Don't ask about football

Wilson Bradshaw wants to talk about the 15,000 students at Florida Gulf Coast University and all the exciting programs at the fast-growing university in Fort Myers.

But when he's speaking to business groups such as the Chamber of Southwest Florida recently, the university president grumbles that all people really want to know is when FGCU is going to field a football team.

“Don't ask me about football,” he quipped at the beginning of a speech to chamber members recently. “I've been asked that four times already today.”

Bradshaw sought to dispel the issue in 2011 when consultants hired by the university concluded that football wasn't feasible. Bradshaw has said in the past that there's no state money for football, especially for public universities with fewer than 20,000 students.

Still, the university is trying to raise $100 million in private contributions to its foundation. As everyone in academia knows, football is a big draw for donors.

Bradshaw hasn't closed the door completely on football, however. “I think football is something this region's excited about,” he acknowledged in his concluding remarks to chamber members. “It's a matter of when, not if.”

Go Eagles!