Spring Football in State College? 'I Do Think It Will Work'

A spring football season is gaining traction in the Big Ten. But how would that work at Penn State?

What Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour recently called a "last resort" is becoming a Plan B many want to pursue. Spring football is gaining momentum across the Big Ten and might even become a popular concept in State College.

"We would make it work," said Fritz Smith, president and CEO of the State College-based Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. "There would be a curiosity factor. People would still want to come and see how it works, and there will be so much pent-up demand by then that I think you’d still get the same crowds and it would still be a sellout, if that’s permitted."

On Tuesday, just hours before the Big Ten postponed the 2020 fall sports season, Penn State coach James Franklin proposed the idea of holding "Big Ten weekends" in cities with domed stadiums such as Detroit, Minneapolis and Indianapolis early next year.

Since then, several coaches have advanced the concept of an alternate season that could begin as soon as January. Ohio State's Ryan Day suggested playing an eight- or nine-week season from January-March.

And on Thursday, Purdue coach Jeff Brohm released a nine-page document that rewired the entire college football calendar for two years. Brohm proposed an eight-game spring season from February-April and a 10-game fall season from October-December.

Brohm's proposal included training schedules, game schedules, a playoff plan and a three-month "discretionary period" next April-July, during which players would not have to work out.

Brohm said that a spring season would deliver a higher probability for hosting fans, a television buzz and "must-see energy" and an opportunity for players to have both meaningful senior years and potentially to improve their draft status. But the discussion is just starting.

On Tuesday, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said on the Big Ten Network that he saw "no chance" of playing in the spring.

"You can't ask a player to play two seasons within a calendar year," Meyer said.

Barbour also has doubts about spring football, largely because of the physical requirements it would demand of players. Earlier this summer, Barbour called spring football a "last resort" and last week, before the Big Ten's decision, said the concept was a secondary concern.

"We're not focused on playing in the spring," Barbour said last week. "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."

Brohm's plan addresses limiting padded practices to one per week during each playing season. It also suggests limiting spring practice in 2022 to just weight-training and walkthroughs. By doing so, Brohm says that players on bowl teams would participate in fewer than half the number of padded practices than during a normal schedule.

Courtesy Purdue Athletics

Spring football has a long way to go before becoming reality. But Smith of the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau would like to see the Big Ten try, particularly if games could be played at Beaver Stadium.

That's an issue as well, since the stadium would need infrastructure work to host a game during cold weather. Those concerns in part have prevented Penn State from pursuing events such as the NHL's Winter Classic.

Still, Carl Heck, Penn State's senior associate director of capital events and facilities, said that those issues could be addressed.

"Obviously the stadium provides some infrastructure challenges," Heck said. "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."

But Smith remained optimistic.

"I do think it will work," he said. "I don’t like it as a permanent solution, but I think for one year it would be great."

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