Bob Benson
Head Coach, Georgetown University
Washington, DC

This article first appeared in the American Football Coaches Association's 2001 Summer Manual and is reprinted by permission.

On behalf of Georgetown University and our entire football program, I would like to thank the American Football Coaches Association for allowing us to be a part of the AFCA Summer Manual. It is a great honor for us to relate the story of the Hoya Football program and share its storied history with its readers.

In this day and age of budget limitations and a commitment to Title IX, it is very challenging for any university to upgrade its football program. To make this decision, a university must have great leadership, strong alumni support, and an insightful vision of what a football program can bring to a university campus on an autumn Saturday afternoon.

To fully understand Georgetown's decision to move to the Patriot League, let me share a quick history of Georgetown University and the Hoya football program.

A Brief Chronological History
1789: Georgetown University founded by John Carroll
1889: Georgetown begins intercollegiate football with a game against Virginia.
1901: Football relations with Lehigh begins auspiciously for the Hoyas, with the score 22-0 in favor of Georgetown
1903: Princeton and Georgetown meet for the first time on the Gridiron
1941: Georgetown plays Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl
1943-1945: World War II-Football suspended
1950: Georgetown plays Texas Western in the Sun Bowl
1951-1963: Football discontinued
1964-1969: Club Football
1969-1993: NCAA Division III Football
1993-1999: NCAA Division I-AA Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
2000: I-AA Independent
2001: Georgetown accepts invitation to join the Patriot League

In 1993, my involvement with the Georgetown University football program began when I was hired as the head football coach at one of the top academic institutions in the nation. At this time, Georgetown, along with many other Division I schools, was required to move its football program from Division III to I-AA. Our football staff inherited a program that was probably one meeting away from being discontinued and very few people who actually cared about the direction the program would take [which was probably why I was offered the job in the first place.] However, in 1993, with a small group of alumni and a very insightful athletic director named Frank Rienzo, the Georgetown University football program began play in the newly formed I-AA Metro Atlantic Athletic Football Conference. As the 1993 season approached, our staff's assessment revealed several major obstacles that needed to be addressed. They included:

1. Very few people cared about football at Georgetown.
2. Our image as a team on campus was very poor.
3. We had below average facilities.
4. We had very little depth and needed to hit the recruiting trail in a hurry.
5. A head coach, at the age of 28, who often wondered what he was doing.
6. A conference which allowed only one full time assistant coach.

Our thought process was simple. We needed to get people to believe in Georgetown football and trust it would make positive contributions to Georgetown University and the Georgetown community. (Now, as I am a history guy, a quick historical analogy: We must remember that in 1775 very few American Colonists wanted to separate from Mother England-but the key leading figures in the 13 colonies realized they needed to spread the word and get people to believe in their cause.)

Thus, in 1993 our football staff decided we must attempt to bring a positive image back to the Georgetown University football program. Our plan was simple:

1. Establish accountability and discipline.
2. Emphasize the term student-athlete.
3. Reconnect with alumni.
4. Separate from Division III as quickly as possible by upgrading the schedule.
5. Recruit quality student-athletes.
6. Educate the leaders of the Georgetown University community about the game of football.
7. Win.

One of the wonderful aspects of coaching at Georgetown University is that it is a world renowned educational institution with quality leadership. There is no question that I work for great people. Sometimes, as football coaches, we take for granted that everyone understands this game we love. That is not always the case. My athletic director at the time was Frank Rienzo and is currently Joe Lang. These two men, along with senior associate athletic director Denis Kanach, spent hours meeting with me attempting to increase their understanding and knowledge of the game of football.

In the meantime, from 1993 until 1999, the Georgetown football program had the following records:

1. 1993: (4-5)
2. 1994: (5-4)
3. 1995: (6-3)
4. 1996: (7-3)
5. 1997: (8-3) MAAC Champs
6. 1998: (9-2) MAAC Co-Champs
7. 1999: (9-2) MAAC Co-Champs

While the winning was happening on the field, in the classroom, and on campus, our players were doing a tremendous job creating a positive image as serious student athletes and quality citizens. In addition, alumni were coming back, giving money, and the Georgetown football program was beginning to get more and more people believing in the cause. Momentum was growing and we began to explore the landscape and see if our football program could make a move.

The move to the Patriot League is an expensive one. For Georgetown University to make this decision, the change must not only be a positive move for the football program, but for the entire university. There must be a vision! Our president, Father Leo O'Donovan [a great man and a true friend] had such a vision. It is really quite simple. Utilize the game of football to create an environment and atmosphere among our students, faculty, and community on an autumn Saturday afternoon and bring to our campus a school spirit on a fall day that is desperately needed.

The move to the Patriot League was a perfect opportunity. Georgetown has always wanted to play peer institutions. As one of the top academic institutions in the nation, Georgetown wanted to be associated with schools in the Ivy League and the Patriot League.

Timing is everything. In the fall of 1999, the Patriot League approached our athletic director with an invitation to join the Patriot League in the fall of 2001. The association with peer institutions, as well as the opportunity to play for an automatic bid to the I-AA playoffs, made the Patriot League a perfect fit for Georgetown.

The plan was to create this new affiliation and bring the event to the center of campus. In 2003, a new $25 million multi-sport facility will be built in the heart of campus. This new facility will be designed and built to bring the history and tradition of Georgetown University and the Georgetown football program to our impressive campus. It will be built with the idea that it has been here for years. It is a vision:

• Play peer institutions.
• Build a new facility with all the tradition of the past in mind.
• Place it in the center of campus.
• Create a new school spirit among our students, faculty, and the community, and bring an environment with a wonderful aura of history and tradition to the Georgetown campus.

Georgetown University is a historic place. The university has decided to utilize football to add to this history and bring back an atmosphere that perhaps only the game of football can bring to a college campus. It is truly an exciting time. The move to the Patriot League and my association with Georgetown reminds me everyday how thankful I am to be involved in this great game of football.