LIMESTONE CONSIDERING DROPPING FOOTBALL.....

[RedFromMI]

Good to let the previous posters know not to get complacent. Mikey the Slickster could strike at any moment. No school or programs appear to be safe in this climate.

Spoke to one more source - at this point there are no plans to drop anything.

[Dirty Harry]

Spoke to one more source - at this point there are no plans to drop anything.

Key phrase , at this time? Or no plans period.

[RedFromMI]

Key phrase , at this time? Or no plans period.

No plans. Even if it were "at this time" the fact that we are already at the point where dropping any program would lead to a large loss of both students and reputation. Decisions like this have rather narrow windows due to admission cycles/timing.

Dropping football would lead to an immediate loss of over 100 students - it is by far the largest sports program at Limestone. Roster is around or over double of men's lacrosse with its five national championships.

And believe it or not - with the exception of the actual NCAA playoffs, normal football attendance for a home game is quite a bit higher than what you would see at a lacrosse home game.

[Dirty Harry]

No plans. Even if it were "at this time" the fact that we are already at the point where dropping any program would lead to a large loss of both students and reputation. Decisions like this have rather narrow windows due to admission cycles/timing.

Dropping football would lead to an immediate loss of over 100 students - it is by far the largest sports program at Limestone. Roster is around or over double of men's lacrosse with its five national championships.

And believe it or not - with the exception of the actual NCAA playoffs, normal football attendance for a home game is quite a bit higher than what you would see at a lacrosse home game.

100-150 students x the cost of attendance is around $500k, that's the issue. I believe they also have a new turf practice field installed a year ago, at around what, $750k to $1M? I'm not sure the Athletic Dept is concerned about reputation outside of it's Lacrosse program. Now, the rest of us in the Southeast could care less about it, in comparison to football, especially in a state where Clemson dominates the landscape of college football. I may be wrong, but the month of June will tell the tale for a lot of schools in the country in terms of dropping sports, etc. Right before the end of the fiscal year.

[RedFromMI]

100-150 students x the cost of attendance is around $500k, that's the issue. I believe they also have a new turf practice field installed a year ago, at around what, $750k to $1M? I'm not sure the Athletic Dept is concerned about reputation outside of it's Lacrosse program. Now, the rest of us in the Southeast could care less about it, in comparison to football, especially in a state where Clemson dominates the landscape of college football. I may be wrong, but the month of June will tell the tale for a lot of schools in the country in terms of dropping sports, etc. Right before the end of the fiscal year.

Ballpark net price per student (typical actual cost including average student aid) is maybe $25K per student. If you lose 100 students, that is a net loss of $2.5 million dollars. Not 500k.

BTW, the practice turf field that was installed is 100% paid for by a generous gift from the former owner of the Carolina Panthers. The total gift amount was way above what was required to do the lower practice field.

Look - Limestone College (College for another month, then University) is sitting in the heart of football country in upstate SC. Football games are played on the same field as the Gaffney High School squad that over its history has won 16/17 state championships (one is disputed because it predates playoffs and there was a split in media assigned titles that year).

And Jerry Richardson did not seem concerned about the athletic program to give his $4 million to Limestone when he was honoring his former high school football coach (an assistant at his NC high school who later became the GHS head football coach). Even though his college career was at Wofford College in neighboring Spartanburg, SC.

[Chuck Bitner]

FWIW, I did not reach out to Limestone about this. I had not even seen this post yet. They reached out to me to tell me there is not truth to this. The person that contacted me has high position in the athletics department and his or her knowledge of the situation is unquestioned as far as Ii'm concerned. I don't know who the "source" was that said this was under consideration but that person is either wrong or does not exist.