Coronavirus has forced the NCAA to cancel all spring sports, including spring practices and scrimmages for college football teams.
Losing offseason practices is never something a college coach enjoys, for the obvious reason it takes time away from evaluating your roster and preparing for the following season.
However, while on the “Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC coaching legend Steve Spurrier went into deal about just how big of a deal the absence of spring practice is for these teams, saying for some coaches it’s really not that huge of an obstacle.
“Most all coaches would tell you that the staffs that have been there for 2, 3, 4 years or more that it’s not that big a deal not having spring football,” Spurrier said. “Maybe if you had competition at quarterback or some other positions, it would be important, but preseason, if you can get a month in before you play, I certainly think everyone would be capable of playing — maybe not quite their best, but pretty close to playing the best they can.”
Where Georgia falls into that is tricky. Kirby Smart is going into his fifth season as head coach of the Bulldogs, so he has a pretty good understanding of how things will run and look next season.
But then there’s the quarterback factor. As far as competition goes, Georgia does not have one. Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman will be the guy under center in 2020. But at the end of the day, he’s still a new quarterback playing in a new conference against a much higher level of talent. So, yes, I’m sure Smart would love to be able to see how Newman gels with the team this spring. But all things considered Smart understands what’s important at a time like this.
“Right now, I think that’s what we’re all hoping and praying that colleges can get 3-4 weeks of preseason and, then, hopefully, we’ve gotta have fans in the stands. I don’t know how you play college football without the fans,” Spurrier said. “They make it what it is. To me, that’s why it’s the greatest sport in the world. The fans talk about it year-round.”
Legendary coach @SteveSpurrierUF joined me earlier and gave some insight into how long it should take to get a team ready to play pic.twitter.com/4wd8NXjIj7
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) March 31, 2020