...dangit! Nashty had me all convinced and what not...and now this. One thing you didn't address too much, though:

If we pulled BACK from football (became Navy), how does this accomplish the missionary aspect of the program? NO ONE would care about our team except a very small community. Also, all the service academies would end up becoming our rivals and guess what? Nobody is going to want to cheer for the Mormons over the servicemen. Ugh. At least we could temper investment and expectations, but pulling back is equivalent to signing the team up for hospice.