The review panel that convened to provide feedback on the current state of the athletics program met for the second and final time this month, clearing the way for Athletics Director Peter Roby to finalize his recommendations on the future of the department.
But Roby, in a Dec. 20 meeting with representatives of the “Friends of Northeastern Athletics” alumni group, reportedly said that if he were asked about the future of the program by a prospective recruit, he would say, “There is no reason to believe they would not be playing Northeastern football four years from now,” according to a recent newsletter distributed by the group.
“Although these plans are confidential at this time and are still being finalized, we very much appreciate Pete sharing them with us in order to better understand his vision,” the Dec. 21 newsletter stated. “He has the backing from the administration and expects to be able to announce a bold initiative shortly after the new year.”
The alumni group is headed by Tom Racca, who graduated from Northeastern in 1984; former Huskies quarterback Jim Murphy and ex-players football Steven Kelley and Andy Robertson. It came together on the heels of an October report by The News in which Roby indicated the possibility of eliminating an athletic program in an effort to realign his department’s financial resources.
Asked to confirm whether football was on schedule for next season, Roby did not respond to a Dec. 14 request for comment. Brian Kenny, Northeastern’s vice president of marketing and communications, said Dec. 20 that he could not confirm anything discussed among the review panel, whose deliberations have been kept confidential, past meeting highlights that were released by the university earlier in the month.
Without going into specific figures, the notes reflect that the group discussed how Northeastern stacks up compared to other schools in the Colonial Athletics Association (CAA) in terms of financial aid for players, its operating budget for each sport, attendance averages and championships won during the last 30 years.
This latest disclosure is a change in course after some Husky fans expressed frustration about the athletics director remaining mum on his plan for the future.
More than 100 football alumni were at Matthews Arena on Dec. 5, filing into folding chairs and standing near the back of the lobby. Racca, Murphy, Kelley and Robertson addressed the uncertainty of the sport’s future and the purpose of the review panel, which includes 19 representatives, ranging from members of the university’s governing boards to faculty, students and alumni.
For nearly an hour, Vice President and University Counsel Vincent Lembo fielded questions from the group, which at times grew into a somewhat heated exchange as those in attendance expressed concern that Northeastern should have tapped its alumni base sooner, rather than later, if the football program was in jeopardy.
“In most sports, we are competitive, but the fact still remains that they need some help,” Lembo told the crowd, noting that there is a $3.5 million shortfall per year among all sports in order to cover the expenses of additional scholarships and requirements for coaches’ salaries and recruiting.
The review panel met for the first time Nov. 28. Roby had previously been conducting his own assessment and preparing recommendations for the future of the department, which he assumed direction of in July.
The financial overhead associated with funding a football program made many Husky athletics fans speculate the possibility of it being cut.
