I think a big thing you should figure out is what the AD is expecting from you and what they want the student section to be. Other previous OZone leaders on here will probably have more accurate information, but as I understood it, the Athletic Department was mostly hands off with how the OZone was ran. Obviously they want it to be a safe and inclusive environment for students, and to make sure bad behaviors are corrected when they come up for liability reasons, but I don't think its likely that they'll try to pull the rug from underneath you and bring it in fully under the AD's control (I doubt they want the extra responsibility in running a student section)
They may want you to be registered as an official student club/organization with a President, VP, Treasurer, ect., as I think that is what the OZone was when I was in school from 09-13 (Others correct me if I'm wrong, I was in the 110 so I never was able to join in any official capacity). This is beneficial because they can give you access to club fairs for when new students arrive on campus and recruit the incoming freshmen. If I recall correctly, it was like $20-30 to join, which mostly covered the cost of a t-shirt and help fund away game trips. It's also a great way to get emails from incoming students so you can communicate meetings, events, send out organized chants and reminders the entire time while they're at school.
If you become an officially recognized club/org, its a lot easier to reach out to local businesses to get sponsorships too.
I will be making the motions soon to claim the O-Zone organization and potentially do club fairs as well! I really want to highlight local Athens businesses such as Red Brick or Brenens and offer rewards for those businesses. I know Red Brick has a new pizza menu - might try to reach out later in the year and maybe establish a pregame tradition.