Will college football start on time?
Coronavirus won’t take away college football, right?
After all, SEC spring football games have already been canceled. The SEC season is scheduled to start in 24 weeks.
And President Donald Trump said Americans could practice social distancing at least until July or August, when SEC Media Days and preseason practices usually start dominating the sports landscape.
On Wednesday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the conference is planning to play football, as scheduled, but also working on contingency plans, which he did not specify.
“(Playing the season as scheduled) is my focus. I am a half-full perspective person, so I have optimism,” Sankey said during a conference call with reporters. “We have taken measures, as have our colleague conferences. At this time, if I read those health leaders, they say we are going to have a period of time to see what happens with the growth of these (coronavirus) cases.
“We’ll make decisions down the road.”
Will SEC Media Days, preseason practice be held on time?
SEC Media Days is scheduled for July 13-16 in Atlanta. Sankey said the SEC is
“full steam ahead” in planning for that event but added circumstances could alter those plans.
“We are going to prepare for disruption, but we are going to plan as if in July we will have a Media Days opportunity, as scheduled,” Sankey said. “That’s the best answer I can give you at this moment.”
The college football season is scheduled to start on Aug. 29 with seven FBS games, including Notre Dame vs. Navy in Dublin, Ireland. But the SEC slate is set to kick off a week later.
Thirteen SEC football teams are scheduled to play their opener on Sept. 5. Tennessee will play Charlotte, while Vanderbilt will face Mercer.
Two SEC teams will play at neutral sites on Sept. 5. Alabama will face Southern Cal in the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Ole Miss and Baylor will play in the Texas Kickoff Classic at NRG Stadium in Houston.
On Sept. 7, Georgia and Virginia will play in the Chick-fil-a Kickoff Classic at Mercedes-benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The SEC’S first league games are set for Sept. 12. Kentucky will play at Florida, and Vanderbilt will visit Missouri.
Preseason practices start about a month before each team’s first game. But Sankey acknowledged tweaks to the NCAA calendar would be explored if spring practice does not resume.
“We’re dealing with a lot of these undefined circumstances,” Sankey said. “Just know in our mind is, ‘How do we help our teams adequately prepare in advance of the fall season?’”
Is there a chance spring practice could resume?
While SEC spring games are canceled, other athletics activities and practices are suspended through April 15. That means there is still a chance spring practices could resume if that suspension is not extended, but Sankey said he’s “not going to be overly optimistic about the return to (spring) practice.”
“(Cancellation of spring games) does not apply to spring practices at this time, and I think that is the important qualifying phrase,” Sankey said. “(Suspended activities until April 15) doesn’t mean we’ll be back to normal or back to practice activities April 16. It was just a date that, for certain, allows our administrators to communicate with our coaches and our coaches with our student-athletes.
“We haven’t fully foreclosed (the possibility of spring practice resuming), but I think practically that window is pretty narrow.”
UT and Vanderbilt began spring practice shortly before the SEC suspension. On-campus and off-campus recruiting is also suspended through April 15. Coaches can only recruit via phone.
The work of SEC football has continued at the league level.
Last Thursday and Friday, an SEC football officiating clinic was held for replay officials and limited members of on-field crews. Officials were told they did not have to attend if they did not feel comfortable as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.
This week, SEC officials are holding clinics via video conference rather than in person.
Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Adamsparks.