I was reviewing Mississippi Valley State's schedule and saw their first win was basically a sham school... it's a bit of confirmation bias, but take a look below at this post from Reddit:
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]How desperate are teams to get wins?
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[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]What if someone exploited that opportunity?[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]During the offseason, as /u/bakonydraco[1] was doing the bulk of the redesign, he carried on my minor obsession of adding flair for every college football team in America. During his search he uncovered two teams that I had missed (not members of the NCAA, NAIA or USCAA). When I looked into my omission I found two schools that seem to operate in a very sketchy situation—so sketchy I'm not entirely convinced they are legitimate even by their own ill definitions.
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[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It came to a head last night when D2 http://www.reddit.com/comments/2fk0z4/#f/tusculum-sheet2-row16-col07Tusculum set a single-game NCAA record by holding the http://www.reddit.com/comments/2fk0z4/#f/collegeoffaith-sheet4-row27-col01College of Faith to -100 total yards and -124 rushing yards.
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[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ever heard of the College of Faith in North Carolina? How about their sister school the University of Faith[2] University of Faith down in Florida? Nobody has. We talked about it a bit on Twitter late last night, but I wanted to put together a comprehensive post reviewing programs that push the definition of "college" football and reveal how desperate some teams are to get a win.
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[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Let's go over all the items that make them problematic:[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif](there's a lot, please read it all, it gets wacky)[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]2013[/font]
- They pitch themselves as online universities (unaccredited by any major organization) that field football teams.
- The CoF website: http://www.cofchar.org/[3]
- The UoF's athletic website is hosted on weebly: http://universityoffaith.weebly.com/athletics.html[4]
- The admissions page for UoF has an application[5] that just asks for "Address, Height, Weight, Position". I suppose that's a step above "Pulse: Y/N"
- The tuition and fees page for CoF conveniently takes PayPal[6] .
- Both the CoF & UoF claim to be members of the American Small College Athletic Association (ASCAA)
- The ASCAA does not appear to have a website; its only 2 members appear to be CoF & UoF (which explains their scheduling, see below)
- UoF recruits on Facebook[7]
- This 2013 video about CoF[8] found by /u/wacojohnny[9] is a bit stunning. The program was originally based in the Memphis area and was started for a college that folded. The person who started teams decided to start a new school for those teams where he served as President, AD and the original head coach. Watch the video and the entire nature of entity as a "school" unravels. Actual quotes: "Actually, I have not really even instituted much of the online curriculum yet because of the situation with the players and enrollees that I have [. . .] some of them don't have consistent access to online accessibility. So basically what I've been doing is—those who have it—I give them their assignments each week at practice and they have one assignment a week and they turn it in by hand or they email it to me." The founder is "basically homeless".
- The CoF is in its 2nd year and, despite claiming a record of 1-7[10] in their first year, in the games that we have records for (the incomplete records confounded an opponent, see below) they have never won or even scored a point:
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]2014[/font]
- 63-0, Tusculum
- 69-0, Brevard
- 56-0, Clark Atlanta
- 52-0, Ave Maria
- 42-0, Stillman
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]But they won something, right?[/font]
- 56-0, Davidson (FCS team! Broke a 12-game losing streak)
- 71-0, Tusculum
- Here's what we know about their single win: they allegedly won a game against North Georgia Sports Academy, a junior college that is equally as mysterious. This is from the one story I found about them[11] :
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]But this isn't about the JC, so back to CoF/UoF.[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]According to NGSA's website, it was created in 2013 to offer the opportunity for young men between the ages of 17-20 the chance to play football while pursuing a two year degree. The Mountaineers play their games against club teams and other sports academies.[/font]
- This July 2014 article[12] on the CoF from the Charlotte Observer indicates that the school is now operating out of as an "an extension of the school’s main campus in West Memphis, Ark., along with other branches in Oklahoma and Florida". The main campus was presumably the school founded in the above video. The Florida campus is UoF. Who knows when the Oklahoma campus will field a team. It includes a video of the CoF at practice.
- On a recruiting website, the CoF has an incomplete and incorrect ("public"?) profile[13] , topped with these quotes by a a pair of coaches that raise more questions than it answers (I've bolded some highlights):
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]“College of Faith football program is in its 2nd year of college football. We don't have S.A.T. or G.P.A. academic eligibility requirements. Our football program competes against NCAA D2, D3 and NAIA schools. We are looking for some IMPACT players of all sizes to help grow this great program into something special. College of Faith academic programs is a Christ-centered, online college of higher education which main office is in West Memphis, Ark with an extension campus located in Charlotte, NC. College of Faith’s Charlotte extension campus provides Athletic program, academic and student support with christian understanding, hands on ministry outreach and paid On-The-Job STUDENT WORK experience while obtaining a certification or degree.”
—Coach Dell Richardson
“Hello my name is Waycus Luckett. I was born in Mississippi and now resides in charlotte, nc, where I coach now with the College of Faith Saints as a defensive line coach. College of Faith is a second chance program for kids whose grades are not up to par and who believe what they can't do to what they can do. So if your the athlete that want to build and become part of yt?history in the books respond with an number so we can talk and I tell you more information because without faith nothings possible”
—Coach Waycus Lucket[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Bigger Questions:[/font]
- The UoF has a second athletic website with the current 2014 schedule[14] , anyone notice some glaring issues? First off: ESPN? I checked, they were not televised against FCS Mississippi Valley State; in fact all we know is they were briefly mentioned in the school's own write-up[15] . The Week 8 game at Mississippi College is not being televised on ESPN2[16] . Two of their games are scheduled against the only team that they might beat, the CoF (this type of scheduling isn't uncommon in D2, but this is also the only "conference" opponent they play). They have only one home game, against their sister school CoF. They have large stretches of bye weeks as they try to fit into the schedules of teams who are willing to pay to beat them. Their opening game at small HBCU NAIA school Edward Waters College is only listed on their ownfootball schedule[17] without any results (the game isn't even listed on the NAIA's football schedule[18] which, to be fair, appears to be voluntary).
- Limestone College, a school that just restarted its football program at D2, has a comical preview for the CoF[19] that's incomplete: describing the team as "a bit of a mystery", with only limited information on their schedule and they list their conference as the non-existent "Bible Belt". They mention a "ASCAA National Championship Game" that's scheduled before what UoF (the only other ASCAA members) lists as their only home game...if you recall that game is against CoF.
- When Davidson got their first win of the season, breaking the 12-game stream with a new coach, they didn't have much to say about the CoF, which just filled a need...no questions asked! Here are Davidson'spreview[20] and post-game[21] articles.
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I really hope the bigger media takes a look at this situation. Nothing seems right here.[/font]
- Are they diploma mills that take advantage of kids who want to play college ball but simply can't elsewhere? Are they colluding with the school (being paid) or, worse, being taken advantage because they are desperate for a chance to make in in college ball but will have no chance under their programs, academically or athletically? Or is it possible that the idea of slapping a rudimentary online school onto a football team has created a school that means well but is, in practice, a sham?
- Do these legitimate NCAA & NAIA schools want to admit that they intentionally schedule these two programs that may not be on the level? It's a guaranteed win, after all, and schools are counting those padded stats and claiming NCAA records off of these games. The schools' sports information directors treat these opponents like a regular teams in their PR machines. The mainstream media is trained to just blindly accept that stuff (even though it bit them with Josh Shaw and Manti Te'o), and when it's these teams in a lower divisions why should they check that hard?
- Who arranges these games? I imagine the de facto ADs of CoF & UoF try to solicit games, but are ADs now quietly suggesting them as opportunities for struggling teams?
- How much are these teams being paid per appearance?
- Do NCAA/NAIA rules allow schools to play schools with zero accreditation?
- Because they are not in any existing org (NCAA, NAIA or USCAA), can they pay players?
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]EDIT: to make things a bit clearer, here's the timeline of these schools:[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]EDIT 2: There is some good discussion in the comments.[/font]
- At the time of the 2013 video, Sherwyn Thomas started an athletic program for a Memphis-area school that he says folded (Shepherd Technical College, here's the old website[22] that was hosted on Google). Rather than lose all the work he put in, he decided to start an online university (CoF) to support the program where he initially serves as president, AD and HC.
- The football program at the Arkansas campus has no record and is apparently just a basketball school now, playing as the Warriors (official site[23] ).
- The football program is instead moved to an "extension campus", the CoF-Charlotte, as the CoF Saints (official site[24] ).
- Later a new campus called the University of Faith is opened in St. Petersburg by the same institution (effective as a FL non-profit in May 2014[25] . They are the UoF Glory Eagles (official site[26] ).
- There is also a supposed campus in Oklahoma.
- These make up the only members of the ASCAA.
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Here's a summary of the situation as I see it:[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It's a sweet deal for the teams that schedule them: the NCAA/NAIA schools that play CoF/UoF treat them like regular CFB teams in their own PR depts. They release a quick write-up and the local AP writer or beat writer (esp for such minor teams) parrot the facts put out there by the sports information director. The mainstream media automatically accepts that stuff (which bit them with Josh Shaw and Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, but hey—why stop there?). Besides, when it's a minor team in a lower division, why check that hard? The schools even get to count the stats and NCAA records they set against these patsies.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]CoF/UoF get to operate in the shadows. The NCAA has no explicit rule against playing effectively fake schools. The CoF/UoF players are either colluding or being exploited. It's an ugly situation; the wins—or especially NCAA records set against these sorts of teams—deserve an asterisk.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]EDIT 3: A suggestion for a possible solution:[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]That's a good question and, frankly, complicated enough that it would act as an excuse for the schools that schedule them ("who are we to say what isn't a school?" Not an honest answer but there you have it).[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Also, where is the line drawn? Is it okay for schools to do this if they're more legitimate like Champion Baptist? They probably just take their kids' money too. (link to comment[27] )[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A simple solution would be the athletic associations (NCAA, NAIA, and minor legitimate conferences) to announce that only games against other legitimate athletic associations will count towards any official team or individual records, as well as qualifications for post-season play.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]That way teams can continue to chose to schedule sham schools, as well as schedule international games against national and semi-pro teams (as D3 is allowed to do), without any benefits of gaming the system. In that scenario the appeal of playing sham schools will disappear without harming the benefit of international tour games (besides, they take place in the Spring).[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]EDIT 4: Player health + the danger of incompetence[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It's been suggested to me that CoF might be intentionally throwing the games (based on the individual's review of the drive summaries for the Tusculum game). I personally do not think that is happening for a few reasons, which in turn bring up concerns on player health and safety:[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]CoF is just playing to their abilities: not as individuals, but as a team (I'm sure some of their players could do well in a proper coaching/player development program). The team's inability to play like a cogent unit is the fault of the coaching staff; one that is so minimal in staffing/facilities that it seems a bit negligent to field a team in this way--almost like a modern version of that ill-fated Cumberland team that faced GT in the most lopsided game of all time.[/font]
- We're seeing the results of a team that may only have a few coaches (head coach and a few coordinators) and, from what a user claiming to be a Davidson player[28] indicates in his comments after playing CoF: they don't appear to have any athletic trainers. From what we've seen above, they have no health and wellness facilities. This is a team that's playing with the capacity of a poor HS team.
- The highlight video Davidson made of their game against CoF just demonstrates general ineptitude on the CoF team, so inept that believing they're able to throw a game might be giving them too much credit.
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]If you take a team made up of a players that have no proper athletic health facilities/trainers, minimal (possibly incompetent) coaching staff, minimal equipment, and throw them against an FCS team... what if the kids start to get seriously hurt? People are up in arms about big time FBS schools that do not offer guaranteed 4yr scholarships for players who suffer career-ending injuries, yet do CoF and UoF even offer basic health coverage for their players?[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I'd be curious to know what the players' expectations actually are.[/font]