Cal Athletics: AD Jim Knowlton on COVID-19 and the Prospect of a 2020 Football Season

`Nothing is off the table' Knowlton says during lengthy Q & A session

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton calls himself “an optimistic realist.”

Those two outlooks can easily find themselves at odds in these strange and difficult times. Knowlton has lost no faith that Cal’s athletic program is headed in a positive direction, both competitively and fiscally.

But he also understands how the global COVID-19 pandemic is stressing every aspect of life, trickling all the way down to its potential impact on Cal athletics and, more specifically, the 2020 college football season.

(Click here for a Knowlton's thoughts on the first seasons of his two new basketball coaches.)

A good deal of Knowlton’s time and energy — but not all of it — involves sorting out possible options for the football season in a fluid environment.

“I would say there’s not one model that anyone can say is off the table,” Knowlton told me in a phone interview. “The best model is we’re playing, everybody is healthy and we’ve got 60,000 fans in our stadium. The other far boundary is the season is canceled.

“What we’re looking at is everything in between, from changing the schedule to games without fans. I've got literally 20 different courses of action, either subtle or bigger courses of action.

“What will happen if . . .? When do you have to make these decisions? You can imagine it’s not going to be athletic directors making the decision. It’s going to be chancellors, (university) presidents and the governor.”ports Illustrated story

(Click here for a Sports Illustated story on the dramatic things college adminitrators across the country are saying about the impact of not having a college football season.)

Here’s more from my conversation with Knowlton, now a month shy of beginning his third year as Cal’s athletic director:

Q. How hectic is your daily routine? And, with all that’s going on, I presume virtually all of your focus is on things related to the coronavirus?

A. I’m on the phone from morning to night, whether it's the Pac-12, campus, our own department, our head coaches. It really isn't all focused on coronavirus. That’s very, very deliberate. We want to continue the great momentum we have going with strategic planning. We’re still working on our master plan. We had a big meeting this morning with all the big players. When the lights go back on — and they’re going to go back on — we don’t want to be flat-footed. We want to be ready go go.

Q. What more can you tell me about who you are talking with these days . . . campus administration, other Pac-12 athletic directors, coaches, medical and science experts? All of the above?

A. Three days a week all the ADs, the Pac-12 leadership, we meet first thing in the morning to share information, to see what’s happening on campuses. To make sure we have some alignment as we go to our day. Same thing with senior staff. I’m talking to colleagues across the country to get a sense of what’s happening in different areas of the country.

We held a town hall with student athletes so they could opt in and get an idea what’s going on. We did that with our entire staff of about 250 and with head coaches every week. In this pandemic situation, over-communicating is critical.

It helps us check in on people to make sure they're not left behind. The thing you really find is you don't know because you don’t walk in other people’s shoes. You can’t see them at the water cooler so a video call at least gives you a look at their appearance. It could be the difference between them having a bad day or a good day.

Q. I’m curious, how does your background and training in the military, during 26 years in the U.S. Army and as athletic director at the Air Force Academy, come into play while dealing with such an unexpected, large-scale situation as you’re facing with a pandemic?

A. I would like to say it perfectly prepared me and I've got all the answers. That’s not the case. The military and crisis planning helped me. But in the last two years our athletic department has gone through multiple situations. Moving the (2018) Big Game because of air quality (due to the Santa Rosa Tubbs Fire). I was evacuated by (October 2019 East Bay) wildfires. We had to do some crisis planning and a lot of thinking. After each of those we do reviews to capture lessons learned. With each one we get better for the next one.

Q What is Chancellor Carol Christ’s take on the coronavirus situation as it pertains to athletics? Is she optimistic that you will have a football season, or for her is that just a piece of the larger issue of campus health and safety?

A. Chancellor Christ has been an absolute superstar since I arrived. She’s been fantastic. She looks at the big picture of the health, welfare and safety of every student and faculty and staff member, but she also has been able to get down to focus other issues.

Q. Is there any way football — or any sports — can resume before life on camp returns to normal, with students in classrooms?

A. It’s one of those situations where there are more questions than answers. We’re all trying to develop courses of action that address what we know right now. I told this story to a panel that three weeks ago I was heartbroken I had to share with the band and cheer squad they wouldn’t be going to Las Vegas (because of the threat of the virus). Two days later, after the NCAA tournament had been canceled, that seemed so insignificant.

So much is changing so quickly that to make some hard decisions about what’s going to happen five months from now is really hard to do. We’re talking to health experts, community experts . . . about trigger points based on where we are, how many weeks of practice do we need to have to have a football game?

Q. As you look at all these possible models, is there one that you currently favor? Or is it still too early to know what our world will like in the late summer and fall?

A. It’s far too early. The favorite one for every fan is we pull up and be ready to go (for the full season). That would be foolish for me to say until we know what are the health professionals are saying. It’s a fluid situation.

Q. Do you believe we will have a college football season?

A. That’s a good question. I think I optimistically believe there will be a fall season, fall sports. What that looks like and how the season is conducted in the fall, that I don't know.”

Could games be played at Memorial Stadium with fewer spectators than this?

Q. Can you even envision playing football in an empty stadium?

A. I think it’s hard to imagine. That’s why some people are talking about playing fall sports in the spring in front of full stadiums, if we’re in a better spot in the spring.”

Q. The NCAA already has adjusted the payout to conferences because of the cancellation of the NCAA tournament. How big a blow financially is that?

A. I would say when you’re trying to balance the budget and support your student-athletes, any budget reduction hurts. We’ve been working really hard, the chancellor and I, to develop a six-year budget for athletics that puts us on this incredible path.

Q. Obviously, football is a primary revenue stream for most Division I athletic programs. I’m reading dire comments from your counterparts across the country. How devastating would the consequences to Cal athletics be if you lost some or all of the football season?

A. It would be devastating to any athletic department in the country. I think it’s bigger than just the athletic department. The economic impact on Berkeley and the surrounding areas is big . . . the number of people who come to the games, stay in hotels, it would really have an impact.”

Q. Do you expect to have to cut coaching salaries?

A. I have no idea. If you're doing your homework as an athletic director you’re looking at every single lever you have. We’re going to have to continue to read the situation to see what are the things we have to do to keep things going.

Q. Cal sponsors 28 sports, more than most schools in the country. Is it inevitable that you might have to cut or at least temporarily shelve some sports?

A. My goal is not to have to do that.

Q. Everyone is going through a tough time right now. With what I’m guessing is a wall-to-wall schedule of phone calls and Zoom meetings, what do you do to relax and relieve the stress?

A. I think my wife asked me that same thing recently. I’m trying to get a workout in the morning and a good walk at some point in the day. I didn’t do a very good job with that when this started, but I'm trying to be a little bit more disciplined. I’m now getting into a better routine.

*** The National College Players Association is seeking dramatic rules changes from the NCAA: