Optimism Reigns in Conversation over College Football in the Fall

Some of the top leaders in college football have a similar message regarding bringing football back in the fall: optimism.

Over the past week, Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde gathered the 11 most important decision makers in college football, attempting to gage the mood surrounding college football's return in the fall. 

They received one overarching message: optimism. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” says American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco. “I am growing more optimistic daily that we are going to have a season and that we might even be able to start on time in the fall under certain conditions.”

This past week has brought much more news than priors. 

Just in the past few days, LSU athletic director Scott Wodward said they plan to bring athletes back by June 1 and Mississippi State announced that they will be having in-person classes on campus this fall. Meanwhile, there seems to be a growing sense that college football won't even be played in California and teams may have seek refuge elsewhere. 

Yet, outside of California, there remains optimism.

“I would say I’m a little more optimistic today than I was two weeks ago,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “Some of that is having been on the calls with the White House. One of the things we heard is that it’s expected that testing nationally is going to double every month from now on.”

For now, Ole Miss is yet to provide a recent update. At last discussion with athletic director Keith Carter, he stated the target deadline to bring athletes back to campus remains July 1. 

In talking with some players on the team, they say no plan is in place to return, as they are waiting on a more regulated mandate from the SEC itself.

There seems to be a solid reason that there has been no definitive declaration from the SEC of late. Commissioner Greg Sankey says he's been seeking a lot of guidance from a biostatistician. 

"We’re learning more and more every day and if you look back 30 days of what you knew then and 30 days to what you’ll know down the road," Sankey said. "If you can be patient in making major decisions, you’ll be able to gather more and more information to inform better decision making at a later time."

In his eyes, there's no need to make a mandate yet for a date in July or August. That makes sense. 

The league commissioners, in unison, agree that at the top of the decision making flowchart resides individual state governors. They dictate shelter-at-home orders that regulate the potential return of any football camps. 

From that point, the NCAA Board of Governors can determine a restart date for mandatory, on-campus athletics.  That said, each conference has the autonomy to go their own separate way in that regard. 

For now, there's still a lot of unknowns surrounding the return of college football. But its return seems much more optimistic than months prior. 

You can join The Grove Report community by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @SIRebels and @nategabler.