Pac-12 Commissioner Expects 'Majority' of Programs to Begin On-Campus Workouts June 15

The Pac 12 took a significant step forward Tuesday in holding a fall 2020 NCAA football season.

Commissioner Larry Scott expects a “majority” of the Pac-12 football programs to begin welcoming back athletes for on-campus voluntary workouts by June 15, he told Sports Illustrated in an interview Tuesday. June 15 is the earliest date that schools can reopen facilities to all athletes, a ruling league presidents made earlier Tuesday. Conference leaders feel that many of the 12 league members can open by then, a reason for determining that date.

“There’s a sense of unity, not unanimity, but some unity,” Scott says. “There is a sense that by then a majority of our schools should be able to open, that this is a step most schools can make together at that time.”

In fact, Scott notes that in four of the six-state Pac-12 footprint, gyms are open to customers. The two outliers are California and Washington, where six of the league’s teams reside. For the most part, California and Washington are opening at a slower pace than the rest of the country. They are only opening on a county-by-county basis, with much of those states still under stay-at-home orders. “June 15 is still three weeks away, so I’d expect there to continue to be development, maybe in California or Washington by then,” he says. “We’ll see.”

Last week, the NCAA lifted its moratorium on on-campus athletic activity, clearing a path for schools to reopen facilities for athletes as early as June 1. At least three conferences, the SEC, Big 12 and now Pac-12, have lifted their own league-wide restrictions that ran through May 31. The SEC last week voted to allow its schools to begin training June 8, while the Big 12 set its date at June 15. Other conferences are leaving decisions on a return up to their individual schools. Return dates vary greatly by school, much of it determined by state-wide government regulations and university standards. Wyoming, for instance, plans to begin welcoming back athletes June 1, while schools like Oklahoma have announced a July 1 return.

Players will return to campuses that look much different. From disinfectant foggers to masked coaches, schools plan to virus-proof their facilities in a variety of ways, detailed in a story last week on SI. The return to June workouts is seen as the first substantial step to an on-time kickoff of college football. In fact, NCAA leaders are already exploring several more steps in the process. They are considering allowing coaching interaction during workouts in early July. During June voluntary workouts, on-field coaching is prohibited.

For mid-to-late July, NCAA officials are exploring two weeks of NFL-style OTAs followed by a mandatory four-week camp in August. Teams will need to complete four weeks of practice before starting their season. Despite the optimism from officials, spikes in virus numbers could derail the movement forward.