Will Penn State Begin Football Training Camp on Time?

Penn State is scheduled to begin football training camp Friday, 29 days before the originally scheduled season-opener Sept. 5.

Or it will play football again sometime next year.

The Big Ten is expected to address the training-camp issue this week, along with its modified 10-game schedule. However, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren is weighing his options, according to the Chicago Tribune, and has met with student-athletes from conference schools for their input.

The NCAA said it would announce a decision on fall sports championships Wednesday.

Statement from NCAA President Mark Emmert on Board of Governors’ fall championships discussion: pic.twitter.com/NItg38TBK4
— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) August 5, 2020

Further, Warren said in a letter last week to conference athletic directors that the season still could be suspended.

"We will not, and cannot, proceed with preseason camp until we are certain that we can do safely," Warren said, "and that, will depend, in part on testing."

Northwestern on Monday became the sixth Big Ten program to pause preseason workouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. Penn State has continued its workouts. Last week the athletic department reported eight positive tests for COVID-19, though the student-athletes' teams were not disclosed.

The Big Ten plans to release a series of playing protocols that Warren said rests on the conference's ability to "execute our testing protocols effectively, including the appropriate number of tests secured for all fall sports."

Penn State coach James Franklin has called testing a "critical" component of college football's return, a foundation upon which the potential seasons rests.

"It's going to take a lot more time than it normally does based on all the testing and procedures that are going to have to be followed," Franklin said recently.

The Penn State coach has considered the possibilities of a postponed or canceled season. He said the repercussions will be far-reaching.

But Frankin added that this season should be the priority before considering what comes next.

"At the end of the day, you have to do whatever you can to save this season and then worry about the effects and come up with those solutions as the next step," Franklin said. "So does that mean, if we move the season back that we lose spring ball? If people had to choose between losing this season or losing spring ball, they’d give up spring ball.

"If that means we have to adjust next season back a little bit. I’m not sure. My point is, we have to do everything in our power to make this work and be flexible and be open minded. Are there going to be challenges and are there going to be impacts that come from that that affect other things? Yes. No doubt. It will screw with the recruiting calendar, it will screw with spring ball it will screw with a lotta diff things. Again that’s where the next problems come, and we have to come up with the next solutions."

The Big Ten said that fall scheduling in all sports remains fluid, including the option of postponing the seasons. The conference should announce a direction soon.

"While we remain hopeful for a start in September 2020, flexibility has been created within our scheduling models to
accommodate necessary adjustments," Warren's letter said. "Consistent with our collective need to be adaptable to changes in
circumstances and evolving medical knowledge, even issuing a schedule does not guarantee that competition will occur."

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