Bu Hands Off Its Football Program Two More Road Games And Team Passes Into The History Books
Boston University’s decision to drop football was handled with almost cruel detachment by the university, announced on Homecoming Day by a bottom-line administration seeking to cut expenses.
Elsewhere, Division I-AA football is embraced, but not at BU, where it dated to 1884. The Terriers played their final home game Saturday. After two more road games, BU becomes a football footnote.
Eight other schools - Long Beach State, Pacific, Cal State-Fullerton, Villanova, Lamar, Texas-Arlington, Drake and Wichita State - have dropped Division I-A football programs since 1986. BU is the first I-AA program to be eliminated.
Villanova was competing in I-A when it decided in 1981 that its program was becoming too big. The sport was dropped for four years, returning in 1985 at the Division I-AA level. It developed into a powerhouse there, 8-0 this season and ranked No. 1. Last month, Villanova decided that was good enough, rejecting a Big East Conference invitation to return to I-A.
“We investigated the opportunity,” said Tim Hofferth, Villanova’s new athletic director. “Greater minds than mine studied the issue of what was right for Villanova University and decided that it was I-AA.”
NCAA requirements for a I-A program include a 30,000-seat stadium, more than twice the size of Villanova’s stadium. Construction of that and other football facilities would cost the school $37 million and that doesn’t include the increase in scholarships from 63 for I-AA to 85 for I-A. Villanova considered all that and said “Thanks, but no thanks.”
At Boston University, the decision to drop football drew much criticism. The players were outraged, believing they were blindsided by the administration. They are playing their final games with tape over the school’s logos on their uniforms.
“The timing was horrible, announcing it on Homecoming Day,” said Bruce Taylor, who graduated from BU to the San Francisco 49ers and was the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year in 1970. “They didn’t show any respect for the players. They’re depressed. How can they finish the season?”
But Taylor, who was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame this year, said he wasn’t surprised.
“I knew they were having problems. When I was there, we were successful in won-lost records but by other standards, I don’t know,” he said. “We never filled the house. I remember my senior year, we were No. 2 and we were playing Delaware, which was No. 1. We had less than 4,000. The same weekend Harvard played Yale and drew 35,000 or 40,000.”
Bill Brooks, who played 11 years in the NFL after graduating from BU, was “stunned and upset at the news.”
“I thought the worst that would happen would be a drop to Division III with no scholarships. It would not be the same but at least there would still be football,” he said.
“I feel badly for the kids because the life lessons I learned from football won’t be there anymore. That’s what they’ll miss out on, respecting other people, teamwork. They’ll never have that opportunity again.”
BU claims its Division I-AA program was costing the university $3 million, money it will now apply elsewhere, including construction of a new sports complex and 23 more athletics scholarships for women.