Football At ODU?

Online survey gauges interest among alumni, students; university to analyze costs

By Steve Daniel

Football is once again an issue for debate at Old Dominion, and it’s certainly been a hot topic of conversation among students, faculty and alumni.

In response to a Student Senate resolution last fall that called for adding football as an intercollegiate sport, President Roseann Runte announced that the university would revisit the issue.

A survey has been on the Alumni Association Web site since Dec. 20, designed to gauge the level of interest in and potential support of an ODU football program, and will remain online at www.odualumni.org until mid-April. After the first month the survey was up, it elicited 6,298 responses. Of these, nearly a third were from alumni, 48 percent from students and just over 7 percent from faculty and staff.

Asked if they would encourage the university to develop a football program, respondents answered as follows: strongly agree, 78 percent; agree, 12 percent; strongly disagree, 6 percent; and disagree, 3 percent.

Forty-one percent indicated they would attend games, 19 percent said they would buy season tickets and 14 percent said they would support the program financially.

Eighty percent strongly agreed that a football team would enhance school spirit and 75 percent strongly agreed that having a program would bring alumni back to campus for games.

The survey, which also gives respondents an opportunity to express their thoughts about football, has elicited pages upon pages of commentary.

Among the many messages in favor of adding the sport was this note from an alum: “During the four years I spent living on and around campus at ODU, one big thing that was always lacking was the Saturday afternoon football games. ... I strongly believe a football team would greatly enhance the college experience for ODU students and increase the level of school spirit . ...”

Among the far fewer comments in opposition to football was this response: “ODU has far more pressing needs than developing a football program. The funds that would be diverted – including potential athletic scholarship moneys – could be put to far better use enhancing academics. Football programs at most institutions are net drains on an institution’s finances. Can we afford that at ODU? I am also concerned about the potential impact a football program would have on our women’s sports.”

University officials will be weighing these and other issues now that the debate has begun anew. Robert L. Fenning, vice president for administration and finance, indicated that the costs associated with initiating football will be analyzed during the upcoming development of the university’s five-year financial plan.

And while Fenning and athletic director Jim Jarrett were hesitant to estimate how much money would be needed to get a football program off the ground, Fenning did say, “We will base our decision on several factors, including an analysis the university has been doing of currently competitive Division I-AA football programs. We will also take into account the costs associated with initiating and sustaining a nationally competitive I-AA football program and the money that would be necessary to make appropriate capital improvements to facilities.

“Another consideration is to assure that the institution’s current athletic program would continue with its compliance to Title IX and competitive excellence.”

Those unfamiliar with Old Dominion’s history might be surprised to learn that the school did field a team during its first 11 years of existence, when it was a two-year division of William and Mary. That program ended after the 1940 season due to poor attendance, a conference ruling that as a branch of W&M, the Norfolk Division team could not use freshmen, and a $10,000 debt. Coached by the legendary Tommy Scott, the Norfolk Division Braves closed out their record book with an overall mark of 62-19-4. (The picture on the preceding page shows the Norfolk Division Braves in action against Gallaudet College on Oct. 26, 1935.)

It would be more than 40 years before football was again seriously considered by the institution. In March 1985, ODU’s Board of Visitors voted to fund a feasibility study, which indicated that the school could support a Division I-AA team. But after a fund drive fell far short of its $13.5 million goal, the board announced in March 1987 that fielding a team was not possible.

The following month, officials announced they had proposed that the NCAA create a Division I-AAA, in which ODU and other schools would field teams using need-based scholarships. ODU athletic director Jim Jarrett shared the “cost-containment” idea with other ADs in June 1987, and the following January the NCAA tentatively endorsed the concept and scheduled a final vote in January 1989.

Based on the initial response, ODU kicked off a season-ticket and fund-raising drive on April 22, 1988, which resulted in 2,000 season ticket purchasers and pledges of $5,000 apiece from 35 businesses.

However, an NCAA decision to delay a ruling on I-AAA football until January 1991 effectively brought the ODU campaign to an end. On April 7, 1989, the Board of Visitors suspended an annual $48 student fee for football, and in November voted to terminate efforts to begin a football program.

And now, the issue is back, after having been raised by Student Senate President Brandon Boyles, who pledged that he would work to bring football to Old Dominion. Said Boyles: “I will wager a football team will greatly bring a world of opportunities and resources to ODU.”

Q & A with athletic director Jim Jarrett

Q: Some people believe that you have been against football from the beginning. Is this a fair characterization?
A: I am a football fan and support a football program for Old Dominion University provided sufficient funding is available. In our last effort, the decision to not add football came from a lack of financial support. During that period, I was an active fund-raiser and worked with the NCAA regarding the creation of a low-cost, non-scholarship football program at the Division I level. I co-chaired this national effort, which was supported by Division I but ultimately defeated for lack of support from Division II.

Q: Can you talk about the CAA’s plan to add football as a conference sport and what it would mean to a school such as ODU that could conceivably add football one day?
A: The CAA plan to add a conference championship in football can only be considered as a positive factor regarding any future Monarch football program. Our previous effort to add football suffered, in part, from a lack of regional competition. The addition of football as a conference sport would provide our fans with league opponents that are within driving distance, which could create great rivalries. To have the top conference football league in I-AA and the past two NCAA I-AA champions in Delaware and JMU offers great credibility to this effort.

Q: What would the addition of football mean to Old Dominion’s great tradition of selective excellence and gender equity?
A: Provided the financing of football could be accomplished without budget cuts to current sports, selective excellence could be maintained. However, we must remember that the current program has significant future needs and the athletic financial plan must provide funds for these needs in order to continue to successfully compete on a national level. With regard to gender equity, the addition of football would require the addition of 80 to 90 participants in women’s sports and an increased allocation of 63 scholarships. The cost of adding additional participants would vary depending on the sports selected.

Q: How would the athletic department and the university be impacted financially if Old Dominion were to add football?
A: Currently, nationally competitive I-AA football programs cost between $3 million and $4 million annually. These programs do not make money and require considerable annual fund raising, endowed funds specifically for football, significant student athletic fees and other income to support revenues from ticket sales just to break even. The challenge would be to strategically plan the financing of football in a manner that is supported by private funds and affordable to students without damaging the current athletic program’s tradition of selective excellence.

Q: Your late father-in-law, Tommy Scott, was the first athletic director and football coach at Old Dominion, when the Norfolk Division fielded a team from 1930 to 1940. Do you feel any sense of history with this new talk about football?
A: Reviewing history is always a great way to learn. Old Dominion’s 11-year football history started under coach Tommy Scott, who took his team to Miami in 1932 for a game that is regarded as the predecessor to the Orange Bowl. But football was dropped in 1941 because of a lack of funding. During my early years as athletic director at Old Dominion, there was great interest in football but no funding. In 1985-86, the university leadership, along with key alumni/Big Blue Club members and athletic department personnel, made every effort to raise funds to initiate a football program, but the amount of funding needed was not available. Thus, history tells us that funding is the issue and we must not commit to football until the funding is available.