(07-15-2020 07:19 PM)Hammersmith Wrote:  

(07-15-2020 06:06 PM)Todor Wrote:  Pioneer is good for St Thomas now but I wouldn't be surprised to see them move to scholarship football when a spot opens up somewhere convenient.

Might eventually happen, but it's going to be awhile. They have to spend A LOT of money over the next several years before they can think about scholarship football. They probably have to double or triple the number of athletic office employees to deal with compliance and the host of all the other things DI brings. They'll need to add assistant coaches and pump up salaries. Travel budgets are going to balloon. So might recruiting budgets. There are the other scholarships, of course. And then there are the tens of millions that they need to dump into facilities. Finally, it's likely that hockey will be a priority, and that's very expensive on its own.

Once most of that list is dealt with, then they might consider scholarship football. I'm not saying they can't do it eventually, but I doubt it will be in this decade.

You're right, but St Thomas feels a little different than schools like Butler, Marist, or Dayton that kind of retreated into Pioneer level football rather than drop it entirely. It's probably the best those schools are willing to strive for, but I suspect STU is different.