ULM's athletic director has resigned in protest of the school's president demanding a $9 million cut to the athletics department's $20.9 million budget. Already the smallest budget in FBS, the $9 million cut would bring the department's budget down to Division II level funding. The school only spends $8 million on the football program. To understand how small this is for FBS, Arch Manning's NIL package is worth $6.8 million on its own.
Only one FCS program, Mississippi Valley State, would have a smaller budget than ULM if the cuts are enacted. The FCS average is around $37 million.