Sacco Sez: Football is back

The football world moved from the silence of June and early July to Pro Football Hall of Fame and induction, and now with a full range of games for all NFL teams this week.

But it’s not just that the Denver Broncos are in Minnesota practicing and playing the Minnesota Vikings.

There are 765 colleges and universities offering football this fall this fall, and six schools will begin their inaugural seasons in the coming weeks, including one program headed by a former Broncos assistant.

The six programs to be launched in 2021 include Bluefield State College (Bluefield, West Virginia). The school is NCAA Division II Independent, and former Denver assistant coach Tony Coaxum is head coach.

Judson University (Elgin, Illinois), Keystone College (La Plume, Pennsylvania), Lincoln University (Oakland, CA), Mount Marty University (Yankton, South Dakota) and Post University (Waterbury, Connecticut) are also starting for the first time.

Former Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning is as big a supporter of the game as he is, and his father, Archie Manning, is president of the National Football Foundation.

“With over a million high school students playing football and more than 93,000 seats on college teams, there’s plenty of room to expand.” Archie said in a statement. “Many of these colleges clearly recognize that football can play an important role in encouraging students to continue their studies by attracting them to enroll.”

I have known NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell since he was a young SID assistant at the University of Colorado in the early 1970s, and Hatchell said, “No other sport contributes to university campus vitality more than football, and we are very pleased to emphasize those schools that have added to our great game. University and college leaders clearly see the value of organizing programs on their campuses, and we thank them for understanding the role of football in their students ’educational experience.”

Led by head coach and former Bronco Tony Coaxum, the Big Blue of Bluefield State will play their first game at home on Saturday, September 4 against Lawrence Tech (MI).

“Coach Coaxum and his staff have done an incredible job to make it almost impossible. They found players and opponents making the season in less than six months,” Bluefield State Athletics Director Derrick Price said earlier this year.

For the first time in 40 years, Bluefield State will send a football team this fall as one of the 12 new sports in the Athletics Department.

“Tony Coaxum and his staff know how important football is to our alumni, which means relaunching traditions that already include two national championships,” Price said.

When Peyton Manning gave his preface to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he passionately praised the value of football and talked about growing the game.

Of course, adding programs to places where they haven’t existed or haven’t existed for decades is proof of the positive value of football at all levels.

Congratulations to Tony Coaxum and the other coaches and players who will soon begin their first football seasons at their colleges.