CULLOWHEE ó For Western Carolina to win in football, it needs $300,000,† better players, a recruiting coordinator and an atmosphere conducive to a winning culture, the WCU Football Task Force noted in findings released in a news conference Aug. 3.

The panel, formed in February by athletic director Chip Smith, was assigned to help a long-struggling program achieve success.

The Catamountsí football program never has won a Southern Conference championship in 30 years ó and it has registered nine losing seasons in the past 12 years.

WCU head football coach Kent Briggs, an Asheville native and former WCU standout, said Friday was
ìa landmark dayî because the task forceís findings and the enthusiasm they will engender will enable the program to start building toward a championship. Briggs is 21-33 in five seasons in Cullowhee.

Meanwhile, Smith said, ìAs our flagship sport, football needs to be successful ... This program is headed in the right direction.î (The 2006 team finished 2-9 with nine consecutive defeats, WCUís longest losing streak in 49 football seasons.)

Meanwhile, Gibbs Knotts, WCUís faculty athletics representative and a task-force member, said the panel felt that recruiting is ìthe main component to make the program successful.î While the scholarship budget totals $883,849, spending for recruiting travel is just $31,158.

Some of the recommendations will be implemented immediately, Smith said, while others will be phased in over a one- or two-year period.

The cost to implement the improvements will total $298,000, including $145,000 in one-time purchases and upgrades and another $153,000 added to the annual operating budget.

Smith termed the findings ìvery reasonable and very achievable.î

Task-force chairman Jim Moore, who visited rival Appalachian State ó a back-to-back national football champion ó as part of the groupís effort to scrutinize other successful programs, said ultimately after all the recommendations are implemented, it is up to the team to perform better.

Coach Briggs ìis the guy who has to get this done,î Moore said.

Briggs responded with optimism, noting that ìthis is the start of a new era. This thing is going to change. Just wait and see.î