Matadors Lobby City Hall

Cal State Northridge football Coach Jeff Kearin took the offensive Tuesday with the hope of saving the 40-year-old program.

He may have found some help with the city of Los Angeles.

Kearin, backed by a group of players, coaches and supporters of the program, spoke to the Los Angeles City Council in the morning, imploring council members to help keep the Matadors from being dissolved in a cost-cutting move.

University President Jolene Koester has a self-imposed Thanksgiving deadline to determine the program’s fate.

Athletic Director Dick Dull recommended dropping football to slow a department deficit that is expected to reach $725,000 by the end of the school year.

Kearin may have an ally in Councilman Hal Bernson.

Bernson, who represents the 12th District that includes the university, said he will make a motion today with the council to seek ways for Northridge to retain football.

“It would be a shame to discontinue it after all these years,” Bernson said in a phone interview. “[Northridge] is a major college and the San Fernando Valley is a big part of Los Angeles.

“The kids who attend CSUN, many of them are from the Los Angeles area. I just think we have to find a way to keep it.”

Said Kearin outside council chambers: “To have Councilman Bernson stand up and support us the way he did in there was everything we came down here to accomplish.”

Other speakers, including Doi Johnson, president of the Los Angeles Football Coaches Assn., said ending Northridge football would “limit the opportunities for our kids to further continue their careers and earn a college education, especially for those in the inner city.”

Northridge spokesman John Chandler highlighted the budget concerns that Dull outlined in a report to Koester last month.

“We just wanted to make sure that the council members were aware that there are two sides to the issue and be aware of the university’s position,” Chandler said.

Kearin later met with Koester to discuss a plan that would keep football, while reducing the deficit and keeping the school within a gender-equity mandate.

Kearin said the plan centers around boosting the number of football scholarships from 45 to 60 and adding a women’s sport.

The scholarship number would allow the Matadors to seek a contract to play at a major Division I school and bring in additional revenue for the athletic program.

“She seemed to be genuinely interested in what I was talking about,” Kearin said.