Since I check this board every couple of months, I thought it would be a good time to respond.
First off, I have the utmost respect for DIII football as well as DII football. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are very much all the same.
Small college football giving student athletes a chance to get an education and play ball for a couple more years.
I also have the utmost respect because I have to travel to DII and DIII schools in order to see many of the NAIA National Championship Trophies as well as some of the best and brightest alumns of NAIA schools.
First let me address a few issues that have been stated about the NAIA.
#1. Quote from PC: "Lumping all of NAIA into one little box is almost as bad as NAIA pundits saying the NCAA is all about money and not about "character." Those of us at D-III see all of the character and none of the money. "
The same arguement is very true with the NAIA. While football teams receive money for playoff travel the rest of the oranization does not. Meaning everyone of the NAIA schools that make it to a championship outside of football have to raise a boat load of money.
The NAIA is taking a proactive approach to Character in its sports as well as in the youth leagues surrounding its member institutions. The NAIA has established 30 plus schools as Champions of Character Centers. These schools make it a point to reach out to their local communities and speak to High Schools and Youth Leagues about Character issues. It is truly a grassroots effort. Over 150 of the NAIA's members are character institutions.
#2 Footballfevr quote: "at least the top 40-45 teams in NAIA they all offer at least 15 or more scholarships and probably more than half of those the very close to or the full 24 scholarships"
Not even close. A common misconception about the NAIA is that their best teams offer the most money. Not true. An example would be Georgetown, a power in the NAIA. Year after year, they get by on 12 scholarships. The rest of the Top 15 schools are around 15-18 and the average NAIA school is probably 15 or less. There are less than 5 schools that offer the full 24 count.
"I would expect a D3 BACKER to try to say D3 is as good and that scholarships don't matter"
Its actually true. Scholarships don't matter as much as great coaching, an outstanding administration, and support from the community. Give me 24 scholarships and no support from the admins and I'll show you a bad football team.
I'm not going to sit here and make excuses about who beat who and what teams didn't beat who. The only arguement I have are the people saying "They beat a ranked NAIA team" or "They beat a ranked D3 team". When you make this arguement, please include where the team finished ranked. I keep hearing about how an unranked Linfield beat a top ranked SOU team. Yep, and what'd SOU finish that season? 5-4 and unranked.
#3 A question from smedindy: "If the NAIA is so much better why are there schools fleeing the NAIA to go to the NCAA?"
Honestly footballfvr gave a pretty decent answer, but I'll add a few things. When I talked with a number of NCAA members who used to be NAIA schools they all said the exact same thing. "Post season reimbursement and a chance for our institution to grow." Members now in D3 said "Our school wanted to change the way we rewarded aid and gain money for post season reimbursement."
#4 Scholarship Money: I'll be brief. At the AFCA Coaches Convention I talked with 10 DIII coaches who used to be in the NAIA. When I asked about the difference in scholarships they said to me, "Well they can give a football scholarship, but we still give more aid on a per player basis."
When I asked one coach if they had to count the aid by the NAIA rules (where academic is a part of countable aid) he said, "We'd probably be around 40-50 Scholarships."
Don't kill the messenger, this comes straight from several of your coaches.
I won't be checking on here for a while as I will be very busy working on my own site/business, but feel free to email me at mail@naiasports.net with any questions.
First off, I have the utmost respect for DIII football as well as DII football. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are very much all the same.
Small college football giving student athletes a chance to get an education and play ball for a couple more years.
I also have the utmost respect because I have to travel to DII and DIII schools in order to see many of the NAIA National Championship Trophies as well as some of the best and brightest alumns of NAIA schools.
First let me address a few issues that have been stated about the NAIA.
#1. Quote from PC: "Lumping all of NAIA into one little box is almost as bad as NAIA pundits saying the NCAA is all about money and not about "character." Those of us at D-III see all of the character and none of the money. "
The same arguement is very true with the NAIA. While football teams receive money for playoff travel the rest of the oranization does not. Meaning everyone of the NAIA schools that make it to a championship outside of football have to raise a boat load of money.
The NAIA is taking a proactive approach to Character in its sports as well as in the youth leagues surrounding its member institutions. The NAIA has established 30 plus schools as Champions of Character Centers. These schools make it a point to reach out to their local communities and speak to High Schools and Youth Leagues about Character issues. It is truly a grassroots effort. Over 150 of the NAIA's members are character institutions.
#2 Footballfevr quote: "at least the top 40-45 teams in NAIA they all offer at least 15 or more scholarships and probably more than half of those the very close to or the full 24 scholarships"
Not even close. A common misconception about the NAIA is that their best teams offer the most money. Not true. An example would be Georgetown, a power in the NAIA. Year after year, they get by on 12 scholarships. The rest of the Top 15 schools are around 15-18 and the average NAIA school is probably 15 or less. There are less than 5 schools that offer the full 24 count.
"I would expect a D3 BACKER to try to say D3 is as good and that scholarships don't matter"
Its actually true. Scholarships don't matter as much as great coaching, an outstanding administration, and support from the community. Give me 24 scholarships and no support from the admins and I'll show you a bad football team.
I'm not going to sit here and make excuses about who beat who and what teams didn't beat who. The only arguement I have are the people saying "They beat a ranked NAIA team" or "They beat a ranked D3 team". When you make this arguement, please include where the team finished ranked. I keep hearing about how an unranked Linfield beat a top ranked SOU team. Yep, and what'd SOU finish that season? 5-4 and unranked.
#3 A question from smedindy: "If the NAIA is so much better why are there schools fleeing the NAIA to go to the NCAA?"
Honestly footballfvr gave a pretty decent answer, but I'll add a few things. When I talked with a number of NCAA members who used to be NAIA schools they all said the exact same thing. "Post season reimbursement and a chance for our institution to grow." Members now in D3 said "Our school wanted to change the way we rewarded aid and gain money for post season reimbursement."
#4 Scholarship Money: I'll be brief. At the AFCA Coaches Convention I talked with 10 DIII coaches who used to be in the NAIA. When I asked about the difference in scholarships they said to me, "Well they can give a football scholarship, but we still give more aid on a per player basis."
When I asked one coach if they had to count the aid by the NAIA rules (where academic is a part of countable aid) he said, "We'd probably be around 40-50 Scholarships."
Don't kill the messenger, this comes straight from several of your coaches.
I won't be checking on here for a while as I will be very busy working on my own site/business, but feel free to email me at mail@naiasports.net with any questions.