Afterglow of Richmond’s FCS title warms UR campus

The University of Richmond's celebration of its 2008 Football Champion Subdivision title began in Chattanooga, Tenn., on the night of Friday, Dec. 19. It kicked off on Finley Stadium's artificial surface at the conclusion of UR's 24-7 victory over Montana. Then it moved to the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel's Imperial Ballroom.

It continues.

Last night, the Spiders were honored by Richmond City Council and Mayor Dwight C. Jones. Saturday, the team will be presented to the Robins Center crowd at halftime of the men's basketball game vs. St. Bonaventure. UR will have an invitation-only banquet in the next month or so, and additional celebration is planned for the early-April spring game at UR Stadium.

Championship banners hang from school buildings. Flags for light-poles are coming, as are a highlight video and a commemorative poster.

"It's electric," Jasmonn Coleman, the school's assistant athletic director for development, said of the championship's afterglow.

Spiders coach Mike London spent last week recruiting throughout Virginia and in bordering states, and reported "You go into different [high] schools and there's instant recognition when you show that Spider. That's going to do nothing but benefit us directly, with this [recruiting] class, the next class and classes to come."

The UR Bookstore, the on-campus establishment that sells clothing and gifts to in-store customers and online, experienced a 96 percent increase in business from the end of fall-semester exams through holiday break when compared to the same period last year, according to store manager Roger Brooks. Highly desired is national-championship merchandise, with hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts leading other items, said Brooks.

London and his staff members were rewarded with a series of bonuses as the Spiders advanced through the four-round playoffs, according to David Walsh, UR's deputy athletic director. Players will receive championship rings and were permitted to keep their 2008 jerseys. Championship rings are on the way.

Unlike Football Bowl Subdivision teams involved in postseason games, there is no payout for inclusion in the FCS playoffs. Contrary to popular belief, Walsh said, winning the FCS title "is no big money-maker." Walsh said he continues to analyze the finances of Richmond's four-game playoffs run and could not provide figures.

UR reached the 2007 FCS semifinals. Athletic Director Jim Miller estimated that UR lost $50,000 as a result of that postseason experience. The costs included the investment required to serve as a first-round playoffs host (a guarantee of about $30,000 to the NCAA was part of that), housing and feeding the team while school was not in session, advertising, promotions, and resources required for postseason practices. Miller's estimation did not include coach's bonuses. He chose not to reveal the amount of those bonuses.

But playoffs advancement can pay off in national exposure and other ways. Coleman, one of the athletic department's primary fundraisers, said he could not quantify how Richmond's national championship directly translates into alumni giving. But he did say the title "has resulted in a lot of attention from our alumni."

Yesterday marked the resumption of classes following the holiday break. Harold Babb, a UR professor since 1977, said the only comparable athletics-related campus buzz he can recall was when the basketball team qualified for the Sweet 16 of the 1988 NCAA tournament.

Among the school's students, faculty and staff yesterday, the 2008 national football championship was "clearly the topic of conversation," Babb said.

Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or .