Cook: Big Ten, Pac-12 make right call.
Indiana coach Tom Allen was heartbroken. Kansas State’s Chris Klieman doesn’t know if he will be, too, eventually, but said he wants to keep his players on campus.
Across the country, the looming collapse of the college football season is beginning to hit home for coaches who have scrambled to pull a season together through a pandemic and players who just want to play.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 became the first Power Five conferences to cancel their fall football seasons because of concerns about COVID-19. The Big Ten said it hopes to compete in the spring, and the Pac-12 even pushed basketball back to Jan. 1.
“My heart breaks for our players. I couldn’t be prouder of the commitment and focus they have demonstrated from the start of this pandemic,” Allen said of the Big Ten’s decision Tuesday. “Our number one priority always has been and will continue to be the health and well-being of our players. While this is a difficult day, the decision is in the best interest of our players.”
Kansas State quarterback Skylar
“This could be a make-orbreak for me to see whether I go to the next level or not. I’m committed to playing until they pull the plug on me.”
— Chris Elmore, Syracuse tight end
Thompson is ready to play football next month. Or in the winter. Or even the spring. The Big 12 has yet to make a decision on the fall, but Thompson just wants to pull on his shoulder pads one last time, run onto the field in front of thousands of adoring fans, and experience the thrill of college football.
It doesn’t matter much whether flurries are flying or birds are chirping, he just wants an opportunity that the spread of COVID-19 is threatening to take away from him.
“I just want to play football, whenever that time may be,” Thompson said. “I just want to get the ball in my hands and compete. That’s all that worries me is I just want to play football, whenever that time is. Whenever is right.”
The announcements by the Big Ten and Pac-12 left the ACC, the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 as the Power Five conferences still intending to play in the fall, and left Klieman clinging to hope.
“I hope they don’t totally lose a season,” he said of his players. “I hope they get a
chance to do things in the spring, and that’s what we all want. What is the plan? What is the plan for each league, whether they play in the fall or play in the spring?”
It’s a question coaches still preparing their teams for a fall season have to be asking almost hourly at this point, especially as some schools prepare to welcome students back to campus, minimizing the protection players have had living in a so-called “bubble.”
“I want people to be safe. I’m not oblivious to what’s going on,” Thompson said. “But the end of the day, speaking for everybody, it would be nice to have answers, and not just have things pushed around. There’s so much uncertainty every single day — how things can change in 24 hours — it’s very hard on a player. I think if we were just to get some answers, we would be able to
process what that would look like, whether that’s what we want or not.”
Shelly Meyer, a nurse and wife of retired college coach Urban Meyer, tweeted that with players losing their sport, “please make sure we have outlets/ resources to help them cope w this loss. And yes, it IS loss, even if u think it’s ‘just a game.’ ”
If the Big 12 also decides to cancel fall competition, that presents a whole new slew of questions to be answered, Klieman said.
“If it moves to the spring, what is the fall? Are we having a spring ball right now? Is this time we’re going to use with the guys?” he asked. “Can we continue with workouts? Can we continue with walkthroughs? Everybody wants answers before they make a final decision.”
The spotlight now turns to leagues that have yet to make a decision, and then to all administrators again as they begin wrestling with the prospects of spring football.
“It’s been a hard road not knowing whether we’re going to play or not,” said Kansas State linebacker Justin Hughes, who was looking forward to his senior season after missing much of last year to a knee injury. “We have one last go-around. Don’t take it away from us — a year away from us — because there’s a tragedy going on right now.”
Simply pushing college football to the spring is hardly a cut-and-dried answer. Nobody knows whether there will better treatments or even a vaccine by then, and the state of the world could be much the same as it is right now.
No wonder the fear among many college football players is not just of a lost fall but a lost season entirely.
“I need this season. This is my last season,” said Syracuse tight end Chris Elmore. “This could be a make-or-break for me to see whether I go to the next level or not. I’m committed to playing until they pull the plug on me.”