Face of Oberlin Football Changing

This year: 10 games, 10 losses. Last year: 10 games, 10 losses. The year before: 10 games, 10 losses. Oberlin has never been much for sports, but over the years, the football team has become synonymous with athletic futility.

Recently, the situation was so bleak that some administrative discussions considered eliminating Oberlin football as an academic program. "When I arrived here there were real issues in terms of the future of Oberlin football. There have historically been discussions about whether to continue football and I won't say [eliminating it] wasn't part of the discussions," Athletic Director Mike Muska said.

The signs posted around campus at the beginning of the year promised a change. "The streak will end," they read. On the proceeding Saturday, the team experienced the familiar taste of defeat, as Swarthmore drubbed them 28-6.

But this year the atmosphere of Oberlin football was a bit different. Students asked their friends if the team won. Some even went to the games. For the first time in a long time, the Oberlin community almost expected the Yeomen to win. A large-scale recruiting program, begun last year, yielded over 30 new players. The pressure was on this year to end the streak, and that pressure won't go away next year, as the athletic director, head coach and players all expect to win.

The influx of football recruits, many of them from Texas, has also subtly altered the social character of the school. The number of students sporting Oberlin athletic apparel has jumped significantly. People speak of encountering "the football players" at parties. To a small extent, a bit of school spirit has struck Oberlin, as players and students hope to creep out of the hole that is historically the laughing stock of NCAC athletics.

And there will be plenty of pressure. "I'd be disappointed if we didn't win a couple of games next year," Muska said.

First-year Quammie Semper, a standout cornerback, was more bold with his predictions. "We've got a bright future ‹ we're going to win some games and open some eyes next year. People are going to be nervous about coming here and playing us next year."

Muska stressed the importance of player retention in the teams' quest for wins. "It takes a special kind of kid to play football at Oberlin. Will those 25 first-years [who played this year] be there when they're seniors? If so [the coaches] are doing a hell of a job."

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey also touched on the necessity of players remaining on the team throughout their upperclass years so as to provide leadership. "Retention is key because if we lose a guy who's played a lot, then the kids don't have guys to look up to and we have to start over again ‹ the best football teams have experience in every aspect," he said.

Although the team again failed to win a game, Ramsey named several positive aspects of the season he expects to serve as building blocks for next year's squad. Primarily, he emphasized the increase in the team's size as integral to a football team's success. "Size provides depth and competition during practices ‹ it allows us to run a more efficient practice."

Ramsey also pointed to the consistently strong play of the defense - which fell just three interceptions short of setting the team record and quadrupled last year's sack total - as a springboard to a solid team in the future. "The defense played really well," he said. "They came together as a unit, for whatever reason, much better than the offense."

Ramsey admitted that the divide between the strong defense and often ineffective offense caused some tension among coaches and players on each side of the ball, but said the Yeomen overcame it. "There were occasionally some guys looking cross-eyed at others, especially when one side of the ball was playing so much better than the other. But the team was able to overcome some of those things and understand each other a bit more."

Semper was one of the players who made the defense outstanding and the first player Ramsey mentioned when discussing the future of Oberlin football. Coming from Houston, Semper said the smallness of Oberlin's campus and the lack of options it presents sometimes makes him slightly claustrophobic. "Houston is such a big city - there are so many things to do," he said.

Like any first-year, Semper has faced adjustments in attempting to assimilate into Oberlin's intense environment. "Oberlin has taught me a lot of things - there are a lot of new things I've seen here and I'm still adjusting to it," he said. Semper also spoke of the stark contrast in social environment between Houston and Oberlin. "Sometimes it seems like people don't even look at you here. There are so many people from all over - Houston's a real friendly place."

Semper's struggle to adjust appears as if it will be a familiar one for a number of future players, as the recruitment program will continue, although not on as large a scale as this year's. "I don't think we're as bad at anything else," Muska said. "It was an issue of how far down football was and how much it takes to bring it back."

The reasons Ramsey cited for the recruiting project were more practical. "Numbers are needed here, just from a competitive standpoint," he said.

The question of whether the recruiting and the players it's bringing to Oberlin are transforming the social environment of the campus came to a head when a Zechiel Hall resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, found the word, Œfag' written on his message board. "I'm sure it was a football player," he said.

Semper denied that some members of the team may be homophobic. "I don't think that's true and I don't think the coaching staff would allow that - they would be kicked off the team, I think."

Ramsey said he didn't believe a player was responsible for the anti-gay statement on the students' door. "It could have been any number of people," he said. "To categorize football players like that is an injustice." Ramsey also said he will talk with his players about diversity-related issues next semester. "One thing that's part of my philosophy is that we have good character," he said, continuing to speak of Oberlin's history of tolerance and free speech and how speech should be exercised in positive, not negative manners.

Muska also emphasized his refusal to downgrade the character of the school for a better football program, saying, "I don't want to sacrifice any of the integrity Oberlin is all about to make football better."