Mount Mercy President Todd Olson speaks during announcement of new football program on Oct. 4, 2024 at the university’s athletic complex in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
CEDAR RAPIDS — Mount Mercy University leaders, as well as their partners at St. Ambrose University, are hoping to increase enrollment, provide more opportunities for students and strengthen community ties with an expansion to its athletics offerings on campus.
The private college in Cedar Rapids announced Friday that it will add a football team to its athletics program as early as 2026, making it the 20th sport housed at the college. St. Ambrose University President Amy Novak joined Mount Mercy President Todd Olson, athletics officials and student athletes to share the news and both presidents discussed how this move will bolster the university, its partner and its neighbors.
“Adding football in this time of change, transition, frankly turbulence, in higher education is going to be a powerful strategy to move forward with our enrollment growth,” Olson said. “It is a powerful strategy to strengthen the sense of community and connection for our students and for our campus, and it is a powerful strategy to be an even more meaningful contributor to this neighborhood and the Cedar Rapids community.”
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Before Mount Mercy opened its $16 million athletic complex in 2017 to provide space for its current programs and create room for expansions and new sports, Gavin said the response from the board of trustees to questions about bringing football on was “no, for now.”
Other sports were added to university athletics over the years, swelling the number of student athletes from around 385 in 2015 to more than 600 today, and Gavin said the time has come for the board and university to say yes to football.
The university will begin its search for a head coach immediately, with the board of trustees voting last Thursday to integrate football into Mount Mercy’s athletics program. Athletic Director Paul Gavin said choosing who to lead the new team is the most important decision in this process, and the university is expecting a lot of interest in the position.
Working with a sports consulting group on the search, Gavin said the goal is to start speaking with candidates in the next couple of weeks and welcome a new coach to campus “as soon as possible.”
“This coach needs to be a winner, one who can build a program from the ground up, is a dynamic personality that can recruit, can fundraise and be a prominent face in this community for years to come,” Gavin said.
Students hoping to play football at Mount Mercy can apply starting in fall 2025, with athletic scholarships offered by the school as well as access to athletics facilities, according to a news release. Novak said the average collegiate football program includes between 100-110 students, which will bring about both a strong revenue stream and “a significant source of new students that brings energy and vitality to a campus community.”
While the university is still in the process of compiling costs and monetary benefits to integrating a football program into the athletics department, Olson said both the investment and payoffs will be substantial. Plans of starting a marching band and other initiatives in addition to the football team are also being considered, he said.
Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose, located in Davenport, announced in August that the two schools would be entering into a strategic combination in which St. Ambrose would come to own Mount Mercy, but both campuses — and their athletics programs — would remain separate. Mount Mercy will also keep its own campus and extracurricular activities, but be named the Mount Mercy Campus of St. Ambrose University.
Novak said Friday’s announcement made a strong statement to those with concerns about Mount Mercy’s athletics under the combination that both universities are committed to making the Cedar Rapids campus thrive.
St. Ambrose also has a strong athletics program, Olson said, and both campuses are determined to give student athletes an enriching and well-rounded educational experience.
“I think this addition of football and the very likely addition of marching band and other initiatives is a way of saying there’s a strong commitment to see that there is vibrant student life and that we’re actively driving enrollment growth during this challenging time in higher education, so that more students can get the kind of wonderful education built on our shared Catholic mission that we believe really makes a difference in their lives and in our community,” Olson said.
A long-time member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Mount Mercy has competed in the 13-institution Heart of America Athletic Conference since 2016. With the creation of the football team, the Mount Mercy Mustangs will have another chance to compete against the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees in athletics.
“We’ll be excited to continue a rivalry there, much like we have in some of our other sports … basketball, soccer, softball,” Novak said. “We’ve already seen activities between our two communities this year, and have for a very long time, so that will just continue.”
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