Why Has the Ohio Valley Conference Slumped Recently?

[GannonFan]

Trying to understand this in a non-smack forum - I really want to know by those in the know why the Ohio Valley Conference, certainly a leader in IAA football at its onset with the success of Eastern Kentucky, has been so down in the dumps lately, in terms of success against non-OVC teams, especially in the playoffs. The league saw a lot of success through the 80's and early 90's but has now gone through a fairly extended drought - haven't won a playoff game since 1996 and only a couple of games since then haven't been multi-TD droughts. I think it was last year that saw the OVC go much of the year without having a team even crack the top 25. I know EKU has probably had some effect from losing Coach Kidd to retirement, and losing Western Kentucky to the Gateway hasn't helped. So what's happening in the OVC that's keeping them down?

[Eagle_77]

This is a very good question. Especially being that this is in a Football rich region.

[colonelblitz]

Good question, no really easy answer. Let me start off by saying, WKU and MTSU leaving the OVC hurt. No doubt about it. JSU and Samford have been all round good addititions to the OVC. Alot of things happened at EKU prior to Coach Kidd retiring. An unnamed past President ( if he had had his way would have dropped football altogether, imho) almost killed the football program. Coach Kidd , much to his credit, stayed and saved the program. Unfortunately the damage was done. Coach was righting the ship when he retired and I believe was 1 year away from making the playoffs. So, bring in a new head coach, new offensive scheme,more new coaches, start recruiting players that fit one's schemes and at the same time battle key injuries, stiffer competition. Hell I'm surprised Coach Hope did as well as he did. Coach Hope is a mover and shaker, he will get the job done. The talent is there, we just need to bring it all together every game , every half ! Believe it or not, but the OVC is on an upward swing. This is Hope's third year, we expect good things this year. Our record may not look great, but we are still winning and making marked improvements each year. If we can get the QB position settled, we will be tough to beat. Hope this gives you a little insight into EKU's struggles of late. On a side note, We have won the All-Sports trophy ( mens) the last 2 years, our BBall team'(s) when to the NCAA tourney, so can EKU Football be far behind? NOPE!! Keep an eye on us and the OVC.

Go EASTERN beat western..

Western, well you stll suck :spank:

[dbackjon]

Sounds a little like what happened to the Big Sky, but without a Montana for the conference to hang there hat on until the new additions and old powers regained balance.

[Mr. C]

EKU was still pretty good into the early 1990s before the program began to slip a little bit. Roy Kidd's final team, which got snubbed from the playoffs the year that 9-11 messed up schedules (the Colonels only played 10 games and finished 7-3) was pretty good and might have won some games as an at-large entrant. I agree with Colonel Blitz's comments on the funding and support problems. Western Kentucky faced some of the same crap and Jack Harbaugh fought it like Roy Kidd did. When Harbaugh finally got his national title it was like he was saying "Take this job and shove it" by retiring.

It's a complex question (though a very good one). The losses of good programs obviously hurt, but I think that the other OVC schools let themselves get passed by in a lot of ways too. They didn't keep up with the schools from the Gateway and the SoCon in continuing to grow their programs.

Murray State was starting to get things going under Houston Nutt, but when he left, he took that momentum with him. Eastern Illinois had some good talent go through (Payton Award winner Tony Romo, for example), but Bob Spoo's teams have always seemed to underachieve in the playoffs. Tennessee State was also building a good program under L.C. Cole in the late 1990s, but then you found out it was being constructed by violating NCAA rules.

Jacksonville State and, to a lesser extent, Samford have been positive additions. I'm of the opinion that this year's OVC will be the best the league has been in several years, particularly at the top and in the middle of the conference. But they still have a ways to go and must show they can win a playoff game and compete with the top conferences, like the SoCon, Gateway, Big Sky, Southland and Atlantic 10.

[therealbigredrules]

I agree with Colonel Blitz's comments on the funding and support problems. Western Kentucky faced some of the same crap and Jack Harbaugh fought it like Roy Kidd did. When Harbaugh finally got his national title it was like he was saying "Take this job and shove it" by retiring.


Eastern will be back. Agree, It sounds like they hit the same problem WKU hit in the early 90's - I do not know all the details of EKU. Western was a very very close to ending the program. I will never forget having to play the Russian National Football team just to fill games. Then the Russians ran out of money and got stuck in the good old USA.

[Golden Eagle]

I agree with those who say that Samford and JSU are positive influences on the conference. They can't really fill Middle and WKU's shoes, but nobody could. Hope they don't bolt for the SoCon.

[colonelblitz]

Yes the OVC still has a way to go. Coach kidd agreed to play WKU at WKU when it was to be our home game to help out a friend (Harbaugh) and the school he loved to play. Of course anytime EKU and WKU meet it benefits both teams. MR C made some good points, but I question how one grows a program with no support( admin. ) or funding. But that is in the past, we have a new Prez and she loves football and sports in general. There are alot of young coaches ready to make a mark that are pushing the programs to excell on the field and in the classroom. I have all the confidence in the world that Hope will build his own successful program. He does so much more than coach a football team. There is a lot of pressure following a legend, but Hope seems to take it all in stride and is determined to regain our national prominence.

[OSRacer]

Somewhat a sign of the times...From Murrays perspective, we haven't been able to maintain any continuity with our coaches. From the onset of 1AA we have had some very competitive teams, but when they reach a certain level of success our coaches have left. Mike Gottfried went to the 1AA semis (79) then left for Cincinatti (I think), Frank Beamer had some tough teams in the mid 80's before heading to Va Tech and Houston Nutt really had the program headed for national prominence before leaving for Boise St. in 96. MTSU leaving really has had a huge effect because they were consistently very good and competitive on a national scale and EKU from what I understand faced some financial roadblocks in the mid to late 90s that brought their program down a bit (I still think they will be back on the national scene in the next 3 years) - when you look at the programs we have added they haven't brought national football success with them but they are outstanding universities(Jax St and Samford) with good (sometimes great) football traditions. I believe that the OVC will have some success moving foreward and truly believe that this is the year that a team wins a game or 2 in the playoffs. JSU, EKU and Murray are all primed to have good seasons.

[tsutiger]

Tennessee State was also building a good program under L.C. Cole in the late 1990s, but then you found out it was being constructed by violating NCAA rules.

Don't spread lies. If our program was constructed by violating NCAA rules we would have had to hand back our back-to-back OVC championships.

Every conference goes through a down period. Like someone previously posted, I see an up swing.

[Mr. C]

Don't spread lies. If our program was constructed by violating NCAA rules we would have had to hand back our back-to-back OVC championships.

Every conference goes through a down period. Like someone previously posted, I see an up swing.
No lies are being spread. Anyone with any knowledge of what L.C. Cole did knows that he was running fast and loose with the rules. Tennessee WAS investigated (and I thought there were some penalties given) for stuff that happened in his tenure and that was a major reason that Cole and some of his staff jettisoned for greener pastures. How ironic that Cole was FIRED at his next school for doing the same type of things. I have friends who are tight with people in high places at TSU, so I know some of what went down there. Just because the OVC didn't take away championships (usually a drastic step that is done in cases like Florida A&M's recent troubles) doesn't mean that rules were not being broken. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. I'm not saying that Tennessee State is running an outlaw program now (far from it), but most folks in I-AA circles know that Cole wasn't a clean coach. You are better off that he is gone, even with the struggles you have had in recent years.

[Gamecocks99]

Somewhat a sign of the times...From Murrays perspective, we haven't been able to maintain any continuity with our coaches. From the onset of 1AA we have had some very competitive teams, but when they reach a certain level of success our coaches have left. Mike Gottfried went to the 1AA semis (79) then left for Cincinatti (I think), Frank Beamer had some tough teams in the mid 80's before heading to Va Tech and Houston Nutt really had the program headed for national prominence before leaving for Boise St. in 96. MTSU leaving really has had a huge effect because they were consistently very good and competitive on a national scale and EKU from what I understand faced some financial roadblocks in the mid to late 90s that brought their program down a bit (I still think they will be back on the national scene in the next 3 years) - when you look at the programs we have added they haven't brought national football success with them but they are outstanding universities(Jax St and Samford) with good (sometimes great) football traditions. I believe that the OVC will have some success moving foreward and truly believe that this is the year that a team wins a game or 2 in the playoffs. JSU, EKU and Murray are all primed to have good seasons.
Jacksonville State University brought with them into the Ohio Valley Conference National Championship Titles in Football, Basketball and back 2 back NC in Baseball. I would say winning a National Championship in football is national success in Football. I don't think any other University in any division has accomplished what JSU has accomplished. We refer to it as having won the "Triple Crown" of National Championships. Also, in Alabama we recruit against Alabama, Auburn, UAB, Troy, Samford and [North Alabama-who has won several NC & could move up to 1AA and not have a problem] Football in the state of Alabama is taken very seriously. We hope to build on what we have accomplished in 1AA so far. We are excited about our future. By the way this is a great forum, and I really enjoy everyone's knowledge of the game.

[galojay]

Winning fixes everything. The OVC has not had much winning lately. This hurts recruiting, which makes it harder to.... win. Murray slipping hasn't helped. Roy Kidd retiring hasn't helped. Western Kentucky and MTSU leaving, didn't help. The OVC is just not getting good enough players to make for a very competitive league preparing teams for the play-offs. WKU left the OVC in 2000, and two years later has a Gateway Championship and an NCAA Championship. I honestly believe, WKU leaving the OVC and getting into the tougher GFC helped WKU win the NCAA Championship.

[tsutiger]

No lies are being spread. Anyone with any knowledge of what L.C. Cole did knows that he was running fast and loose with the rules. Tennessee WAS investigated (and I thought there were some penalties given) for stuff that happened in his tenure and that was a major reason that Cole and some of his staff jettisoned for greener pastures. How ironic that Cole was FIRED at his next school for doing the same type of things. I have friends who are tight with people in high places at TSU, so I know some of what went down there. Just because the OVC didn't take away championships (usually a drastic step that is done in cases like Florida A&M's recent troubles) doesn't mean that rules were not being broken. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. I'm not saying that Tennessee State is running an outlaw program now (far from it), but most folks in I-AA circles know that Cole wasn't a clean coach. You are better off that he is gone, even with the struggles you have had in recent years.

I'll say this and I’ll leave it alone. We were hit with lack of institutional control. L.C. was cleared by the NCAA from the TSU mess and ASU mess. I don’t know what you were told, but in the eyes of the NCAA L.C. is clean. He just has bad luck. Position coaches that he fired called the Boys in Indy. Once the boys are called unless you're Ohio State or Tennessee nothing good is going to come out of it. We 1AA programs don’t have friends in high places if you know what I mean.

[Mr. C]

L.C. Cole is "clean" with the NCAA in the same way as other coaches who let assistants, or others at a given university, take the fall for their actions. He has the reputation of being a bandit in I-AA circles. I have enough inside information (sorry I can't be more specific) on what happened to know that L.C. Cole was bad news at TSU and probably even worse news at Alabama State. That is why he isn't coaching at either of those places. No NCAA school in their right mind would hire him as a head coach. If they did, I can guarantee you that the boys from Indianapolis would be close behind. That's how "clean" L.C. Cole is. The point is, Tennessee State is much better off without that type of scum coaching its team. There are right ways and wrong ways to build success. L.C. Cole didn't do things the right way and in the long run, TSU is still suffering from the consquences.