Football plans in flux, Cal coach Wilcox says
Three days after Stanford head coach David Shaw said the state of planning for a college football season during a global health crisis was “the definition of a fluid situation,” his counterpart at Cal, Justin Wilcox, struck the same notes Thursday.
For example, Wilcox is not among the five Pac12 football coaches who reportedly have taken pay cuts to help financially strapped athletic departments, but said that could change.
“I know myself and other (Cal) coaches as well want to be part of the solution to help the department,” Wilcox said. “We’re still discussing that.”
And Wilcox said Cal hasn’t made plans to move its preseason camp out of state because of safety restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic, but acknowledged that could change.
“We have discussed the idea of that if it becomes necessary,” Wilcox said. “It hasn’t been determined if that will be necessary.”
Wilcox was joined by Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin and Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal on a media webinar in which the ques
tions made it clear how little clarity there is regarding a potential college football season.
The coaches were asked about playing an eightgame season that would begin in early October, a full season that wouldn’t end until January and a season that wouldn’t begin until January. Among other scenarios, the Pac12 has discussed playing an 11game season only against conference opponents.
“We’re fully intent on playing this season,” Wilcox said. “How we get to that point changes daily.”
Last week, NCAA President Mark Emmert said he didn’t think college football and other fall sports would be played unless other students have returned to campus. Emmert allowed for a scenario in which sports could be played if a school partially reopens.
“That doesn’t mean (the school) has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you have to treat the health and wellbeing of the athletes at least as much as the regular students,” Emmert said “... If a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple.”
Cal and UCLA are the two Pac12 schools in the UC system, which isn’t expected to have its campuses fully reopened in the fall. Meanwhile, the University of Arizona, which is in a state with looser coronavirus safety restrictions than California, has plans to fully reopen.
It’s all part of college football’s fluid landscape.
“To say it’s going to be the same for any state or conference — it’s probably going to be different,” Wilcox said. “There are so many dynamics involved and each and every conference is going to make their decision with some direction from the NCAA.”