The Interim Years: Attempts to Revive Football
Every decade since the 1940s, students and alumni have tried to resurrect football at ODU. Most ODU presidents were against it, especially Dr. Lewis Webb, ODU's first president (1946-69):
The War came on -- the boys were pulled out, and the football team was sacrificed. And, thank goodness, it's never been revived. (from ODU Oral History Interview, November 4, 1974)
Joseph "Scrap" Chandler (Athletic Director from 1942-1971) recalled that Webb responded to questions of reviving football with "football costs too much money. He'd had several inquiries about it from the newspapers and other people, and he just told them how much money it would cost." (from ODU Oral History Interview, October 28, 1975)
According to Dr. James Sweeney, in 1968 Authur B. Metheny (Athletic Coach from 1948-1980) "indicated that football was definitely coming to Old Dominion; it was just a question of when." Metheny's response: ".... It’s a matter of finances, that’s what it boils down to." (from ODU Oral History Interview, May 29, 1975)
Students, faculty, and the public were surveyed many times over the decades to determine their interest in football. Twice in the 1980s there was serious pressure to resume football. There was definitely interest. But feasibility studies always came down to cost.
Finally, Roseann Runte listened to the football buzz begun again in 2004, studied the feasibility of football, and again surveyed the public for interest and commitment. Football would become a reality.
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