March 29, 2019

Trevecca football: Undefeated since 1901. That simple phrase may be one of the longest running jokes on Trevecca’s campus, but the laughs will soon come to an end.

In fall 2021, Trevecca will field the first football team in University history, with games set to be played at the nearby Nashville Fairgrounds.

“This announcement has been a long time coming,” said Dr. Dan Boone, Trevecca’s president. “We have so much to be proud of at Trevecca, and our football team is going to bring so much more pride to the University and the city.”

Trevecca’s football team will play in the stadium set to be constructed at the Nashville Fairgrounds, which sits less than two miles from campus. The project should be completed in time for the 2021 season. Trevecca’s football team will be among the first to play in the newly completed stadium since Nashville SC will play their games at Nissan Stadium until 2022, in order to avoid a midseason shift to a new location.

Dr. Steve Pusey, who recently retired as the university provost, will serve as the coach, a role he feels well prepared to step into. Pusey plans to build on his previous experience as a high school football coach as well as a lifetime of wisdom gained as a professor, program director and administrator.

“In announcing my retirement, I said I wanted to become more involved in the events of campus—plays, meetings, athletic events,” Pusey said. “This is a way to do that and continue to invest in the University and the students I love. Coaching football involves strategy, planning, practice and the ability to access the situation and make good decisions quickly. As provost, I’ve had years of experience with that.”

Nashville fairgrounds stadium rendering by HOK Architects

The Trevecca men’s football team will join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, bringing the number of conference member schools offering football programs to 10. Last season, the Hillsdale Chargers of Hillsdale College, a private, liberal arts college in Michigan, led the conference with a record of 8-0. Overall, the Chargers finished the season with a 10-3 record.

Trevecca’s announcement comes at a time when the NFL is beginning to take notice of NCAA Division II athletes. Most recently, Great Midwest member school’s Ashton Dulin of Malone University, was invited to take part in the NFL Scouting Combine. He was one of just five players from Division II slated to participate.

Dulin led all receivers in NCAA football (FBS, FCS, DII, or DIII) with 194.7 all-purpose yards per game this past fall.

Dulin’s success is exciting to Pusey. While recruiting is underway for the football team’s inaugural season, they look forward to a day when Trevecca’s football players are making a difference in the NFL as well as the world.

“At Trevecca, it’s our mission to prepare our students—student-athletes included—for lives of leadership and service,” Pusey said. “For our graduates to excel on and off the field, to succeed on the national stage of the NFL and help the world understand what it means to be a servant leader—that’s our goal.”

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Media contact: Mandy Crow, mmcrow@trevecca.edu, 615-248-1695