It’s over

[winwave]

The rumors are out there that Tulane has decided to raise academic standards for athletes. This has not been confirmed yet but is being talked about on all of our other boards. If true when you combine it with the lack of facilities it's truly over. Hope it's not true but it's out there.

[wave97]

Good! We'll finally be ahead of the curve on something; the implosion of college football as a national entertainment event.
We should petition the Southern Athletic Association for enrollment.
We will return to playing our former rivals Millsaps & Sewanee.
The Ivy League didn't suffer from self imposed relegation & neither will Tulane.
The jig is up boys. We're witnessing the creeping collapse of football via consolidation. Programs from the PAC12, Big 12, Big10 & ACC will be as irrelevant as CUSA for want of talent.

[golfnut69]

Raise academic standards...STOP THE MADNESS... Tulane , where is you empathy for the downtrodden, those yearning to be "included", those wanting to attend Tulane, to bring a more "diverse" point of view, those individuals craving "equality" no matter a test score

[tpstulane]

That’s old news. Admissions has always been difficult for coaches here to overcome. Ask any former or current coach in the last 40-50 years. Tulane University will never make a public an announcement on it. I’ve had and still have a great personal relationship with many of our past coaches. I’ve tried to point out many examples of this over the years. We say we take NCAA minimum standards but we don’t always. Too many coaches from different sports have told me otherwise in private that’s not always the case. Our own AD can’t even fight and win vs admissions. Mike Fitts does not get involved in admissions. Even Scott Cowen in the past has helped with some admissions. At this time the director of admissions has more power than anyone at Tulane. Our AD has gone to bat many times but gets no help from the President. The president leaves it up to the director of Admissions and Athletics to work it out. You have to understand that both have completely separate goals. The admissions wants higher test scores in the classroom and the AD wants higher scores on the field. There lies the problem. I’m the end admissions always wins at Tulane over Athletics.

[winwave]

Not true. This is new news if true. Admissions works for the university and the President and Board set the admissions standards and then the admissions office enforces them. This is about raised admission standards such as GPA and test scores necessary to receive the athletic scholarships. Supposedly we have had to withdraw scholarship offers to football commitments after getting notice of the new standards.

[golfnut69]

That’s old news. Admissions has always been difficult for coaches here to overcome. Ask any former or current coach in the last 40-50 years. Tulane University will never make a public an announcement on it. I have a great personal relationship with many of our past coaches. I’ve tried to point out many examples of this over the years. We say we take NCAA minimum standards but we don’t always. Too many coaches from different sports have told me otherwise in private that’s not always the case. Our own AD can’t even fight and win vs admissions. Mike Fitts does not get involved in admissions. Even Scott Cowen in the past has helped with some admissions. At this time the director of admissions has more power than anyone at Tulane. Our AD has gone to bat many times but gets no help from the President. The president leaves it up to the direction of admissions and Athletics to work it out. You have to understand that both have completely separate goals. The admissions wants higher test scores in the classroom and the AD wants higher scores on the field. There lies the problem.

Damn.. I think Tulane should have the same policy as America to those wishing to enter, an open door to all...."C'mon on down'

[tpstulane]

Not true. This is new news if true. Admissions works for the university and the President and Board set the admissions standards and then the admissions office enforces them. This is about raised admission standards such as GPA and test scores necessary to receive the athletic scholarships. Supposedly we have had to withdraw scholarship offers to football commitments after getting notice of the new standards.

Trust me. It’s always been the case. What you’re seeing is people finally willing to speak on it publicly.
Mike Fitts has not once told admissions to accept a certain athlete.
He doesn’t get involved in the fights between admissions and Athletics.
I know people will think this is an excuse made for coaches but in fact it does make their job more difficult then our peers. Women’s tennis had program changer top world class player turned down by admissions.
Unfortunately you’ll never see or hear about that in public. But because you don’t doesn’t mean it’s not happening behind the scenes. It’s so frustrating to hear these stories.
Go back to our last NCAA basketball team. Perry Clark was able to recruit and bring in any athlete he wanted. Gerald Honeycutt could not get in Tulane today. President Kelly let Perry report directly to him and admitted anyone he wanted. Look at how successful we were and how quickly he turned the program around. We need a President that sees Athletic success as important for the university. We don’t have that and hadn’t in quite awhile.
Unfortunately the word in the coaching community confirms this.
Can you win at Tulane? Sure but not at a high or consistent level when you don’t have total administration buy-in.
I think TD is frustrated as well. I know he fights his best for his coaches but perhaps he sees no light at the end of the tunnel so he chooses to spend the majority of his time with things he can impact. (NCAA committees).

[winwave]

Not true. This is new news if true. Admissions works for the university and the President and Board set the admissions standards and then the admissions office enforces them. This is about raised admission standards such as GPA and test scores necessary to receive the athletic scholarships. Supposedly we have had to withdraw scholarship offers to football commitments after getting notice of the new standards.

Trust me. It’s always been the case. What you’re seeing is people finally willing to speak on it publicly.
Mike Fitts has not once told admissions to accept a certain athlete.
He doesn’t get involved in the fights between admissions and Athletics.
I know people will think this is an excuse made for coaches but in fact it does make their job more difficult then our peers. Women’s tennis had program changer top world class player turned down by admissions.
Unfortunately you’ll never see or hear about that in public. But because you don’t doesn’t mean it’s not happening behind the scenes. It’s so frustrating to hear these stories.
Go back to our last NCAA basketball team. Perry Clark was able to recruit and bring in any athlete he wanted. Gerald Honeycutt could not get in Tulane today. President Kelly let Perry report directly to him and admitted anyone he wanted. Look at how successful we were and how quickly he turned the program around. We need a President that sees Athletic success as important for the university. We don’t have that and hadn’t in quite awhile.
Unfortunately the word in the coaching community confirms this.
Can you win at Tulane? Sure but not at a high or consistent level when you don’t have total administration buy-in.
I think TD is frustrated as well. I know he fights his best for his coaches but perhaps he sees no light at the end of the tunnel so he chooses to spend the majority of his time with things he can impact. (NCAA committees).

Trust me this is new., Yes EVERYONE knows the stories of yesteryear . This is a reversal of the changes made ten years ago. Ten years ago athletics was allowed for the first time since 1950 to accept athletes at NCAA minimums. What's supposedly happening now is that has been rescinded and all athletes will have to meet raised standards as to GPA and test scores. Now some have said they suspect this is misinformation being put forth by Fritz as he is O for FBS and AAC. We'll see as media has been given information and are looking into it.

[tpstulane]

Trust me this is new., Yes EVERYONE knows the stories of yesteryear . This is a reversal of the changes made ten years ago. Ten years ago athletics was allowed for the first time since 1950 to accept athletes at NCAA minimums. What's supposedly happening now is that has been rescinded and all athletes will have to meet raised standards as to GPA and test scores. Now some have said they suspect this is misinformation being put forth by Fritz as he is O for FBS and AAC. We'll see as media has been given information and are looking into it.

Never heard anything about raising the minimum. I believe this is about
allowing a minimum test score but still denying admissions for another BS reason. What happens is that the admissions office has the final say. Just because an athlete made the minimum doesn’t guarantee admission. That’s is the problem. Coaches assume these kids are qualified which they are but some are still not being admitted. The admissions has final say so. The AD and coach has no say so and can be blindsided. Fitts doesn’t get involved in any dispute between admissions and Athletics. If Fitts said “take this kid” he or she would be admitted instantly. In fact Cowen has done this for a few kids. Just saying the standard of admission at Tulane has never been the same as other AAC schools. Even though we allow for a NCAA minimum test score.
Like you pointed out we’ve had the minimum score for awhile but it doesn’t mean that an athlete will be admitted because of it. It just means they can. But as has been proven in the past many are not admitted for “so called other reasons” but yet are admitted at other D1 schools.
So to think we are on a level playing field with our peers is not quite accurate.

[winwave]

You haven't heard it but others clearly have and it's being discussed on all of our other sites. So no this isn;'t about yesteryear stories some of which were clearly exaggerated by failing coaches and administrators. Just because a coach or administrator says something doesn't mean it's true. They have million dollar contracts that they'll never see again if ousted. They want to milk every penny they can. There aren't many that have been excluded since the change 10 years ago. If so provide the long list of committed football players that Tulane had to withdraw scholarships from that met NCAA minimums. John Wilson didn't as he didn't have a core course that was necessary to meet the NCAA minimums. An assistant at Memphis figured out how to get him that course over the summer. So in that instance it was on the coaches not admissions.

[tpstulane]

You haven't heard it but others clearly have and it's being discussed on all of our other sites. So no this isn;'t about yesteryear stories some of which were clearly exaggerated by failing coaches and administrators. Just because a coach or administrator says something doesn't mean it's true. They have million dollar contracts that they'll never see again if ousted. They want to milk every penny they can. There aren't many that have been excluded since the change 10 years ago. If so provide the long list of committed football players that Tulane had to withdraw scholarships from that met NCAA minimums. John Wilson didn't as he didn't have a core course that was necessary to meet the NCAA minimums. An assistant at Memphis figured out how to get him that course over the summer. So in that instance it was on the coaches not admissions.

Link it where there’s talk of raising the minimum ACT score. If there’s talk it probably stems from the fact that minimum scores haven’t helped guarantee admission for certain athletes.

[NotJtS]

Just because a coach or administrator says something doesn't mean it's true.

Just because you say something doesn't mean it's true. You're a typical lawyer.

[rollinggreen]

It is now a fact. Goodbye FBS hello D3.

[Dave breslin]

Does admissions require you to be circumcised? That may be put of the problem

[Sunamiwave]

What a coincidence!! Tulane football has not won a game against a FBS team this year and in order to try to divert attention away from Fritz’s piss poor performance the pro-Fritz camp wants to talk about admissions standards. Nothing with regards to admissions has changed since Fritz arrived at Tulane. The reason we suck is because of awful coaching. Stop the misinformation and inaccurate statements about admissions.

[NOLABigSteve]

Posted by Sam Scofield just an hour ago on Facebook:

All, I wanted to bring to everyone's attention that two weeks ago effective immediately Tulane's admissions office raised the academic standards for all incoming athletes and recruits. This has been confirmed by reliable sources within the Tulane Athletic Department. This has already had an adverse affect on recruiting as we’ve had a few recent football de-commitments. It’s also going to have a devastating effect on recruiting going forward for all sports, especially with regard to kids from New Orleans and Louisiana.
As you all know, Tulane is a top-tier university from an academics perspective and is very hard to get into as regular student. Student-athletes only account for ~1-2% of the student body so I really don't understand what this change does for the school other than 1) hurt our athletic competitiveness/recruiting and all the progress we have made and 2) restrict potential student athletes from from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (especially from the NOLA/Louisiana area).
Please consider letting Mike Fitts and the Tulane admin your thoughts - and passing along the message to former teammates, fans, and boosters.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35221379844

[Bicoastalwave]

I agree that the total athlete population is so small, why would this be a priority for admissions ? It wouldn’t move the needle for student body metrics.

We should push for some information and clarification. Lord knows we don’t need this right now.

[tpstulane]

Posted by Sam Scofield just an hour ago on Facebook:

All, I wanted to bring to everyone's attention that two weeks ago effective immediately Tulane's admissions office raised the academic standards for all incoming athletes and recruits. This has been confirmed by reliable sources within the Tulane Athletic Department. This has already had an adverse affect on recruiting as we’ve had a few recent football de-commitments. It’s also going to have a devastating effect on recruiting going forward for all sports, especially with regard to kids from New Orleans and Louisiana.
As you all know, Tulane is a top-tier university from an academics perspective and is very hard to get into as regular student. Student-athletes only account for ~1-2% of the student body so I really don't understand what this change does for the school other than 1) hurt our athletic competitiveness/recruiting and all the progress we have made and 2) restrict potential student athletes from from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (especially from the NOLA/Louisiana area).
Please consider letting Mike Fitts and the Tulane admin your thoughts - and passing along the message to former teammates, fans, and boosters.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35221379844

Thanks.

Standards? I’d like to know what that refers to. Is it the ACT score?
Because in the past they had denied based on other things outside of the ACT score. So I’d like to actually see what actual “standards” they have raised. It’s gotten to a point where you can’t trust anything out of Tulane. That’s why I believe the coaches they live it day to day.
They see the test scores and tell the kid they will get in. Then admissions goes over all their HS or JC curriculum and finds something to deny admission in spite of a minimum NCAA acceptable ACT score.
Then the kid immediately enrolls in another D1 school. Coaches then scramble to fill the void with a better student but not a better athlete.
The coaches here definitely have a challenge that our peers don’t face.

[Bicoastalwave]

Nice speaks out. Included is a link to send a message to the president. I just sent a quick note, and I hope everyone else does the same. Numbers are more important then length and content here.

[TURVS71]

I called out Dannen on this to his face a couple of months ago “Same old Tulane!” He fired back at me as was upset (so much that he blocked me on Twitter and had his wife Un friend me on Facebook. I heard directly from him about the frustration with admissions and his interviewing for other AD jobs because of this .

It’s beginning to appear that Tulane HAS NO INTENTIONS of wanting to move to a P5….

[tpstulane]

I called out Dannen on this to his face a couple of months ago “Same old Tulane!” He fired back at me as was upset (so much that he blocked me on Twitter and had his wife Un friend me on Facebook. I heard directly from him about the frustration with admissions and his interviewing for other AD jobs because of this .

It’s beginning to appear that Tulane HAS NO INTENTIONS of wanting to move to a P5….

Sad times. I can only imagine the frustration the Athletic dept has with admissions.
When your winning this stuff stays out of sight. When the losses pile up and you continue to struggle to have a level playing field with your peers it comes to light. The frustration comes to a boiling point. I for one admire our Athletic dept coaches and AD for calling it out publicly.
There needs to be a balance between academics and Athletics.

[winwave]

You haven't heard it but others clearly have and it's being discussed on all of our other sites. So no this isn;'t about yesteryear stories some of which were clearly exaggerated by failing coaches and administrators. Just because a coach or administrator says something doesn't mean it's true. They have million dollar contracts that they'll never see again if ousted. They want to milk every penny they can. There aren't many that have been excluded since the change 10 years ago. If so provide the long list of committed football players that Tulane had to withdraw scholarships from that met NCAA minimums. John Wilson didn't as he didn't have a core course that was necessary to meet the NCAA minimums. An assistant at Memphis figured out how to get him that course over the summer. So in that instance it was on the coaches not admissions.

Link it where there’s talk of raising the minimum ACT score. If there’s talk it probably stems from the fact that minimum scores haven’t helped guarantee admission for certain athletes.

Now you've seen the one link provided above. Other links are from a pay site so I can't post that. It's also on yogwf. No one has cited exactly what they've been raised too which is why some are questioning if this isn't just typical BS of another failing coach. It could be well be BS because before this season Fritz always stressed the academic side as a plus for recruiting. Now since early in this losing streak he's been bemoaning academics. He's never experienced losing like this before and is clearly stressed out As to recent de-commits maybe it's raised standards that they didn't meet or it could well be the 0-9 FBS and 0-6 in the AAC records that have driven them away. Where's the long list of football commits over the last 10 years that we have lost to academics?

[winwave]

Just because a coach or administrator says something doesn't mean it's true.

Just because you say something doesn't mean it's true. You're a typical lawyer.

At least I've made a difference in others lives. How's your parents basement? Like I said it's being discussed on all of our sites. As to whether it's true that GPA and test score requirements have been raised I have been clear that the talk is out there but that it has not been confirmed.

[tpstulane]

I’ve seen and heard this before. My only guess is more and more people are finding out what I already knew and are going public. What I need to see is the actual standards that are being raised. Until I see that it’s Tulane that I’ve always known. Kids that had minimum scores have been denied when coaches have told them they’ll be accepted. I think it always comes to light when tempers boil over and losses mount.
If true hopefully Guerry tells us what standards have been raised and what they were prior.
If it is something new I’m not one bit surprised because I know the stories of our admission dept.

[Wave Fan]

This is the same thing that has infected Miami. They aren’t what they used to be starting with new Miami Presidents several years back. We are still dealing with the ghost
Of Rufus Harris.