AD's weigh in: Coronavirus vs College Football (SI)

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If the first step to a return of football is virus-related—vaccine, etc.—the second step is multiple weeks of organized, on-campus activities (yes, we’re talkin' 'bout practice)

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In June, eight weeks of summer training—theoretically voluntary, but in reality mandatory—prepares players for camp in August. Then the season kicks off a month later. Rinse, repeat.

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So what’s the safest amount of preparation time a football team needs to play live games? This question produces a wide range of answers from those in the college athletics industry. Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour’s suggestion of 60 days is on the high end, while South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner’s pitch of one month is on the low end. Alabama coach Nick Saban suggests at least six weeks, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says players should return at some point in July to be ready for kickoff as it is currently scheduled.

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The most qualified answer, though, comes from Tory Lindley, a senior associate athletic director at Northwestern and the president of the National Trainers Association. “I cannot believe we can do it in a truncated time period of what we already do from a practice standpoint,” he says. “That right now is the month of August. It would be difficult to believe it could be shorter than it has been for decades. “Where they’ve been, who they’ve been in contact with” says Lindley, “And we’ve got to go in depth as to what level you have executed the strength program you’ve been given.”/quote]


[quote]Coaches fear the time away from that supervision will adversely impact less-driven players. “You’re telling me these kids have gone home and are eating like they’re eating with these nutritionists at the school? Come on,” says one coach

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A football team environment is a natural incubator for the spread of any illness. For years, viral infections have incapacitated entire squads. College football practices include more than 120 players and another 75 staff members. “In the absence of there being a vaccine, it would be difficult to know we have eliminated any threat to exposure with the virus unless they are tested,” Lindley says.

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Can you have on-campus athletic activities—say, football workouts in July or early August—without having students in class? “If it's too dangerous for kids to be on campus, how would it be O.K. to play football?” says USC athletic director Mike Bohn. Not all agree. Tanner believes athletes could return before other students if it is deemed safe enough, and Texas A&M president Michael Young suggests that athletes could practice if there is teamwide virus testing. “Right now the tests take some periods of time to get back,” Young said. “If we could do that quicker, you could imagine getting the whole football team together, an (academic) class together, and test you all and see you are all O.K. and then you can all gather. That is conceivable.”

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In college football, specifically, outlandish scenarios have been discussed, from moving the start of the season to July—which has since been debunked—to a 2021 schedule that begins in winter and ends in the spring. Playing games in the middle of the summer offends the sensibilities of those in the Deep South, while a January–February schedule would not play well in the Upper Midwest

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Decision-makers who spoke to SI point to more practical options. Those include a truncated season, potentially with conference games only, that begins in October; a full season that starts in October, pushing bowl season to January and the playoff to February; and a season in which attendance is limited or altogether nonexistent. However, these are merely projections made months out.

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Despite the fluidity of the situation, schools are somewhat on a timetable. Last week, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said that a decision on football season and the postseason would need to be made by the end of May. After all, a truncated season starting later than scheduled could make for scheduling chaos that needs weeks to resolve.

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For instance, the city of New Orleans alone has 10 times the number of cases as all of Nebraska. “What if Texas is farther along than Colorado and Colorado says, ‘We can’t play yet,’ but Texas is in good shape?” Bjork says. “We play Fresno in a non-conference game. What about California?”

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