— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — As teams are already on the practice field preparing for the fall sports season, Marshall University officials released what they’re calling a white paper detailing the future of college athletics and Marshall’s place in it.
Titled “From the Mountains, Not the Sidelines,” the writing is signed by Marshall President Brad Smith, Vice President and Director of Athletics Gerald Harrison and Marshall University Board of Governor’s Chair Kathy Eddy.
A summary of the eight-page document describes it as detailing the current landscape of collegiate athletics and why schools like Marshall University must be part of the national conversation about the future of college athletics. The paper also calls for a national solution, with the help of Congress, that will focus on important touchstones that address many issues affecting schools at all levels, but particularly ones in Group of Six conferences.
A statement that accompanied the document’s release says “intercollegiate athletics is changing quickly and the decisions being made now will shape opportunities for student-athletes, universities and communities for the foreseeable future. At Marshall University, athletics has always meant more than just competition. It’s part of who we are, how we serve and how our story reaches the world.”
FULL DOCUMENT — FROM THE MOUNTAINS, NOT THE SIDELINES
The document discusses Marshall’s current athletic status and the work that around 400 student-athletes do in both the classroom and the community.
Also discussed is the economic impact home games has on the Huntington area and the fact that Marshall Athletics is a “national brand” with 53-million social media impressions in the last academic year and a value of $63 million dollars from mentions of Marshall Athletics in news stories, social media posts and broadcast opportunities over the last three years, according to a Sun Belt Conference study.
The document examines the current financial playing field for Marshall and 67 other schools in Group of Six conferences. Although Marshall has one of the smallest enrollments in the Sun Belt Conference, its athletic budget is in the top half of league members.
The sources of Marshall’s athletic funding are also discussed, and university officials say around 54 percent of Marshall’s athletics budget comes from university support, but they are aiming for a 50-50 funding balance in upcoming years.
As for national solutions to aid college athletics, Marshall is backing the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, which, if adopted, would establish a more consistent national framework for Name, Image and Likeness, athlete protections, revenue sharing, transfers and competitive fairness.
The document says national legislation should allow large and small universities to still meaningfully compete, that clear and enforceable rules create fairness in college athletics, that athlete revenue-sharing be sustainable and that Olympic and women’s sports be protected and all Division I conferences be covered by standard rules, rather than by state-by-state regulation.
The document ends with a call to Marshall’s fanbase to continue with financial support for Thundering Herd athletics, and even finding ways to increase that support.
That support can come from simply buying tickets, supporting the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, supporting NIL efforts such as “Thunder Trust”, investing in facility upgrades and being ambassadors for Marshall athletics in telling the university’s story and why it matters to Huntington and the Appalachian Region.
The final words of the paper say, “Marshall will continue to be disciplined, making decisions that align athletics with the university’s broader mission and financial realities, but discipline alone will not close the gap” between larger and smaller universities and that the next era of Marshall Athletics will require both responsible management and expanded support.