QUESTIONS ABOUT JV PROGRAMS IN FCS

[heath]

What schools other than IVY and need base programs have JV teams? What players are eligible to play in those games and can the coach move a player back and forth from varsity and JV? Do JV players practice with, and used as scout teams or do they have their own practices? Do JV players dress during home games? Is a JV team beneficial to players not ready as Freshman or Sophs to play or does it kill their confidence? Are there any rivalries?xconfusedx

[Brad82]

Great question. I will bet budget issues,have hampered this noble cause
1. they all can. URI used to. not sure all do, big mistake if not.
2. all that are eligible,no red-shirts of course. can move back and forth b/w JV and varsity. typically do not though, varsity only carries those who might play.
3. scout team,they get out early before varsity and have own practice for about 45 mins. and on Mondays and Fridays (if no game).
4. typically do not dress,mainly frosh on JV
5. It is a near-death if on it beyond soph. year. coaches will typically tell you no need to come back.There are no walk-on programs or cuts.
6. Rhody used to play Bridgton,Milford, Navy Prep and Brown. All future FCS or FBS players. Big help in identifying progess against top competition in game conditions.

[Bogus Megapardus]

All Patriot schools have JV teams. There are no football scholarships and freshman redshirting is not allowed so it is the coach's decision. Freshmen very rarely play varsity anyhow so JV is not at all a confidence killer - PL coaches prefer that the freshmen concentrate on the classroom anyhow and they know that coming in. At Lafayette there are ongoing JV rivalries with Division III Muhlenburg and Albright. Both colleges are nearby - the team travels on regular yellow school buses (so they have something to look forward to later).

[UAalum72]

IIRC players on JV are using up a year of eligibility, so redshirt freshmen won't play in a JV game. Not an issue with Ivy and Patriot (and PFL?) but probably the main reason for the decline of JV in the rest of Division I.

[Franks Tanks]

Nice summary there Bogus. Also if a player is designated to play on the JV team they still can play varsity if needed. There are usually about 4-5 JV games and it is pretty much Fresh and Sophs who arent getting varsity action. Lafayette JV also play Army and Navy prep and schools like Milford Academy. The one year we even played the George Mason club football team, but we crushed them and I think that was the last of scheduling club teams.

[Sly Fox]

Forget FCS, I'm not familiar with any JV programs on the FBS level. Times have changed.

[Brad82]

I looked @ Milford and Hargreave's schedule and really watered down.
I bet the emphasis on red-shirting has hurt JV teams. You would think the better programs would want it as Frosh hardly play varsity anywhere.
Everyone has to wait his turn. Player can red-shirt @ any time,so not sure it is legit objection. I will ask a coach someday.

[DFW HOYA]

All Patriot schools have JV teams. There are no football scholarships and freshman redshirting is not allowed so it is the coach's decision.

Always the outlier...but I don't think Coach Kelly has maintained a JV during his tenure at Georgetown. There are no prep schools near Washington and no junior colleges playing football (Montgomery County (MD) cancelled football in 2002.) Georgetown used to scrimmage a JV team with some of the Seaboard Conference club teams but those schools aren't regularly scheduling JV teams anymore.

North Carolina may be the only one doing it in basketball but it's a great setup for kids that are pretty good in hoops but not quite enough to earn a Carolina scholarship: it's coached by a varsity assistant (Roy Williams was the JV coach in the 1980's), they play all games at home in the Dean Dome usually vs. D-III teams, play games two hours before the varsity (so there is walk-up traffic to see the games), wear the same jersey styles as the varsity, and at least one JV player each year is invited to the varsity the following season.

[Franks Tanks]

Always the outlier...but I don't think Coach Kelly has maintained a JV during his tenure at Georgetown. There are no prep schools near Washington and no junior colleges playing football (Montgomery County (MD) cancelled football in 2002.) Georgetown used to scrimmage a JV team with some of the Seaboard Conference club teams but those schools aren't regularly scheduling JV teams anymore.

North Carolina may be the only one doing it in basketball but it's a great setup for kids that are pretty good in hoops but not quite enough to earn a Carolina scholarship: it's coached by a varsity assistant (Roy Williams was the JV coach in the 1980's), they play all games at home in the Dean Dome usually vs. D-III teams, play games two hours before the varsity (so there is walk-up traffic to see the games), wear the same jersey styles as the varsity, and at least one JV player each year is invited to the varsity the following season.

Penn has a similar JV basketball program. I dont know of any others.

[DJOM]

playing time, playing time and playing time. Practice is one thing but to learn the game you have to be on the field. JV squads allow freshmen and sophs who are not ready for the varsity to actually learn the game on the field.

[heath]

playing time, playing time and playing time. Practice is one thing but to learn the game you have to be on the field. JV squads allow freshmen and sophs who are not ready for the varsity to actually learn the game on the field.
I guess what your saying DJOM is.......that the fresh or soph in high school(or college) that could ride the varsity bench and rarely ge in would be better off playing on the JV team and playing every down and be better prepared to make the varsity the next year, because of the experience he has gained ? Makes sense

[TexasTerror]

JV teams for those curious, are more prevalent at the D3 level when they want as many players as possible - for enrollment purposes (athletic fees fund athletics) and to have a wider pool of talent. Typically play 3-6 games against teams that are a simple bus ride away...

[DJOM]

Exactly. At the high school level, I have seen coaches use the JV team to have talented freshmen/sophs learn the game under game conditions....at that level, young men who are devoted to the team--but not quite talented enough to start get to play and not just feel the frustration of riding the bench and never playing....At the FCS level, where EVERYONE on the team is talented, former all state, all area, etc.; the JV team gives talented freshmen the ability to gain on field experience and also gives those upper classmen who are on practice squads the ability to play in games. Less than 1% of football playing high school seniors ever get to step onto a D1 football field, the majority of JV squads are made up of extremely talented young men.

[GrizFamily]

Montana has a JV program. It's Montana State!!

[Bogus Megapardus]

The JV team gives talented freshmen the ability to gain on field experience and also gives those upper classmen who are on practice squads the ability to play in games.

Plus, Princeton maintains a very active sprint football program. Lafayette cut out its sprint team some years ago but we used to have great sprint rivalries with Princeton and Penn. Sometimes we played Army. Sprint "late bloomers" can make the varsity squad as well. I think they raised the sprint weight cut-off this year.


Always the outlier.

I thought that Georgetown scrimmaged Anne Arundel CC and the like. The Hoyas have no JV games or scrimmages at all these days?


games against teams that are a simple bus ride away

That's one of the keys, isn't it? In the northeast we are fortunate that there are lots of college teams with pretty good programs that are within an hour or so. Travel costs are minimal (they pack their gear under their seats) and the guys get a chance to play. That's what college football is supposed to be about, after all.

[DFW HOYA]

I thought that Georgetown scrimmaged Anne Arundel CC and the like. The Hoyas have no JV games or scrimmages at all these days?

No JV or scrimmages. Anne Arundel dropped football in the late 1980's--there are no JC football teams left in the region.