One more development is needed to complete Towson University's 21st century makeover.
More than a decade after they sought membership in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Tigers joined that conference last year. Near completion is a $31.5 million expansion of its stadium, a concept that has been considered since Minnegan Stadium opened in 1978.
The last point in the plan would be an invitation to play football in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the premier Division I-AA league on the East Coast, which could come any day. The A-10 would pose fiscal and physical challenges for the Tigers, whose commitment to that sport has changed as often as its all-sports affiliation, wanderings that have tested Towson's notions about niche and notoriety.
"Marketing has been a challenge," said Wayne Edwards, Towson's athletic director since 1995, "but I'm very optimistic about where we are, and where we are going."
Lewis and Clark would have had difficulty locating Baltimore's biggest college athletic program some seasons. At times, the explorers wouldn't have known what they were looking for, or where to look.
Over the past decade, Towson has been South (Big), North (Atlantic) and East (Coast and America). Now, the Tigers will try to find stability in the Colonial era. A move to the A-10 for football - and a commitment of some 60 scholarships - would represent a 180-degree swing in philosophy from 1990, when Towson nearly dropped the sport.
With almost 17,000 students, Towson has the state's second-largest campus after College Park. While Maryland is celebrating its 50th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Tigers didn't embark on scholarship athletics until the 1970s, and they experienced growing pains.
In their adolescence, Towson's two major men's sports were flush with success. Basketball went to the NCAA tournament in 1990 and '91, but has had six straight losing seasons. The football team last went to the NCAAs in 1986, its last season in Division II. Can the Tigers regain some of that momentum, and finally become a mid-major power?
Phase 1
One thing is certain. When the grand opening is held in conjunction with the football opener against Morgan State on Sept. 5, the Tigers will have the best mid-sized stadium in the state. Kim McCalla of the Maryland Stadium Authority is the project director. She has also overseen construction of the Comcast Center, and the same architect, Ellerbe Becket, designed the Terps' new basketball arena.
Minnegan Stadium's capacity was 5,000. Now, Towson can accommodate 11,198. Adjacent to the south grandstand, a four-level, 48,000-square-foot field house should be completed by Christmas. It will house locker rooms and offices for lacrosse, football and field hockey.
The NCAA lacrosse quarterfinals will be held there the day after the 2003 Preakness. Once the track is resurfaced next summer, Edwards said that Towson will more actively pursue high school events and possibly the Bayhawks' pro lacrosse team as a tenant. The project was met by some community opposition, and it will not be a concert site.
What is currently known as Towson University Stadium was initially named for longtime teacher and soccer coach Doc Minnegan, who will turn 100 Aug. 26. The field will be renamed in his honor, but the naming rights to the stadium are for sale - the starting price is $3 million. Those negotiations will be crucial to a project that received $21.75 million in state funds.
Towson's athletic and auxiliary services departments will both pay $1.5 million. A good chunk of the remaining $6.75 million must come in the form of naming rights. The rest will be raised through a marketing campaign, which must combat negative publicity generated by the extravagant spending of Mark L. Perkins, who last April was forced out by the state Board of Regents after nine months on the job.
Phase 2
Despite a graduation rate that ranks among the top 10 percent in the nation, Tigers athletics was not an easy sell in the last decade, when major conferences like the Atlantic Coast Conference added a Florida State to their deck and mid-majors tried to strengthen their hand. One year, Towson was trying to forge a basketball rivalry with Charleston Southern, the next its fans were supposed to get hyped for Vermont.
By the late 1980s, Towson began to eye the CAA, where the bulk of the membership looked similar: public colleges, like James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., which experienced considerable growth in recent decades.
Towson didn't necessarily become more attractive; the CAA was wobbly after key members like Richmond bolted, so the league righted itself by expanding north and adding the Tigers and Delaware, Drexel and Hofstra from the America East.
The CAA recently was awarded an automatic bid for men's lacrosse, and Hofstra will be the biggest obstacle between Tony Seaman's team and the NCAA lacrosse tournament.
"The CAA has a number of institutions that people in Baltimore can identify with," Edwards said. "Geography is also a very big factor. We were the northernmost school in one league (Big South), the southernmost in another (America East). With the CAA, we're finally in the middle geographically. We can bus everywhere, and we no longer have the expense of jet travel to New England, which was a must for some America East trips."
With an $8.3 million athletic budget, Towson might need the savings to play A-10 football.
Phase 3
Since 1997, the Tigers have played football in the Patriot League, where they stick out among private institutions like Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh. It's Division I-AA football, where the scholarship limit is 63, but technically there are no scholarships in the Patriot, where teams are built with need-based financial aid.
Since associate memberships in the Patriot League run three years, Towson sought other options. The A-10 football league, which produced the 1998 NCAA champion in Massachusetts, used to operate under the banner of the Yankee Conference. It has 11 members, and a 12th would make for two six-team divisions.
"Right now, we're polling our presidents to see if we can issue an invitation to Towson," said Linda Bruno, the A-10 commissioner. "We need two-thirds approval from the presidents of the football-playing schools, and two-thirds of our entire membership, who have a say in the Atlantic 10 name. All of our football members are right around the high 50s for scholarships. We're assured that that's going to happen with Towson."
Towson already has seven full-time coaches, the I-AA limit. This year, it will spend $600,000 on what are scholarships in everything except name. That's enough to pay the way for 40-45 players, about Towson's commitment when it first entered I-AA in 1987. Three years later, an athletic department budget deficit of $257,000 led the university to consider dropping the sport.
Gordy Combs is entering his second decade as the head coach of a program that he captained 30 years ago. He has been all over the NCAA with the Tigers.
"During my coaching tenure here," Combs said, "we've been in Division III, Division II, Division I-AA with scholarships, I-AA on a non-scholarship basis and now what's called 'preferential packaging.' I've always looked at it as a challenge, that we haven't had the continuity of playing the same schools. It's hard to find idiosyncrasies of the competition when it keeps changing. You also lose continuity with the fan base."
Minnegan Stadium was sufficient most game days. Towson drew just over 3,000 fans per game last season. It has never averaged more than 4,500. The A-10 would presumably fill some of the new seats, but the administration understands that the cost of competing is also going to rise.
"The decision [to pursue the A-10] fell to me," said Dan. L. Jones, Towson's interim president since May and a member of the faculty since 1966. "Since we considered dropping football, the character of the institution has changed markedly. This is the appropriate move. It's a good time to not only build up the team, but make it one that can sustain itself."
Tigers on the move
The Towson football program's changing NCAA levels over the years:
Years Division Affiliation Funding
1969-78 III Independent Non-scholarship
1979-86 II Independent Scholarship
1987-94 I-AA Independent Scholarship
1995-96 I-AA ECAC Non-scholarship
1997-present I-AA Patriot Need-based aid
Source: Towson University
All over the map
Towson University's Division I basketball teams have had assorted homes:
Years Affiliation
1979-1982 ECAC Metro South
1982-1992 East Coast
1992-1995 Big South
1995-2001 America East (aka North Atlantic)
2001-present Colonial
Source: Towson University