How WSU can bring back football– Outsourcing
Posted by Administrator on July 28, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Wichita State University does not have a football program. As Randy Brown is fond of saying, “What’s up with that?”
It has a stadium. It has a beautiful campus just made for fall afternoons. But no football team.
There are eight junior, err community, colleges in the state of Kansas that have a football team. McPherson College (500 students) has a football team. Tabor College (500 students) has a football team. If you add up the total enrollment for all the schools in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference you have about 2,000 more students and 10 more football teams than Wichita State. And all 10 teams have their own pads and helmets.
It is obvious that all these schools have more money than Wichita State. Thats why they have ten stadiums and WSU only has one. And it would cost WSU a whole lot more money to have a squad of 100 than the KCAC’s 600 or so. So what is WSU to do?
Outsource the only collegiate football team in Wichita; Friends University.
They have a team, we have a need. WSU could pay them to play at Cessna Stadium, wear black and gold and call themselves the FU Shockers. They would still play in the KCAC and if any athletes get into off-field trouble they would be identified as a “student at Friends University.” I am sure the local media would cooperate. They willingly pretended the WSU basketball team was Division 1 for a number of years. A little known fact is that the Mike Cohen era was actually an early attempt at outsourcing using players from the local middle schools.
Besides, outsourcing isn’t about quality, its about value. Ask any aerospace employee in Wichita.
What would Friends get out of this? Money. Compared to the cost of a D-1 or D-2 (or whatever that division is called now) program; making it worthwhile for Friends would be a bargain. The administration would get people on campus, and off their back, during the fall. ESPN would cover at least the first game, although they would probably send Kenny Mayne. The small crowds would appeal to those nostalgic for the total WSU football experience.
One last hurdle. Title IX.
Did you know Friends has a women’s soccer team?