Cause & Effect

Past is prologue, except when it is not.

Thirty years ago, the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation devoted an episode to the concept of a time loop, where its characters make the same decision over and over again. For those who remember it, the episode opens as the ship emerges from a galactic storm only to find itself on a collision course with another vessel, 36 seconds away.

 What to do?

"We can't afford to start second guessing ourselves," said the captain. "We should stay on this course until we have reason to change it."

The USS Enterprise collides with the vessels and explodes. Again, and again, and again.

The episode ends when enough clues are presented to the officers via deja vu that a second approach is taken, breaking the ship free of a loop which has lasted for 17 days without their knowledge.  The opposing ship is freed as well, except it has been caught in that loop for the past 90 years.

Forgive me if, after 22 seasons of watching the Georgetown Hoyas compete in Patriot League football, I make a similar assumption: this program is caught in a time loop, where the same script follows every year: the early win versus Marist, undermanned versus the Ivy League, the drain of a ineffective Patriot League season, and a deflating late November loss that wraps it all up, at least for another year (the Hoyas haven't won a season finale since 2014). In a larger sense, it's  the story of the last two decades of Georgetown football, echoing Captain Picard's admonition above, "We should stay on this course until we have reason to change it."

When does it change?

In some respects, modern Georgetown football seems to hit one of these crossroads every 30 years or so.

In 1933, Georgetown was suffering through the worst three year run in school history: 5-17-1, not an insignificant sum for a program that had allowed just one losing season in the prior 19 seasons, and punctuated by its most recent finale: a 1-6-1 record, fewest wins in school history to that point. It was also an issue for the basketball and baseball programs as well, the result of a quiet decision by the University to forego scholarship aid during the Depression. At the request of the Jesuit moderator of athletics, the board of directors approved a means by which the school would offer partial scholarships in exchange for what would be called today as need based, or "work-study" programs, beginning in the fall of 1934. Four years later, the Hoyas were undefeated.

In 1963, football was gone altogether, and yet, there needed to be a course correction because the board of directors had no tolerance for additional scholarships; even at a tuition price of $1,100 a year, the University was running a six figure deficit. Students then began what was called "football for fun": no scholarships, volunteer coaches, and few aspirations beyond mere competition. The format saved football, but had run its course by the early 1990s.

Enter Bob Benson. The former Georgetown coach turned the page on "football for fun" in 1993 with his expansive vision for Hoya football: games with peer institutions, including the Ivy and Patriot leagues, a permanent football facility, and football as the driver for school spirit among students, faculty, and the local community each fall. That mix of aspiration, motivation and moxie carried Georgetown over the sunken logs of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and while GU never became the putative "ninth Ivy", it did allow it to became the seventh member of the Patriot League in 2001, which seemed like the best possible fit upon its entrance.

Thirty years after the debut of "peer football", its shortcomings are now visibly apparent. Georgetown's financial aid model simply does not hold water against the Ivy League, much less the rest of Division I FCS to which scholarship football is a given and, since 2012, the rest of the Patriot League as well.  A decade later, Georgetown remains the only Patriot League school without football scholarships.

The admissions firewall the PL instituted under the guise of "representative" student-athletes has made it more difficult, not less difficult, for Georgetown to recruit to compete in the league. There aren't a lot of impact players in the top 6% of SAT's that define Georgetown range according to PL rules--those that are, well, they are getting more compelling offers elsewhere. For too long and too often, the embarrassment of insufficient facilities was used as an excuse for the lack of talent attracted to GU, and the fan and alumni bases were told on more than one occasion "build it and they will come." It was built, (well, half of it, anyway), and the result was apparent: they still aren't coming.

This has to be taking its toll on the staff. When Rob Sgarlata succeeded Kevin Kelly in 2014, it was felt that a page had been turned from admittedly lackluster football and a drift away from student interest. No one, not even Sgarlata, would have predicted the eight seasons since. Kevin Kelly won 23 games in eight seasons. Entering his ninth season, Sgarlata has won just 24, with one of these being a 69-0 win over a Division III opponent. In the intervening four years, the Hoyas have lost 11 consecutive games at home, 21 of its last 25 overall, and are 3-15 (.167) versus PL teams. 

This is not a winning direction, nor is the lack of compensation and career development bringing in the young, hungry assistants that can elevate a program. The average salary of an assistant coach in FCS football is $43,387 a year, which buys you a 10 minute commute and a parking space in front of the football building at a Delaware or Lafayette. Try raising a family on $43,387 a year inside the Beltway; and as for parking, prepare to ride the GUTS bus from Arlington. 

Because the Patriot League embraced scholarship football, its members enjoy the six figure guarantee check to play major college opponents. That's important because the cost has gone up to run a competitive program. In 2022, Fordham University spent $7.8 million on football, or about five million more than Georgetown did. Even Bucknell, who has often lagged in the league, now outspends Georgetown two to one. As such, Holy Cross will play Boston College next month, Lafayette travels to Duke and Colgate plays Syracuse. Instead, Georgetown welcomes Sacred Heart and Stonehill College. 

This program needs a new operating model for the next thirty years - not to be the next candidate for the Big 12, nor to turn tail and downgrade to the Pioneer League, college football's land of misfit toys. Maybe it's the Patriot League, but maybe it's not. A fresh look at who Georgetown is aligned with, what are its measures of sustained success, and the steps needed to get us there are questions to be addressed in short order.

Until then, there's trouble ahead.