Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(28)
“That’s me.”
“You played football.”
“Uh-huh. For the L.A. Stallions. I was the quarterback.”
Percy looked between him and the pictures. “It’s cool, I guess. I’m more into basketball.”
Jack bit back a laugh. “Of course you are. Come on. I’ll introduce you to the dragon lady. Don’t let the high heels fool you. She could take both of us without even breaking a sweat.”
* * *
JACK’S WORK WITH coaches had always come as a player. There were coaches he’d liked and those he’d hated, but he’d never had anything to do with hiring one before. He hadn’t even been sure of the exact process. He knew there were interviews and that after a winning or losing season, coaches often moved on, but he’d never given it any thought beyond how it had affected him as a player.
Hiring a coach would be different. He would need to look at the process from the university’s point of view. Do what was best for the organization. The switch in sides was going to take some doing, he thought as he drove out to the Cal U Fool’s Gold campus.
The university sat on nearly a hundred acres just northeast of downtown. The buildings were a mix of old and new, as if the campus had grown over the years. It was still a few weeks before classes started, so there weren’t any students around. Jack found parking in the visitors’ lot and made his way to the main administration building.
The stadium and practice field were closer to the mountains. By late August the team should have already started their preseason games. If there was a team playing football. Something he was going to discuss with Mayor Marsha when next he saw her. Or perhaps not. He was tough on the field, but not known for his ability to take down old ladies.
The research he’d done on the athletic programs at Cal U Fool’s Gold had told him that the university had an excellent baseball team, a surprising number of successful programs for women’s sports, including golf, but that they’d ended their football team nearly a decade before. So why start now? Something he was going to find out.
He walked into the conference room and greeted the other people there. The president of the college was easy to spot. She was a woman in her late forties, well dressed and confident. The athletic director, who had the unfortunate first name of Tad, was about Jack’s age, and way too cheerful. Introductions were made. A few more people came into the room, then they all took their seats around the large table.
“Thank you all for coming,” Kristan Newham, the college president said. “We’re here to discuss the feasibility of restarting the football program here at Cal U Fool’s Gold. The students are interested, the regents are open to providing us with some of the funding, although we’d have to get the rest of it from alumni and outside donations. The questions I want us to explore are should we and what would it take?”
Tad shrugged. “There’s no point in discussing what it would take if we’re not interested in bothering in the first place.”
Jack bristled. “And you’re not interested?”
“It’s going to be a lot of work. We’ll have trouble getting players. Good ones, I mean. Sure, there’s student interest, but students are fickle. Tomorrow there will be some rock band blowing through town and no one will show up for the game. It’s expensive and time consuming and it also distracts from the other sports.”
Jack studied Tad’s lean build as he processed the heresy of not wanting a football team. “You didn’t play team sports in college, did you?” he asked easily. “Let me guess. Golf?”
Tad flushed. “Tennis and it’s a team sport.”
“Competing individually. Or at best, in pairs.”
“I played singles.”
“Of course.” Jack leaned back in his chair. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Tad glared at him. “I don’t think football is worth the trouble. We have a regional championship baseball team. Our basketball team is better every year. Two of our graduating seniors in women’s volleyball have a shot at making the Olympic team. That’s enough.”
“It’s good that the scientists working with antibiotics didn’t have your ‘it’s enough’ attitude when they discovered penicillin,” Jack murmured.
President Newham glanced between the men before her gaze settled on Jack. “You want to make a case for a football team?” she asked.
“Sure. Football is America’s game. People like it. It teaches discipline and teamwork. It teaches life.” He paused, then smiled. “On a more practical side, college football brings in money. The Texas Longhorns football program was recently valued at $805 million dollars. That’s just football. Superstar athletes bring in five or ten times what their scholarships are worth.”
“In ten years maybe,” Tad muttered.
“Another one of your long-term views. I’d love to see your five-year plan for the college,” Jack murmured. “I had a coach once who used to say you’re either part of the problem or you’re part of the solution.” He turned to President Newham. “Ma’am, it’s not an easy decision to make. There will be costs and starting a team is a long-term proposition. People may argue that the money is better spent elsewhere. But even if you only end up with an average team, you’ll be bringing in multiples of what you spend to get it up and running. Plus, a good football team is great advertising for the college. Who in America hasn’t heard of UCLA?”