UTSA finally took the football field in 2011. What might things look like if the Roadrunners had started football earlier than that?
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The story of the birth of UTSA football is as Texas-sized as could be. In December 2008 the board of regents approved the creation of the program after the students had voted their approval in 2003 and 2007. By March 2009 the Roadrunners had hired National Champion Larry Coker to be the first Head Coach. On September 3, 2011 the Roadrunners set an NCAA record for inaugural game attendance with 56,743 in the Alamodome. UTSA also set NCAA records for total attendance and average attendance in an inaugural season that year.
But what might things look like if UTSA football had started in say 2001? What about 1991? Or perhaps when the rest of the athletic department started in the fall of 1981?
Let us take a walk down What If Lane and imagine the possibilities.
What if the Roadrunners first took the football field in 2001?
On September 1, 2001 the UTSA Roadrunners field a football team for the first time. Their head coach is not Larry Coker, he's busy leading Miami to a 12-0 record and a national championship win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. The Roadrunners that start in 2001 have a less known head coach.
On that day the Roadrunners take the astroturf field of the Alamodome but its only temporary until an on-campus stadium is built on open land behind the left field wall of the baseball field. The on campus football stadium will seat 15,000 and open in 2004.
The Roadrunners in 2001 will play 10 games but it won't be the original schedule of 10. Their third game set for September 15 will be cancelled with the rest of the NCAA football schedule for that week after the terror attacks on 9/11. UTSA's 10th game comes on the saturday after Thanksgiving and it pits the Roadrunners against the New Mexico Lobos. In their first season the Roadrunners go 5-5. By 2002 they are members of the Southland Conference with the rest of the sports teams.
Thanks to the fertile recruiting ground of San Antonio the Roadrunners are contenders in the Southland Conference by 2005. Their first head coach leaves after the 2008 season when he has led the Roadrunners to a FCS playoff appearance. By then the Roadrunners are looking to make the move up to the FBS level sometime in the 2010s.
By 2009 it is apparent the football stadium will need to be expanded. The best place to expand is the north end. Standing in the way is the oldest dorm on campus. In Spring of 2010 the last residents leave Chisolm Hall and the expansion of the football stadium gets the go ahead.
UTSA moves up to the Sun Belt in 2011 with fellow Southland members Texas State and UT Arlington. Since first meeting in 2002 the Roadrunners lead the all-time series with Texas State 6-3 when they both go to the Sun Belt.
In the 2010s the Roadrunners have growing pains in their first few years at the FBS level but by the latter half of the decade they have made a pair of bowl trips and won a bowl in 2018.
By 2020 the Roadrunners that started in 2001 made three trips to the FCS playoffs before moving up to the FBS level. Their on campus stadium fits 32,000 and they occasionally play in the Alamodome when they welcome a big-time opponent to San Antonio.
The Roadrunners begin in 1991. What might that look like?
In September of 1991 the UTSA Roadrunner football team takes the field. There are a lot of new beginnings for the UTSA athletic program as a whole. In 1991-92 they join the Southland Conference for all sports except football. Football will join the Southland in 1992.
As far as stadium goes the Alamodome is being built downtown in hopes of bringing an NFL team to the Alamo City. It won't be finished until the spring of 1993. The Roadrunners look at renting Alamo Stadium down on 281 but both Trinity University and UIW put the halt on that idea.
For their first season the Roadrunners play at Comalander Stadium but its only temporary as they soon build a 10,000 seat stadium on campus west of Rattlesnake Hill. The new stadium is ready by the 1992 season.
The Roadrunners that start in 1991 play 10 games and go 4-6. They start rivalries with Texas State and North Texas when they join the Southland in 1992. North Texas leaves the conference in 1996 so that rivalry doesn't quite blossom.
By the turn of the 2000s they have become a yearly contender in the Southland Conference. The Roadrunners also have rivalries with Sam Houston and SFA as those two are usually near the top of the Southland pecking order in football during the 90s.
The Roadrunners that start in 1991 will be play football in the Southland conference until 2001 when they take their chances moving up to FBS as an independent. They remain an FBS independent until 2008 when the Sun Belt comes calling. In 2014 the Roadrunners make their way to Conference USA.
By 2020 the Roadrunners that started in 1991 have expanded their on-campus stadium to about 35,000 seats. They play a few games a year in the Alamodome but with a growing campus there are some who think their future is in the Alamodome.
Football from the beginning. What if UTSA starts football with its other sports in 1981
The fall of 1981 saw big things on the campus of UTSA. The Roadrunners would finally field an athletic program. Included in this is a football team. The Roadrunners of 1981 play nine games in their first season, finishing with a 3-6 record.
From the start UTSA plays its games on campus. The stadium starts as a modest 5,000 seat field. The Roadrunners are an independent until 1986 when they join the Southland Conference. They remain in the Southland until 1998 when they move up to become an FBS independent. By then their stadium had been expanded to 15,000 seats.
In 2004 the Roadrunners move to the Sun Belt. While in the Sun Belt they win a conference championship in 2007 and 2011. After almost 10 years in the Sun Belt UTSA heads to Conference USA in 2013. The Roadrunners find their on-campus stadium will max out at 30,000 seats but demand is higher among the city which has been unable to lure an NFL team to town.
The Roadrunners that start in 1981 make a few trips to the FCS playoffs and even win a national championship in 1992. Since the move up to the FBS the Roadrunners have made four bowl trips and won two of those bowl games.
By 2020 the Roadrunner football team is nearing its 40th anniversary. It outgrew the on-campus stadium in the mid 2000s and moved into the Alamodome in 2008.
Which one might have ended up the best?
It is hard to know for sure what today's Roadrunner football team might look like if it had started back in 2001 or 1991 or 1981. One thing is for sure. It is likely that the 2011 start was a perfect storm of nationally known coach and local hunger which led to the largest crowds for a startup program's first season.
A 2001 Roadrunner start might be in the Alamodome but might not be permanent there. A Roadrunner team that starts in 1991 or 1981 means they can't start in the Alamodome because it wasn't built yet.
An earlier starting Roadrunner football program means the campus might not look the way it does now, especially if the football stadium has to go where student housing is now located.
It's fun to imagine what today might look like with a football program that has been around for a few decades. But I think most are ok with how it turned out in real life with the Roadrunners starting football in 2011.
Next Week: What if UTSA's first football coach isn't Larry Coker?
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
