Oakland City University athletic department adds Sprint Football

OAKLAND CITY, Ind. (WFIE) - Oakland City University has added a Sprint Football program to its athletic department.

Starting in the 2023 season, the Mighty Oaks will get to cheer on their football program every Saturday.

“We couldn’t be more excited about what this program’s going to do to invigorate our campus even more,” OCU Athletic Director T-Ray Fletcher said. “We’ve grown exponentially over the last couple of years, but adding sprint football is going to be a different animal for us.”

Fletcher said the university is currently constructing a new residence hall on campus to accommodate for the increase in enrollment.

While sprint football is full-contact and is essentially no different than regular football, there is a weight limit.

“You’re going to find quarterbacks, wide receivers, defensive backs really easily, my inbox is full of them already,” sprint football head coach Todd Miller said. “I got to find these offensive and defensive linemen that’re right there at the weight limit that can play and that have played there before. They give me a year to get these kids in here. All I’ve done my entire career is recruit student-athletes to smaller colleges. Right now it’s wide open, I don’t have a football player on campus, but this time next fall it’s going to be a different story.”

The games will be played at Wood Memorial High School’s football field. Fletcher said they are looking to reconstruct their soccer field for the future.

Football is not the only big news in OCU athletics. The Mighty Oaks just laid down a new basketball court and the university plans to construct new baseball and tennis facilities. They also plan to add a marching band program.

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