Great essay by former Offensive Coordinator Manny Matsakis on the history of Hofstra Football and the case for starting the program up again.
https://gridironaficionado.com/essays/w ... NrkXvmLBoQ
What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
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JoeyBagODonuts1
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triplec2195
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Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
This is a reallly good article and a nice deja-vu of our proud history in football. What surprises me is that there was no mention of Giovanni Carmazzi who was a standout QB and was drafted in the 3rd round by the 49 niners in 2000 which was higher then someone named Tom Brady who was drafted in the 6th round of that draft. Gio for sure was worth mentioning!!
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
Look, it would be super cool if they had a football program. But logically, how in the world could they support another NIL sport, the discussion to bring it back is a non-starter.
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HofstraPride1
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Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
You nailed it Cactus. If money were no object I would love to have football again and also start hockey program as well, but neither one is realistic, esp. in current NIL environment not to mention the challenging budget condition in general for private colleges now. It is hard enough to compete in college basketball now NIL wise and just imagine if you add nearly 100 new football players on top of that.
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
I really enjoyed this read as it at least partly explains what we lost in killing the football program.
Make no mistake about it, the administration set out to systematically destroy the program over several years...a couple of examples; our program enjoyed its best attendance when we played night games; don't quote me on it but I can remember hosting Connecticut at Shuart and we drew nearly 10,000 fans on a Friday night, another game again Stony Brook similarly on Friday night drew over 8,000 fans.
The administration killed Friday night games, claiming the student body was getting drunk, disorderly etc, thus killing interest and attendance.
Another move was to pressure Joe Gardi, the hugely successful coach into retiring, which set the program way back.
And finally, the administration made sure that trustee Wayne Chrebet was not attending the meeting when the Board voted to dismantle the program
On the financial front, the cost of running a football program is not that expensive, given all the financial support players can receive; just ask schools like Bryant, Sacred Heart, Stonehill and others who have recently added football programs...and clearly, Hofstra has greater resources than those schools and by far better facilities!
Or, try what little Molloy University in Rockville Centre has done by adding Sprint Football...its REAL football but the players are limited in wieght to something like 185 pounds. Molloy added Sprint football to attract male students and it has worked; it attributes an enrollment increase of at least 75 males and even more females who are cheerleaders, etc.
Hofstra could sertainly use additional students and a RETURN of ALUMS who walked away from the school when it scuttled the football program...just ask Villanova which killed football and the reinstated it!
Make no mistake about it, the administration set out to systematically destroy the program over several years...a couple of examples; our program enjoyed its best attendance when we played night games; don't quote me on it but I can remember hosting Connecticut at Shuart and we drew nearly 10,000 fans on a Friday night, another game again Stony Brook similarly on Friday night drew over 8,000 fans.
The administration killed Friday night games, claiming the student body was getting drunk, disorderly etc, thus killing interest and attendance.
Another move was to pressure Joe Gardi, the hugely successful coach into retiring, which set the program way back.
And finally, the administration made sure that trustee Wayne Chrebet was not attending the meeting when the Board voted to dismantle the program
On the financial front, the cost of running a football program is not that expensive, given all the financial support players can receive; just ask schools like Bryant, Sacred Heart, Stonehill and others who have recently added football programs...and clearly, Hofstra has greater resources than those schools and by far better facilities!
Or, try what little Molloy University in Rockville Centre has done by adding Sprint Football...its REAL football but the players are limited in wieght to something like 185 pounds. Molloy added Sprint football to attract male students and it has worked; it attributes an enrollment increase of at least 75 males and even more females who are cheerleaders, etc.
Hofstra could sertainly use additional students and a RETURN of ALUMS who walked away from the school when it scuttled the football program...just ask Villanova which killed football and the reinstated it!
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
Was at the UConn game. A packed house and a great atmosphere. The current and prior administrations if not outright hostile to athletics are at best indifferent. It is obvious and that is why I don't trust them one bit. Sorry to say that but it is true. If you look at the excitement and interest generated by college athletics it enhances the college experience immeasurably. Hofstra's campus is a ghost town in the Fall and Spring. For reasons unknown to me the past two administrations just don't get it. I suspect they are now trying to undermine the lacrosse program as well and in that regard they are succeeding probably beyond their expectations.
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
I wonder if the students were polled, would they want football reinstated? Someone get on that. I doubt it.
Outside a few diehards, I don't think the administration has a mandate to reinstate it. Hard to see who is truly clamoring for it. Not the student body.
In general, higher education is being devalued in our nation, which is a damn shame. Football is pretty low on Hofstra's wish list, I expect.
Outside a few diehards, I don't think the administration has a mandate to reinstate it. Hard to see who is truly clamoring for it. Not the student body.
In general, higher education is being devalued in our nation, which is a damn shame. Football is pretty low on Hofstra's wish list, I expect.
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
The student population has changed since the school dropped football. The students here for the most part don't care about ALL SPORTS...that was the plan from the previous administration.
As for the current administration, it is much more engaged than in the past, but I think you're correct, there is no thought to bringing football back and that's a shame!
As for the current administration, it is much more engaged than in the past, but I think you're correct, there is no thought to bringing football back and that's a shame!
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
Fantastic article, and it is awesome to get this perspective and to shed more light on the atrocious decision and approach by the university at that time. It was a stupid move then, and has proven to be even dumber today. They SHOULD HAVE done this kind of analysis prior to killing the #1 sport in college athletics that literally drives ALL decisions across the entire collegiate landscape.
Shoot most of us could've told them how much they would actually be losing. It's not just dollars, this goes WAY beyond that, and I love seeing an article call it out.
I do not agree with the cost aspect. The cost is the exact reason HU SHOULD bring it back. That's the entire source of media revenue for nearly every major money-making institution in the US. HU has literally ZERO leverage for any improvement because we DON'T have football - this isn't about the top line cost, it's about everything we are losing. JMU just told the Sun Belt peace out and they're now going to the American. From one great opportunity and money-maker to an even better one lol. They are also expanding their stadium once again. UD is in a better league, ODU, Marshall, FAU, USF, Georgia St, now Sacramento State, we can go down the list of once-peer programs that have left us in the dust and bring in WAY more dollars than HU does in MUCH better conferences with MUCH better media deals. They also have way larger enrollments that are actually growing vs HU on life support. And they have WAY more recognition than we do. The financial excuse is a complete farce. Yes, it's costs money, it also produces $ and produces WAY more value in a variety of ways that HU will never sniff without it.
The hardest part would be the initial upfront cost to reinstate - I'm not diminishing that part, that would need to be financed. But Long Island is and has been STARVED for real college football, and HU could've and should've been the leader. HU should be raking in college football benefits if they had any real vision beyond trying and failing to become some academic powerhouse. Our ranking is the same it's always been. Complete farce too.
There is another major realignment coming, and HU will be squarely in the not-haves and forgottens when it does. We already are. Because of the stupid call to kill football, HU has nothing to market. The med school isn't doing squat for our future. It's got 100 kids in it or something. No one cares. It isn't supporting anything. Where's the profit from it? Because I am willing to bet big that the med school is costing a fortune - just like football would. Except ESPN and CBS aren't paying HU to televise a bunch of almost doctors. (PS I love having a med school, big fan - I don't love having no football because of it - should've had both, and it's absolutely doable).
As far as HU's current students, they are extremely apathetic to sports, which is very sad. That isn't the case across the country, but it sure is at good ol HU where we seem to have filled our student ranks with a bunch of soft weak sauce social justice wannabe warriors with no context of life outside of whatever self-perceived / self-inflicted / made-up "offense" they're protesting against. Too much matcha tea vs having a beer and a dog.
And I wouldn't base my athletic decisions on them or what they want. Otherwise HU would have no athletics at all. So it's silly to poll them - poll them about every sport and they'll say kill it. So unless that's our goal, to have a sport-less university, we can leave these nerds out of it.
Shoot most of us could've told them how much they would actually be losing. It's not just dollars, this goes WAY beyond that, and I love seeing an article call it out.
I do not agree with the cost aspect. The cost is the exact reason HU SHOULD bring it back. That's the entire source of media revenue for nearly every major money-making institution in the US. HU has literally ZERO leverage for any improvement because we DON'T have football - this isn't about the top line cost, it's about everything we are losing. JMU just told the Sun Belt peace out and they're now going to the American. From one great opportunity and money-maker to an even better one lol. They are also expanding their stadium once again. UD is in a better league, ODU, Marshall, FAU, USF, Georgia St, now Sacramento State, we can go down the list of once-peer programs that have left us in the dust and bring in WAY more dollars than HU does in MUCH better conferences with MUCH better media deals. They also have way larger enrollments that are actually growing vs HU on life support. And they have WAY more recognition than we do. The financial excuse is a complete farce. Yes, it's costs money, it also produces $ and produces WAY more value in a variety of ways that HU will never sniff without it.
The hardest part would be the initial upfront cost to reinstate - I'm not diminishing that part, that would need to be financed. But Long Island is and has been STARVED for real college football, and HU could've and should've been the leader. HU should be raking in college football benefits if they had any real vision beyond trying and failing to become some academic powerhouse. Our ranking is the same it's always been. Complete farce too.
There is another major realignment coming, and HU will be squarely in the not-haves and forgottens when it does. We already are. Because of the stupid call to kill football, HU has nothing to market. The med school isn't doing squat for our future. It's got 100 kids in it or something. No one cares. It isn't supporting anything. Where's the profit from it? Because I am willing to bet big that the med school is costing a fortune - just like football would. Except ESPN and CBS aren't paying HU to televise a bunch of almost doctors. (PS I love having a med school, big fan - I don't love having no football because of it - should've had both, and it's absolutely doable).
As far as HU's current students, they are extremely apathetic to sports, which is very sad. That isn't the case across the country, but it sure is at good ol HU where we seem to have filled our student ranks with a bunch of soft weak sauce social justice wannabe warriors with no context of life outside of whatever self-perceived / self-inflicted / made-up "offense" they're protesting against. Too much matcha tea vs having a beer and a dog.
And I wouldn't base my athletic decisions on them or what they want. Otherwise HU would have no athletics at all. So it's silly to poll them - poll them about every sport and they'll say kill it. So unless that's our goal, to have a sport-less university, we can leave these nerds out of it.
Re: What Hofstra Closed - They closed more than a football program.
Polito-As always your article gave me a good laugh, though sadly what you say is true. The students just won't go the games even with free tickets. I bet they could even be limo driven to the games from the dorms and just stay in the limo and ask to go back to the dorms. Even Stony Brook students seem to support their athletic programs more. I'm sure it weighs on whether some students decide to play here or not.