Football players graduating below average

Hoosier football players are graduating just short of the national average, according to the 2004 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. \nFifty-six percent of IU football players who entered the University in the 1997-98 academic year graduated, just 1 percent shy of the national 1997-98 rate, the report stated. \nThe national football graduation rate is 57 percent -- the highest rate reported by the NCAA since it began tracking graduation rates with the 1984 class -- up three points from 2003.\nIU football Coach Gerry DiNardo said he doesn't think that graduation rates fluctuate much at individual schools, but do on the national scale.\n"My experience coaching at Bowl Championship Series conferences is that each university has a culture of academics and a culture of athletics, and a coach would impact it to some degree -- a little positive and a little negative -- but it would not be impacted greatly," he said.\nBefore coaching at IU, DiNardo was the head man at Louisiana State University from 1995-99 and at Vanderbilt University from 1991-95, where he had high graduation rates during his tenure. \nAt IU, football grad rates have dropped 19 points from 75 percent to 56 percent from 2003-2004, according to those year's NCAA reports.\nOne year variances, DiNardo said, can be attributed to coaching changes and attrition. In between the 1996 and 1997 football seasons -- the years in which the NCAA report tracked the last two years -- Bill Mallory left the IU program and Cam Cameron replaced him. \nThe NCAA tracks the most recent graduating class after the six-year buffer period the NCAA requires to publish graduation rates, according to the Indianapolis-based association.\nOverall though, IU athletes are graduating at a higher rate than the national standard of student-athletes.\nThe report shows 64 percent of IU-Bloomington student athletes who entered school in the 1997-98 academic year as freshmen graduated, compared to 62 percent of Division I student-athletes nationally. \nIU is also above the national four-year average graduation rate, 64 percent to 60 percent respectively.\nDiNardo has formed his own system of keeping an eye on all the players he's recruited -- a system he's used dating back to his days at Vanderbilt. \nMaking sure his student-athletes do well in school and eventually graduate has been a little more challenging at IU for the third-year coach.\n"My experience here with academic support has been drastically different than other places," he said. "I have a hands-off approach. I have very little to do with the day-to-day actions of academic support. At Vanderbilt, I was very hands-on, and I was hands-on at LSU."\nDiNardo said whether the decrease in involvement with his team's academic progress has hurt or helped has yet to be seen.\n"We have not been here long enough to see whether a hands-on or hands-off approach will be beneficial," he said. "We will have a little better idea one year from now, and a better idea two years from now."\nIn terms of what he would like, DiNardo said he would prefer to be hands on, but as long as it's working, he can't complain.\nIncorporated into the NCAA graduation rates for schools are student-athletes who transferred or left school in good standing and student-athletes who dropped or failed out -- something that DiNardo disagrees with.\n"One flaw in the NCAA formula is if someone leaves in good academic standing it goes against us here," he said. "If they leave in good academic standing, it shouldn't hurt. It should just be deducted -- not for us or against us."\nThe American Football Coaches Association and the College Football Association also publish graduation reports, but their formulas don't include student-athletes who leave in good standing -- unlike the NCAA.\nAccording to the AFCA/CFA report, DiNardo led Vanderbilt to four straight Honorable Mention recognitions from 1991 to 1995. Honorable Mention requires a minimum of 70 percent graduation of scholarship football players. \nIU received Honorable Mention every year in the AFCA/CFA reports since 1999, with the exception of 2003 -- an academic year after the transition from Cameron to DiNardo. IU received Honorable Mention in 2004 despite having a 56 percent rating by the NCAA. The discrepancy is because of how the AFCA/CFA rates student-athletes who leave in good standing.\nThe Big Ten had four teams with at least a 70 percent graduation rate in 2004 according to the AFCA/CFA, with Northwestern tying Boston College for the Academic Achievement award, which is handed out to the school with the highest graduation rate. The two schools tied with a graduation rate of 100 percent. Illinois and Iowa were the other two schools in the Big Ten that received at least a 70 percent graduation rate along with IU and Northwestern.\nDiNardo said he feels whatever happens in his program is his responsibility.\n"I should be held accountable for every person I recruit to someone in the institution," he said.\nIn his tracking, DiNardo can recount where all 92 players of his are in their progress. \n"What happened to the children I recruit? Someone I report to should want to know," he said. "I believe that's the only way we're going to become more accountable. I think it's about tracking and caring about the people, especially those who are not ordinarily admissible. If we do indeed track them, then we'll make the right decisions."\n-- Contact senior writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.