Memo to FIU: Stop the bleeding. Choose futbol over football. Here’s why it makes sense | Opinion
An open letter to the FIU Athletic Director To-Be-Named:
Welcome to your new job. You inherit a lengthy to-do list upon replacing the departed Pete Garcia. Priority No. 1 is figuring out what to do about a football team that has lost 15 of its past 16 games, struggles with attendance, is draining your already strapped budget and is losing the program’s most recognizable name — coach Butch Davis.
The Panthers have gone 1-15 since upsetting the Miami Hurricanes 30-24 on Nov. 23, 2019. The lone win since that monumental day was against Long Island University. FIU has lost its six Conference USA games this season by a combined score of 272-107, including a 58-21 thrashing by South Florida rival FAU.
It was the fifth year in a row that FAU beat FIU in the “Shula Bowl” and all but one of those has been by a margin of four or more touchdowns.
According to NCAA rules, FBS teams must meet attendance requirements of 15,000 average (actual or paid) at least once every two years or risk being dropped. In 2019, FIU averaged 15,685. Last year was COVID. This season, FIU’s attendance figures are unreported and do not appear on any public Conference USA statistics, which is not a good sign.
It’s time to stop the bleeding.
Here’s a suggestion: Instead of continuing to hemorrhage money and manpower into a futile football program, drop football to a lower division you can afford (or drop it altogether) and shower some love and resources on the one FIU team that continues to rise to national prominence despite outdated facilities and limited funding — the men’s soccer team.
The only national titles ever won by an FIU team in any sport were won by the men’s soccer team — in 1982 and 1984. The Panthers also were national runner-up three times, in 1980 and 1985 (Division II) and 1996 (Division I) and made the NCAA tournament 10 times since 1991. Munga Eketebi was a three-time All-American in the mid-80s after scoring 50 goals.
During Karl Kremser’s 27 years as coach, 40 players went on to sign professional contracts, including MLS standouts Robin Fraser, Steve Ralston, Tyrone Marshall, Jeff Cassar and Greg Vanney.
All five of those former Panthers went on to become MLS coaches. Three of them were head coaches this season — Marshall at FC Cincinnati, Vanney at LA Galaxy, and Fraser is a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year for the outstanding job he did with the Colorado Rapids.
Nine FIU players have been selected in the MLS Draft, including five in the first round. Santiago Patrino, the nation’s leading scorer, was the No. 3 overall pick in 2019, and Paul Marie was the 12th pick in 2018.
Two weeks ago, in front of a spirited sold-out home crowd, the Panthers shocked top-ranked defending national champion Marshall 4-1 to win the Conference USA regular season title. After the game, players and fans erupted in “FIU! FIU!” chants as they posed for photos with the trophy.
It is hard to imagine any other Panthers team celebrating a victory over a top-ranked national champion.
Coach Kyle Russell, the youngest coach in the league, was voted conference Coach of the Year. Ten Panthers players made all-conference teams. The Panthers are hosting an NCAA tournament second-round game on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Your school is called Florida International University, so how about investing in a soccer team that includes players from Denmark, Spain, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Norway, Canada, Senegal, France, Sweden, Costa Rica, Israel, and Japan. And yes, there are some Americans, too.
You have MLS team Inter Miami and two USL teams — Miami FC and Fort Lauderdale CF — in your backyard, so pro scouts should be crawling around your campus.
Futbol over football makes financial sense. An FIU internal audit in 2017 found that the football team’s expenses were $6.72 million, and the soccer team cost $581,692. Soccer gives you much more bang for the buck.
Best of all, you don’t have to compete with the University of Miami. The Hurricanes don’t have a men’s soccer program. Panthers fans, tired of being overshadowed by UM, can claim all the bragging rights. You don’t need football to be famous. Duke and Gonzaga are famous for basketball. Vanderbilt for baseball. Akron for soccer.
Despite all its success, the men’s soccer team was neglected by FIU over the years and even dropped on Jan. 16, 2003, as the school turned its energy to the new football program. The decision was reversed a day later after alumni and community protests, but the mood around the program soured. Kremser retired in 2007, and the program took a slide.
Scott Calabrese began to turn things around in 2015. He left and Kevin Nylen took over and kept winning. He left, and now Russell has the Panthers in the NCAA tournament.
Watching it all unfold from a distance is Kremser.
“I’m impressed with what those coaches have accomplished considering the limitations,” Kremser said. “That should be a destination job for a soccer coach. Instead, coaches start there and go on to better paying jobs. It’s time FIU gives that program the respect and resources it deserves. We’ve done so much with so little, and maybe that has hurt us in a way.”
As he is headed out the door, Davis told Action Network that the FIU administration “has been sabotaging the [football] program” and called this year “a nightmare.” He said financial restrictions affected recruiting, assistant coach contracts, and that the team was forced to use hand-me-down shoulder pads from Mississippi State.
Stop the bleeding. If you can’t fully commit to football, drop it. Even UM, with its national brand and far more money, is struggling. It’s time to embrace FIU futbol over football.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 3:47 PM.