In November 2012, new Campbell Athletic Director Bob Roller beamed as he spoke to a packed lobby in the Pope Convocation Center, announcing the hiring of Carolina Panthers legend Mike Minter has the new head coach of a floundering football program that ranked among the very worst in all of Division I.
“I am convinced that Campbell University and Camel Football is about to experience a transformational change,” Roller said as he introduced his new coach.
Four years later, almost to the day, the change officially became “transformational.”
On Monday, in that same building — this time inside the arena to allow for a crowd, the band and a giant inflatable helmet — Roller, Minter and President J. Bradley Creed announced Campbell’s jump to scholarship football and its inclusion in the Big South Conference beginning in 2018.
Standing in front of facing helmets bearing the Camel and Big South logos, Creed made the announcement official, citing a unanimous vote by the university’s Board of Trustees. But it was Roller and Minter who reveled in the announcement, the latter recalling the process of taking over a 1-10 team and slowly building toward respectability in the FCS.
“When I came here four years ago, I had a vision,” Minter said. “And that was to make Campbell University’s football program into a Division I powerhouse. How in the world do you take a last-place program without scholarships and become a powerhouse in the FCS?
“You don’t always know how you’re going to get there; you just know you’re going to get there. Today is a big step in making Campbell football into a Division I FCS powerhouse. And we can’t wait to get started.”
It will start in August 2018 when Campbell becomes the seventh football team in the Big South Conference, joining Liberty, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian and football-only Big South members Kennesaw State (Georgia) and Monmouth (New Jersey). Aside from Monmouth, all in-conference games will be regional, a stark contrast from current Pioneer Football League games played in California, New York, Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana.
The move to the Big South also guarantees tougher competition for a program with just one winning season since returning to the gridiron in 2008 after a 50-year absence. In the non-scholarship Pioneer League, Campbell competed against Division I schools while using the financial legislation of the non-scholarship Division III to govern membership.
Over the last eight years, Campbell football players couldn’t sign official “letters of intent” and receive financial aid solely because they played football.
Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander said the league — which is home to every other Campbell sports program aside from wrestling and swimming — had been courting Campbell football since 2009. All along, the league said the program would need to add scholarships to seal the deal. With that decision approved, Kallander said bringing in Campbell was a no-brainer.
“If you look around this campus, it’s clear why we were so adamant about this,” he said. “The commitment and resources are here. Campbell knows how to do things the right way, every way.”
Kallander also pointed to Campbell’s attendance figures for 2016 — figures that rank the school with FBS powerhouses like Ohio State, Oklahoma and Nebraska when it comes to total attendance over stadium capacity.
Through five games this year, Campbell football has drawn a total of 29,017 people, an average of 5,803 per game. By drawing 105.5 percent over its capacity of 5,500, Barker-Lane Stadium ranks in the Top 10 in the nation in all Division I football — both the FCS and FBS — in attendance over capacity.
And while the larger schools can seat 10 to 20 times the number of fans, Campbell’s attendance average through five games — 6,093 — has nearly doubled the Pioneer Football League average (3,344).
On Oct. 22, Campbell drew a Barker-Lane record 6,673 fans for Homecoming against Stetson University. It marked the third consecutive sellout for the Camels, who drew 5,860 against Presbyterian on Sept. 17 and 6,610 against Butler on Sept. 24.
Campbell would currently rank third in the Big South in attendance average, behind Liberty (16,376) and Kennesaw State (7,768). Campbell attendance this year has nearly doubled Presbyterian, Monmouth and Charleston Southern.
Bigger programs will present a bigger stage — something that excites Campbell’s underclassmen who will be juniors and seniors when 2018 rolls around. Big South football teams have made three consecutive quarterfinal appearances in the FCS Playoffs, and recorded multiple postseason bids three times since the league first received an automatic bid in 2010. A Big South member has been ranked in the FCS Top 25 for 75 consecutive weeks.
“I like the idea of tougher competition,” said redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Burress, Campbell’s starter under center at the beginning of the season before he tore his ACL in October. “If this program wants to consider itself a playoff or national championship team, we had to do this.”
Aaron Blockmon, the redshirt sophomore big-play threat who leads the Camels with 877 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns, sees the move as putting him and his teammates one step closer to a career in the pros. The Camels have placed two seniors from a year ago on NFL rosters, with defensive tackle Greg Milhouse (New York Giants) and long snapper Danny Dillon (Arizona Cardinals) both signing contracts prior to the 2016 season.
“It’s a bigger stage where we can prove our skills in front of more people,” Blockmon said with a smile. “We’ll be playing against better competition, but the guys we’ll be bringing in will be better, too. I’m ready for it. I’m excited.”
—By Billy Liggett, Director of Publications and Senior Staff Writer