Lyon makes it official; football returns in 2015
College football is coming back to Independence County.
Lyon College in Batesville officially announced Thursday that it will reinstate football to its athletic program in 2015.
Lyon, a private liberal arts school with an undergraduate enrollment of about 600, hasn’t fielded a football team since 1951. The school’s board of trustees unanimously approved Monday the reinstatement of the sport with a four-phase approach.
“This is a great opportunity,” Lyon Athletic Director Kevin Jenkins said in a release. “I think starting a football program here is a great idea and will bring more school spirit to the college and the community. We hope that it will enable us to draw from the large pool of high school athletes in the state of Arkansas and nearby states to create a great program.”
Lyon will be the 13th Arkansas school to field a football team and the only NAIA institution in the state playing football.
A feasibility study was conducted by a committee over the past couple of months. The committee also considered the opinions of many associated with Lyon, polling about 5,000 faculty, staff, students and donors.
Lyon expects to have at least 65 football players attending the school in 2014. The team will practice and participate in scrimmages but will not play in any regular-season games. All players will receive a redshirt year and will have four years of eligibility remaining.
Jenkins said he will begin a national search for a coach and hopes to have one in place by the fall.
Home games will be played at Batesville High School’s Pioneer Stadium, about two miles south of Lyon’s campus. New residence halls and a 5,500-square-foot fieldhouse are being planned for the Lyon campus to accommodate the program.
- Jeremy Muck
SWIMMING AND DIVING Hendrix names new coach
Wheaton (Ill.) College assistant coach Dan Lloyd was named Hendrix’s new men’s and women’s coach Thursday.
Lloyd takes over for veteran coach Jim Kelly, who announced his retirement earlier this month after 31 seasons.
He was an assistant at Wheaton for four seasons. Lloyd helped lead the Wheaton men to their first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship in six seasons last season on their way to a top-10 finish at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Lloyd is a 2002 graduate of Millikan University in Decatur, Ill.
Sports, Pages 23 on 06/28/2013