How the shutdown of the MAC case will affect college football across the country

Concerns about the college football season 2020 were rising, even at the highest levels of the sport. But until last week, it was expressed through forbidding words, not through concrete actions.

On two mornings, with four days apart, the questions were answered of which FBS team and which FBS league would be the first to opt for fall football. Wednesday began with the cancellation of Connecticut’s season, a notable move, yet easily rationalized, given the program’s independent status and its free fall on the field.

Then, shortly after 10 a.m. ET Saturday, word spread that presidents of Mid-American Conference voted to postpone the bankruptcy sports season, including football. An emotional commissioner, Jon Steinbrecher, quickly confirmed what he called a “miserable decision” and distorted many by saying, “If you had told me in March that we would be here today, I would never have believed it.”

There will be no #MACtion this fall, and sources around college football expect other leagues to follow. The postponement or cancellation of the season, they say, is irreversible. Some executives and coaches indicate that it will eventually take a Power 5 conference to move things in that direction, but that the day could come soon, especially with Pac-12 presidents and chancellors meeting on Tuesday.

“No one wanted to be the first to do it,” a Power 5 coach told ESPN, “and now no one will want to be the last.”

A Power 5 manager added: “It feels like no one wants to, but it’s getting to the point where someone will have to.”

Will there be a rush of league cancellations this week? Many around the sport see two conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, which often move in lockstep. On consecutive days last month, they became the first FBS leagues to announce only conference scheduling models for the 2020 season. The two sets of presidents are closely linked, as many of the schools are members of the Association of American Universities and have similar academic missions, and league commissioners Kevin Warren (Big Ten) and Larry Scott (Pac-12) have every announcement followed over the season with the qualifying match that it may never get out.

“Pac-12 and Big Ten, they are it together,” said a group of 5 athletic directors before the announcement of the MAC.

The Pac-12 faces regional challenges to initiate football practices due to Virus rates in Arizona and Southern California, as well as state restrictions. The competition also deals with #WeAreUnited, a broad and organized group unit that calls for improvements in health and safety, initiatives for racial justice, compensation and other areas. ESPN reported first Saturday that the Pac-12 players came away disappointed from their first meeting with Scott and other league officials. A Pac-12 official said league presidents would “become jealous”, and several league sources said they would not be surprised if the presidents voted Tuesday to cancel fall sports.

Big Ten presidents met Saturday, and although they did not vote to postpone the bankruptcy season, the league announced that football practices would remain in the initial “acclimatization phase” until further notice due to information from medical advisory groups COVID-19. Warren has spoken extensively with campus medical advisors and group sports medicine in recent days.

Illinois coach Lovie Smith said his staff was informed of the league’s decision to go through in helmets only and without contact about an hour and a half before his third practice session on his team on Saturday.

“We’re practicing football now [and] we want to play, “Smith said. I want to play. [The players] wants to play. If they tell us we can not play, when is the next time we can play? If that’s the spring, then so be it. Eventually we will play football, so we will embrace that time when it comes. “

“Nobody wanted to be the first to do it, and now nobody wants to be the last.”

Power 5 head coach, at conferences that cancel fall football

The potential long-term effects of COVID-19, even for athletes recovering, are on the radar for college football powerlifters and considered in the MAC’s decision to postpone, said athletic director Northern Illinois, Sean Frazier, to ESPN. This past week, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney revealed that defensive lineman Xavier Thomas has been medically suspended since March due to illness, including COVID-19. LSU defensive end Travez Moore and Arizona wide receiver Jaden Mitchell wrote on Twitter that they had significant weight loss after contracting COVID-19.

“My training staff and everyone at the University of Arizona have done a GREAT job of making and caring for us,” Mitchell wrote. “Even though they did everything they could, being in a room or house for 28 days had a huge impact on my body and mental health. The fact of the matter is that if this virus gets you a hand and you experience your symptoms , then it will have a huge impact on you. “

Sources said that team doctors ran the sports market cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by viral infection, in university athletes who have COVID-19. College administrators saw the last week the Facebook post by Debbie Rucker, mother of Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, who wrote that her son was still dealing with potential heart problems.

“What we did not know really haunted us, and that is why we came to our final decision,” Frazier said. “That’s part of the data our presidents used. This mother gave us a play-by-play. That game is extremely scary.”

Steinbrecher, Frazier, and others in the MAC claim that health and safety, not worrying about finances, drove the league’s decision to suspend bankruptcy sports. But some think that the source gaps between leagues like the MAC and the Power 5 give the big leagues a chance to play, especially if reliable rapid tests improve. “The Power 5 can pay the high cost of testing,” said a Power 5 administrator.

But can they afford the optics, especially if a Power 5 league decides not to play this fall?

“As much as the Big 12, SEC and everyone else wants to play and make preparations on games, the presidents and chancellors will not want to be on their own on an island,” said a Power 5 athletic director. “They will be there to shut it down, even if the league commissioners decide to hold out. … Everyone will see what the Pac-12 and Big Ten do in the coming days. That’s for sure. “

As far as the MAC is concerned, some downplayers delay the meaning of it.

“The MAC’s decision did not affect us,” said an ACC athletic director. “They have to do what they feel best, and we will do the same.”

On Saturday, ACC schools like Clemson and Florida State continued their campaign for press season; the Seminoles are scheduled for the first time on Sunday. Austin Peay, who still plans to play alongside the rest of the FCS Ohio Valley Conference, investigated for Saturday for the first time.

“These guys love football,” said FSU coach Mike Norvell. “They want to play football. We are ultimately not in control of those decisions.”

With the upcoming season apparently hanging in the balance, several players, including Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth and others, have expressed on Twitter about their desire to play this upcoming season.

Since returning to campus one day, Penn State Football staff and medical experts have put our health and safety first, above all else. The established guidelines keep us safe when playing the game we love. We are ready to play and we want to play.

– Pat Freiermuth (@ pat_fry5) August 9, 2020

I do not know about you, but we want to play.

– Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) August 8, 2020

Decisions made over the next several days can determine whether they get their wish. Several Sun Belt sources told ESPN that the league remains committed to playing this fall and is more concerned about what is happening in the SEC unlike other conferences.

One athletic director of the SEC told ESPN that the feeling within the SEC was to stay the course and see where things stand at the end of September, when the league is scheduled to start playing.

“If our position was last week, ‘Let’s see what happens when all students return to campus, there is no new data that just causes another decision … besides fear,'” the athletic director said.

Others said the MAC’s decision simply speeded up the process of erasing falling football.

“They pull the plug sooner rather than later,” said a Power 5 athletic director. “Just do it and let’s figure out how you can survive.”

The MAC hopes to play football in the spring, as do several FCS leagues that have called up past seasons. The spring option is gaining more traction in the sport, but many remain skeptical, noting that virus conditions may not change and players would have to make additional physical demands by trying to play two seasons in one calendar year.

“You’re going to have to look at the number of games you play in both seasons and probably shorten both seasons, so what you do is affect both 2020 and 2021,” said a Power 5 coach. “That may be the only option, but it’s not a good one, especially not for the players.”

ESPN reporters Chris Low, David Hale and Sam Khan Jr. have contributed to this story.