FB: Possible only action this year is Pac-12 vs. Pac-12
It appears that steps are being taken in the right direction if there's going to be a college football season. But as to what sort of season that entails, that's still one of the biggest questions left unanswered.
“Right now, all options are on the table as things that we have talked about as a conference,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “I think there is a lot of questions that have to be answered first. The ideal situation is that we start on time and play the normal schedule and have fans in the stands. I think the odds are probably against that.”
The Pac-12 is hosting four media-only webinars this week, which began on Monday, as the Pac-12 Networks’ Yogi Roth will serve as the host and speak with the coaches during the first 15 minutes, followed by questions from the media over the final 15 minutes. There will be different themes for the days, with each of the three coaches who are paired together will answer questions about.
Monday, May 11
Coaches: David Shaw, Stanford; Clay Helton, USC; Nick Rolovich, Washington State
Theme: Rule changes, discussion on other national issues (NIL, one-time transfer, etc.).
Tuesday, May 12
Coaches: Karl Dorrell, Colorado; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Jimmy Lake, Washington
Theme: Approach to replacing key components from last year’s squad, especially at QB.
Wednesday, May 13
Coaches: Herm Edwards, Arizona State; Jonathon Smith, Oregon State; Chip Kelly, UCLA
Theme: Motivating your student-athletes during the pandemic.
Thursday, May 14
Coaches: Kevin Sumlin, Arizona; Justin Wilcox, Cal; Mario Cristobal, Oregon
Theme: How do you prepare for a season that is in doubt? Developing a two-deep with no spring ball.
The biggest takeaway from the first two days appears to be the upcoming schedule for the Pac-12.
While multiple contingency plans are being discussed, one of the plans gaining the most traction appears to be a conference-only schedule where each team would play the other 11 schools. According to Whittingham, 9 and 10-game schedules featuring only Pac-12 teams are being introduced as well.
“If it comes to playing a conference schedule, we are all in,” Whittingham stated. “If that’s what it takes to get the season in and get things done in the best fashion possible then that’s what we go with. I think we are several weeks out from having any real concrete direction on what is going to happen and how things are going to set up.”
There does appear to be an issue when it comes to start time because all coaches are in agreement that at least 6-weeks are needed to get players ready for an upcoming season. However, not all states find themselves in the same situation
Utah has begun to loosen restrictions and Whittingham said it's feasible that the players are back on campus for workouts beginning on June 1. Whitman County, where Washington State is located, has only 15 confirmed COVID-19 cases and zero deaths.
Meanwhile, Seattle (where Washington's campus is) was one of the hardest hit places in the country, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said there will be no events of more than 50 people taking place in the state THROUGH September and Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next three months.
Obviously things can change over that time period as the country appears to be trending in the right direction, but it's all an unknown right now.
According The Oregonian's John Canzano, a UO official told him, “I would argue that (Gov. Brown) has very little if any input given the aforementioned. I believe the funding may be enough to cover being part of a public system. Bottom line it doesn’t help cover any operating costs. The schools have to open in the fall.”
So with much uncertainty surrounding the start time of the college football season, apart from whether it happens or not, it appears that the Pac-12 could potentially be moving forward with a conference-only season.
“There is so much unknown and so much fluidness to the situation that it’s really pointless to try to pinpoint any one direction that we are going to go in. We are just going to have to wait and see and go from there,” Whittingham said.