Dull Tries to Line Up New Foes, Big Payday

Dick Dull, athletic director at Cal State Northridge, looks at the school’s future football schedule and doesn’t like what he sees.

Make that what he doesn’t see: nonconference opponents.

Dull is searching for teams willing to play the Matadors over the next several years. As things stand, Northridge has no nonconference opponents lined up beyond this season.

Dull, hired at Northridge in May, held similar positions at Maryland, Nebraska Kearney and tiny Moravian College in Bethlehem, Penn. At each post, he strived to map out schedules well in advance.

“I scheduled seven, eight, nine years in advance at Maryland,” Dull said.

Dull, on the job since July, has steadfastly refuted rumors that Northridge is considering dropping football because of budgetary woes. This week, he approached athletic directors at Nebraska and Washington, hoping to secure an early season matchup that would earn financially strapped Northridge as much as $400,000.

The Northridge athletic department, Dull said, is operating this year at a deficit of $136,000.

Dull said he is negotiating with other schools, none of which he chooses to name. Suffice to say, finding opponents is no easy task.

Dull said he expects to strike agreements with opponents soon.

“It’s a dilemma that we all face,” Dull said. “And it’s obviously a priority for me.”

Northridge opens the season next Saturday with a nonconference game at home against Western Oregon. The Matadors play nonconference games at Kansas on Sept. 11 and against Southern Methodist in Dallas on Nov. 13. The remaining eight games are against Big Sky Conference opponents.

For Northridge, entering its fourth season at the Division I-AA level, a matchup against a perennial national power like Nebraska is unrealistic at best. Even Dull concedes the attempt was a longshot.

Bill Byrne, athletic director at Nebraska, chuckled at Dull’s inquiry, labeling a Northridge-Nebraska game unlikely.

“Bill and I are old friends,” Dull said. “I was searching for a game in 2000. Bill said, ‘We have an open date in 2001. Do you really want to come out and play us?’ ”

Dull had similar luck with Washington.

“[Athletic Director] Barbara Hedges was happy to tell me they were scheduled eight years in advance,” Dull said.

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Northridge football games will not be broadcast on radio this season because of lack of funding, Dull said.

Campus radio station KCSN has broadcast home and away games the last five years, but the department cannot afford the cost of operation this season, Dull said. A campus spokesman estimated the cost of broadcasting games at $25,000 for the season.

Dull said the school made unsuccessful attempts to sell the package to other radio stations.

“The whole thing was prefaced on selling advertising time,” Dull said. “They couldn’t sell it to advertisers.”

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The Matadors ended two-a-day practices this week and will hold an intrasquad scrimmage at North Campus Stadium at 3 p.m. today. A barbecue for fans and players’ families will follow. . . . Coach Jeff Kearin canceled afternoon practice Thursday because of the heat. Instead, players went swimming in the campus pool. Beginning Monday, the Matadors will practice daily at 4 p.m.