College football has a looming kick off date of August 29th. Many of the sport’s decision-makers remain optimistic about an on-time start. The optimism is in the face of athletic departments throughout the country dealing with positive COVID-19 tests.
At Houston activities came to a halt after six athletes tested positive for COVID and were symptomatic. Schools have gone through a myriad of measures to create thorough plans to keep student-athletes safe.
In spite of this preparation, there is only so much that athletic directors and training staff can do to protect student athletes once they have left campus facilities.
Some schools, like Ohio State and Indiana, have asked their players to sign a pledge to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The NCAA plan, which was finalized last week by the Football Oversight Committee after months of discussion, is the sport’s first official concrete timeline.
The new unified plan will allow coaches and schools to interact with their players for the first time since college athletics came to crashing halt in mid-March.
Schools that begin the season on Labor Day weekend would need to begin required workouts on July 13th. That would be followed by an enhanced training schedule that begins on July 24th. Their normal, four-week preseason camp would begin on August 7th.
Schools that begin on August 29th would begin required workouts on July 6th. Just days away from now.
Through daily and weekly calls, the sport’s top decision-makers are still preparing for a variety of possible changes to the college football calendar. Clemson is preparing for their fans to be in the stands.
“At this point, on June 15, we’re moving down the path of having fans for our home games,” Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich told ESPN on Monday
At Stanford, where the stadium capacity is roughly 50,000, Muir told the Associated Press that attendance will be guided by county health regulations.
The Pac-12 has required each of its schools to test every student-athlete before returning to campus. The SEC has strongly encouraged it, but not made it a requirement. The Big 12 and ACC have also left any testing decisions to each individual campus.
While the testing policies vary from league to league, and some schools have been releasing their testing data while others have not. What is clear, and this is important, is that college football is moving forward in spite of positive tests.
Athletic administrators will soon have to make tough decision and answer questions about pep bands, how to space the cheerleaders, and whether or not game officials should wear masks.
This article is comprised of information and media from NBC, ESPN and the AP. For more sports, news and entertainment, follow the Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
