Offers. Round 2

[RichH]

Jonathan Scalli. OL. 6'4. 255. Klein Oak HS Tx

All District

McNeese St.
Family originally from Mass.

Coach Zarkoskie in Texas.

[RichH]

All should take 10 minutes to watch TG's interview. Worth it.
Staff is complete. Just awaiting HR to finish, so he can get everyone on the road.
Brisson is back at OC.

[jimk72]

Question for Rich and the "in the know" group here on the football board.....

It is my understanding that in football we cannot offer ANY financial aid beyond the allowed number of athletic grants in aid to a recruited athlete. I think we are allowed 60 equivalences. And our roster size is capped at I believe 95? Are these NCAA rules, or Patriot League rules? And if they are Patriot league rules, are they for financial reasons or other reasons?

It just seems unfair that we can't offer need aid to a preferred walk-on who has the grades and legitimate financial need. I just read that 48% of Lehigh students get aid packages that average $39k toward an overall annual tuition/room/board ticket of $68k. (Allentown Morning Call 1/24/2019.....mcall.com)

Please correct anything I may have wrong about the restrictions. And if you or someone has time, an in depth explanation of exactly what the restrictions are would be helpful to me, and perhaps to a bunch of us alums who are confused by all this. Maybe even in another thread. Thank you!

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

One thing that is apparent to me is that no matter what some say about the academic hurdles; they really don't exist. Lehigh is still able to be in the same recruiting circles at Montana State, Chattanooga, Stetson, Arkansas State, D2 schools etc. I'm not saying Lehigh's recruiting pool is nearly the same size as some schools, but relatively speaking, they can get kids in the door in order to compete.

Something has to be done about these roster size/red shirt limitations. One or the other (both but I'll try to be realistic) need concessions. Those that want to compete need to have proper depth.

[TMH]

I am certainly not an expert on this but could some of the restrictions be a Title 9 issue?

[RichH]

The last shal be first.
LU never had any Title IX issues. We had the funds and the will to spend amounts necessary to avoid them pre schollie. Some schools didnt. Thr standard method was to budget funds for female sports sufficient to complybwith Title IX but never actually spend the money. Technical term is " cooking the books".
Schools could no longer do that once we went schollie. Financial issues at some of our members are the underlying reason for roster and schollie caps as well as bylaws lumping all aid into computation of the 60.
I note here I can no longer find the bylaws limiting WO aid or for that matter including it in the computation of PL max of 60. Could just be me. I will check with 137 and a few others for confirmation
The 60 cap for schollie money is a PL rule as is the roster cap of 90. All other conferences( not PFL or Ivy) allow need aid in addition to merit aid for recruited athletes up to the NCAA max of 63. We dont.
Unrecruited WO aid is not included in the 60. Unrecruited does not mean not contacted by coaches. Coaches cant meet them in person or arrange for campus visits. They can talk with the prospects. Each year we see kids who commit to LU but are not announced or on the roster. These are PWOs. They cant be added until admitted. So we dont see them on roster until its updated in August. Unlike, "recruited" players, they go thru the normal admission process as all other applicants. There are also actual WOs who come out for the team. There were 2 on this year's roster.

[TMH]

Rich,
Let me expand on my Title IX comment.
If we focus on the core 5 schools of the Patriot League which makes up all but 1 of the football schools, here is what I found
1.)Three of the 5 schools participate in all 24 Patriot League sports. Colgate does not have baseball or women's golf.
Lafayette doesn't have women's golf or women's rowing. Colgate and Holy Cross h does have men's and women's
ice hockey. Lafayette has men's and women's fencing. Bucknell and Lehigh have wrestling. Bucknell also lists
men's and women's water polo. That is a lot of sports to underwrite.
2.)The undergraduate population of these schools range from a high of about 4,800 at Lehigh to a low of about 2,400
at Lafayette. Tuition helps pay the bills.
3.) Title IX (I think) requires uniformity in funds spent to support men's and women's sports based on the ratio in the
general population which is narrowing every year at least at Lehigh.

So if you have a league of comparatively few undergrads and you are increasingly increasing the scholarships given to football. Every University has to adjust the funding in the women's sports accordingly. At some point athletic aid becomes too high of a burden especially for the smaller schools.

I'm sure it's much more complicated than that but this is what I see from my limited vantage point.

[RichH]

Basically a good overview of the balances required for Title IX. LU was indeed more fortunate in having an expanded and funded women's program already in place.
Title IX will always be an issue for smaller private colleges. In the PL, except for Lehigh and BU. Most seem to be coping. Lafayette is the outlier. Of course, their administartion, while not actively hostile to athletics , does not care a whit whether it survives. Realistically they are more concerned with the college's survival.

[RichH]

TG in Fla making the rounds. New name to ponder.
Jensen Jones Ath. 6'2 205 ,St.John NeumannnHS. His Dad was coached by TG at Dartmouth. He is also the HC of the team.
Jensen started season at WR/LB. Moved to QB due to injuries. Ran for 1970yds,33 TDs. Passed for 1525 yds, 15 TDs. 1 TD reception. 55 Ts,1 sack, 1 FR. Named 2A POY. Named to MaxPreps A-A team.
Lots of interest now but I could find no offers.
Likely TG in Naples to touch base with Martin ,the DL offeree at Gulf Coast HS.

[Lehigh74]

Curious why they haven't updated the coaching staff on Lehigh sports website. One would think that would be useful for recruiting purposes.