Canzano: Saint Mary's wants a football program... just not the kind you think

President sounds off in wide-ranging interview.

Saint Mary’s College doesn’t have a football program.

Not yet, anyway.

And not the kind that college presidents typically talk about.

President Roger Thompson joined me for a 1-on-1 interview on Tuesday, in which he said the WCC should lead the charge when it comes to women’s flag football.

“I want to be the first conference in the country that does women’s flag football,” Thompson said. “… I probably shouldn’t have said it because someone is going to beat us to it. It’s an emerging sport. It’s coming to the Olympics in 2028. Maybe it’s time we get Snoop Dogg out here talking about it for the WCC.”

Thompson was in Los Angeles for the WCC spring meetings. He gave a wide-ranging interview in the wake of Saint Mary’s stunning performance in the NCAA baseball tournament. The Gaels upset the overall No. 1 seed UCLA on Friday, then knocked the Bruins out of the bracket with an extra-inning victory on Sunday.

“With all the changes that are happening in college athletics, it’s easy to forget about the mid-majors,” Thompson said. “That was our moment to say, ‘With all the things changing in college athletics, it’s still young people going out and battling for nine or 10 innings.’ Our lineup is filled with guys that power schools didn’t take a look at. It was a statement for us.”

Thompson said he’s fearful that the power conferences will look at the upsets in the NCAA baseball tournament and propose changes to the format. He cited the relative certainty of the NCAA basketball tournament.

“That’s turned into pretty much chalk,” he said.

Thompson also talked about the final meeting he had with men’s basketball coach Randy Bennett.

“I turned to my wife after he left and said, ‘He’s gone...’”

Thompson spent 14 years working in administration at the University of Oregon. At one point in the interview, he sent up a warning flare for all of college athletics.

“We have something really powerful in college sports,” Thompson said. “If we’re not careful, we’re going to wreck it. We’re going to destroy the very thing that brings eyeballs to the NCAA Tournament in March. I’m worried that nobody is looking out for that piece of it. We have a smaller voice than some of those big conferences, but there are a lot of us.”

Watch the full interview:

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