No football since the 40s? King will have to ditch the leather helmets

King College athletics director Dale Burns told the Bristol Herald Courier Tuesday that the Bristol, Tenn., school is considering bringing back football. Burns did not give a timeline for a possible start of a football program, but did tell the newspaper that pigskin talk is "on the table." Pigskin on the table? Sounds yummy! King, which has not fielded a football team since 1941, is in the initial stages of moving it athletics program from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The Tornado most likely will play in the South Atlantic Conference when the shift is complete, thus pulling out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Those of you who follow Southwest Virginia sports may remember UVa-Wise went through a similar process about five years ago, but wisely – pun intended – chose to remain with the NAIA. UVa-Wise's planned move was initiated mostly by college administrators, not the athletics department. Part of the reason for the planned NAIA exodus was to allow the football team to play a more competitive schedule. Shortly after the decision was made to stay in the NAIA, the Highland Cavaliers football program, which had been playing as an independent since its birth in 1991, found a home in the perennially tough Mid-South Conference. The college's other sports remained in the AAC. A move for the Cavaliers to the NCAA would have created more travel – they're not many NCAA DII schools close to Wise – and thus less class time for student athletes. King, however, is in a better geographical spot and would have close-by competition in Carson-Newman and Tusculum. Those two teams, with the addition of SAC member Mars Hill in North Carolina, could provide interesting conference rivals for King. The non-conference schedule could include UVa-Wise and Emory & Henry College.