Our Lady of the Lake University is betting on football to help turn around a decade of shrinking enrollment, with the 131-year-old San Antonio Catholic university planning to field its first team in fall 2027. The inaugural squad is expected to include about 100 student-athletes competing in the NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference, giving OLLU its 22nd varsity sport.
According to Texas Public Radio, the university’s board of trustees approved the program, and an unnamed donor has agreed to fully fund its startup costs. OLLU plans to spend the 2026-27 academic year establishing a coaching staff, recruiting players and preparing for the first season, per the same report. Steve O’Donnell, chairman of the OLLU board, said the board saw an opportunity to reach students who want to play football while earning a degree, according to the San Antonio Current.
The push comes as OLLU’s numbers have been sliding for years. The San Antonio Current reports enrollment has fallen 44% since fall 2020 and that the university lost $14 million in tuition revenue between 2021 and 2025. The San Antonio Express-News put fall 2026 enrollment at about 1,550 undergraduate and graduate students — a nearly 12% drop from the prior year, according to Texas Public Radio.
Leadership Change Adds to the Turmoil
The football announcement lands amid a leadership shakeup at the university. Abel Chávez announced in October that he would resign effective December 31, and Brent Fields — CEO of Morgan’s Wonderland — was named interim president, per the San Antonio Current. Fields said athletics can build belonging and pride, adding that football can bring students and alumni together and connect the community, the Current reports.
OLLU has also been cutting academic offerings as it tries to stabilize its finances. The Express-News reported the university eliminated 16 academic programs last year, while the San Antonio Report put the figure at 15 programs cut that were deemed economically unviable — a discrepancy neither outlet has resolved. The San Antonio Report also noted a bright spot: OLLU logged 3,731 applications for the 2026-27 academic year, up from 3,263 the year before.
What the Program Still Hasn’t Figured Out
Plenty of logistical details remain unsettled. University officials have not finalized competition, scheduling or ticket information, according to the San Antonio Current, and the Express-News reports OLLU is still evaluating possible venues to host home games in 2027, with proximity to campus a priority for Tom Norris, the school’s executive director of strategic operations and athletics. Norris said football can connect the university with students and showcase the opportunities of an OLLU education, and that the goal is for student-athletes to graduate prepared to lead, serve their communities, build careers and help others, per the Current.
The Express-News reports the program is expected to become self-sufficient through players’ tuition payments and other generated revenue once competition begins, with the OLLU board reviewing and managing the team’s operating costs annually starting the following academic year. The university says it has enough housing for incoming student-athletes and will administer financial aid and scholarships under university and NAIA policies, and officials hope the program will also strengthen ties to San Antonio through youth programs and community partnerships, according to the Current.
A Nationwide Gamble on Football
OLLU is far from alone in turning to football as a recruiting tool. The National Football Foundation reported that 10 four-year colleges and universities launched or restarted football programs in 2026 — the highest single-year total since 2013 — as schools brace for a shrinking pool of traditional students, according to The Independent. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education estimated U.S. high school graduation peaked at 3.9 million in 2025 and projected it will fall to 3.4 million by 2041, the outlet reports.
Other schools offer a mixed picture of what football can actually deliver. At Mount Mercy University, a new football team brought about 100 new male students to campus after a local family foundation covered startup costs, including $2.1 million for a football building, per The Independent. Azusa Pacific, meanwhile, reported on-campus fall enrollment of 1,900 — down 46% from 3,359 in fall 2020 — even as freshman and transfer enrollment rose 19% year-over-year, a class that included 49 football players.
A 2024 study of 36 small colleges that added football between 2004 and 2016 found a more sobering pattern: aside from a one-year bump in male enrollment tied to bringing in players, overall enrollment trends looked similar to schools that never added the sport, The Independent reports. The same study found that once program operating costs were factored in, tuition revenue per student did not increase, even in year one. Whether OLLU’s bet pays off in the same way won’t be clear until the Toros take the field in 2027.
