UM Athletic School Idea
A friend of mine was proposing this idea in a group chat and I wondered what the board thought?
"Um should create an athletics school or an athletics major. Let the standards for transfers credit, etc be lower. Make the classes tailored to player interest and let it ride. Players that are 5 stars get to focus on what they are good at and take classes about personal finance, etc. players that aren’t pro candidates can get real degrees. Maintains integrity for your other schools and actually benefits the student athletes
People in the music and dance school don’t have the same standards as comp sci majors so why should athletes.
January 7th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^
Let's just say there's a reason why the Sport Management major is in the School of Kinesiology...
January 7th, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
Yeah, I was scrolling down to find this. Don't we already have this with the school of kinesiology?
January 7th, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^
We already have something for athletes that's enough and would qualify as a real degree. I was a Sports Mgmt and Communications major. When UMich got rid of their journalism program, many of the applied communications classes were moved to Kinesiology, therefore I transferred over in the late 1990s to pursue my journalism career.
Jon Jansen was an SMC major and did a lot of media work in DC when he played for WFT. Jarrett Irons came back to school to get his Masters in the SMC department, so there is a path for success even from a post-grad perspective.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
An athletics major could be a very important degree. You could have specific courses in communication such as media training, brand building w/social media. You could have dedicated courses on kinesiology to help players understand their bodies. There could be courses on legal bases of coaching, athletic administration, leadership, financial planning for athletes. There could be dedicated courses about NIL, becoming an agent, influencer marketing.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:06 PM ^
Everything you describe already exists within (or can be easily incorporated into) established majors within the university (as others have already touched on in this thread).
January 7th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^
Not to mention mini-courses and other programs.
I'm not opposed to some modified degree but what school is it in? Would only football or basketball players be allowed to major in it?
While music / dance have strict admissions for performance degrees, they also have theory, composition, fundraising, set design, writing, grant administration that are open to many more students.
Football theory courses would have to be open to non football players at some level. Plenty of non athletes aspire to work in marketing for an NFL team. It could help them. Other students could advocate that being a player should not be a requirement for most of the courses if they aspire to assistant coach at high school - Mike Leach and Charlie Weiss didn't play but later became head coaches. Plenty of precedent.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
Just admit all of the student-athletes into the Residential College.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:22 PM ^
This idea does not seem too different from standard Kinesiology & Health programs such as Sport Management.
January 7th, 2022 at 6:48 PM ^
It is close. But the difference is that you should be able to get actual credits for football activities. Those activities do have a method of study and a discipline and a rigor to them.
I understand calculus easier than I understand some of Seth's Neck Sharpies posts. There is nothing frivolous or trivial about it.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:28 PM ^
"People in the music and dance school don’t have the same standards as comp sci majors so why should athletes."
They have different admission standards.
They have the same transfer standards.
They have the same grade and gen-ed requirements.
January 7th, 2022 at 2:37 PM ^
Yes, but doesn't this run the risk of weakening the university's overall academic reputation? Creating an entire school to pander to 5-Star recruits in a crooked college sports landscape would sure make it look like a sham operation. If it's not in the interest of legitimate academic pursuit, the university shouldn't even consider it.
I'm a traditionalist (although I do believe that mens' basketball and football players should absolutely be paid a generous stipend for each season they play on the team) and I still like the idea that these players are also students. I was a terrible student primarily because I wasted a lot of time playing lacrosse and rugby (which I deeply regret) so I think it's important that the university not lose sight of its primary mission.
They should allow any student-athlete to come back and finish his/her degree at a later date.
January 7th, 2022 at 3:07 PM ^
That's why it's never going to happen. Michigan values its #1 public school ranking over success of its teams. Frankly, as an alum, I'm glad they do. The weight a Michigan grad degree carries is big.
January 7th, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^
Yeah - exactly. People won't take you seriously as an esteemed institution of higher learning if you also have a carve-out for dudes who are essentially in a mandatory two-year waiting period for the NFL. Just pay the players and allow them to come back and get their degree later if they want to.
January 7th, 2022 at 6:13 PM ^
Tell that to a UNC grad. Pay the players over the table--I've always been down with that. I'm not good with creating a valueless academic program to attract 5-stars who don't think they could use a college education. The idea that getting drafted by the NFL sets you up for life is false. The average NFL career is three years--you get your rookie deal and that's it. What do you do when the money runs out and the degree track you go back to school for is the bullshit being suggested here?
February 1st, 2022 at 8:42 AM ^
UNLV may or may not be a fine university. i have no idea. but i know what i think, and i think that because of jerry tarkanian crap, back in the day.
hell - i have absolutely no doubt, if i'm being honest with myself, that ohio state is truly a world-class university. but their shenanigans make me generally think less of their academics (ken-yon rambo, anyone?).
is it fair? nope. but we're talking about perception here, and that perception exists.
February 1st, 2022 at 8:36 AM ^
man, oh man. truer words were never typed on this board. perfect.
January 7th, 2022 at 4:21 PM ^
I post this periodically, but there definitely is a space for athletics-focused major(s) in conjunction with NIL and the B-school. Similar in style to a music major, interested athletes would take courses across the spectrum of athletic performance-related activities. Branding and marketing, contractual issues/negotiation, dealing with agents, investing and tax issues, preserving wealth, coaching/front office topics, broadcasting and journalism, life after the close of a career, training, nutrition, and exercise topics. Even history of athletics. This sort of thing -- along with appropriate Gen Ed requirements -- could easily be crafted into degree program(s) attractive to those who want to stay focused on athletics.
This would be a great step for Michigan to take.
January 7th, 2022 at 4:37 PM ^
Heard Filiaga is in portal
January 7th, 2022 at 4:38 PM ^
While admittedly I am deeply emotionally invested in Michigan football, I don't think it's worth undermining the university's academic brand to win a few more games. I care more about the perception of my degrees than football games won or lost.
January 7th, 2022 at 6:40 PM ^
Michigan has lots or one-off esoteric majors that are available. Some of them seem trivial and not very rigorous to me.
But I don't think they lessen the university's academic brand.
January 7th, 2022 at 6:23 PM ^
A while ago a football player from the Ivy League wrote an article about this with an interesting perspective:
If you want to be an actor you can go to college to be an actor. If you want to be a musician you can go to college to be a musician. If you want to be a journalist you can go to college to be a journalist. And so on.
But if you want to be a football player or a basketball player you have to pretend to be at college for something else. Even though college is the best place for most people to get high-level football and basketball training.
These are all high-risk, high-return fields if you make it at the highest level. But most people don't wind up making it. Yet we still allow people to try of their own free will. But not for football or basketball.
It is an arbitrary distinction.
People should be able to major in athletics if they want to, just like they can major in theatre or music or art. There is demand for it.
January 10th, 2022 at 10:36 AM ^
Michigan has programs in:
Applied Exercise Science
Athletic Training
Movement Science
Sports Management
January 7th, 2022 at 6:37 PM ^
Duplicate comment.
January 30th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
Totally agree.
January 30th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
but it might be redundant to the sports management major
February 1st, 2022 at 7:16 AM ^
Just get rid of requiring school as part of athletics---waste of resources. Make them employees and give them tuition benefits like osu has for their employees--full tuition--if they choose to utilize it--good for them.