A plaque in the Bob Martinez Athletics Center serves as a reminder of what UTampa football was. Photo courtesy of Ben Rosen.
By Ben Rosen
TAMPA, Fla. — The University of Tampa (UTampa) needs to revive its once-prominent football program. From 1933 to 1974, UTampa had a football team that accumulated a 201-160-12 record. However, the program was shut down in February of 1975 because of its cost concerns. There have been no serious efforts to revive the program since. That should change.
But in 2026, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and college athletics as a whole are in a different place. Over the last two years, UTampa has seen leadership transitions in the president and athletic director roles as well. There is an opening for a school like UTampa to succeed in football in modern college athletics.
President Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg has made efforts to improve school spirit on the UTampa campus. However, school spirit seems to remain low. Bringing back the football program will help improve school spirit and boost other sports in the process. Athletic Director E.J. Brophy is in his first year on the job as well.
With Division I Football Championship Series (FCS) schools, including one of the most dominant FCS programs, North Dakota State University, as well as Sacramento State University moving up to Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), there are openings for a school like UTampa in FCS or Division II.
It is not unreasonable to think that South Dakota State University and the University of Montana, among others, could follow North Dakota State to the FBS level. FCS conferences may try to recruit current Division II teams to backfill as well. This could create a scenario where multiple conferences try to get a hypothetical return of the UTampa football team.
In Division II, the Gulf South Conference only has four teams, with one located in Mississippi, one located in Alabama, one located in Georgia, and one located in Florida. The Gulf South Conference is easily the smallest Division II football conference. This conference would be a good starting point for a returning UTampa football team.
It will take time and resources, specifically money, to bring UTampa football back. Still, it is not an impossible task, and the demand for the football program’s return is there. When UTampa football is mentioned on the official social media channels, the comments are usually flooded with posts calling for the program’s return. It needs to happen.
Being a football school will help UTampa attract more students and allow for cross-promotion with other athletics teams that can help boost their attendance. This will help school spirit and create a more unified campus culture. Core values of this, such as discipline, leadership, respect, and determination, are applicable on the football field and in the classroom.
On the football side of things, a potential UTampa football head coach should be someone who has a clear vision for the program, is a CEO type of head coach with strong leadership skills, and can build a roster effectively in the modern era of college athletics. Someone who can maximize the resources they are provided with to build a competitive roster.
This head coach should be someone who puts an emphasis on building the offensive and defensive lines while also investing in special teams. A coach who has run units that nail the fundamentals while being tough and disciplined, not committing penalties. Someone who can build a staff of assistant coaches who are all on the same page and unified.
Prior head coaching experience at the high school or college level would be useful, considering that this coach would be taking over a football program that has not existed in over 50 years. However, lack of head coaching experience should not disqualify potential candidates. Being able to think outside the box will help make this project work better.
If the football team does return, it is essential to conduct an expansive head coaching search that covers multiple levels and leaves no stone unturned. Looking at National Football League (NFL) assistant coaches, FBS and FCS assistant coaches, and even high school head coaches. For this to work, the right head coach must be in place from the start.
In the modern era of college athletics, a team can be completely turned over and made competitive almost overnight. If Curt Cignetti can take Indiana University from the losingest FBS program to national champions in 781 days, then UTampa can build a football team competitive at the Division II or FCS level.
The Cignetti model can easily be applied on a smaller scale to a potential UTampa football return. Alignment between President Dahlberg and Athletic Director Brophy is essential for success and getting the program off the ground if the resources are obtained. Any potential head coach would need to be on the same page and share a similar vision for the program.
Seemingly, everyone laughed at Cignetti and called him crazy after his opening press conference at Indiana University. Now he is a national championship-winning head coach, in part because he believed in himself. Finding a head coach who believes in themselves, similar to how Cignetti does, would be helpful for a returning UTampa football team.
While it may seem bold, returning by the start of the 2029 season can be done with the right buy-in to the idea and receiving enough financial investment in the program. If UTampa football does one day return, whoever is part of the leadership team that brings it back is deserving of a statue on campus.
Sometimes, as the classic saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. This is one of those cases. Raising the amount of money needed to make the program no longer dormant is a tall order. But with the right connections and fundraising strategy, it can be achieved. If the right people are on the same page, anything is possible.
A public fundraising campaign with the specific purpose of bringing back the football team could help achieve this goal. Both President Dahlberg and Athletic Director Brophy have experience with large fundraising campaigns and are the right people to oversee this effort. It is time to bring back UTampa football.