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The day has finally arrived, as the Big Ten Conference announced it would be returning this fall.
This comes after months of public pressure, including Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who marched in solidarity in a parents-led protest at The Big House on Sept. 5.
While Harbaugh was stern that day, he’s obviously more relieved on Wednesday, sharing a statement via a team spokesperson noting he’s ‘thrilled’ about the return of football this fall.
“Great news today,” Harbaugh said. “Over the past month, I could sense the anticipation from our players and coaches, and I’m thrilled on their behalf that they will have a chance to play a 2020 season. Stay positive. Test negative. Let’s play football.”
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Much of the consternation during the postponement was directed at University of Michigan president Mark Schlissel, who was one of 11 chancellors and presidents around the conference who originally voted ‘no’ on a fall season.
Schlissel received a ton of fan backlash, especially after Harbaugh noted on Sept. 5 that he hadn’t returned any of his texts or e-mails.
This time around, Schlissel was part of a unanimous decision to play, and he shared his reasoning in a statement of his own.
“I want to share my support for the Big Ten decision to begin football competition next month,” Schlissel said. “I join Athletic Director Warde Manuel and everyone at Michigan Athletics in offering appreciation for all the athletes and coaches, the fans and the families who have been preparing for the possibility of playing in the Big House this fall.
“Earlier I expressed my concern, shared by my fellow Big Ten presidents and chancellors, that we just didn’t know enough about the health and safety concerns unique to intercollegiate athletics to move forward with practices and competition.
“As has been so true during this pandemic, we continue to learn more every day and we have adjusted our approach based on the new information that was developed. I especially want to thank the health and safety officials from the Big Ten campuses who have carefully assessed the risk and developed a stringent plan – that will include daily COVID-19 testing – to mitigate those risks for our student-athletes, coaches and others. While this approach will start with football, our hope is to use this same approach to resume competition in other sports.
“To our millions of fans worldwide, I again thank you for your understanding and your patience. Your support of our teams and our student-athletes is inspiring.”
A schedule has yet to be released, but teams will kick off the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
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