From the story:
"Being able to return is the best thing you could possibly imagine," Lahey said. "Over the winter, we'd have 7 a.m. (lifting) and it would be negative 10 degrees outside, but I literally loved going to it because just to know that I was going to be able to return to play another year, that was special."
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The National Football Foundation sent out a release yesterday noting that . . .. . . five new college football teams are set to take the field for the first time this season, joining 28 new programs that have begun play since 2008 and 17 more programs set to launch between 2013 and 2015.Surprised? Here are the five schools that will field football teams for the first time next fall:
• Bluefield College (Bluefield, Va.): NAIA, Mid-South Conference
• Lindenwood University-Belleville (Belleville,Ill.): NAIA, Independent
• Misericordia University (Dallas, Pa.): NCAA Division III, Middle Atlantic Conferences
• Point University (West Point, Ga.): NAIA, Independent
• Wayland Baptist University (Plainview, Texas): NAIA, Central States Football League
And here are the others that are scheduled to add teams in the near future (including several FCS schools in talent-laden states that might make interesting opponents for the Ivies):
2013
• Alderson-Broaddus College (Philippi,W. Va.): NCAA Division II, Independent (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
• Berry College (Mount Berry, Ga.): NCAA Division III, Southern Athletic Association
• Florida Tech (Melbourne, Fla.): NCAA Division II, Gulf South Conference
• Hendrix College (Conway, Ark.): NCAA Division III, Southern Athletic Association
• Mercer University (Macon, Ga.): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Pioneer Football League)
• Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, Okla.): NAIA, Central States Football League
• Reinhardt University (Waleska, Ga.): NAIA, Mid-South Conference
• Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas): NCAA Division III, Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
• Stetson University (DeLand, Fla.): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Pioneer Football League
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Independent (joining the Football Bowl Subdivision and Conference USA in 2015)
• Warner University (Lake Wales, Fla.): NAIA, Independent
2014
• College of Idaho (Caldwell, Idaho): NAIA, Frontier Conference
• George Fox University (Newberg, Ore.): NCAA Division III, Northwest Conference
• Houston Baptist University (Houston, Texas): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Southland Conference
• Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Ga.): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Conference TBA (Anticipated in 2014)
TBA
• Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.): NCAA Division III, Conference TBA
• University of New Orleans (New Orleans, La.): NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Independent
Number of Schools Adding Football in Recent Years:
9 in 2011
6 in 2010
5 in 2009
8 in 2008
Source: NFF
