Pitt

Concerns mount for college football’s start

Mike Kovak
Posted on

The college football season is supposed to start Aug. 29, and Pitt is scheduled to kick off Sept. 5 against Miami (Ohio) at Heinz Field.

Under the current format approved in mid-June by the NCAA Division I Council, teams -- such as Pitt -- who begin the season during Labor Day Weekend are permitted to conduct required workouts starting July 13, enhanced training July 24 and a four-week preseason beginning Aug. 7. For teams kicking off in August, those timelines are bumped up a week, meaning they were allowed to get started Monday.

Yet, with almost every passing day, getting to that late August kickoff looks more tenuous.

As COVID-19 cases spike in southern states considered hotbeds for college football (Florida, South Carolina, Texas, etc.) and other areas -- such as Allegheny County -- seeing an uptick in the number of positive tests despite low hospitalization rates, time is running out to reverse the trend.

And college football coaches, such as Pitt's Pat Narduzzi, definitely are taking notice.

ACC Media Days, typically a big event held in Charlotte, N.C., will be held virtually from July 21-23. All other Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences are following a similar format, but that is far from the biggest news to come from the recent surge in coronavirus cases.

Since June, it's been a steady stream of positive tests and halted activities.

Kansas State temporarily halted football activities in June after 14 players tested positive from COVID-19. Clemson had 37 players test positive. LSU placed about 30 players under quarantine, and there were outbreaks at Alabama, Auburn, Texas, Texas Tech, Boise State and Arizona. At West Virginia, men's basketball workouts were postponed Sunday for 14 days after the team's most recent round of COVID-19 tests, which determined five players and a member of the coaching staff were positive. WVU can begin workouts July 20 for athletes who test negative. Four Mountaineers football players also tested positive.

At Pitt, team-specific information is not being released per university policy. Totals for those known to have been on campus in the past 14 days are updated every Friday. The most recent count was 14 students and five faculty/staff.

Rutgers University on Monday announced it will remain mostly remote in the fall with a limited number of on-campus classes being offered. Rutgers also extended its suspension of on-campus events through the fall but -- for now -- the football season is going ahead as scheduled. On the same day, Harvard said it would welcome 40 percent of undergraduates back to campus but all learning will be conducted online. There also is a belief that Ivy League schools on Wednesday will move fall sports to the spring.

Morehouse College, a Division II school in Atlanta, canceled its season in late June, becoming the first scholarship program to shut down for the season. Members of the Patriot League, a Football Championship Subdivision conference, had canceled several road games at FBS schools because it does not allow teams to travel by plane. Fordham, a Patriot League member coached by Greensburg Central Catholic grad and former Pitt player Joe Conlin, has canceled its first three games.

The Notre Dame-Navy game, originally scheduled for Aug.29 in Dublin, Ireland, is being played in Annapolis, Md.

Got all that? Good, because on Tuesday, the Division III Centennial Conference dropped a big one.

While those decisions aren't a death-knell for the college football season, it shows several obstacles need cleared in the near future.

DEADLINE TO DECIDE?

ESPN reported Monday that decision-makers at Power 5 conferences aren't prepared to make changes to the fall sports calendar yet, but are targeting the end of July to determine if the season can start on time.

In a statement to ESPN, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said: "We said from the onset of this pandemic that circumstances around the virus would guide our decision-making, and it is clear recent developments related to COVID-19 have not been trending in the right direction."

So, based off the report, college football has a little more than three weeks to figure out if Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 start dates are feasible.

CONDUCTING PRACTICES

To avoid large numbers of positive tests, ingenuity will need to be at a premium.

Are the team's best players -- at Pitt, guys such as Paris Ford, Jaylen Twyman, Jimmy Morrissey and Patrick Jones II -- kept apart as much as possible? What about position groups? If a backup quarterback is COVID-19 positive, is it wise to have Kenny Pickett in the same room with him?

It could mean keeping teammates who are best friends away from each other. It could mean not permitting cornerback Damarri Mathis to line up against Taysir Mack at practice or guard Bryce Hargrove from competing against defensive tackle Keyshon Camp.

Maybe players will have to train at multiple positions.

TESTING PROCEDURES

Paying to test student-athletes costs money, and it's a procedure likely to happen multiple times during training and the season.

Factor in many athletic departments slashed spending because of the coronavirus impact, and testing figures to be a great stressor for some, particularly Group of 5 conference members that lack the big budgets of many Power 5 counterparts.

We're talking six-figure expenditures, at least, particularly when football players could be tested at least once or twice per week in order to be cleared to play.

WHAT ABOUT THE SPRING?

As Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour told reporters last week, spring football is "a last resort," but options for the fall are on the table, including games without fans, a shortened schedule and a later start date. The financial implications of whatever decisions come about are massive.

Spring football could be open to fans, but for players thinking about a future in the NFL, what is the benefit of playing in the spring?

Other major issues exist, as Barbour highlighted.

"One of the biggest challenges -- and it's probably the biggest one in my mind -- is the proximity to next season and, frankly, a second lost spring ball," Barbour said during a Zoom conference. "Overcomeable, if perhaps, we're willing to have a shortened season."

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