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Friday, Sept. 11, 1970
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN SPORTS COMMENT
KU Athletic Budget Below National Average
BY JOE H. BULLARD Kansan Sports Editor
A new in-depth study conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on the rising costs of collegiate athletics, showed an increase of more than 100 per cent in athletic budgets in the last 10 years.
The University of Kansas has not escaped from the skyrocketing costs of big time athletics. KU, however, when compared with the NCAA report, is spending less on an athletic budget than the national average. In 1969, the athletic program showed a profit of almost $200,000.
Wade Stinson, KU athletic director, said Kansas was one of the 636 NCAA member schools that participated in the study. Stinson talked to the Kansan in an interview last week about the survey and KU's replys to the survey's questions.
The survey showed that the average total expenses for a university supporting a major football program rose, until in 1969, the average total athletic budget was almost $1.4 million.
KU's athletic budget of $1,267,585 was below the national average for 1969, however, that figure showed a 54 per cent increase from the $706,389 in the 1960 KU athletic budget.
The NCAA report points out that while expenses doubled during the ten-year period, so did revenues. NCAA members, the report stated, realized $205 million in athletic revenues in 1969.
KU's revenues also doubled for the period. In 1960, KU pulled in $746,825 and in 1969 KU's revenues were $1,446,363.
The NCAA survey went on to point out some of the factors that contributed to the rapid increase in costs. Those factors included: increase in number of sports sponsored; increase in cost and number of grants-in-aid; and larger athletic staff and more coaches.
The NCAA report showed that during the 10-year study, 1960-69. the average college or university increased the number of sports sponsored from 8.2 to 9.7.
KU sponsored eight sports in 1960 and now supports nine.
The survey showed an increase in the cost and number of grants-in-aid to athletes. Grants rose in number from a 1965 average of 116 to 131 in '69. The cost for a maximum grant rose from an average of $1,284 in 1960 to $1,550 in 1969.
From 1965 to 1969, the amount of a KU grant-in-aid increased, while at the same time, the number of grants decreased. In 1965, KU awarded 148 full grants worth a maximum of $1,439; while in '69 KU gave 122 full grants worth a maximum of $1,795.
The average athletic staff increased from 18 to 24, while during the same 1960-69 period, the number of full-time coaches increased from 10 to 14. Among the schools participating in the report, 57 per cent attributed the increase in coaches to greater specialization in the coaching of certain sports, and 67 per cent cited as a cause the addition of sports not previously offered. The most notable increase in coaches occurred in football and basketball.
The KU athletic staff rose from 12
in 1960 to 21 in 1969, while the number of full-time coaches increased from 10 in 1960 to 15 in 1969. KU basketball and football accounted for 3.5 of the five coaches added during the 10 year period. The answers to the survey submitted by KU listed a specialization of coaching as the reason for the increased number of coaches.
The report hastened to point out that while revenues and expenses tended to balance out during the ten year period, revenues are quickly reaching a peak due to limited stadium capacities.
The report asked participating schools to comment on a number of suggestions on ways to cut athletic costs. Those suggestions included: a nationally enforced limit on the total number of grants-in-aid in force during a year; replace four-year awards with grants that are renewable annually; and limit the number of institutions that a prospective athlete may visit.
Stinson said KU commented favorably on all the proposals.
Will Kansas Really Make it Back?
By DON BAKER Assistant Kansan Sports Editor
Assistant Kansas Sports Editor The Kansas Jayhawks and Pepper Rodgers are nearing the eleventh hour prior to their season opener Saturday against Washington State, the start of what is supposed to be the year that "Kansas Will Be Back."
Some alumni have expressed dissatisfaction with that motto claiming the Jayhawks really never went any place last year. They contend that KU was as close as a team could be to stardom without achieving it and Rodgers has somewhat concurred. Even some died-in-the-wool anti-KU fans have to agree the Jayhawks had more than their share of injuries and bad luck last year.
Regardless of that, however, a new season is upon us and Rodgers has vowed the Jayhawks will be back. With the new season comes a new spirit and enthusiasm in hopes the coming campaign will make everyone, at least temporarily, forget last year.
But KU has had great tradition, a tradition it prides itself on, and most KU supporters don't forget all that easily. Last year's season stung with a fierceness that will smart for a long time and the best medication for the wounds would be a season like the one of two years ago, in fact just a season above the .500 mark would satisfy most.
But what if the Jayhawks are a year away from making it all the way back? What will the alumni and other supporters say then? Jack Mitchell and other previous KU coaches of the past have been faced with the question and the answer was not always to their liking. Tradition has played its role here as well.
Forecasters have given KU no better than a sixth place chance as most are convinced the Jays are simply too young and inexperienced to make such a comeback in just one year. The Big Eight is tough, perhaps the best conference in the nation, and while KU might be good, there are at least five other teams as good or better.
While many would like to escape the reality of the hard facts, it remains that "Pepper Power" can do just so much with the material that is present.
Talk of Rodgers' job being in jeopardy if the team does not respond to the motto has been nearly nonexistent. This is as it should be for the coach who two years before was second in the balloting for the national coach of the year and who gave KU some of its finest moments in its football history. But in this case it is also as it should be because this coach has given KU more than just exciting, though unpredictable, football.
One admiring fan said not too long ago that Rodgers should receive two paychecks—one for his duties as football coach and one for his seemingly unknowing duties as a KU public relations man.
Even one of the more radical Kansas State fans in south central Kansas once commented that Rodgers was so untypical of KU. Somehow he just didn't fit the "Snob Hill" stereotype. Most of such comment came as a result of Rodgers' weekly TV series which carries throughout the state during football season. The Rodgers-coined words such as "spikereetus" and "rip city" along with his jovial and effervescent nature appealed to the public and much of it began to identify with Rodgers and, most importantly, with KU.
Particularly during this time of stress and strain on Mount Oread, Rodgers poses a welcome change while representing the university.
But the hard and cold facts remain that the success of coaches has always been measured in the won-lost columns at the season's end and Rodgers will be no different.
One can only hope the critics will not judge too harshly on the sole basis of last year coupled with the probable results of this year. The Jayhawks are a definitely improved team but can not realistically count on a return trip to Miami on January 1 or anything close to it. Too many weaknesses and questions are staring Rodgers in the face. Additionally it is always easier to go from a 9-2 year to a 1-9 year rather than the converse. Somewhere about half way in between should be the Jays' final season resting place.
Kansas will be back. Pepper will be sure to see that it does. But the certainty as to exactly when is still a question one can only speculate on.