ETSU prez sets conditions for football?s return
Citing a report from a Football Task Force, ETSU President Paul E. Stanton Jr. said he was prepared to restart the program, with those and other conditions.
?The ball?s just been kicked to us and we?ve got 99 yards to go, but I?m going to be there with you all the way,? said Stanton, who appointed the task force in June. ?I?m 100 percent committed and believe we can get this done. Our students have indicated they want it and are willing to support a student fee to help fund it.?
Stanton disbanded the football program at the end of the 2003 season to save money after the Regents prohibited six public universities from using taxpayer funds to subsidize sports.
The university will ?also need a stadium that could cost anywhere from $10 to $15 million, and that will rely on community and fan support,? Stanton said. ?I believe we can get it done, and nothing would suit me more than to throw out that first football in 2010.?
He said a phased-in student athletic fee must be approved by students in an April vote. The size of the fee hasn?t yet been determined.
If approved, the proposed fee and subsequent increases must then be approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents in June. The fees would be used to fund operating expenses.
He said $300,000 must be in hand by March 31 to fund planning that includes hiring a facility consultant and design development of a new stadium.
A total of $15 million must be in hand by July 2008 to move forward with the construction of the stadium and related facilities, Stanton said.
Stanton previously said a $1.2 million annual deficit for football, issues with Memorial Center?s turf field, state budget woes, and the overall athletic program?s inability to meet Title IX compliance prompted his decision to end the program.
The Division I-AA Bucs had played every season since 1920 except for three during World War II. They last won a league championship since 1969 and their best year in the Southern Conference was 1996 when they went 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
Stanton said Friday that the financial landscape has changed.
?We are just doing better now than we were three years ago,? he said. ?I also think the support is there in the community to get it done. If all these things come together, we can make this happen.?