Spring football has already been halted; the NCAA mandated a dead period for recruits on campus and with Stay-At-Home orders having been extended, it is very fair for college football coaches to wonder if the season will actually happen.
Over the weekend Brian Kelly was the keynote speaker for a Zoom call that had over 200 Athletic Directors and Coaches invited to join on the video chat. Plenty was discussed on the call and of course the topic of having a season this year was touched upon. Kelly believes that “football is going to be hard to cancel, unless there are certainly safety precautions that we can’t get through. I think we got some time to work through those things,” and we all hope he is right.
Dabo Swinney, the Clemson head coach, whose team is scheduled to visit South Bend on the first Saturday of November, is very optimistic about the situation. He said on Friday during a conference call that “I don’t have a doubt. I have zero doubt that we’re going to be playing and the stands will be packed.” Swinney has the right attitude towards the situation, there could be doubts as this COVID-19 pandemic continues.
On ESPN’s First Take this morning Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley breached the subject as well, saying “I am extremely confident that we will have a season at some point. It may look different.” The differences that Riley pointed out could be start times for games, fans in the stands, and the schedule. Riley isn’t as convinced as Swinney about the fan’s inclusion, but he still thinks there will be football.
Alabama’s Nick Saban seemed to avoid the question when asked last week during a conference call about his thoughts. The 6-time National Championship coach “never really answer(s) hypothetical questions. I’m sure that everyone’s going to want me to speculate on what’s going to happen in the future, and nobody really knows. It’s very uncertain.”
It seems like each coach has their different stance on the matter, I’m sure that everyone would love to see college football be played in some compacity this season. The reality of the matter is that Saban is right, there is so much unknown at the current moment that no one can really know what will transpire in a few short months.