Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades indicated Monday that the chances of Power Five conferences postponing football and other fall sports until the spring are slim.
“I think spring is a last resort,” Rhoades said on SicEm365 radio. “That’s just my personal opinion.
“There are a lot of obstacles and hurdles that would go along with it. If it was clear and smooth sailing, we’d all say, ‘Spring is it. That’s when we need to do this.’ But I don’t know of anyone who is saying, ‘Yeah, spring is what we need to do.’”
Well, maybe not any of the major-conference schools.
But with COVID-19 cases continuing to increase, Ivy League institutions will vote today on a proposal that would postpone the conference’s football season until the spring. Rhoades seems to think spring ball could be a logistical nightmare.
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“In terms of the disease and vaccinations or no vaccinations, I don’t know that we’re going to be any different (in the spring) than we are right now,” Rhoades said.
“If you play in the spring, are you going to begin camp in January? You think about some of the cold weather schools. Is that optimal? How long can you go before you start to think about the next season, and summer activity? Can you even play 12 games? I don’t think there’s any way you can play 12 in the spring. It’s probably a max of six to eight (games).
“It’s a last resort. We need to play it out and see if we can get games in this fall.”
A month ago it seemed as if things were on their way back to normalcy. COVID-19 cases were declining and many of the statewide restrictions were lifted. The thought of not having a football season this fall was beginning to disappear. But a recent spike in positive tests has caused a renewed wave of pessimism.
“There seems to be a lot of chatter,” Rhoades said, “about whether or not we’re going to play a football season, whether or not we’re going to play volleyball, soccer, cross country. A lot of that has been because of the number of cases rising in a lot of states, including our own state.
“I think we’re still hopeful. We still believe, at this point and time, there’s an opportunity to play the 12 games. Reality and logic says that you’re probably going to have some games canceled within the season. Is there any way to build in some room to make them up? That’s still our thought process. We’re going to know more around the beginning of August.”
The Bears reported for voluntary workouts last month. Coaches are allowed to start training and meeting with players July 14. On-field, full-contact practices begin in August.
In the meantime, athletic directors spend hours and hours on conference calls each week trying to determine the best way to approach the season.
“Our most recent meeting was (Monday) morning,” Rhoades said. “The (Power Five) schools are trying to (devise) a standardization in terms of surveillance testing. What will that look like once we get into the season? Is there a standard across the board that we can implement?
“Does that mean we’re going to test every student-athlete and staff member once a week? At what point in time in the week do we test? What type of test do we utilize? Here in the next week or two we’ll have a recommendation on what that may look like.
“I believe we’re going to know right around the beginning of August, ‘What’s the likelihood of playing and can we start on time?’”
