Then Peter Roby said, “Let there be football,” and there was football.
That’s the gist of a message from an alumni group whose members met with the Northeastern athletics director Dec. 20 to discuss the fate of the program.
Roby, in a meeting with representatives from the “Friends of Northeastern Athletics” alumni group, reportedly said that if he were asked about the future of the sport 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 alumni group.
The remarks came after the second and final meeting of the Athletics Review Panel, which was convened to provide feedback on the current state of the athletics department. Roby also conducted his own assessment and prepared recommendations for the future of the department beginning when he was named to its top post in July.
“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,” according to the Dec. 21 newsletter. “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, class of 1984; former Huskies quarterback Jim Murphy and ex-football players 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.
The financial overhead associated with funding a football program made many Husky athletics fans speculate the possibility of it being cut.
Roby did not respond to a request for comment Friday and would not confirm whether football was on the schedule for next season.
Brian Kenny, Northeastern’s vice president of marketing and communications, said Friday he could not confirm anything discussed among the review panel, whose deliberations have been kept confidential beyond meeting highlights that were released last month.
Without going into specific figures, the notes reflect that the group discussed how Northeastern stacks up compared to other schools in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in terms of financial aid for players, its operating budget for each sport, game 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 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 heated as some expressed concern that Northeastern should have tapped alumni sooner 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 scholarships and requirements for coaches’ salaries and recruiting.
Student Government Association President Joey Fiore, who sat on the review panel, said he was “very happy” to learn about Roby’s remarks.
Kenny said Friday he expects Roby’s recommendations to be presented to the university in the next couple weeks, and that for now it is “just a matter of giving people a chance to get back from the holiday break and get up to speed.”
“Everybody knows how important this issue is, so I wouldn’t expect any lengthy delays,” he said.
