AD Tim Leonard says Saluki Football is SIU’s “most strategic sport”

CARBONDALE, Ill. —  In the wake of North Dakota State’s departure for the FBS, Southern Illinois AD Tim Leonard called Saluki Football the athletic department’s “most strategic sport,” adding he doesn’t “ever want us to get left behind” in the evolving college football landscape.

“College athletics in the future, it’s all gonna be determined by football,” Leonard said in an interview on Monday. “What level of investment are you going to make? What level of competitiveness and where are you going to be at? It's all determined by football.”

While Leonard does not foresee "SIU buying our way into" the FBS, he predicted if the Power Four ever breaks away from the rest of college football, the remaining Group of Six "will scoop up the best of the FCS and merge it."

Leonard also shared his thoughts on the future of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, saying the three remaining Dakota schools “are investing a lot of money in football, more so than the Valley conference schools,” but he expects league members such as Youngstown State, Illinois State and SIU to follow suit.

Even with NDSU’s exit, Leonard believes the Valley will continue as the dominant league of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

Leonard said the Valley’s 2026 schedule should be completed this week. He also confirmed there’s been no discussion of adding a buyout for any Valley schools leaving in the future. The Bison did not have to pay a buyout to leave the league for the Mountain West.

StrongDawgs interview with AD Tim Leonard

SD: How do you feel NDSU’s departure will affect the competitive balance within the Missouri Valley Football Conference?

TL: Let's remember what they've done is historic. Nobody at any level has won at the level and consistency that they have. So yes, that will affect the level of competitiveness in our league, but I still think the Missouri Valley Football Conference is going to be the most competitive league out there.

My guess is South Dakota State will be a preseason number one in the country or somewhere right up there. Illinois State made it to the National Championship game and lost by one point in overtime. South Dakota and North Dakota have really stepped it up with their investments. Youngstown is really trying to get back to that level they once were, and I know they're investing a lot. Our league is still going to be really, really good and it’s going to force us to have to step it up.

SD: How quickly do you expect an updated conference schedule to be completed?

TL: I think we'll know something this week. It'll be relatively easy for the league to figure it out because you're only playing eight games. Everybody's going to be somewhat flexible in terms of dates, but it's still going to be four home, four away.

SD: How comfortable are you with having only nine teams in the league? Is it time to begin conversations about adding another team or additional teams?

TL: I think it's a little early to figure that out right now. I think we've got to figure out what do we want to do first and foremost as the Missouri Valley Conference, and then what do we want to do as a Missouri Valley Football Conference? Take it a step further, what are we gonna do as the FCS? What's the end game for all of this?

I think there's some bigger philosophical questions that need to be answered before you just jump right in and say, oh, we need to be at 10 teams or we're going to need to be at 12. From a scheduling standpoint, nine works out pretty well.

SD: Is there concern about possibly losing additional teams?

TL: Well, I suppose there is. It’s a mixed league. The three remaining Dakota schools are in a different league for all their sports, but this one for football. Youngstown is in one league for all the rest of their sports and in the Missouri Valley in football. The rest of us are in the Missouri Valley Conference for all of our sports. I think the complexity of the league is also part of its strength. I do say together we're stronger as a whole as a football league. You can't deny the strength of Missouri Valley Football Conference.

SD: The big news this weekend, Sacramento State spent $23 million to join the MAC. Coming on the heels of NDSU leaving, what does that say to you about the desirability of playing FBS football?

TL: We have conversations about it on this campus all the time, and what makes the most sense for us. Who do we want to be positioned as? Who are our peers from a brand standpoint? For some of us, it would have made a lot of sense to make that move 20 years ago when it wasn't as expensive.

I think my biggest thing is, what does the future hold for college football in this country? Where is that new line of demarcation? What's the FCS's plan? How do we differentiate from everybody else and make it better? We've always had playoffs, and that's what made FCS special in my mind. Back in the day, FCS had overtime. FBS didn't have it, if you remember that. And so in a lot of ways, we've been kind of the driving force. It’s almost like we're the ABA (American Basketball Association). Things originated down here, but we didn't have the brand of the FBS. How do we make it sustainable and better?

But now all the talk is that there's probably going to be a breakaway. And then is it the Big Ten and the SEC break away? Is it the Power Four and they break away? You'd still have that Group of Six, and that's where I'd like to think SIU would belong in that group. But then how do you get there? Is it worth jumping in at these levels? Because we certainly don't have those kind of resources. And is it worth the return for that? And how is it all going to break apart, because at some point, it's got to, right? And I'm surprised it hasn't happened by now.

SD: Montana AD Kent Haslam predicted the break could take place in the next five to eight years.

TL: I do think the AD at Montana is correct. A number of us have been saying that for a while, that there will be a break at the top, and then you'll have this new group that will scoop up the best of the FCS and merge it in there with this group. If that's the case, I don't ever want us to get left behind. We're going to have to then be one of the elites that people would say we've got to be in this. Hopefully that's enough, right?

SD: So you’re saying the best course is to wait and see how things play out above the FCS, rather than buying your way into an FBS league?

TL: Yeah, I don't think you're going to see SIU buying our way into anything, but we can't just sit around and wait and see what happens, right? We have to do some things to control our own destiny. I think the best thing that we can do is be extremely competitive at a high level consistently. I think we have a chance to do that in these next several years. And we have to get more competitive in all our sports. We have to win more, because that's the one thing that we can control, is how do we win today in the conference that we're in? If you can win today in the conference that you're in, you will have opportunities.

We've got to figure out where we think this is all going, what's our pathway to ensure that we're competing at the level we need to compete at? We need to win at a high level consistently, and that will open up whatever doors that we need to open.

SD: Northern Illinois is moving from the MAC to the Mountain West in football-only, while the rest of its programs will go from the MAC to the Summit League. What do you make of that strategy, which appears aimed at focusing resources on football?

TL: I don't think it's a bad strategy at all for them. They've had some history in football, in fact, recent history of being a ranked team and playing in some big bowls. Obviously, they're going to try to double down on that and get into a league where they're really going to have to invest in football, but they don't have to invest at the same level in everything else, but yet they should still be able to be competitive in (the Summit League).

SD: Is there a similar dynamic at work within the Valley, where five of the top six teams last year were from the Summit or Horizon leagues?

TL: The Summit League football schools are investing a lot of money in football, more so than the Valley conference schools, but we're also investing a lot more in basketball than those Summit League schools are. It's a unique thing, and we're going to try to really step it up in football right now.

The one thing I would say for us is, basketball is our most valuable sport in the sense that that's where we have most of our tradition and history, and it generates the most attention and money, but football is our most strategic sport. As we sit here and talk about what's the landscape of college athletics in the future, it's all gonna be determined by football. What level of investment are you going to make? What level of competitiveness and where are you going to be at? It's all determined by football.