Vs. the NEC

How Duquesne has fared against football teams in the Northeast Conference.  

School

W-L

Albany

0-1

Central Conn. State

0-0

Monmouth

1-0

Robert Morris

4-4

Sacred Heart

1-1

Saint Francis

5-0

Wagner

0-0

Total

11-6*

*-7-3 at home, 4-3 away

Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt and his staff will have to change their sales pitch in the future because the Dukes are joining the Northeast Conference in football in 2008 and adding athletic scholarships beginning with the 2008 freshman class.

"This will give us an opportunity to speak with athletes we were not able to talk to in the past. This definitely will elevate our recruiting," Schmitt said yesterday at a news conference to announce the new direction of the football program. "I always had great confidence the administration would put us in a position that is best for Duquesne football."

Duquesne is moving from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a league that offers financial aid based solely on need and has been reduced to five teams. The Dukes, who shared the championship last season and have either won or shared eight consecutive titles and 10 in 12 seasons, will compete in the MAAC this season.

"We had serious questions about the future of the MAAC," Duquesne president Charles Dougherty said. "We wanted to secure the future of our football program and we reached out to the Northeast Conference."

The schools in the 12-year-old NEC started to offer athletic scholarships in 2006, with a maximum of 30 allowed in the program at one time. Robert Morris, a member of the NEC, gave out the equivalent of 10 full scholarships to its freshman class.

Duquesne will offer the equivalent of 18 scholarships in 2008 and then add two for each of the next three years to reach 24.

"We'll re-evaluate where we are and where we want to go after three years," athletic director Greg Amodio said. "We didn't get in just to say we're in the Northeast Conference. We're in to win championships just like we did in the MAAC. This is a new challenge that will take Duquesne football to a new level."

To maintain gender equity compliance under Title IX, Duquesne will begin by adding eight scholarships -- four apiece -- to the women's soccer and lacrosse programs.

Amodio said Duquesne's undergraduate enrollment is 58 percent women and women receive 57.2 percent of the school's athletic scholarships.

"This is another significant renewal of our commitment to varsity athletics," Dougherty said.

In addition to adding scholarships to its football program, Duquesne also will add a couple of full-time assistants.

"The NEC schools have three and four full-time staff members. Duquesne is at two," Amodio said. "We're putting all the assets we need to put us at the top of the NEC."

Amodio said he had conversations with the non-scholarship Pioneer League and the Patriot League, whose schools have much larger football budgets than those in the MAAC, before making a commitment to the NEC.

"The NEC is the best fit for Duquesne football," he said. "This is the way we want to go."

Quarterback Scott Knapp, a graduate of Perry Traditional Academy who will be a junior in the fall, is excited about the prospect of playing in the NEC as a senior.

"It will be a chance to play more competitive teams," he said. "When I was recruited it had been mentioned there might be a possible conference change in the future. This is a great move for all of us." He added after a pause, "For me, it's better late than never."

First Published: January 23, 2007, 5:00 a.m.