We have all had our fun rallying, professing our love for football, and pleading to the Chancellor that we should have a football team, but it’s time for us to get to work, breaking open those piggy banks, and help secure the future of 49er football.

First things first, I want to thank Chancellor Dubois for making football at UNC Charlotte a possibility. I am well aware that there are mixed feelings for the chancellor, a lot of it has to do with football, but his recommendation to the Board of Trustees on Thursday was well researched and he was looking out for us, the students; so the next time you want to complain about him taking his sweet old time to make a decision or the fact that we won’t see the 49er football team in uniform until 2013, think about the money that he saved you.

This is a two-fold benefit for you. Not only does that give you some extra cash for pre-game tailgating, but it also keeps the University from having to appear before the UNC Board of Governors to get the student fee increase approved. And let’s be honest, there are certain members of the UNC system that don’t particularly think too highly of us here at Charlotte.

There are some people at the University and in the community who are against football, primarily because they think that academics are going to suffer the consequences of the adoption of a football team, and that all the money is going to be spent for athletics.

Let’s go ahead and clear the air. That idea is completely false. Academics and athletics are at two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, and the money donated to academics will in no way, shape, or form affect football or the rest of the athletic department.

“I certainly hope that we are not the type of institution that should ever be asked to make a choice between having excellence in academics or excellence in athletics, and we should aspire to be an institution that expects to have excellence in both, and you should never have to choose,” said Athletic Director Judy Rose.

So where are we going to play? Good question. Unless you want to travel to uptown Charlotte and sit in the dilapidated Memorial Stadium, we are going to need to build our own stadium on campus.

“I think it’s important for student life, it’s important for alum’s to come back, it’s important to connect to the community and have them come out to campus. And if we take them somewhere else or force them to go somewhere else, that’s not accomplishing what we collectively want done,” said Rose.

So break out those pickaxes, Niners, and start digging the foundation for our new stadium.

The new facilities are estimated to cost somewhere in the ballpark of $45.3 million. The athletic department is looking to raise between $10-15 million, on top of the $5 million the department plans to bring in through the purchases of Forty-Niner Seat Licenses (FSL).

“We also need to look for financial support from those many individuals who say they want football, some of whom have never supported this university financially. The cold stark financial reality we face is that those who say they want football are going to have to help pay for football,” said Dubois, during the press conference.

So there you go Niner Nation, you got the chancellor’s recommendation. Now the fate of Charlotte’s football future rests in your hands. Your voice has been heard; now it’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is.