Football is safe at Northeastern, but athletic director Peter Roby says he needs your help.
That was the message Roby delivered yesterday in a press conference called after a two-month examination of the Northeastern athletic department and the 19 men's and women's varsity sports it funds.
Football was the primary topic because rumors of its demise hovered around the program throughout the fall. That caused angst internally among head coach Rocky Hager and his staff and externally as the friends and supporters of Husky athletics wondered whether football would disappear the way it did at crosstown rival Boston University.
"One of the key recommendations of senior leadership is that we continue to support a full complement of intercollegiate athletics," said Roby.
Northeastern president Joseph Aoun told Roby that he believes "athletics is the front porch" of the university.
To keep all of the programs running, Roby said, he will begin a major fund-raising campaign to eliminate any financial shortfalls.
The mission will start in Florida at the end of the month, as soon as Roby makes his sales pitch to the Northeastern Board of Trustees at a meeting in Naples, Fla. Nothing is guaranteed, but the recommendations of Roby, the athletic council, and Aoun are expected to be approved.
Roby said the school's varsity sports are generally two to three scholarships short of the maximum allowed by the NCAA.
Roby said other issues, such as improving facilities - specifically Parsons Field, the outdated football venue - and remaining in the Colonial Athletic Association are part of the long-range plans, but fund-raising is vital for the success of all the plans.
