All of the money comes from three projects: solicitations done personally by DeBord, a golf outing and a kicking camp hosted by the football team during the summer, said Athletics Director Herb Deromedi.

The main reason the team stays in the hotel, he said, is to get away from campus parties going on, so they can sleep well and keep their focus on the next day’s game.

“Friday night is one of the worst nights on campus for partying. There’s no school the next day, so people will be up late,” DeBord said. “I trust our players, but what I don’t have control of is the person that stays across the hall from them playing their music and partying all night.”

Fifty players — about two deep per position — are housed in 25 rooms at the Comfort Inn, 2424 S. Mission St.

The 50 players make up less than half the team, DeBord said.

“We just take over the guys that could possibly be playing the next day,” he said.

Players are required to check in at the hotel by 7 p.m. Friday. A team meeting takes place at 10 p.m. and the players go to bed at 10:30 p.m., DeBord said.

The next morning, they get up at 8 a.m., go through taping, eat breakfast, have a short meeting and walk over to the stadium to play the game.

DeBord said no outside distractions or visitors are allowed while the players are at the hotel.

“It’s a time for our players to get their focus for the game,” he said. “I just believe that players should have the opportunity to give everything they can mentally and physically to the game.”

DeBord implemented this philosophy upon his arrival at CMU in 2000.

He said the hotel stays are part of rebuilding the football program, giving players every opportunity to compete well.

DeBord said most Division I schools practice the same philosophy, including the other four Division I schools in the state — Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

“To me, there are certain things a Division I program does, and if we’re going to be Division I, we need to do these things,” he said.

Deromedi said he understands the importance of staying off campus and has no problem with it, since the football team pay the bill.

“The cost has been averaging close to $4,500 per game the past two games,” he said. “It’s money they bring into the program to be used for the expense. It’s money that they generate.”

DeBord said he personally calls former University of Michigan players he has coached who are now playing in the NFL and solicits donations.

“When we fund-raise, we raise money for the entire department, but I specifically push to try to get extra money for this,” he said. “I have gone out and raised a lot of money from players in the NFL from Michigan.”

Deromedi said there are other factors that have led the football program to go above and beyond in generating funds.

Playing against Michigan in August brought $450,000 in revenue to the program, he said.

“Everybody thinks you’re using university funds,” he said. “We receive no money from the university except in salaries and scholarships for athletes.”

Assistant Athletics Director of Marketing Nick Williams said the money spent on hotel costs is raised solely by the football program.

“They raise all that money outside of their budget to cover that cost,” he said. “They pay for it above and beyond the allotment of their budget.”

He said the team is billed directly by LaBelle Management and any advertising done by the Comfort Inn at CMU football games goes through him.

“That’s an agreement I have worked out for athletics department-wide that benefits a lot of our sports,” Williams said. “This is a separate piece they’ve worked out themselves.”

Renee LaBelle, regional director of sales for LaBelle Management, said the Comfort Inn has a long-running history of working with CMU and that is why the company is the preferred choice for the team.

The football team is the only CMU athletics team that stays at the hotel, she said.

“We have a great relationship with them. We love to have them here,” LaBelle said. “They’re very well behaved. They’re very respectful and they seem pretty serious and focused on the game.”