Louisiana regent suggests Tech, ULL, ULM drop to lower football tier
Greg Hilburn
Shreveport Times
Sept. 30, 2026, 8:50 a.m. CT
- A Louisiana Board of Regents member suggested three universities drop to a lower tier of Division I football due to financial losses.
- Louisiana Tech, ULL, and ULM are facing athletic department deficits totaling tens of millions of dollars.
- Other regents and the University of Louisiana System President agree that the current level of spending is unsustainable.
- The university system has hired a firm to evaluate the athletic programs and recommend a path toward sustainability.
A member of Louisiana’s top higher education governing board has suggested Louisiana Tech, ULL and ULM drop down to the lower tier of Division I football as the schools’ athletic departments post staggering losses year after year.
Louisiana Board of Regents member Wilbert Pryor, a Shreveport attorney, said Tech, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and the University of Louisiana-Monroe should take a slice of “humble pie” during the board’s Sept. 22 budget hearings for the University of Louisiana System schools.
Tech, ULL and ULM play in the top tier of Division I, called the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the same level as LSU.
Pryor said the schools belong in Division I’s second tier, called the Football Bowl Subdivision (FCS), along with other University of Louisiana System schools Grambling State, McNeese State, Nichols State, Northwestern State and Southeastern.
“Schools that are trying to play Division I … that just a sinking hole trying to play Division I ball,” Pryor said during the hearing. “I don’t think much of the public would know the difference if they all play the same level, and it seems like they have to have a self-realization and put a humble cap on. They have to have a humble pie.”
Pryor pointed to deficits totaling 10s of millions of dollars at Tech, ULL and ULM — “$20 million at Lafayette, $17 million at Tech, $10 million at ULM,” he said.
“The duties of the coach at Tech are the same at Nicholls, but one is getting paid $250,000 (Nicholls) and another is $1 million (Tech),” Pryor said.
Other regents also said the current deficit spending on athletics at the schools can’t continue.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” said regent David Aubrey, president of AT&T Louisiana. “It’s just not sustainable.”
“With no changes made it’s only going to hurt worse going forward,” said regent Dallas L. Hixson, a partner for Hixson Automotive Group in Alexandria.
The regents questioned University of Louisiana System President Rick Gallot, who agreed some action must be taken to reduce costs.
“I can tell you that there will be some really hard decisions our board will be called upon to make,” Gallot said during the hearing.
Gallot said the system has contracted with the firm Deloitte to evaluate the programs and develop a sustainability path.
Deloitte’s report is due to be presented to the University of Louisiana System board by the end of this year.
“As we approach what I know are going to be difficult decisions, we will have data supported recommendations that we will make to the board to determine what the future looks like for athletics,” Gallot said. “We’re not going to shy away from them; we’re not going to run from them.”
Gallot told USA Today Network he will wait for the Deloitte report before forming his recommendations to the board.
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“I have an opinion, but ultimately it has to be based on data,” Gallot said in an interview with USA Today Network. “I think there is a sustainability path, but we have to have the will to do it.”
“When 2027 starts we’ve got decisions to make,” Gallot said.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1