Shoup Firing Not Tied to SCIAC Move, Officials Say

Cal Lutheran President Jerry Miller announced at a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meeting on May 3 that the 1989 season would be Bob Shoup’s last as the school’s football coach, but SCIAC sources deny that Shoup’s dismissal was a prerequisite of Cal Lutheran’s admittance into their organization.

Miller’s announcement to the SCIAC and to several Cal Lutheran administrators and faculty members preceded, by more than three months, the public announcement of Shoup’s dismissal August 8.

“I don’t feel as though our conference tried to impose pressure on anybody about that,” said Curt Tong, Pomona-Pitzer’s athletic director. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the personnel. I think the SCIAC’s concern centered around athletic scholarships. Our only real reservations about withholding membership centered on that fact.”

During the May 3 meeting at Cal Lutheran, Miller gave athletic directors and faculty-athletic representatives from the SCIAC schools and Cal Lutheran a progress report on his school’s transition from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II, which grants athletic scholarships, to the non-scholarship Division III SCIAC.

“He indicated that at this point, CLU is on track” in the transition, the minutes read. “Some of the part-time coaching positions, for example, basketball, are shifting to full-time status, and the present football coach will conclude his coaching duties at CLU at the end of the 1989 season.”

A background paper prepared for the Cal Lutheran Board of Regents by Regent Jim Tyner points out that the SCIAC football coaches recommended that Cal Lutheran not be admitted.

“The only negative recommendation we had was from the football coaches,” said John Zinda, the athletic director and football coach at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who said the vote was 4-2.

According to Zinda, the coaches in 15 sports voted on Cal Lutheran’s admittance.

“The propriety of SCIAC schools attempting to dictate (Cal Lutheran’s) personnel practices is left to your judgment,” Tyner writes.

However, SCIAC sources contend that Shoup, who fought Cal Lutheran’s move to the SCIAC, was not the reason for their opposition.

“I definitely don’t think there was a vendetta against Shoup,” said Dale Widolff, football coach at Occidental. However, Widolff added, “It’s public knowledge that he didn’t want to be in the SCIAC, isn’t it?”

Widolff emphasized Cal Lutheran’s institutional advantages in football, mentioning the university’s association with the Dallas Cowboys, since terminated, and the name recognition gained from having played at a higher level.

“The discussion was let them get rid of (scholarships) and then we’ll let them get into the conference,” Zinda said.