Tag: heather dinich

Swarbrick to ESPN: Delay Season, Shorten Schedules

Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick has once again spoken out about how he feels the 2020 college football season should look like.

Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick met with ESPN yesterday and has some very interesting comments as to what the college football season should entail in the 2020 season. Swarbrick’s thoughts make plenty of sense as he told Heather Dinich that he doesn’t “anticipate a 12-game schedule. I’d like to start a little later. The value of starting later is you really get to see how your university has done.”

By pushing back the season, which in essence has already been done by the Big Ten and PAC-12 due to canceling non-conference games, it gives school a better chance to get a grasp on their return of students and how to deal with COVID-19. The rest of the Power 5 conferences have yet to make their decisions regarding non-conference scheduling but buying time as the country deals with a national pandemic is a smart move. We all want to see college football this fall, and this could help the situation.

The other impactful statement made by Swarbrick was the fact that he would like to see “somewhere between 8 and 10 (games), but whatever is right for the health and safety of the players.” If his earlier comments are heard and used, pushing back the season makes an 8-game schedule more realistic. The Big Ten initially has leaned towards a 10-game conference only season, but a final decision hasn’t been made. Going back to Swarbrick’s idea of having a delayed season, 8 games is a good number.

Swarbrick brought some very good ideas to light and hopefully they don’t fall on deaf ears to the NCAA. Having an 8-game season is better than nothing but it would make the Irish most likely join the ACC for a season. With 6 of their currently scheduled games against ACC competition, the move makes sense, but that is still up in the air. We will find out what the 2020 college football season will look like by the end of the month and hopefully it all works out and a season is played.

Paul Finebaum: ‘Optimism is not going to get the season started on time’

The SEC Network host doesn’t believe that a college football season is a certainty this fall.

LSU coach Ed Orgeron was extremely confident the other day when talking about whether or not college football season will be played this fall.

“My gut feeling is we’re going to play. Whether we start Sept 5 or a little after that; in-conference, out of conference, that doesn’t bother me,” Orgeron said on ESPN’s Marty and McGee. “I do know this: I believe we’re going to play. I’m almost certain we’re going to play.”

Consider Paul Finebaum someone who isn’t on the same page as Orgeron.

“I love his optimism but…and he is the embodiment of a head football coach, optimism is not going to get the season started on time,” Finebaum said on Monday. “The numbers are. We all know what’s going on. I don’t know what will change from today to next week. It’s unlikely the spikes are going to stop. Unfortunately they are facing a delay in the college football season.”

The next couple of weeks will be extremely important when it comes to the SEC deciding whether a season will take place or not. One option besides a regular season is to have a conference-only schedule like the Big Ten and Pac-12 have decided to do this fall.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich is also uncertain if football will happen.

“To be clear, the decision makers start with the coronavirus and then go to the SEC medical advisory panel,” Dinich said. “But one source told me they expect to make a decision next week, as in by July 31st as to whether or not the season can start on time. If it can’t, they might push it back to September 19th or to October 3rd. If you get into October to start the season, the SEC might say okay we’re going to a conference only schedule. But equally important, they could go conference only plus one to preserve those (cross conference rivalries). As much as Coach O wants to play, it’s really not quite in his hands at this point.”

College Football Playoff Director Bill Hancock still “planning on a CFP”

ESPN’s Heather Dinich discussed the state of college football Monday and he confirmed they are “planning on a CFP.” And “on time.”

More and more people are starting to weigh in on the prospects of football this fall. Ever since every major league and college sport was either suspended or canceled entirely, the focus has moved to what happens from there.

Next up is the possibility of college and NFL football suffering the same fate. And frankly, with the state of where we are with the tragic novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where we don’t have some sort of disruption to football on the gridiron this fall.

The latest person to weigh in on the matter is College Football Playoff Director Bill Hancock. He spoke with ESPN’s Heather Dinich Monday and confirmed right off the bat that things are proceeding ahead as scheduled.

“We’re planning on a CFP,” Hancock told Dinich. “That’s what our staff is doing as we speak. Planning for it on time.”

He was also asked what would happen if a college football season didn’t happen.

“It’s too soon to speculate,” said Hancock. “It’s only April. It’s just too soon. It’s premature. The decision about whether to have a season and a CFP won’t be made by the coaches and commissioners. It will be made by the medical people. We have to be prepared, and we will be prepared, to have a CFP.”

Trying to get everything in order to start the college football season on time though is quite the undertaking. You have several states, universities, students, venues and other stakeholders that have to have time to get things in order so that things aren’t rushed. Most specifically, things have to be done in such a way that the student-athletes are put in harm’s way when it comes to the time needed for conditioning.

Hancock echoed those sentiments.

“There’s a long ramp-up time for this,” he said. “Could it be shorter? Sure. What is it? I don’t know. Would it be the same? No, it wouldn’t be the same. I can promise you the Super Bowl people are knee deep into Tampa prep right now. Knee deep. We all do the same thing. We’re all very deliberate about our planning. Could we do it without that ramp-up time? Yes.”

Everyone is anxious to get answers on where things are headed, but things just aren’t to the point where anyone knows yet. We all want our lives back, and we all want to live for the passions that excite us the most. That includes college football, but there’s just no way of knowing and predicting what this virus is going to do.

For now, be patient, stay safe, and continue to be there for each other.

 

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

We have a forum and message board now. Get in on the conversation about Ohio State athletics by joining the Buckeyes Wire Forum.