First off, I strongly believe Lehigh football and the Patriot League have become irrelevant. Most fans probably share my view, in that there is no fun in supporting a team who chooses to play at the highest FCS level with one hand tied behind its back. Right now, I have little interest in attending Lehigh football games, something I’ve done since 1964.
As for possible improvement in quality of play due to scholarships, we can only hope.
Consider the case of Dan Persa, quarterback at Northwestern. Dan’s a Bethlehem kid. He is currently the highest rated quarterback in college football, completing 79.5 percent of his passes and running for good yardage. Would a Lehigh with scholarships been in the running for Dan during his senior year at Liberty? Who knows? I do know there have been many other kids from the Lehigh Valley who have done well elsewhere ON scholarship. Most recent example would be Orlando at New Hampshire.
Perhaps Lehigh scholarships would have been awarded to most of the current roster anyway, had scholarships been available during the past three years. Is what’s missing most here scholarship players, a more relaxed academic qualifier, or both?
