Quote:...Immediately after the May 1 announcement of the student vote against raising fees for athletics, though, it looked like there might be need for a new tenant after the athletic department was dismantled.

Coaches were even told to prepare to help their athletes transfer.

"It was tough to look our players in the eye and tell them they might have to go somewhere else," said former baseball coach Tom Walter, whose team was at Florida Atlantic that weekend. "I saw tears and fears and every range of emotion."

The student vote was the latest in a series of discouraging events that had tried the emotions of everyone connected with an athletic department that was underfunded even before Katrina.

The storm knocked everyone off campus for a semester, scattering UNO's teams to five schools. The resulting enrollment loss of more than 5,000 has been a major cause for the athletic budget deficit, since two-thirds of it was derived from the activity fee.

Eight of 14 sports were suspended as part of schoolwide budget cuts, and only three have been restored to date.

Disputes between the state and FEMA delayed the reopening of Lakefront Arena until May 2008.

A previously earmarked $3.1 million renovation of Maestri Field was put on hold.

Men's basketball coach Monte Towe exited to become an assistant at North Carolina State in the spring of 2006, and his replacement, Buzz Williams, departed to become an assistant at Marquette a year later. Walter departed for Wake Forest on Saturday, and associate head coach Bruce Peddie was named interim head coach.

"We had setback after setback that we didn't anticipate," Miller said. "It was very hard holding our loyal core together.

"Then we thought we'd done a great job of campaigning for the fee increase, and it doesn't pass. I know that nobody wants to pay more money for anything these days, but it was a huge disappointment."

Said Sapera, "Jim told me that Friday was the darkest day he'd ever faced."

But in the next couple of days, Miller, Sapera and others worked at mustering support.

The biggest boost came from Shinn, who agreed to chair the committee that has pledged to raise $2.5 million, the amount needed to make up for the anticipated shortfall in the 2009-10 budget.

Shinn also offered his organization's help in assisting UNO with marketing and promotion.

There was a built-in connection. Miller's wife, Jean, is Shinn's administrative assistant, and there had been some discussions about the Hornets lending UNO a hand, regardless of the outcome of the student vote.

For Miller, who brought more than 20 years of experience in the NFL to UNO, there was no hesitation about accepting the assistance.

The Privateers averaged 743 fans per game in men's basketball this season.

"In our condition, we'll take help from wherever we can get it," Miller said. "The Hornets can fill gaps in our staffing limitations and our expertise. These people are experts in enhancing the fan experience. It's terrific to have them on our side."

Miller isn't planning to shy away from his responsibility in keeping the program alive.

While there likely will be a revisiting of the activity fee issue, it will be for less than the approximately $100 per semester the school was seeking.

There will be more of an effort to connect the athletes to the student body, starting with an all-sports festival early in the fall.

There will be a strong push for season-ticket sales in basketball and baseball. Miller acknowledges that individuals and businesses might purchase tickets they won't use, he said they will be given to schools and youth organizations.

Fundraising, advertising and sponsorship efforts will be increased, the latter two through outsourcing the multimedia rights instead of trying to handle them in-house.

"We're spread thin, but we're in an attack mentality," Miller said.

Still, the problems remain formidable.

Even if the immediate fundraising efforts are successful, cuts such as the reduction of a couple of scholarships in women's basketball and the elimination of the third assistant's spot in men's basketball loom.

Recruiting budgets will have to come from PAF sources.

The restoration of sports to get back to the Division I minimum of 14 has been put on hold. The NCAA is likely to give the school an extension of the five-year grace period UNO and Tulane received when the sports were suspended, but it's not indefinite.

Moving out of the Sun Belt Conference or dropping to Division II, Division III or the NAIA is not being considered as an alternative.

University President Tim Ryan, while being complimentary of the job Miller has done, makes it clear that Miller cannot expect anything from the general fund, and that he has to stay within his budget.

"It's the same for all of our managers -- you've got to produce a high-quality product with less money than you would like," Ryan said. "It's been tough on Jim, as it is all of our managers, because they're under a lot of pressure.

"It may be tougher for Jim because you can't scale back athletics as easily as you can the English Department. But schools around the country are experiencing this, and perhaps UNO can set the precedent for how to have a successful athletic program on a lot fewer dollars."

Making Miller's task even more difficult is the continuing struggle for the disposable income dollar in a market with heavy competition and traditional apathy toward UNO sports, even in an area with 60,000 alums.

"For whatever reason, there's not a great sense of loyalty to UNO," Miller said. "I see our alums all the time, but they don't come to our games. They won't wear our merchandise, but they'll wear an LSU cap. It can be very discouraging."

Miller says he has written three letters of resignation, tearing up two of them but holding one in reserve.

However, he said he doesn't want to do that, not until at least 2012, when the three-year contact extension he signed in 2008 expires.

"In athletics, you're always judged by your record, and nobody wants his last job to be seen as a failure," Miller said. "And I've never been in a situation where I've felt so helpless at times, just totally helpless.

"But I believe we're going to see this thing through and ultimately be successful.....