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| d3photography.com file photo |
Three years after shuttering its season early because it couldn't field enough healthy players, Occidental has decided to shut down its football program altogether, it was announced Tuesday night.
The Tigers, who reached the 2004 Division III football national quarterfinals, have lost their past 21 games. The Tigers are the second D-III program to drop the sport this season, following Maine Maritime.
“Only after very careful consideration and a thorough review of past planning efforts, as well as with the deepest regard for the context and history of football at Occidental, do we make this decision,” college president Harry Elam said in a school news release on Tuesday night. “As difficult as this decision is, we believe it is the right one for Occidental.”
In 2017, after a coaching change late in the offseason, the Tigers canceled six games, including the last five of the season. The program returned in 2018 and announced a roster of 61 players last season, in 2019.
Elam cited another reason in his email to the Occidental campus community: "We make this decision in the context of the major financial downturn the college has experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also as the result of many years' ongoing study of the football program."
The college's news release cites other similar schools which have cut their programs, including Swarthmore in 2000 and Colorado College in 2008, and claimed that in order to maintain an adequate roster size, it would have to devote 5 percent of each incoming class to football players. The school most recently reported a full-time undergraduate enrollment of 1,896 in its filing with the U.S. Department of Education for the 2018-19 school year, down nearly 200 students from a previous report.
Other similar schools, such as Williams and Amherst, have thriving Division III football programs.
“Head coach Rob Cushman and his staff have exhibited nothing but tremendous effort, dedication and professionalism and this is not a reflection on their efforts or actions. The same holds true for our student-athletes,” Elam said in the school's announcement. “This decision cannot and will not erase nor diminish the college’s past achievements in football and the profound impact of the 126-year legacy of the sport at Occidental. We have and will continue to celebrate these achievements.”
My heart is broken for my @oxy_football brothers...you deserve better than this. Wherever you go, you’re always an OXY Tiger...anyone needs help I’m always there
— Billy Grossman (@44billyg) October 14, 2020
The boys and I are left with a bunch of what if’s. Disrespectful and heartbreaking. All love @oxy_football
— Gerardo Blanco Jr. (@GerardoBlancoJ1) October 14, 2020
Occidental’s cancellation of the football program, regardless of recent struggles in performance, is a worrisome sign for all Oxy student-athletes
— Dominic Massimino (@DomMass16) October 14, 2020