July 10, 2004

Where do they go from here?

By Jennifer Squires
Ashland Daily Tidings

The Southern Oregon University football team tried to join the Frontier Conference and considered applying to the Pacific-10.

After meetings, proposals and weighing the financial impacts, the answer became clear - nothing would be done.

Now the question at SOU has become: Where does the program go from here? So far, only

Southern oregon university football coach Jeff Olson will be leading the Raiders into an independent future after SOU rejected an offer to join the Frontier Conference recently. The Raiders were not willing to pay what the Frontier Conference asked for and are not planning to move to NCAA Division II or III. File Photo | Ashland Daily Tidings

one thing's for certain. For the sixth straight season, the Raiders will compete as an NAIA independent team.

"What the Frontier Conference expected from us would have been quite expensive," Raider head football coach Jeff Olson said. "Our administration felt if we were going to spend that money, it would be better spent in other ways."

Olson and Raider Athletic Director Phil Pifer traveled to Lewiston, Idaho, in June to meet with the council of presidents representing the schools in the Frontier Conference. The group responded to Southern's proposal to join the conference with a counterproposal that would have required SOU to subsidize the travel costs opponents incurred when coming to Ashland.

The council of presidents made the same request of Azuza Pacific University, a program the Raiders face annually that was present at the meeting via conference call. Both universities chose to not join the Frontier Conference because of the financial burden they would suffer.

"Our only and best choice right now is to remain independent," Olson said.

The Raider football program will use the money that had been allocated for Frontier Conference membership for the team's travel costs for away games and to bring opponents to Ashland.

"Our goal is to always have at least four home games and maybe five," Pifer said.

Since the disintegration of the Columbia Football Association in 1998, the SOU football program has existed as an independent team within the NAIA.

The team has been successful as an independent, earning playoff

berths four of the past five seasons. In 2001, the Raiders advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA playoffs, where they lost to the eventual national champions, Carroll College of Montana.

"The guys just seem to be like, 'This is what we're faced with,' and go get it," Olson said.

The two challenging aspects of independent status have been scheduling and the lack of recognition players receive. Without membership in a conference, teams aren't required to make the trip to Ashland, which has resulted in a less-than desirable home schedule in recent years.

Also, the only accolades players can earn come in the form of NAIA All-American awards because no all-conference selections are made for independent schools.

Still, Southern has the freedom to play teams outside of the NAIA, such as Humboldt State and Linfield College, in addition to independent squads around the nation.

"We've had some [successes]," Olson said. "We just have to go get it some more."

In order to guarantee itself a spot in the national playoffs, Southern must post the highest national ranking of any independent, plus finish in the top 16 in the final NAIA poll of the regular season.

"Our conference includes some the best independent teams in the country and we just have to be the best independent team," Olson said. "This is the best choice for us."

Other options included ...

Although ideas about moving to NCAA Division II or III status have been kicked around, neither would have been a reasonable consideration for the Raiders.

Becoming a D-III program is unrealistic because SOU is a public institution. Eastern Oregon University, Southern's sister school, attempted to make the switch and was denied.

"There's some philosophical differences [between Division III and NAIA athletics]," Olson said.

"But it's not just philosophy. There are some regulations that are different."

Division III athletics do not allow spring practices and teams cannot dole out scholarship money to players.

Stepping into Division II status probably wouldn't benefit Southern either.

First, there simply aren't that many D-II schools in the Northwest. Humboldt State, Western Oregon, Central Washington and Western Washington are the only institutions with football programs.

"They're having as much trouble trying to schedule games at the NCAA level as we are at the NAIA level," Pifer said. "It's not that much better in terms of teams."

Besides, every athletic program at SOU would have to make the jump to Division II.

"We've never pushed that envelope," Olson said. "That would cost even more money."

The football team, which will raise approximately $40,000 between now and next June, receives almost one-fifth of the total athletic budget allocation from the university. Still, much of the $180,000 budget is consumed by travel and equipment costs. Scholarship money comes from fundraising, not university contributions.

The NAIA lets football programs offer 24 scholarships. Southern divides four among its team members.

"You're allowed to have 36 at that level," Olson said of Division II football. "For us that just doesn't make any sense."

Southern's athletic budget will top $718,000, with teams raising close to $100,000. With the additional scholarships opponents would be offering, Southern simply couldn't compete with others' resources.

"Look at our stadium," Pifer said. "You can't pack enough people in to support the other programs. You have to look at the overall picture and what your mission is.

"Even if you threw scholarship finances out the window and looked at what the NAIA has to offer versus the NCAA, we just think the NAIA has the right mission and philosophy about what athletics should be."