FB Video: How shortened summer training will impact college football

College coaches are used to having their athletes on campus during June and July ahead of fall camps in August, but that may not the case this year. How will this shortened "summer" impact college football and the upcoming season?

The months during spring and summer are just as important for college football as fall camp is — and some could even argue that  March through July is more important.

During the spring and summer is when coaches install their complicated playbooks, the athletes begin to get in shape for the upcoming season and the team as a whole bonds and comes together as one.

But that's not necessarily the case anymore. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a massive shutdown throughout the entire sports world, college football coaches are relegated to old-school tactics to help prepare for what they hope is going to be a college football season.

“I go back to 25 years ago when it was not the norm for the players to be on campus during the summer,” South Florida coach Jeff Scott told Sports Illustrated writer Ross Dellenger. “Everybody went home after spring and came back for camp. You had a month of practices. We might find ourselves in that situation again.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic made the sports world come to a complete halt, a majority of the colleges had begun spring practices in preparation for the upcoming season. But now campuses are shutdown for the majority of spring, if not the entire summer, which will make all football-related activities hard to come by.

Coaches are now forced to put a lot of their faith in 18-22 year-old boys — putting their faith in the athletes that they're sticking to their home workouts and diving headfirst into the playbooks so that when college football returns, they'll be ready. Teaching is relegated to videos, meetings are electronic and training is at the discretion of the player.

All of the position battles, particularly those at quarterback, are going to put some colleges far behind, while those relying on incoming freshmen will struggle. 

If the college football season is to return, the sports world will rejoice, including coaches and players alike. But as for the competitiveness of that season, it will all depend on how everyone treats the next few months at home.