The Inside Story of ODU to CUSA
In Sunday’s Virginia-Pilot, Harry Minium gives readers the inside scoop on how ODU pulled off a move to CUSA. It’s an outstanding piece of reporting and a very interesting read. Take the time to digest it if you haven’t done so already. Unless of course you’re one of the folks who think JMU’s administration has already charted a course for disaster. Then don’t read it. Seriously. It will make you very, very angry. Just go back to stocking up on canned goods and Justin Rascati highlight videos while constructing your end of the CAA world bunker. The rest of you should definitely check it out though.
In the piece, Minium takes the reader through ODU’s entire search for a new conference home. The process began when AD Wood Selig was informed by VCU’s Norm Teague at the Final Four that the Rams would be leaving the CAA. It ended only 6.5 weeks later when ODU announced it was CUSA bound. In that short span, ODU conducted a secret operation to reach out to 6 potential conferences and fly league officials into Norfolk for multiple rounds of discussion. Ultimately, they determined CUSA was a match and secured an invite to join the league.
It is tough to read objectively without being impressed by ODU’s bold vision and swift execution. It’s also pretty hard not to imagine what might have been for JMU. And the part that will cause most JMU fans to wonder (or howl at the moon) is this little tidbit about what Selig and Dave Harnage, ODU’s Chief Operating Officer, did just three days after hosting a visit for CUSA deputy associate commission. Minium explains:
Selig and Harnage traveled to Fredericksburg to meet with the athletic directors and chief financial officers from James Madison and Delaware – the CAA’s two traditional football powers. ODU wanted to see if they had an interest in joining it in moving up. Neither would commit.
This nugget was revealed to us by an ODU insider just days after the meeting last year, so we’ve had time to process it. It might be news to some of you though, so take a deep breath and try to relax. It is not the sort of thing many JMU fans want to hear. It sort of set us off when we first heard about it. A few things though. First, that doesn’t necessarily mean CUSA was interested in JMU and Delaware. ODU wanted to form an alliance of some sort. JMU might have already done some legwork and learned CUSA wasn’t going to offer them a spot. Or maybe JMU just didn’t think the terms (whatever they were) of the proposed alliance made sense. But if in fact this was a case of the administration simply being risk averse, it was Rose administration. Thankfully, JMU has a new president now who seems to at least be willing to explore opportunities. Rose was much bigger on monitoring.
Like I said, we’ve had time to process this and move on. It’s hard not to wonder what might have been if JMU, Delaware, and ODU formed some sort of alliance last year though. Alas, they did not. But the past is the past and there’s nothing we can do about it. As I explained last week, I’m choosing to put my faith in the Alger administration and hope that they find a good home for JMU in the FBS somewhere down the road. Screaming about the past won’t change the future.
If folks want to accuse me of being a JMU apologist or being completely naive, have at it. I can take it. I don’t like all of the decisions the school has made in the past and I admit that this realignment situation could have potentially been handled better. There is a difference between realizing opportunities might have been missed in the past, and refusing to move on though. I’m just trying to move forward. Plus, I firmly believe that fans throwing more support at the program (thus making a move seem less risky) is more likely to bring about change, than bitching about things will. My gut tells me that Linwood Rose appeared to be holding JMU back when it came to any potential move to FBS. He’s gone now. Things can be different under Alger. I think they will.
I am more interested in the proposed alliance. How could that have even worked? C-USA had one spot according to this article.
It seems to me that if this alliance had come to fruition, they would have limited their options, not expanded them. No one, absent possibly the Sun Belt, was looking for a three FCS football team package.
I have no inside knowledge, but isn’t it at least possible that JMU didn’t commit at this meeting because going it together seemed to suggest a worse outcome for all? Or at least seemed to guarantee a Sun Belt offer, which it appears our admin has decided against?
Those are the same sorts of questions we had about the alliance. It might have been nice for ODU, UD, and JMU to present themselves as a package, but that doesn’t mean any FBS conferences would have cared or agreed to offer spots to all 3. It’s the sort of detail that really matters and without it, we’re really just playing the guessing game. Better to just move on than play the “what might have been” game IMHO.
I’ve mentioned this before, but the 10-year plan (8 years ago) was to form a new FBS conference with JMU, Delaware, Crappy Appy, Furman, ECU, Navy, Marshall, etc.
The university of Texas fighting uteruses blew all that out of the water with their stupid TV station that set all the current chaos in motion unexpectedly.
Originally, ODU was still a community college and a non-factor.
That’s the back-story on “alliances”.
Rob check your link, I’m seeing a 403 Forbidden regarding a purchase made by Jessica.
Thanks Matt. No clue what happened there, but it’s fixed now.
I agree Rob. For me, it’s one more thing that I initially want to be mad about, but then I realize I don’t know everything going on, and move on to memories of a national championship and being in Richmond last year.
He who hesitates is lost.
One disappointment after another will eventually run off even a loyal fan. JMU needs to get their act together.
The alliance would have made for a good Southern expansion for the MAC.
An alliance of Delaware and JMU would still make a great addition to the MAC, even without ODU.