Penn State Athletic Director: 'We're Not Focused on Playing in the Spring'

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour discusses her confidence in playing football this fall.

As she does in many Zoom meetings, Sandy Barbour, Penn State's vice president for intercollegiate athletics, wore a face mask to start a media session Thursday and make a point.

"These are things we have to do and we can do, and I’m not going to let up on that," Barbour said. "I feel like going downtown with a sign and saying, 'Everybody put your mask on, please.'"

Barbour turned that introduction into a statement that she remains unsure about fall sports, despite all the planning that has been conducted. The Big Ten released a football schedule that begins Sept. 5, the Lions opened training camp Friday and the remaining fall sports calendars are scheduled to be firmed next week.

But, as Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said, none of that guarantees a fall sports season will occur. And Barbour said Thursday that she works under that constant reminder.

"I'm certainly not sure that we're going to play, no," Barbour said. "I would say that I do think we do still have some time for things to turn in the right direction. But at any point, if our experts come to us and say, 'Look, even with all your testing [for COVID-19], even with all the mitigation, all the things you're doing to help mitigate the virus and protect students, we just don't think you can do this safely,' then we won’t do it."

In July, Barbour said that shifting football to the spring semester was a "last resort" for college administrators. She reiterated that belief Thursday.

"We're not focused on playing in the spring," Barbour said. "Not that it’s impossible or that we wouldn’t look to do it. But [playing in the] spring, and having two football seasons in the same calendar year within four or five months of each other, does present a challenge that we’d have to make sure that we’re able to address from a health and safety standpoint for students."

That's the primary issue of a potential spring season. A secondary concern is the readiness of Beaver Stadium, which undergoes winterization after the football season and largely goes dormant.

Barbour has said that Beaver Stadium has some "really significant infrastructure needs" that are scheduled to be addressed during a future renovation. Those needs partly have prevented Beaver Stadium from hosting events such as the NHL's Winter Classic.

"Obviously the stadium provides some infrastructure challenges," Carl Heck, Penn State's senior associate athletic director of capital events and facilities, said Thursday. "We would work with [the Office of Physical Plant] to identify those so that we're ready to host [games] when the Big Ten would announce our spring schedule, if that were the case."

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