Play Football in Fall 2020 or Spring 2021?

[bonarae]

... the gist is that many programs are opting out of their conference's decision to play in the spring to continue playing as independents in the fall.

https://footballscoop.com/news/why-a-growing-number-of-fcs-programs-are-opting-out-of-a-spring-season-to-go-it-alone-this-fall/ (https://footballscoop.com/news/why-a-growing-number-of-fcs-programs-are-opting-out-of-a-spring-season-to-go-it-alone-this-fall/?fbclid=IwAR2FtUEbWwNuSDU6uxZAzZ8ecVG0UaawQAfaHbVv WEzTTUBaG3PkeDdWpFM)

Discuss.

[bonarae]

Also worth discussing...

https://247sports.com/college/texas-am/Article/College-football-2020-season-saliva-coronavirus-test-protocols-turnaround-150543185/ (https://247sports.com/college/texas-am/Article/College-football-2020-season-saliva-coronavirus-test-protocols-turnaround-150543185/?fbclid=IwAR2FtUEbWwNuSDU6uxZAzZ8ecVG0UaawQAfaHbVv WEzTTUBaG3PkeDdWpFM)

[BisonTru]

Why fight this all fall? Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, either you think the vaccine will end this or the election. Both of those are going to happen past the majority of the football season.

Just do a spring season and start moving to that goal.

[Outsider1]

I am one of those that is leaning towards an abbreviated schedule this Fall and skip the Spring. There are other sports trying to do what they can to have their sports participate. Often the same support staff has to work with the different sports/athletes. So, it's not just about the football players having to play two schedules, but competing for resources. Honestly, I don't care if we have a championship this year or not. The season has already been made "abnormal"; no matter how you wish to describe that. Let it go. Do the best you can with it and move on. On the positive side, we are seeing some very interesting match-ups that we normally wouldn't get to see. Enjoy that as a small victory and enjoy it for what it is.

[DFW HOYA]

A lot of athletic departments won't have the infrastructure to play spring football along with a delayed basketball season and other spring sports.

[dewey]

Why fight this all fall? Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, either you think the vaccine will end this or the election. Both of those are going to happen past the majority of the football season.

Just do a spring season and start moving to that goal.

I think we use option C and move everything to fall 2021. A spring season that, let's say starts mid March and goes for 3 months (including playoffs), pushes the season to mid June. Then players have about 1 to 2 months off before starting a full fall season. That is a LOT of games in 9 or 10 months.

Urban Meyer has come out and said a spring and fall season in 1 calendar year is too much for student athletes with very little time to recover.

Dewey

[BisonTru]

I think we use option C and move everything to fall 2021. A spring season that, let's say starts mid March and goes for 3 months (including playoffs), pushes the season to mid June. Then players have about 1 to 2 months off before starting a full fall season. That is a LOT of games in 9 or 10 months.

Urban Meyer has come out and said a spring and fall season in 1 calendar year is too much for student athletes with very little time to recover.

Dewey

That comes with its own complications. Do you give the seniors and all the players another year of eligibility since they missed 2020? I'd say for sure you do that, but then you don't have the scholarships for the incoming class. You could give a temporary scholly limit extension but that gets messy.

[dewey]

That comes with its own complications. Do you give the seniors and all the players another year of eligibility since they missed 2020? I'd say for sure you do that, but then you don't have the scholarships for the incoming class. You could give a temporary scholly limit extension but that gets messy.

I would say for any true freshman through senior you give the school an increased amount of scholarships. Then after the 2020 true freshman have graduated you go back to the normal scholarship level.

Dewey

[walliver]

COVID will not end with the election. COVID will not end with a mask mandate. COVID will not suddenly disappear when a vaccine is released. COVID may actually get worse when flu season arrives. The northeastern states have to reopen at some point and a spike is likely. There may well be no basketball this winter and no football this spring.

From what I have heard, all players, whether their teams play at all this year, will get an extra year of eligibility. I fear we will experience wide-spread free agency for the 2021 season with an unprecedented volume of graduate transfers.

edit: If things go well, I wonder if some of the teams sitting out the fall may try to add on a few games in October or November.

[Catbooster]

I would say for any true freshman through senior you give the school an increased amount of scholarships. Then after the 2020 true freshman have graduated you go back to the normal scholarship level.

Dewey
I'd add 15-20 scholarships (and roster spots) for the upcoming year, then reduce that by 4-5 each year so that in 4 years or so we're back to normal numbers.

Those numbers are just picked out of the air, but I think in the ballpark. How many seniors graduate in a typical year? About 15 seems average (maybe slightly above average)? I'm assuming there will be a few more redshirts over the next few years since the rosters would be inflated. But I doubt all of the players will stick around the extra year. With spring sports allowing eligibility to basically ignore last year, MSU had a number of seniors (most?) go ahead and graduate and start their careers. Granted, those sports are different than football but those kids had planned out their college/post-college careers and most were done with their degrees.