Shoup Claims CLU Regents Slighted Team : Coach Says Step Down in Status Will Cripple Football Program

Football Coach Bob Shoup has claimed that it could be injurious to his players for Cal Lutheran to remain in the Western Football Conference next year without additional athletic scholarships.

Shoup also said that the Cal Lutheran Board of Regents disregarded the football program when it voted last week to become a member of the NCAA Division III Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which prohibits athletic scholarships.

“It’s going to be the biggest challenge in athletic history to try and keep this squad together with them knowing that they can’t earn scholarships, they can’t improve their scholarships and there are no new scholarship players coming in,” Shoup said. “Yet the administration seemingly wants us to play . . . a schedule of scholarship schools.”

Cal Lutheran can either remain in the Western Football Conference or play as an independent until it eliminates all scholarships in accordance with Division III rules. Jerry Miller, Cal Lutheran’s president, said it could take as many as 3 years before the football team exhausts its current scholarships and is eligible to join the SCIAC.

Miller, who is also president of the WFC, said that the university will postpone its decision until after it hosts a meeting Dec. 1-2 of the WFC Executive Committee.

“At this point, I have no preference because I haven’t discussed the matter with the coaches or the other presidents,” Miller said.

Under WFC rules, a school must notify the conference it is terminating membership 1 year before taking the action or immediately after the football season ends. Vic Buccola, WFC commissioner, said that if Cal Lutheran notified the conference of its plans next month then it would not be bound to play in the WFC next season.

However, Buccola said he would like Cal Lutheran to remain in the WFC next season.

“It would be easier on the other schools in the conference because many schools have scheduling commitments 3 to 4 years in advance,” Buccola said.

In addition to losing scholarships, Cal Lutheran also could lose its football coach. Shoup, who has compiled a 182-79-6 record as the only coach Cal Lutheran has had since it took up football in 1962, said that he will decide after the American Football Coaches Assn. meeting Jan. 6-12 whether he will remain at the university.

“I will evaluate everything in light of what Cal Lutheran does next,” Shoup said. “Not all of those factors are on the table yet.”

Shoup said that it is unfair for his team to remain in the WFC during the transition phase and compete against teams that offer athletic scholarships. Cal Lutheran has a WFC record of 2-19 since leaving the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics in 1985. CLU has lost all 4 WFC games this season.

“I think the administration has to address how they want us to compete,” Shoup said. “If they don’t support the program to the point that our players can be competitive, then you raise the possibility of injuries. That’s the thing that is scaring me.”

Shoup said that several players have decided to leave Cal Lutheran and find schools where they have a chance to earn an athletic scholarship. He declined to identify the players.

In addition, Shoup said that under Division III rules, which limit a coach’s off-campus recruiting, the football team will be relegated to recruiting only walk-on players.

“It’s not professionally wise in my judgment to force 18-year-olds to play against mature, capable teams,” Shoup said.

Robert Doering, Cal Lutheran’s athletic director, said that most CLU teams will play as independents until the move to the SCIAC is completed in 2 to 3 years. Cal Lutheran has always been a member of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics and is a charter member of the Golden State Athletic Conference.