Athletic director Ben Jay is still seeking $3 million in state aid for the University of Hawaii’s cash-strapped sports program, but on Monday evening he backed away from threats of cutting football or other sports if the money isn’t forthcoming.

Five hours after telling a Board of Regents committee, "There is a very real possibility of football going away," Jay issued a statement saying none of UH’s 21 teams is in peril.

"My comments at the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics’ meeting were made in order to convey a sense of urgency regarding the need to address our current funding model. In no way was I indicating that a decision on program reduction of any sport was under consideration," Jay said. "Rather, I was suggesting that the department’s financial situation required that all possible scenarios be reviewed. Hopefully, going forward, there will be a priority placed on discussing the future financial needs of the UH Athletics Department. President David Lassner has expressed his support and we’ll call upon our many loyal stakeholders to help us ensure that we remain competitive within the future landscape of intercollegiate athletics. We owe that to our student-athletes and passionate fans."

Jay’s initial comments 12 days before the Rainbow Warriors’ season opener with 25th-ranked Washington swiftly appeared on Mountain West Conference and media websites, and surprised UH staffers and recruits.

Coach Norm Chow declined comment except to say, "We’re preparing our football team for a very difficult schedule and our players and coaches deserve all the support they can get."

Jay’s comments came under questioning by committee Chairman Jeff Portnoy, who called the meeting "to look at the realities of what it is going to cost to operate a Division I program."

UH closed the just-completed fiscal year with a $2.1 million deficit and projects at least a $1.5 million deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2015. However, Jay acknowledged that estimate was based on "optimistic" figures and said the deficit could go as high as "$2.5 million to $3 million."

He said, "It is our goal to try and get out of this," but added that the fiscal model UH has been operating on "is broken." He said athletics has run at a deficit for 11 of the past 13 years.

Jay told regents, "Football makes money, just not enough" to support the many non-income sports UH operates.

Asked about cutting football, Jay said, "But even if football goes away, all the revenues that football drives go away and then it becomes a costlier venture for the university."

As for other sports, Jay said cutting them would save "very little" and would pose both conference membership and federal Title IX problems. He said cutting any sport was a "back pocket" possibility.

UH hasn’t dropped a sport since 1985, when it eliminated women’s track so that it could add softball. Track was reinstated in 2000. The last men’s sports to be dropped were track and wrestling in 1977.

Nine months ago then-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, who forgave a $14.7 million accumulated decade-long net deficit, challenged athletics to balance its books in three years, warning "they must find ways to cut."

At the time, committee Chairman Benjamin Kudo said cutting one or more teams "would be a last resort for us."

"Unfortunately, we’re prepared to do it, if that’s what’s called for, because our primary purpose is to educate," Kudo said.

On Monday, Lassner said requiring UH athletics to be self-sufficient "was a worthy goal and that has not proven to be feasible in practice here." Only 15 to 20 schools have self-sufficient programs, he said, "so Division I athletics across the country don’t break even."

In referring to UH-Hilo, Lassner said, "And Division II in Hawaii doesn’t break even." The idea of athletics breaking even "just seems like an assumption that needs to be revisited," Lassner said.

Jay said: "I think, in my mind, it has to come from the state. In part, I’m asking this board, President Lassner and the UH-Manoa leadership to support and ask the Legislature for direct funding support for the athletic program." Jay is seeking at least $3 million from the state.

Lassner said: "There are a lot of ways that could be done and, so I’m being just slightly evasive because it isn’t necessarily a general fund request directly to UH. There are other kinds of possibilities."

Jay said: "What we have now is a bare-bones operating budget that is limping along and has hurt our competitiveness and our ability to recruit, and people want us to win. It raises, I think, the entire state, by what we do. And I think we are worthy of the investment."