What happened to college football in the Northeast?

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Newhouser]

The ratings share numbers in that article are telling - and the recent results of all programs is just depressing.

 

[GreekFreak]

Mentioning Rutgers football “success” with BC, SU, PSU, Pitt, and Maryland is a total travesty. The had a brief period where they sucked less. They were never good.

 

[elimunelson]

"If you look at how things have turned since the breakup of the Big East, I don't know if that was a beneficial move for northeastern football for anybody outside of the financial aspect of it," one AD from a former Big East school said. "From a competitive aspect, I don't think anyone has been super successful. The loss of rivalries across the Northeast has not helped the cause."

Amen. It was a terrible decision made by money. Now that an article was written I wonder what the impetus is for that. Someone with some juice wanted that written.

 

[SU94]

Pretty good article here. I think it serves a purpose, reminding those that read it that teams from the Northeast have been relevant in the not too, too distant past. And with some investment, by both team, school and the ACC, Northeast football can be strong (or stronger) again.

It might take a Paterno like figure at SU, BC or Pitt. And I say that to highlight his loyalty only. Other comps would be Kirk Ferentz or Kyle Whittingham.

 

[TexanMark]

Mentioning Rutgers football “success” with BC, SU, PSU, Pitt, and Maryland is a total travesty. The had a brief period where they sucked less. They were never good.

One Thursday night on ESPN

Tony Soprano was there too (RIP)

 

[syrBossHogg]

"Instead, a year after Paterno proposed the idea, Penn State landed in the Big Ten, and the Big East began sponsoring football but never fully embraced the sport."

This

 

[TexanMark]

A big part of the problem is football is declining at the Pop Warner and HS level.

 

[FrancoPizza]

A big part of the problem is football is declining at the Pop Warner and HS level.

Just another reason to despise lacrosse.

 

[sutomcat]

A big part of the problem is football is declining at the Pop Warner and HS level.

Definitely doesn't help.;

My opinion is that HS football has never taken hold in the Northeast like it has in other areas of the country. With the exception of parts of Pennsylvania.

Kids don't grow up dreaming of playing in big football games for the local HS. Football is not especially cool to play. There isn't much interest in communities for the local HS football programs.

I don't think this is new and I don't think it is ever going to change. Schools in the Northeast are going to have to be good at identifying raw talent and have to rely on recruiting other areas of the country to fill out their rosters.

You need a good coaching staff that is willing to work harder to get the job done, and ideally has the charisma to galvanize the local community (and the whole state) and get them involved and enthusiastic. You need an administration at your college that is committed to football and willing to provide the facilities and staff needed to field competitive teams.

It is hard to get all this in place in the Northeast and ever harder to sustain it. But it is possible and I think there is generally going to be at least one program in the Northeast besides Penn State who will be really successful in a given year.

Just hope most years, that other team is Syracuse.

 

[TheCusian]

"If you look at how things have turned since the breakup of the Big East, I don't know if that was a beneficial move for northeastern football for anybody outside of the financial aspect of it," one AD from a former Big East school said. "From a competitive aspect, I don't think anyone has been super successful. The loss of rivalries across the Northeast has not helped the cause."

Amen. It was a terrible decision made by money. Now that an article was written I wonder what the impetus is for that. Someone with some juice wanted that written.

It begs the question: where would those schools be without the money?

A true NE football conference with roots back when JoPa wanted would have helped. But now?

People laugh when I bring this up - but life in the south may get a lot tougher with climate issues. A population influx of people who care might help the NE.

 

[HtownOrange]

One Thursday night on ESPN

Tony Soprano was there too (RIP)

Don't forget the ESB. It was MAGICAL...

 

[rrlbees]

A big part of the problem is football is declining at the Pop Warner and HS level.

Soccer

 

[HtownOrange]

Definitely doesn't help.;

My opinion is that HS football has never taken hold in the Northeast like it has in other areas of the country. With the exception of parts of Pennsylvania.

Kids don't grow up dreaming of playing in big football games for the local HS. Football is not especially cool to play. There isn't much interest in communities for the local HS football programs.

I don't think this is new and I don't think it is ever going to change. Schools in the Northeast are going to have to be good at identifying raw talent and have to rely on recruiting other areas of the country to fill out their rosters.

You need a good coaching staff that is willing to work harder to get the job done, and ideally has the charisma to galvanize the local community (and the whole state) and get them involved and enthusiastic. You need an administration at your college that is committed to football and willing to provide the facilities and staff needed to field competitive teams.

It is hard to get all this in place in the Northeast and ever harder to sustain it. But it is possible and I think there is generally going to be at least one program in the Northeast besides Penn State who will be really successful in a given year.

Just hope most years, that other team is Syracuse.

Having lived substantially in both the north and south, I can also point out that in the north, kids play several sports. In the south, kids pick a sport (or dad pucks a sport) and the kid sticks with it year round, year in and year out. Few are multi-sport athletes in the south, most coaches forbid it. Off season workouts and the seasons manage to take up about 10 months per year.

 

[FrancoPizza]

People laugh when I bring this up - but life in the south may get a lot tougher with climate issues. A population influx of people who care might help the NE.

If we can convince Santa to move to the South Pole where there’s actual land, we can melt that ice cap and flood the coastlines. That’s the quickest way to catalyze a reverse migration.

 

[Newhouser]

Having lived substantially in both the north and south, I can also point out that in the north, kids play several sports. In the south, kids pick a sport (or dad pucks a sport) and the kid sticks with it year round, year in and year out. Few are multi-sport athletes in the south, most coaches forbid it. Off season workouts and the seasons manage to take up about 10 months per year.

I think the one sport specification is taking over the NE too. I blame that on travel ball.

 

[sutomcat]

Having lived substantially in both the north and south, I can also point out that in the north, kids play several sports. In the south, kids pick a sport (or dad pucks a sport) and the kid sticks with it year round, year in and year out. Few are multi-sport athletes in the south, most coaches forbid it. Off season workouts and the seasons manage to take up about 10 months per year.

Not so sure it is a bad thing that kids in the North play a bunch of sports. They get exposed to a lot more of the world; different teammates, different opponents, different venues, use different skill sets, get different kinds of coaching.

While they might not end up quite as polished and developed in any one sport, I think they end up better for all the additional exposure and experiences they get.

Maybe it costs a few a scholarship in football. But I bet a bunch find they are really good in another sport and end up with a scholarship for that sport.

This is good for the kids overall, IMHO.

 

[Scooch]

My opinion is that HS football has never taken hold in the Northeast like it has in other areas of the country. With the exception of parts of Pennsylvania.

Kids don't grow up dreaming of playing in big football games for the local HS. Football is not especially cool to play. There isn't much interest in communities for the local HS football programs.

I don't think this is entirely true. HS football in the northeast has never been, and will never be, the dynamo that it is in the south or midwest. But there are towns all over Mass., CT, NJ, Long Island, MD, etc. where very large crowds turn out for Friday night football. We had a game in my county last fall that drew 10K people.

Now, it is definitely true that the caliber of HS player in the northeast is inferior to other regions. And more than anything, that's what's harmed the college game. The recruiting radius for the major northeast programs is bereft of talent. Sure there is always a strong top layer, but the depth is terrible compared to other areas. And you build programs with depth.

Plus, kids have so much more awareness of programs all over the country these days. And vice versa. Far more than they did in the 70s/80s/90s. That article began by talking about Doug Flutie. He was a local kid, went to HS 20 minutes from Chestnut Hill. I'd guess that the 2022 version of Doug Flutie goes to a B1G or SEC school - or even to the P12 - largely because those schools would have been aware of him, and recruiting him for 3 years.

I don't think the complete abandonment of having anything resembling a northeast-centric conference has helped. I'm just not sure it's ultimately one of the major factors of decline.

 

[TheCusian]

If we can convince Santa to move to the South Pole where there’s actual land, we can melt that ice cap and flood the coastlines. That’s the quickest way to catalyze a reverse migration.

Thanks for really giving that some thought

 

[BrooklynCuse]

Definitely doesn't help.;

My opinion is that HS football has never taken hold in the Northeast like it has in other areas of the country. With the exception of parts of Pennsylvania.

Kids don't grow up dreaming of playing in big football games for the local HS. Football is not especially cool to play. There isn't much interest in communities for the local HS football programs.

I don't think this is new and I don't think it is ever going to change. Schools in the Northeast are going to have to be good at identifying raw talent and have to rely on recruiting other areas of the country to fill out their rosters.

You need a good coaching staff that is willing to work harder to get the job done, and ideally has the charisma to galvanize the local community (and the whole state) and get them involved and enthusiastic. You need an administration at your college that is committed to football and willing to provide the facilities and staff needed to field competitive teams.

It is hard to get all this in place in the Northeast and ever harder to sustain it. But it is possible and I think there is generally going to be at least one program in the Northeast besides Penn State who will be really successful in a given year.

Just hope most years, that other team is Syracuse.

I was talking with my uncle who coached hockey at a CNYCL HS and he said his school can barely even field a football team these days.

I agree football isn’t necessarily cool these days, maybe it’s CTE and kids are playing soccer? I don’t know. If I had a son I’d probably rather him play baseball tbh

 

[HtownOrange]

Not so sure it is a bad thing that kids in the North play a bunch of sports. They get exposed to a lot more of the world; different teammates, different opponents, different venues, use different skill sets, get different kinds of coaching.

While they might not end up quite as polished and developed in any one sport, I think they end up better for all the additional exposure and experiences they get.

Maybe it costs a few a scholarship in football. But I bet a bunch find they are really good in another sport and end up with a scholarship for that sport.

This is good for the kids overall, IMHO.

All of your points are spot on. I add that not all kids develop into the prototype player for the chosen sport and thus, they have had a good time but HS or College is the end of the line. I see 6'0" and 6'1" walk on linemen walk onto UT, TAMU, OU, and other schools with no hope of seeing the field just to say they played in college because that is what they played their entire life.it is sad because these kids could play baseball or lacrosse or ... For Bees, soccer ... Or something else.

 

[orangenauburn]

Population shifts

Weather / availability of seasons and commitment from community

What talent there is in region is heavily recruited by programs from all over the country

 

[stuckinbig11]

Brain injuries reduced the number of kids in the northeast allowed to play football.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

They build football factories at the high school level all over the South. Zero chance northeast schools can even come close. It’s like European basketball vs the US. Sure there are some talented kids that come out of there, but they are raw and underdeveloped. Kids coming out of Southern HS football factories are the equivalent of the one and done basketball stars getting picked in the NBA lottery.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Having lived substantially in both the north and south, I can also point out that in the north, kids play several sports. In the south, kids pick a sport (or dad pucks a sport) and the kid sticks with it year round, year in and year out. Few are multi-sport athletes in the south, most coaches forbid it. Off season workouts and the seasons manage to take up about 10 months per year.

This plus weather allowing kids to play year round. It's 60-70 degrees in the South when we're all shoveling snow and kids are playing basketball or other indoor sports.

My oldest ran track and at nationals you could pick winners by region. Fla/Ga, Texas and Socal reigned supreme at sprinting and jumping. Northern kids fared better at field events and distance. All depends on what one can practice more for