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It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Those lines from a Charles Dickens classic may summarize how Independence Bowl Chair Claire Rebouche has felt over the past week.
As the college football bowl line-ups were announced a week ago on Sunday, December 8, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl received rave reviews for snagging two very attractive national football names.
The Shreveport, Louisiana bowl (which began in the nation’s bicentennial year of 1976) announced American Athletic Conference champion Army (11-1 at the time) to play the Sunbelt Conference champion Marshall University (10-3).
For what is considered to be a mid-level bowl game, the Independence Bowl had scored a couple of conference champions with ten or more wins apiece.
As cartoon legend Inspector Gadget might say, “Wowser!”
The Independence Bowl and its supporters were smiling from ear to ear. Party time in Shreveport!.
Until…
Marshall University’s head football coach Charles Huff pulled the ripcord hours later and accepted a new head coaching job at Sunbelt rival Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Within a few days, Marshall University rallied and named North Carolina State defensive coordinator, Mike Gibson, as the team’s new head football coach.
A native of West Virginia, Coach Gibson was quickly learning that his football team was dwindling in size – especially after he was announced by Marshall University.
Marshall’s Thundering Herd football team has seen a literal – wait for it – stampede for the exits via the NCAA’s Transfer Portal over the past week.
At last count, there have been 37 Marshall players jumping into the official “Pick me!” want ads after former football coach Charles Huff’s abrupt departure for Southern Miss.
That group of exiting players included the top three quarterbacks at Marshall.
Though most college rosters are filled with 100 or more players, Marshall felt that their remaining “JV squad” would be no match for a powerful Army Black Knights team on Saturday, December 28 in Shreveport.
Six days after being selected to play in the Independence Bowl, Marshall University announced that they were bailing out of the game due to a lack of players.
Suddenly, the Independence Bowl group found themselves in the worst of times
All of the other qualified bowl teams (6-6 record or better) had been selected for other bowl games nearly a week ago.
Since there were no other teams at 6-6 or better, the NCAA permitted the I-Bowl to dip into the 5-7 pool of teams.
The clock was ticking at a rapid pace. A game was to be played on ESPN in just two weeks.
The Independence Bowl quickly learned that the majority of major colleges and their football players were completing the fall semester over the past week. Some had already left campus for the holidays.
Even though the I-Bowl had the very attractive 11-2 Army Black Knights as one team, which other FBS school could round-up enough players and be ready to battle Army in just two weeks?
Enter Louisiana Tech!
The Ruston-based school operates on the quarter system instead of the more traditional two primary semesters plus a summer session.
Louisiana Tech students began the winter quarter on campus on December 4. That meant that most of the Bulldogs football players were still on campus last week.
They had just received a rather desperate request coming from their friends located just 70 miles down I-20 West in Shreveport.
Yes, Louisiana Tech considers the Independence Bowl to be a very good friend over the years.
The Bulldogs have played in this bowl game on five previous occasions – 1977 (vs. Louisville), 1978 (against East Carolina), 1990 (vs. Maryland), 2008 (against Northern Illinois) and in 2019 (defeating the Miami Hurricanes 14-0).
This year, the Dawgs are returning the favor by coming to the rescue to save the 2024 Independence Bowl by taking on 11-2 Army.
The 5-7 Tech Bulldogs finished their season two weeks ago on a two-game winning streak. Playing against Army on national television on December 28 should enhance the school’s recruiting process in the weeks and months ahead.
No matter what the final outcome of the game is, Louisiana Tech has earned a lot of positive press and respect around the country by filling-in for Marshall at the Independence Bowl.
“We are excited to accept the opportunity to play in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against a fantastic and storied program as Army,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Ryan Ivey. “I believe our football program is moving toward positive structure and the opportunity to play in this bowl adds to that momentum. We are looking forward to being in Shreveport for this match-up.”
But what about Marshall University and its remaining football players?
The majority of Marshall’s 2024 football team is still hanging around in Huntington, West Virginia. They weren’t the guys who placed their name onto the NCAA’s new “Dialing for Dollars” transfer portal.
Unfortunately, the lure of NIL cash and more playing time caused many of Marshall University’s 2024 starting players to hit the road. In this case, most are likely heading to Southern Miss to join their former coach.
It seems a shame that the rest of the Marshall football team will not have a chance to participate in what should have been THEIR post-season celebration at the Independence Bowl.
Santa has hinted that he may be placing a lump of West Virginia coal into the fireside stockings of their former football coach and the vanishing NCAA transfer portal players.
Marshall University’s football program (whether justified or not) just received a public relations black eye by opting out of the 2024 Independence Bowl at the last minute.
The school’s football program should expect a lot of questions the next time the Thundering Herd is eligible for bowl consideration.
Remember, it was Marshall’s former head football coach (Charles Huff) who literally walked out on the program hours after beating UL-Lafayette for the Sunbelt title a week ago.
Charles Huff was in the final year of his contract at Marshall. Stories abound as to why the coach quickly exited to take the Southern Miss job right after defeating UL-Lafayette 31-3 to win the Sunbelt title on December 7.
After the coach left, many of his former players at Marshall now await moving vans and (perhaps) a luxury bus bound for Hattiesburg to join their former coach down at Southern Miss.
Welcome to the wild new world of college athletics!
What happened to the Marshall University’s football program and the ripple effect on downstream post-season bowls like the Independence Bowl should be quite concerning to the overseers of college football.
If a head football coach can quickly leave one school for another job, why can’t his players hit the trail and leave just as quickly?
This scenario is likely to happen again during future seasons if major changes aren’t forthcoming in college football.
Somewhere, I can hear retired University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban saying, “I told you so!”
Question – Are college athletes students or just paid employees of the university?”
If you said “Athletes should be students first”, should they also be required to participate in any post-semester activity (in this case, games played between mid-December and mid-January)?
Both of my sons played trumpet their respective college marching bands. They received a stipend every semester for their time practicing and playing at designated events during the fall term. The payment was conditioned on completing the band’s full semester of scheduled performances.
In the case of one of my sons, the band followed his football team (LSU) to a national championship game played in early January during the winter break.
Since that game fell between semesters, his participation was strictly voluntary. The band’s transportation to the game along with room and board was paid by the athletic department. In return, the band agreed to participate at a number of events including the game itself.
Sure, he had a blast and, of course, his football team won the title that season, too.
Shouldn’t that same logic apply with respect to college football players?
If we want to “be real” here, why are teams playing a 12-game college football season?
The college football season was just ten games through the year 1969. In 1970, the season expanded to 11 games. Beginning in 2001, the current 12-game regular season became the standard in major college football.
Why? Television money, of course.
This year, a brand new 12-team playoff could find one or two football teams playing up to four additional games. Those games all occur after the fall school semester has ended at their school.
Of course, these extra football games have brought millions in revenue for the college athletic departments. Competition from television networks for broadcast rights has caused an exponential increase in revenues for some major colleges.
It wasn’t that long ago when the college football season ended by Thanksgiving weekend. With the exception of a limited number of teams invited to bowl games, the playing season fell within the fall academic calendar.
College football players (just like my sons and their college bands) have generally been happy to play in post-season events to win another important game and bring positive publicity to their school.
Other than receiving travel, hotel, and meal allowances for their post-semester efforts, the football players risk their future athletic careers if seriously injured during a post-season event.
The least college football should do is to contribute money into a pool for multi-million dollar insurance policies paid to any player receiving a career-ending injury during post-season competition.
Apparently, that common sense idea doesn’t exist – yet.
Aren’t full scholarships enough compensation for college athletes?
For decades, the majority of college football players have gone to school for free. The school’s tuition, room, and board was paid in the form of scholarships to the players.
In 2023, one source estimated the value of annual tuition and fees at $28,000 plus another $16,000 provided for room and board. That $44,000 annual value for most college football players seems quite fair to most of us outside observers.
After the schools started to pocket tens of millions of new revenue from television providers, the players rightfully said, “Hey, without us, you have no product!”
Yes, the players now have the NCAA’s revolving door transfer portal and NIL payments (which, by the way, were intended to compensate athletes for actually DOING something off the football field).
Both seem to be spiraling out of control.
Top high school athletes are receiving NIL offers of hundreds of thousands of dollars before even they have played a down of college football.
A fair way to share the ever-growing pile of media revenues is needed to bring stability back to major college athletics.
In the meantime, expect more chaos
Another “Marshall situation” might occur next December after the initial bowl selections are made. Coaching changes happen at this time of year after every season.
Differently than in the past, the players can press the “Eject” button if they don’t want to stick around campus after the regular season ends.
Thank you to Louisiana Tech (the school’s leadership, athletics department and, of course, the players) for stepping-up and saving the 2024 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
The December 28th game between Army’s Black Knights and the Bulldogs should be a dandy.
Next season, a different bowl game might not be so lucky.