Central Michigan University President George E. Ross talked football to a group of alumni in Midland Tuesday night.
“I know you’re paying attention to football. We’ve had a rough start. I’ll remind you we’ve had new coaches before with rough starts. I am very supportive of Dan Enos and very supportive of the football players,” Ross said.
He foresees good things in the future for the team.
“I think the turn-around is coming. I will ask for your patience. For those of you who might not quite believe, I have two words for you—Detroit Lions. Its coming,” Ross said.
Coach talk and “playing clean”
“When I talk to coaches on campus, the athletic director and staff, I tell them ‘we are going to play clean at CMU.’”
“Since 1953 the NCAA has been tracking major violations across athletics. There’s 17 programs in America that have never had a major violation and CMU is one of them. We gotta play clean,” Ross said.
Money talk
Ross said the university athletics program needs financial support and he needs the help of the coaches to raise money.
“They do a pretty decent job, but we can do better. I can do better raising funds too,” he said.
Alumni survey
Ross told the group of alumni that a survey was conducted last year where 5,000 surveys were mailed out. He said 67 percent of the alumni said the number one reason they stay attached to CMU was athletics.

The event where Ross spoke took place at the Great Hall Banquet and Convention Center in Midland and was sponsored by CMU’s Great Lakes Bay Region Chapter.