The hopes for a Division III football team on USM’s athletics roster have come to an end, at least for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, President Pattenaude announced that the Friends of USM Football, the group of local coaches and businessmen backing the project, has only managed to gather $300,000 of the $2.1 million goal.
“The time has come for us to bring closure to this effort,” Pattenaude said in his announcement. “All of our programs, academic as well as athletic, are facing tighter budgets, which makes it increasingly difficult to justify a football program.”
The Friends set out 17 months ago to raise the initial funds for the team, which USM didn’t have the budget to support. The $2.1 million would have been divided between building a field, staffing and outfitting the would-be team, and other startup expenses.
Pattenaude said that it would be at least three to five years before the school will be able to reconsider a football team, unless major donor steps up to fill the gap left by the Friends.
“I remain committed to the notion that a high-quality football program can be a significant factor in student recruitment and building a sense of community,” the President said, “but the time is just not right.”