University of Evansville to reinstate football in 2007

            By Howie Baker, THG Sports

After a ten year hiatus, the University of Evansville Purple Aces football team will suit up for play again in 2007 under President Stephen G. Jennings plan to “rejuvenate” the school.

U of E, a small Methodist university of 2,200 students, has struggled with declining enrollment since dropping football in 1997 as part of a series of cost-cutting measures.  Dr. Jennings is hoping that investing athletic and university funds in a football program will draw interest to the university and give it some credibility.  “Let’s face it; many students do not want to attend a college without a football team.  Right now, we are like peanut butter without the jelly.”

While most of the university’s sports participate in NCAA Division I-A, the former football team was a non-scholarship I-AA program.  This will change when football is reinstated in 2007.  The Aces will compete as a full member of the Gateway Conference, which is the premier football conference in I-AA.  This means the football team will have 65 scholarships available for student-athletes.

The football Aces will compete with several area schools, including Southern Illinois, Indiana State, and Western Kentucky.  “This is why the Gateway Conference was a perfect fit for U of E,” added Jennings.

There are plans to 27,000 seat stadium on land near campus.  Until then, the team will compete in the largest football venue in the area, Reitz (High School) Bowl, a facility that holds approximately 12,000.  The soccer team will continue to compete in puny Arad McCutchan Stadium, the former football field.

Next on the agenda for Jennings is hiring a coach to oversee the development of the program and battling the many Title IX legal issues the university faces by bringing back football. 

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