History Class: Mike Donahue Era (1922-27)

Great at Auburn, not so great at LSU Encyclopedia of Alabama FootballThe SIAA had grown unwieldy by 1920. Most schools only played a four or five game conference schedule, yet the league had expanded to 30 members, resulting in a seemingly random process to select a champion between contenders that did not play one another.

Worse yet, the big schools and the small schools sharply divided from each other over the issues of compensation and freshmen eligibility. The big schools wanted players to be able to play summer baseball, receive compensation, and retain their eligibility. Furthermore, the big schools wanted to keep freshmen ineligible. Both of these rules would shrink an already shallow…