[d4cohn]

What would be the reason to keep people on football scholarships if they aren't providing the value expected of those on scholarship. If players aren't good enough or are injured, why can't they be put on some other scholarship, but not a football one?

For a couple of reasons. One, depending on whether the financial aid is the general financial aid provided through the financial aid office, that financial aid likely wouldn't be as extensive as the aid provided through their scholarship (full scholarship + stipend). Two, if we are making determinations based on performance on the football field only, how can we separate a player's "performance" from the coaching he is receiving. More specifically, if a player is struggling, how do we know it is due to the player's struggles, rather than just poor coaching. 

I would say softball under Coach Hanson is a perfect illustrator of this. If you just looked at on-field performance, you could say almost the entire team wasn't performing up to expectations. However, when you have a completely overmatched coach and staff that isn't providing anything really in coaching/adjustments at the plate etc., and the players are having to largely coach themselves, what do you do? Do you assign two classes worth of players to non-athletic scholarships before you realize the coach might be the problem, as opposed to the players themselves?

For all we know, our struggles on the OL and DL could be due to coaching, rather than the players themselves. The fact is we don't know for sure, and making a consequential move as assigning someone to a non-athletic scholarship, one should be certain at least.

Even still, it still feels icky to me.

[d4cohn]

What would be the reason to keep people on football scholarships if they aren't providing the value expected of those on scholarship. If players aren't good enough or are injured, why can't they be put on some other scholarship, but not a football one?

For a couple of reasons. One, depending on whether the financial aid is the general financial aid provided through the financial aid office, that financial aid likely wouldn't be as extensive as the aid provided through their scholarship (full scholarship + stipend). Two, if we are making determinations based on performance on the football field only, how can we separate a player's "performance" from the coaching he is receiving. More specifically, if a player is struggling, how do we know it is due to the player's struggles, rather than just poor coaching. 

I would say softball under Coach Hanson is a perfect illustrator of this. If you just looked at on-field performance, you could say almost the entire team wasn't performing up to expectations. However, when you have a completely overmatched coach and staff that isn't providing anything really in coaching/adjustments at the plate etc., and the players are having to largely coach themselves, what do you do? Do you assign two classes worth of players to non-athletic scholarships before you realize the coach might be the problem, as opposed to the players themselves?

For all we know, our struggles on the OL and DL could be due to coaching, rather than the players themselves. The fact is we don't know for sure, and making a consequential move as assigning someone to a non-athletic scholarship, one should be certain at least.

Even still, it still feels icky to me.