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Mansfield tackles Division II budget, retention, weather and NIL challenges while leveraging sprint football, academics and community.
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Borja: My first question is probably the biggest question that that every athletic director faces in this very changing climate. What do you think the biggest challenge that Mansfield faces in this current athletic current college athletic climate?
Petko: Yeah, I don't think we have any unique challenges that other schools aren't facing. I mean, we're all trying to sustain competitive D2 athletic programs. We're in a small public campus. We're probably, I think, one of the smaller Division II public campuses, and we are part of the Commonwealth University. So we're one of three campuses that make up the Commonwealth University, and then even so, we're part of the PASSHE (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) System.
So we're all facing those enrollment pressures, limited resources, rising costs, facility needs, and just the broader industry shifts. The transfer portal that's really changed a lot of how programs are built at Division Two level, and we're always looking for opportunities to retain those student athletes, and student athletes make up a meaningful portion of our enrollment, so it's a really important aspect for our campus. So just making sure athletics are supported competitively and meeting our goals institutionally, but our budgets always being a challenge. Things that always increase in cost, and with it being a smaller school size, create those constant trade-offs when you're trying to work within a limited budget.
Borja: So you mentioned the transfer portal, of course, being one of the biggest aspects of, are the biggest challenges, biggest aspects of those challenges that your university faces. For I've kind of noticed a trickle down effect a lot for a lot of schools, where a lot of those high school recruits that aren't getting signed by Division One schools end up falling to Division two schools. Is that happening at Mansfield?
Petko: Yeah, I think every level I've been at and every school I've been at, there's been some kind of trickle-down effect. Student-athletes, look for other opportunities. I think we lose student athletes at other campuses and other institutions all the time. We try to retain our student athletes as much as possible. Even if you have a very successful team, the portal always seems enticing to student athletes. There’s always going to be challenges at every institution, and even that happens at Division One level. Division One schools are going after other Division One school athletes, and that happens at our level as well. But we just try to do your best, make a great student athlete experience, and hopefully retain those, and make sure that it's very difficult for those student athletes to leave at the end of the day.
Borja: Is Mansfield thinking of transitioning this program from a sprint football program to a regular weight program? Because I know in the region, Franklin Pierce has done such a thing and was able to join the Northeast 10 or have their football program join the Northeast 10 with the rest of the sports. Is there a similar plan for Mansfield being a P-SAC member and potentially having your football program join the P-SAC.
Petko: No, there's no public plans, or we don't have any plans to join the PSAC, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in football. We have a great niche at Division II level. For those that don't know, the roster limits, there's 70 as opposed to a lot of Division II programs [that] hover around that 120 range. So, you might be in a QB room in a Division II school where you're with 5 other QBs. We don't have that luxury here when you have a roster of 70. So one of the recruiting tools we have is you get to immediately play even if you're a freshman, just an opportunity to jump out there. And some student athletes play both the sides of the ball and get an opportunity to make an impact on offense and defense. So it's one of the positives that come out of it. It's really economical as well.
Being in Central Washington, we would cringe when we're doing the budgets. Being a quarter system school, we had to deal with student athletes coming in early before school starts. We didn't start school till mid-September, but we're already played two or three games at that point at the Division II level. So, we don't have to bring them in early. We don't start practice until after school starts at the sprint level. We don't have to bring them in early and house them and feed them. So it's really economical. It's non-scholarship, and staffs are very limited. We have one paid head coach. That's very similar across the board in the CSFL, so it's very economical. Gives an opportunity for student athletes to play real college football. One of the questions I always get is how many athletes are in the field at the time. It's 11 on 11 college football. Just there's a weight limit aspect to it, and it's very economical, and it's a great opportunity to play college football and give an opportunity to student athletes.
"It's 11 on 11 college football. Just there's a weight limit aspect to it, and it's very economical, and it's a great opportunity to play college football and give an opportunity to student athletes."
Borja: Your school is a member of the PSAC in all all sports except for sprint football. It's a very big conference. It's got 1717 schools for those listening or reading that aren't aware, how does how does Mansfield differentiate itself from from the other schools in the the PSAC? Of course, like with you guys being very similar to many of them, with many of them being public institutions. How does Mansfield kind of differentiate itself, like in terms of recruiting or institutional outlook?
Petko: Right. So, I think one of the benefits , we have to differentiate ourselves from Bloomsburg and Lock Haven [other members of the Commonwealth University System]. We're one of three members of the Commonwealth University, so we have to differentiate ourselves there. So, sprint football definitely does help. We're the only public institution in the CSFL, so it's one of the things that really makes us different. We also don't have large rosters, so that's really impactful. So, student-athletes come here and make an immediate impact. Not a lot of our student-athletes redshirt; they get to immediately make an impact and start playing right away. We're really competitive in field hockey. That's one of our top sports here, so that's different. There's some sports we don't have that a lot of other schools have, but we really focus on recruiting locally, and we play all over Pennsylvania.
So, we have student-athletes come to our institution from other parts of Pennsylvania. There's an opportunity that they're going to get to see us play, but, being a really close knit department, I think is a benefit. And our student athletes see that all of our coaches get together. Our student athletes play on multiple different teams. A lot of our student athletes play on run on track or compete in a track and field program. That and they might play in field hockey or women's basketball. So I think it's a really big benefit. You don't see that a ton of schools that I've been at least the Division II [level], and you don't really see that a ton within our conference. We had a baseball player; he played on Sprint football team. So you don't really see that a lot. Our coaches get along for the most part, and it's really great. We're a strong academic department. All of our teams were one or above 3.0, and our softball program was eighth in the nation in team GPA. So that's something we definitely hang our hat on. Really differentiates [us], but just being a very tight community within our campus and within our broader community.
Borja: In the PSAC, with a huge conference that's very tightly knit geographically, are there any scheduling challenges as an athletic director that kind of emerged that you've experienced, or has it mostly been kind of smooth sailing with just the large conference?
Petko: Well, I would say that one of the biggest things that challenge for us is, I came from a prior conference, [so] we flew to a lot of games. We had to fly to Alaska, or we had to fly to Montana from Washington, and you're dealing with weather. And even the prior conference it was in, we had to deal with weather. So, Pennsylvania, specially with baseball, our baseball team didn't really practice outside till about 20 games in. That's a challenge in itself. We had to move games down south to Williamsport, which [is] about an hour away, just to get games in. So, our teams didn't get a lot of practice inside. So just those challenges dealing with how we accommodate our baseball and softball team while basketball season's going on, using those facilities. Our baseball and softball team are really limited. You can't really practice and simulate game atmosphere while being in a basketball gym, right? And those are the challenges you deal with. And how do we accommodate our meals? And how do we get student athletes in dining for dining closes? How do we make sure our student athletes are giving opportunities to have some downtime after practice without practicing too late and stressing our staff? So those are the challenges that come in.
And being within our baseball conference and our baseball teams, they do home on a Friday and then away on a Saturday, and you're playing the same team, so that's different. So, you get done with the game, and then you might head back, and you might have to do a lot of site reversals because the weather, [but] your field's not ready because of the weather. And that happened to us a few times this year is that just challenges that we had to deal with, our student athletes not being able to compete on our field because just because it got bad winters and the weather was really bad.
We got a lot of rain and snow very late this year, and our field wasn't in playful condition. So, we had to go down to Williamsport and play Bowman Field, which is a great, student athlete experience. But I think all of our student athletes rather compete on our campus. Then, just dealing with our academic calendars and this year, our student athletes are going to have games at the same time as our graduation. So that's a challenge that they've never had to deal with before, and that's going to be different. And constant trainings with our facilities when you share them, those are always a challenge. And just making our share athletic training and sports information are not overworked.
So, you got to just balance those game schedules to accommodate. Being a small staff, those are challenges in itself, and you can't play two games at the same time. You have to spread them out and just make sure like, “Hey, this field has lights.” We got to accommodate those teams and make adjustments there, and sometimes to the school's wishes to play at earlier times, so they don't have to have a hotel. So, those are the challenges we deal with, and just the weather, just constant [inclement] weather, just really surprising here. Even though I'm from the Northeast, I just I didn't I didn't remember how bad the winters were here sometimes.
Borja: That's interesting, especially the part with moving games to Williamsport. For me, like I'm old-fashioned when it comes to football. I love seeing games at ballparks, and something that a lot of athletic directors at the Division Two and Division Three level are doing is making the student athlete experience more fun and more engaging by doing interesting things. For instance, we interviewed Howard Payne's football coach, and they're having a game at the Cowboys practice facility, just to give the student-athletes, something to remember, something memorable. Are there are there any talks like in a partnership with like the Williamsport minor league team to have a sprint football game there, at the at the ballpark? I know that sprint football, of course, doesn't have bowl games, but is there any like talks or any thoughts to create an in-season bowl game for the sprint football team at the Williamsport ballpark?
Petko: Yeah, I approached a couple corporate partners about doing something for about a bowl game and potentially playing in Canton at the Hall of Fame, which I think would be a thing for our league, especially play out there, at that stadium where they do preseason football every year, which I think is a great opportunity for student athletes. If that comes to fruition, great.
We do get to play at some really great stadiums: Penn Stadium, Cornell, Army, Navy. Last year, we played at the FBS Stadium, the large facility in Navy. It's a really great stadium. If you've never been, I think you definitely should go if you haven't, I welcome everyone to go there. And Army's great too. But there's some really great facilities and get an opportunity to play there. Some of our schools do share high school facilities, but for the most part, we're one of the few schools that have their own stadium, so we don't have any scheduling conflicts with any other high schools that use their field. But playing in Navy in Penn and Cornell and Army are just great opportunities, and it's a great experience for our student athletes.
"It's a really great stadium. If you've never been, I think you definitely should go if you haven't, I welcome everyone to go there."
Borja: We mentioned challenges before, and I assume, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the NIL is sparse at the Division II level, and maybe at Mansfield as well. So, I what are some ways that your athletic department is using to kind of counter, the young student-athletes' desire to get paid to make a name for themselves in the NIL sphere?
Petko: Yeah, I think NIL does exist at the Division II level. I know at Central Washington there are always student athletes going after local businesses. I think the unique challenge at the Division Two and Three level, [is] you're typically in a smaller community. There's not a ton of corporate partners out there available, and if there are, they're usually associated with the university already or the athletic department itself. So, there's not a ton of opportunities for student athletes to go after like a local business to do some NIL opportunities, so I think that's probably a challenge in itself.
Being in a small, campus, and or those student athletes might be competing not just with the campus itself or the athletic department, but with youth baseball or youth softball team, or a club on this campus, or the high school booster club that always looking for sponsorships, and just the variety of different other organizations out there that are looking for sponsor opportunities. But being a small community that most Division Twos are at, the core partners are usually pretty limited to get opportunities from.
Petko: But we just signed a partnership last year with Influxer, and it's a great partnership. It's worked better than I would imagine. It's just an opportunity for athletes for co-branded apparel, and just an them to do personal branding and just [receive] the marketing education, and modest monetization opportunities for themselves. It's worked out really well for some of our student athletes, and I would I think one of our student-athletes is probably in the higher levels of Influxer of how well he's done at the Division II level, and personally branding [himself] and doing a great opportunity there, and so that's one of the opportunities there. We're always looking for different opportunities to benefit our student athletes, not just Influxer, but other opportunities that exist out there. We're always looking at those ways to really try to make our students athletes get the best experience possible.
Borja: Wow, that's great that the program has a partnership with Influxer. I also find it very interesting and surprising too that that youth teams come into play when it comes to this type of thing with NIL. That's something that I would have never thought of in this era. But I guess it makes sense, especially like looking at where Mansfield is on the map and how small that is. I'm not an expert on Mansfield's community, but going on Wikipedia, it is a pretty small community, so I would assume that it's slim pickings.
Petko: Yeah, absolutely, and I think even in Central Washington, where I was at in Ellensburg, Washington, it was 20,000 people. Our sponsor guy at the time would go after every business imaginable. So, there wasn't a business that we didn't go after that was interested, and the opportunities out there really limited. And sometimes you run into the student athletes.
“I already support your athletic department”, and “Yeah, I just talked to so and so.” So, some ways you're kind of competing against some student athletes looking for some NIL opportunities that exist out there.
Borja: It's all just a really intriguing, the pursuit for NIL and how much goes into it, as with many things in your realm, Sir. But that's the final question I had. Do you have anything final that you want to add or promote regarding Mansfield University?
Petko: No. If you've never heard of us, we’re a small community in North Central Pennsylvania, and we compete at the Division II level in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and also we have sprint football in the CSFL. And I think there's great things ahead for not only our athletic department but the campus itself.
"I think there's great things ahead for not only our athletic department but the campus itself."
