Quote Originally Posted by Lehigh Football Nation View Post
The roster size issue IMO was the real killer. 60 vs. 63 could mean maybe 3 more scholarship athletes or 6 extra 1/2 scholarships or something, but capping a roster size in August was a nightmare. Injuries would give little depth at a lot of positions, and it's not like this is the NFL where a team can just look in free agency in October because the entire starting secondary is out. You had what you had, basically. Those extra 10-15 walk ons in August make a big difference not just in depth but simulating opponents, etc. Some of them even can earn scholarships if they prove themselves. It happens.

I don't think scholarships were the "problem" as much as I think the roster caps were - and they came at the same time as scholarships.

Scholarships at the end of the day are just aid. Whether they came through the financial aid office or are called a "scholarship" they were and are sliced and diced as they always have been, just under control of the athletic department now and not the financial aid office.

But the roster caps forced the schools to limit walk-ons IMO. That's a much bigger deal. If you're up against a hard limit you can't really encourage a walk on, get to 91 athletes and then say "oops, sorry". Before, nobody bothered counting, so if 100 kids wanted to try to play, they could. I'm pretty sure Lehigh in some of their golden 90s-2000 years had close to 100 athletes on the roster at some points.
Hope someone from Villanova is following this.