Got Football?
By Matthew Wilder
Right now CSU’s answer to that question is no, but that might soon change.
Athletic Director Lee Reed said that President Michael Schwartz is planning on establishing a feasibility study, a board of chosen members likely comprised of CSU faculty and perhaps some students, to determine whether or not CSU should have a football team.
He said Schwartz wants to do the study before he retires in June.
Should the committee pass the motion, they will need a plan of action for financing the team and deciding what stadium a new football team will play at.
A date has not been set for the study at this time.
In response to Schwartz’s comments in his final convocation speech Reed said, “I think what the president said in his university address is that he wanted to explore the possibility of having a football team here at Cleveland State.” “I don’t think there’s any harm in doing that, in fact we owe it to our students and our staff to at least ask the question of should we have football here,” he said.
He said that if there were to be a program then it would most likely start as a Division I-AA program, the same as Youngstown State, Butler, and Valparaiso. That way CSU would avoid having to pay 85 scholarships.
Expenses would include coaching staff, medical team, stadium costs and equipment for the team and marching band. Students would likely have to pay additional tuition to support a Division 1 program because of the additional expenses of scholarships. Adding $500 to everyone’s tuition is something that should be avoided according to Reed.
One idea Reed had is converting Krenzler Field into a football field. He said that it might be possible to add seating capacity behind where the end zones would be (the area where the soccer nets are). This would make it possible to have a stadium on campus without the huge expenses of building a new stadium in another city or renting Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Another challenge comes from the NCAA rules. Under Title Nine, Each university needs a certain proportion of men’s and women’s sports teams in order to ensure equality for both genders.
Reed said that having such a program would likely increase student enrollment. The other benefit is that it would enhance the college experience by creating a warmer on-campus community. “What it does for the community is more valuable than the cost of the program,” said Reed. He joked, “After all, how many people meet their wives at their first college football game.”
Reed said to make sure that creating this new program is a logical move; the other teams need to establish national attention by having winning seasons, becoming conference champions and so on. Reed said that a football program should strengthen the other 17 teams. The feedback that Reed received was overwhelming in support of such a program. Reed said, “This is exciting, this should be interesting.”
Caleb Smith, Junior majoring in Business from Youngstown, Ohio said, “I think it would be a great idea for Cleveland State to have a football team.” Smith said it should increase student enrollment and increase morale in the student body.
Henry Stoudermire the third, a freshmen majoring in business from Raleigh, N.C. said, “It would draw a lot more attention here, a lot of people say they don’t come here because we don’t have football.” Stoudermire said a football program would fit in nicely with the basketball program.
Andrew Scheid, a sophomore majoring in film from Cleveland, Ohio said, “Cleveland has historically been a football town.” Scheid also said that can only help bring football on a collegiate level.