{"id":7777,"date":"2015-06-11T23:42:21","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T03:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7777"},"modified":"2015-06-11T23:42:21","modified_gmt":"2015-06-12T03:42:21","slug":"caa-commissioner-tom-yeager-to-retire-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7777","title":{"rendered":"CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager to Retire in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yeager\"<\/a>Tom Yeager, the only commissioner the Colonial Athletic Association has ever known, announced his intention to retire today. This upcoming school year, will be Yeager’s last as commish. He’s held the position since the league was founded all the way back in 1985. JMU was a founding member, along with Richmond, George Mason, William & Mary, East Carolina, UNCW, American, and the Naval Academy.<\/p>\n

Much has changed since the conference was founded 30 years ago. It’s obvious that many JMU fans would like the school to move on for greener pastures. At its peak though, the CAA was a pretty fantastic mid-major hoops league and the premier FCS football conference in the land. Tom Yeager deserves a lot of credit for the league’s success. During his tenure as commissioner, “the conference has produced 19 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 16 national coaches of the year and 17 national players of the year.”<\/a> That’s remarkable.<\/p>\n

By no means am I an expert on CAA history, nor am I particularly well informed about the inner workings of the league office. I don’t get why some JMU fans grumble every time Yeager’s name is mentioned though and seem to blame him for JMU’s current “struggles” to find a fit in today’s college sports landscape. Seems like misplaced anger.<\/p>\n

I’m not arguing the CAA is a great league or the right home for JMU. That’s a topic for a different day. Whatever your thoughts on the state of the conference though, JMU needs to own its place in it. Letting Sherman Dillard and Dean Keaner run the hoops program into the ground, while pouring millions of more dollars into football than its peers, didn’t exactly create a strong bond between JMU and its more hoops-focused league brethren. It shook things up to the point of instability.<\/p>\n

After that when the realignment dominoes started falling, the hoops schools with better options headed for the door. There were other factors at play, and maybe those schools would have eventually left anyway. JMU’s actions definitely played a role in the CAA’s massive transformation though. Gripe all you want about the replacement schools (and I do, repeatedly), but don’t blame Yeager if you’re frustrated that JMU is stuck in a “crumbling” CAA. Plus, if we’re being honest here, mocking the CAA and acting like JMU is too good for it, is just counterproductive. Doing it despite the fact that the Dukes are far from dominant in hoops or football, really ain’t a good look for us as a fanbase. Neither is taking out our frustrations on the league commish. Instead, let’s wish him well and tip our hats to a heck of a career.<\/p>\n