Xavier FCS Football???

[drudy23]

It has been tried elsewhere and has been successful. In Indy around 20-25 yrs ago Marian U, was little Marian College and most of the student body was girls. They decided to start NAIA football to get males to go to the school. It worked so well that male enrollment jumped, they had money to build a stadium, built a heck of a program that has won National Championships. The school started a Med School a few years ago. It has nothing to do with tv, or becoming Alabama or OSU. It's a student acquisition, retention, and student quality of life program. Evidently male enrollment, and student retention has taken a hit in the last few years, to the point that it is a concern to the Administration. As far as the instant push back from some, I graduated X the year before we dropped football. At that time, it was D1, was bad, and was draining money. It wasn't just football, but X was being grossly mismanaged by then Pres. Mulligan. Football became the scapegoat and was blamed for all the school's ills and was dropped. That's probably why some of the older Alums view starting football as a bad idea. Having spent my whole career in business, I understand this as a marketing move, more than a sports move. Especially since I saw it work firsthand here in Indy @ Marian U.

Like I said, I'm on board if it doesn't take away from basketball. Better yet, give basketball some of the money.

[GoMuskies]

I guess if Butler & Fordham can do it, why can’t we?

Jesus. How about, if Villanova can do it, why can't we? (obviously Villanova is doing it at a much higher level than Butler or Fordham, but holy hell please don't compare Xavier to those two other things!).

[GoMuskies]

If the stated goal is to increase male enrollment and retention, adding football would almost assuredly work.

I mean, I get it. Sending your kid to private college makes almost no sense without a LOT of scholarship these days. Adding a sport to con 100 parents to shell out $50k a year so their mediocre high school athlete can keep playing sports sounds like a good business model. I just wish there was a better way to attract students.

[XUGRAD80]

It might be too long ago for it to matter today, but I do wonder if there are any of the old guard football alumni/supporters that might be interested in underwriting the expense of bringing football back?

Also regarding “non-scholarship”, I seem to remember that just a couple of years ago that X made it known that 100% of its current undergrads were receiving financial aid of some kind or the other. “Non-scholarship” only means that they aren’t receiving a “football” scholarship, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t getting another type of financial aid, or even an athletic scholarship for a different sport.

[xubrew]

I mean, I get it. Sending your kid to private college makes almost no sense without a LOT of scholarship these days. Adding a sport to con 100 parents to shell out $50k a year so their mediocre high school athlete can keep playing sports sounds like a good business model. I just wish there was a better way to attract students.

Yup! You get it!!

[Masterofreality]

Jesus. How about, if Villanova can do it, why can't we? (obviously Villanova is doing it at a much higher level than Butler or Fordham, but holy hell please don't compare Xavier to those two other things!).

You’ll notice I purposely left out another trash program 50 miles away.
My point was that those other “two things” suck but somehow they can make it work. We’re so much better with great high school football in the area and we’d do it so much better

[Xavier]

Hmm, 100 kids. After paying expenses would they break even? Or maybe make a couple 100 grand? As a poster mentioned earlier I guess it has worked before, just seems like a real long shot.

[xubrew]

Hmm, 100 kids. After paying expenses would they break even? Or maybe make a couple 100 grand? As a poster mentioned earlier I guess it has worked before, just seems like a real long shot.

You haven't seen many PFL games. Football only costs as much of you spend. A head coach will make tens of thousands, not tens of millions. The coordinators make even less, and many of the position coaches are GAs or volunteers who want to get into coaching. The equipment is recycled. Most PFL teams play 2 buy games and makes roughly $100k per game, and that's basically the bulk of their budget.

Without football, a lot of small private schools that play at the D3 level would probably have to close their doors. That's not an exaggeration. They need that tuition money to stay open. It doesn't cost a lot of money if you don't spend a lot of money, and private schools that play non-scholarship football do not spend much. It makes money for the institution because it draws in 100+ tuition paying students. The only schools that lose money on football are those that spend like they're trying to compete with the Big Ten and aren't bringing in anywhere near that amount of revenue to offset their expenses. If Xavier starts up football, the financial model for it will more closely resemble Whittenberg or Thomas More than it would Miami OH.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Lots of chatter on Musketeer Report about X starting non scholarship football to aid in Male enrollment and student retention. Evidently male enrollment is suffering and Freshman retention is becoming a problem. Appararently the talk is serious and has been discussed by the Board and Admn. The thought is increased enrollment will make up for the expense of a program. It would be Pioneer league playing Dayton, Butler, Valpo etc.

I honestly don't know the answer to this question: Do people go to UD, Butler, and Valpo football games? Is there big tailgate parties that happen? Do having those teams help enrollment and retention?

I get football being a draw, not sure I see this level of football being that draw though.

Edit: I guess it helps the enrollment and retention on the people on the football team, but past that?

[D-West & PO-Z]

I wonder if not sucking at basketball for 40% of a decade will help enrollment and retention?