Monday, 02/12/07



Bisons Kick Around New Sport
Nonscholarship football is possible

By MIKE ORGAN
Tennessean Staff Writer

Lipscomb is exploring the possibility of starting a football team.The team would compete as an NCAA Division I-AA nonscholarship program, Athletics Director Steve Potts said.Potts told The Tennessean a feasibility study is under way and that no timetable exists either for starting a team or even for making a decision to field a team."We have been slightly considering the possibility of a Division I-AA nonscholarship football program," Potts said. "That's the only thing we would ever consider, I-AA nonscholarship."

As an NCAA Division I member, Lipscomb could play only on the I-A, I-AA or I-AA nonscholarship level. Some of the other I-AA nonscholarship programs include Morehead State, Davidson and Dayton.NCAA Division III, which includes teams such as Tusculum (located in Greeneville, Tenn.), Kentucky State and Arkansas Tech, is not an option for Lipscomb.

Lipscomb has been a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference since moving from the NAIA to the NCAA Division I four years ago. While the A-Sun does not have football, one member — Jacksonville — has a football team, and another — Campbell — will field a team in 2008.Potts said Lipscomb is monitoring those two programs. Lipscomb's team would have as many as 100 players, each paying his own tuition.

"It's something where we're talking with their athletic directors about how it impacts their program and their student body," Potts said.

Lessons learned

Former Georgia Southern AD Bucky Wagner recently was invited to Lipscomb to offer his input on the matter.Wagner, a former assistant AD at Vanderbilt, spearheaded the building of a football program at Georgia Southern in the 1980s.Georgia Southern quickly grew into a I-AA power, winning four national championships in Wagner's tenure."We had Bucky Wagner on campus for a couple of days," Potts said. "He was able to come in and look at what we're doing, look at the Nashville community, and he already knew something about that, of course, since he had been at Vanderbilt."

The feedback from Wagner and the officials from the other A-Sun teams playing football has been encouraging — so much so that Potts already has been in contact with representatives from the Pioneer Football Conference."It has been very positive," Potts said. "The Pioneer Football Conference is a group of I-AA nonscholarship institutions. Austin Peay, up until last year, was playing in it. There are some area schools like Morehead State and Davidson, a few schools up north — Butler, Dayton, Drake, Valparaiso, schools that are mostly private, about our size, maybe bigger, in it, and we're just looking to see (if it) would that be a good fit."

Price tag

The upfront cost to start a football program, Potts said, would be between $3 million and $5 million. The cost to operate the team after that would be $500,000-$700,000 yearly. Potts said the school's current soccer stadium could be expanded and used for both sports. The stadium would seat 2,500 to 3,000 fans.The funds to start the program would come from donors. Some of the operating costs would come from the increase of 90 to 100 students enrolled, who will be paying their own way to be on the team.

"Nobody wants to be a part of anything that's done halfway," Potts said. "We would want to make sure that we've got the kind of capital up front to build a nice stadium. It's a program that can make enough money or raise enough funds to cover its cost and also contribute back to the school."

Conference watch

Lipscomb is keeping A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart up to date on its progress as it looks into starting a football program.Gumbart said the A-Sun has no problem with its members having football teams."When you're a private institution and you're enrollment-driven, it's part of the management of their student body," Gumbart said. "Certainly if that proves to be successful for them, then we just like to be in the know and see what's going on. Obviously, we've got schools that are doing it, and I think it can be part of a successful program, but it's not something from a conference standpoint that will make or break our situation."