On the morning of July 31, the first group teed off at Cornell's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in the annual Cornell Football Association (CFA) group scramble. Nearly 300 golfers took part in the outing, which last year netted more than $150,000 for the football program.
The CFA was founded in 1994 by Mark Allen '74, a former Big Red quarterback, simply as a way for former players and coaches to stay in touch. It has matured into a worldwide network of nearly 1,400 members, with a newsletter, annual regional receptions, phonathons, tailgate parties, and a steadily rising fundraising total. "I felt that there needed to be a focal point for families and friends of Cornell football," says Allen. "They could always come and look for the CFA tent."
The golf tournament is the CFA's major annual event, and its growth parallels the group's expansion in power and influence: in 1994, the tournament's first year, it brought in $4,000; ten years later, the outing raised $160,000.
In 2005, the CFA helped to fund construction of a Hall of Fame wing in Schoellkopf Hall, including a "Tradition Room" that houses the artifacts of Cornell football's deep past. Behind glass doors reside Cornell's national championship trophies along with other memorabilia, including game balls from notable victories. It is a recruiter's dream—a glimmering showcase for a rich legacy of success. But the photographs of bygone champions are as taunting as they are inspiring.
When the Ivy League was founded in 1956, Cornell went 1-8, its worst record since 1935. The league was established to ensure common practices across the member colleges, including the policy of not allowing athletic scholarships. But some alumni point to the league's inception as the beginning of Cornell's decline—or perhaps more accurately, the end of its reign of dominance. "Maybe the restrictions that the Ivy League placed had a larger impact on us than on other schools," says CFA president John Morehouse '72, ME '73. "For whatever reason, that seemed to be the turning point for the program to go downhill."
There are two major challenges that put Cornell in a unique—and unfavorable—position with regard to recruiting football players. The first is its admissions process, which, unlike at other universities, does not rely on a centralized office. Instead, prospective students must apply to one of Cornell's seven undergraduate colleges, each with different evaluation procedures.
Noel states that the process is less efficient than at the other Ivy schools and requires an academic focus that some students aren't ready to settle on at age eighteen. But he acknowledges it is one of Cornell's idiosyncrasies that would not be easy to change. "That's our process," he says. "I wish it could be simplified, but each of the colleges has a dean who dictates policy and protocol for their college." (Like the other Ivy League schools, Cornell also must adhere to the Academic Index, a formula that applies common admissions standards for all athletic prospects.)
Austin, spinning the issue positively, says that the University's unique structure forces him to find athletes who have the aptitude and desire to be here. Nonetheless, it is a less streamlined approach than other Ivy schools take. "It is more of a challenge," admits CFA member Fred Devlin '67. "But it's always been difficult at Cornell."
The second challenge is financial aid. Because Cornell is the largest Ivy, its financial aid funds are spread wider and thinner than they are at the other schools. Some of the richer Ivies calculate need more aggressively than Cornell—and this can put the Big Red at a distinct disadvantage.
Prior to 1991, the Ivy schools routinely shared information about financial aid offers to avoid putting prospective students in the position of choosing a school simply because of a better aid package. But the U.S. Department of Justice sued the league, on the grounds that this practice was a violation of antitrust laws. The member schools agreed to sign a consent decree, pledging not to collude with regard to financial aid packages.
In recent years, several Ivy schools have significantly bumped up their financial aid programs for all students, including athletes, based on a different means of calculating aid. While they have not violated the league's prohibition against athletic scholarships, their aid packages have often been more attractive than Cornell's offers—and, in some cases, compete with scholarships from such big-time football schools as Stanford and Northwestern.
To address this problem, President David Skorton and a subcommittee of trustees recently recommended a program that will allow Cornell to match any financial aid package within the Ivy League—a policy change that Noel deems critical.
"Without this step, over time we would find ourselves at the bottom of the Ivy League in almost every sport," he says. "It's naïve for someone to believe that a significant difference in an aid package does not direct the decision [to attend a school]. Is it everything? No. Is it a considerable variable in the mix that often dictates a decision? Yes. And we know that from years of conversations with students who explain to us why they've chosen another school."
For years, alumni have complained that financial aid disparities have been a dragging weight on Cornell's program. "We're not acting, we're reacting," says Dan Leonard '79. "You can talk to the coaches, and they'll give you plenty of examples of kids they've lost to other Ivy schools." Buck Briggs agrees, saying that "other schools have had a financial advantage. If everybody plays on equal footing and Cornell can match [aid offers], it would be very beneficial."
While Austin applauds the recent efforts to improve Cornell's financial aid for student-athletes, he doesn't see it as the single solution for the football program. "Certainly I want to have as even a playing field with regard to financial aid as anybody else, so we can compete toe-to-toe," he says. "That being said, it's also my job to figure out how to get it done if it's not even, and to think creatively to find players the other schools aren't finding."
The new coach believes his database and wider net of recruiting will help alleviate the admissions and financial aid problems—"frontloading" the process, he says, so fewer athletes are turned away and end up in different uniforms. And after only a few months on the job, Austin firmly believes that the players who can make Cornell successful again are out there—and he can get them.
The CFA members are impressed. "I've experienced so many different coaches now that I can see very quickly what Kent's strengths are," Morehouse says. "He's the real deal."
Part of Austin's explanation for why he took the Cornell job was because he wanted to be the one to revive a slumbering football giant from twenty years of hibernation. He waves off the notion that Cornell's campus won't get behind a good team. "The support is there, and the people are hungry," he says. "You have all the elements—so when you do accomplish it, it means more. It means something on a deeper level for everybody involved."
In the last five years, Cornell has boosted its football recruiting budget, renovated its locker room and coaching offices, replaced the turf field, and built the "Tradition" room. A new million-dollar scoreboard and reconstruction of the West stands are anticipated for 2011. And Kent Austin is spreading the word: in the spring, he visited six CFA events in different locations around the country, meeting and greeting a proud base whose confidence hasn't eroded.
"We've been disappointed with football over the last few years," Devlin says. "Nobody's satisfied with mediocre performance—but nobody's walking away."
There is renewed optimism in Schoellkopf Hall—that old building that has witnessed so much—and that slight notion, however fragile, is a welcome feeling around the program these days. On the wall of assistant coach Pete DeStefano's office hangs an old black-and-white aerial photograph of the Crescent brimming with fans before a game. He looks at it and sighs. "That's why it would be so special to win again. This place will erupt."
Zach Schonbrun is a 2009 graduate of Syracuse University, where he covered sports for four years at the Daily Orange. He is currently a reporter for MLB.com and has contributed to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
The Big Red Team
Cornell's nickname is derived from a song about the football team written by Romeyn Berry 1904 and first performed at a game in 1905.
See them plunging down to the goal,
See the ruddy banners stream;
Hear the crashing echoes roll
As we cheer for the Big Red team.
Yea! Yea! Yea!
[Refrain]
Cheer till the sound wakes the blue hills around;
Make the scream of the north wind yield
To the strength of the yell from the men of Cornell
As the Big Red team takes the field!
Yea! Yea!
Ten thousand strong we march, march along
From our home on the gray rock height,
Oh, the vic'try is sealed when the team takes the field
As we cheer for the Red and White.
Where the towers rise o'er the lake,
There our fires in the night shall gleam;
And the ivied walls shall quake
As we cheer for the Big Red team.
Yea! Yea! Yea!
{youtube}_2PrJpGwFqY{/youtube}
Hear Coach Austin’s Philosophies on Sidelines (26:46)