The University of North Florida Ospreys are not considering adding a football team, per Athletic Director Nick Morrow. Morrow cited the high costs associated with a football team and other institutional priorities but did not rule out a football team in the future if certain milestones are reached.
Morrow told the UNF Spinnaker that UNF doesn’t have the resources to fully fund the athletic programs with the university funding approximately 110 scholarships out of the maximum 160. “Financially, it doesn’t make sense,” Morrow said. Furthermore, football would result in students paying an extra $300 fee per semester before accounting for additional athletic costs related to administration, facilities, and coaching staff.
Morrow left the door to football in the future but not until UNF’s enrollment hits 25,000. UNF wants to achieve that goal by 2028 but will need to make considerable progress given the current enrollment is slightly over 16,000 as of the Fall 2024 semester. The enrollment for the 2023 Fall semester was 16,570 while the 2022 Fall semester was 16,555, according to UNF’s historical enrollment data.
The idea of adding a football program isn’t new for the University of North Florida, which is located in Jacksonville. In 2013, the school publicly said it would not add football with the magic enrollment number of 25,000 referenced as the consideration point. Then-Vice President of Public Relations Sharon Ashton estimated, “…probably at least five, maybe 10 years out.” Then, as now, the financial aspects of a football team simply didn’t add up and the collegiate athletic landscape has gotten much more complex with the final hearing for the House settlement scheduled for early April.
If UNF were to start a football team in the future, it would be a scholarship program according to Morrow. The Ospreys are a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference whose members play FCS football in the United Athletic Conference. Five current ASUN members play in the UAC: Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, and West Georgia. If North Florida added a football team, there would be no guarantee it would play in the UAC with realignment lurking around every corner.
Photo Credit to the University of North Florida
