Weber State football: Wildcats take hit from NCAA
The former University of Utah coach, entering his fourth season with the Wildcats, had been working under a few sanctions from the NCAA because of unsatisfactory academic progress in the past, but said the team was making progress and was hopeful those restrictions would soon be lifted.
Tuesday, however, he learned the NCAA was further handcuffing his team.
"I thought we were on solid ground and heading in the right direction," McBride said. "We improved our APR (academic progress report) by 80 points last semester, and this semester we're expected to go up another 10 points."
Those numbers, though, are not factored into the report released Tuesday by the NCAA.
McBride said he believed WSU's APR number for the fall semester to be 911. According to the NCAA APR, however, Weber State's multiyear APR — which includes the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years — is just 853, placing the Wildcats among the bottom 10 percent of NCAA Division I football teams over that four-year span. The 2007-08 academic numbers are not factored into the latest APR.
The average FCS football team had a multi-year APR of 931.
Additionally, WSU is restricted to offering only 18 initial scholarships per year.
"This is mostly stuff from the past," McBride said. "It's going to hurt us."
To make matters more difficult for the Wildcats, the NCAA is reducing the number of hours the team is allowed to practice each week.
Instead of the normal 20 hours per week, WSU will have just 16 hours of practice. McBride and his coaching staff have decided to cancel Monday practices this coming season and replace them with a team study hall.
"The NCAA is sending a strong message that there is no room for poor academic performance in athletics programs," WSU vice president for administrative services Norm Tarbox said in a statement. "The university and the football program must continue to make progress toward the NCAA standards if we are going to remain competitive on the field and in recruiting."
Some of Weber State's problems may be attributed to the transfer or drop-out of several athletes during the transition from former coach, and current athletic director, Jerry Graybeal to McBride a little more than three years ago.
Recent comments
I love how some people come to these message boards to run down programs...
Weberman | May 13, 2008 at 2:06 p.m.
There is enough blame to go around between the coaches and players...
guards82 | May 12, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.
To "mac has lost touch"
He is the best recruiter...
Harold | May 12, 2008 at 9:47 a.m.
