The group assigned the task of assessing the health and assuring the long-term viability of college football met for the first time February 12 and kicked off what is expected to be an intensive study of issues associated with the sport.

Meeting in Indianapolis, the Football Study Oversight Committee determined five major areas of study and action plans to ensure each receives adequate review from the appropriate governance entity. The five study areas are student-athlete welfare and graduation rates; membership criteria and classification; the two-year moratorium on the number of postseason bowl games; increased financial pressures associated with Division I football; and diversity issues, particularly the lack of minority head coaches in Division I football.

The committee is targeting its next meeting in May to review initial reports from groups assigned to study those issues. The committee may emerge from that meeting with a preliminary set of recommendations, though the group also plans to meet again in August, as well as at least three times in 2002.

The NCAA formed a similar group to study basketball issues in 1998 that was instrumental in developing several reform initiatives adopted last year and providing the impetus for the newly created Division I Basketball Issues Committee.

Wethington, who is president at the University of Kentucky and past chair of the NCAA Executive Committee, said the Association has an obligation to conduct the same type of thorough review of football at this time, even though the sport has never been in better shape.

"Like basketball, football is one of the NCAA's most coveted assets," Wethington said. "But there are some long-term issues out there and a lot of information about those concerns -- some accurate and some misleading. The Association felt it needed to consolidate the available reliable information through this study in order to have a valid foundation from which to make decisions."

The committee, appointed by the Division I Board of Directors in January, is composed of eight college and university presidents, along with six ex officio, nonvoting members. Most of the presidents are either current or past members of the NCAA Executive Committee. The ex officio members include representatives from Divisions I-A, I-AA and II, as well as from the American Football Coaches Association and the Bowl Championship Series.

Emphasis of study

Of the five study areas, perhaps none is more important than a review of the current membership criteria and classification. Concerns have been raised about the Division I-A classification in football being considered the ultimate level to which all programs should aspire, thus leading to some schools striving to attain what is in reality beyond their means. In addition, a proposal that would require an average of 17,000 in paid home football attendance in order to be considered Division I-A was proposed last year but tabled until the study was completed. Also, some Division II conferences have expressed an interest in removing division and subdivision classifications in Divisions I and II football, thereby permitting institutions with similar levels of commitment to the sport to form alliances.

Wethington said rectifying those issues would present a fundamental impact on representation in the Division I governance structure, which currently is based along subdivision lines.

As for student-athlete welfare, a major concern is falling graduation rates for football student-athletes, which have dipped eight percentage points in the last five years. To address that, the committee wants to determine how transfer regulations affect football student-athletes; whether to adopt more stringent continuing-eligibility requirements; and what constitutes appropriate levels of time commitment to football. The committee also is expected to look at time demands on football student-athletes who complain that they have little opportunity to be "just college students."

"We have to decide what to do about criteria for bowls," Wethington said. "Do we let the number go beyond the current 26 or do we establish additional criteria to limit expansion?"

Wethington said that will be for the Division I Football Issues Committee and the Championships/Competition Cabinet's postseason football certification subcommittee to review and make recommendations.

Other issues

The study also will encompass a review of spending trends of institutions, particularly in postseason football. According to the NCAA's most recent study on revenues and expenses at colleges and universities, the percentage of football revenues as part of the total athletics department budget since 1989 has increased from 47 percent to 67 percent, and expenses as part of the total budget have increased from 39 percent to 55 percent.

"Those numbers indicate that an 'arms race' exists in football," Wethington said. "That has led to schools scrambling for more seats, all because football is carrying so much of the financial load for many colleges and universities. We run the risk of overextending ourselves as institutions."

In addition, the committee will focus on the lack of minority head coaches in Division I football. Some of the strategies in that regard will be to determine how much movement there is for minority coaches from college to the professional ranks, and develop a database of minority football coaches that may be used to enhance the hiring process for football coaches.

Wethington said the committee will be looking to the American Football Coaches Association as a resource in accomplishing those directives.

The committee also re-emphasized that a Division I-A playoff is not part of the study.

"We've said that from the start," Wethington said. "There simply is no interest in a playoff among university presidents in Division I. We've talked about a playoff in the past, but there is no desire to go in that direction now."

The immediate timeline for the study is for the groups assigned to review issues to complete their initial reports by the end of April. The oversight committee will determine the impact of any recommendations on the Division I structure and report to the Board of Directors by the Board's November meeting. A Division I forum on football issues will be conducted at the 2002 NCAA Convention, and final recommendations may be delivered to the Division I Management Council and Board as early as April 2002.

"While we don't want this study to drag on longer than necessary, it is a comprehensive review, which means that the quality and thoroughness of the study is more important than the time in which it is conducted," Wethington said. "This is an important initiative and we want to make sure we do it right."

Football study oversight areas

Governance/Membership

Bowl Certification/Division
I-AA Postseason

Finance/Research

Student-Athlete Welfare

Diversity

Areas of study

The following is a synopsis of the issues the NCAA Football Study Oversight Committee will undertake over the next several months, including the governance group(s) assigned to take on the initial review:

Governance/Membership

Possible classification models

Division I-A classification requirements

Football alliance models

Group(s) assigned: Division I Management Council (membership and governance subcommittees)

Bowl Certification/Division I-AA Postseason

NCAA role in bowl certification

Number/quality of bowl games

Current access to Division I-AA championship

Financial trends in postseason

Group(s) assigned: Division I Football Issues Committee, Championships/Competition Cabinet (subcommittee on postseason football certification)

Finance/Research

Develop areas of research to facilitate study

Group(s) assigned: Division I Football Issues Committee

Student-Athlete Welfare

Transfer regulations

Continuing-eligibility requirements

Graduation rates

20-hour rule

Voluntary workouts, time commitment

Student-athlete behavior, sportsmanship

Group(s) assigned: Division I Football Issues Committee, Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Faculty Athletic Representatives Association, American Football Coaches Association, NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports

Diversity

Lack of minority head coaches

Movement of head coaches from college to pros

Database of minority football coaches

Training component to develop potential candidates

Group(s) assigned: Division I Football Issues Committee, NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee