scholarships, coaches and salaries and recruiting.
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Albany will leave the NEC after this season to join Colonial Athletic Association, while Rhode Island is expected to remain in the CAA.
“You hate to see (Albany) go,’’ added Callahan, “but to their credit they were very strategic in positioning themselves for this move. And by that I mean they kept themselves at the maximum allowable scholarships in the NEC, they enhanced their staffing tremendously over the last three years so. They were gearing up for something. They were looking over the horizon and they’re building a brand new facility which will open up in a month or two. They had all their things in place when and if an opportunity opened up they took advantage of it.”
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