Vince Dooley, the legendary football coach who led Kennesaw State’s football exploratory committee for the last 10 months, provided unwitting explanation Wednesday why the school will pursue fielding a team.
Said the coach, speaking to hundreds of expectant students and faculty at the school convocation center, “[The committee’s] recommendation was overwhelmingly positive in favor of starting football at Kansas State University.” (Watch the video.)
Dooley paused as students in the convocation center reminded him of his whereabouts. He then sank in embarrassment. But a point was made. The school wants its name out there and believes a football team is the way to get there. (See photos from the press conference.)
A football team, school president Daniel Papp said, will "increase and expand national recognition of the institution, highlight important work taking place on campus in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activities and service."
The plan is for the school to begin play in 2014. It will play in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA), the same level that Georgia State is playing in its first season. The team will play in KSU Soccer Stadium, which until now has been known as the home of the Atlanta Beat and has been billed as the largest gender-specific soccer stadium in the country.
Move aside, ladies.
Funding for the team will come from the student body. Papp said students will be asked to pay for the team with an $85 football fee per semester, on top of the school's $144 per-semester athletic fees, which support the existing varsity teams. The school will have to add one or more women's teams to remain in Title IX compliance, which would presumably further increase fees.
However, Papp said that he expects students to vote for the fees and football in a vote to come later this fall.
