LORMAN — For the past few months, Alcorn State president Dr. Christopher M. Brown II has been looking for ways to overhaul and streamline the school’s athletics program.

On Monday, he announced he’d found one way.

At an afternoon press conference, Brown put his football coaching staff — and the rest of the athletic department — on notice that none of their jobs are safe. Citing dwindling attendance at recent football games that has caused a budget shortfall, Brown said he’ll attempt to make up the difference by eliminating some coaching positions and cutting pay for others.

“We will. We’re not looking to. We will,” Brown said. “It’s unclear to say now (how other sports will be affected), but I know my biggest loss in revenue, right this second, was in football. It would be unfair to other sports to pass the burden of that loss on to their areas of operation.”

Brown informed coaches and staff of the directive earlier Monday. Brown also discussed Alcorn’s Division I athletics recertification, changes to the Academic Progress Rate, the search for a permanent athletic director and the code of conduct in the wake of the Penn State sex scandal that has shaken the college sports world.

“Anyone who was there would tell you, it was a very somber and solemn meeting where every athletic coach, assistant coach, volunteer, trainer, equipment person was put on notice and given formal notice that every position is up for evaluation. And given the guidelines for their dismissal or termination. So everyone’s been warned,” Brown said.

The cuts are part of a larger overhaul of the athletic department that will be completed in the spring. Although Brown didn’t name any specific positions that will be cut, the inhabitants of Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium are clearly in the crosshairs.

Alcorn has gone 2-7 in Melvin Spears’ first season as head coach. Star quarterback Brandon Bridge left the team and some alumni and fans have organized boycotts of games. One group has gone as far as to start a fundraising drive to buy out Spears’ contract.

Alcorn averaged 14,500 fans at its first two home games this season, against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 17 and Concordia College on Oct. 22. Its last two home games, against Alabama A&M on Nov. 5 and Prairie View on Nov. 12, drew a total of 3,000 fans. The official attendance for the Prairie View game was 500.

“My first two games, the stadium seats were packed. You had parking in the grass. We ran out of parking,” Brown said. “These last two games, we probably could’ve landed a jumbo liner on the main road.”

Brown said the school budgets “between $50,000 and $100,000” for operations at each football game, and revenues from the last two games only covered about 10 percent of that. The two lackluster turnouts means the school will lose money on football this year, Brown said.

He added that Alcorn receives $1.3 million from the state for athletics, and the rest of the department’s budget comes from gate receipts and other sources, such as TV contracts and guarantees for some road games.

“I don’t think it’s fair to judge a coach on his first year, based on wins and losses,” Brown said. “Here at Alcorn, football consumes the largest portion of our athletic budget. So there will have to be fiscal reductions in football operations going forward. I spoke to the head coach this afternoon that they will be at the center of the cuts.”

Spears said he took a different message from Monday’s meeting. The coach said he felt the main focus of his meeting with Brown was the larger overall state of the program and the athletic department and not the steep attendance decline at football games.

“He’s the leader of our program. That’s all I’m going to say,” Spears said. “I just thought it was a housekeeping meeting to make sure everybody else is aware of what’s going on at Penn State and around the country. That was a major travesty that occurred up there. We just wanted to make sure all our folks are aware and totally on point with the things that are going on. He just wanted to reiterate the rules and regs.”

Brown added that because of the athletic department’s financial situation, he has put on hiatus plans to move the Alcorn-Jackson State game back to Lorman on a bi-annual basis. That had been one of Brown’s points of emphasis since taking over as Alcorn’s president in 2010.

This year’s Capital City Classic is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Jackson’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, which holds approximately 60,000 fans — three times as many as Spinks-Casem Stadium. Even if Memorial Stadium is half-full on Saturday, Alcorn would likely earn more money by playing the game in Jackson than it would on its own campus.

“It was my hope to have the return of the Soul Bowl and to bring my fans back to the campus to give the students an on-campus experience like we have when we go to Southern, or the Capital City Classic or to Shreveport,” Brown said. “But if my stands are empty, I would lose money on next week’s game. So it’s a good thing we have the Capital City Classic.”