Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Parris Campbell talk before the game against Penn State Nov. 23, 2019. Ohio State won 28-17. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor
A new model for the 2020 college football season might be on the horizon, but first, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has to figure out how to get players back on the field without putting them in harm’s way.
On a conference call Friday, Smith said return-to-play protocol for players has taken priority over new season models in his discussions with other Big Ten administrators.
“It’s interesting that we jump to the season and we forget about the health and safety of our players,” Smith said. “And so one of the things we’ve talked about that’s of the utmost importance is: What are the things we have to put in place for return-to-play for the player?”
Spring practice for Ohio State football began March 2, but was canceled along with the April 11 Spring Game due to the COVID-19 outbreak after a string of announcements from the university and Big Ten conference from March 11 to 13.
With players apart from regular facilities and the coaching staff, Smith said a timeline needs to be established for how players will need to be reconditioned prior to the potential start of the season.
“Is that an eight-week, six-week, four-week schedule for them to reacclimate into a grueling, physical, competitive environment?” Smith said. “[We need] to make sure we avoid muscle tissue issues, sprains, tendons and ligaments and all those contusions, all the things that can occur because you haven’t been working out at the same level of intensity that we have historically prepared them.”
But before football can resume in any capacity, players will have to return to campus, a process made more difficult by the difference in state-by-state stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19.
“It depends on where the players are, right? And that’s the issue,” Smith said. “Different states have different orders and so it’ll depend on what those orders are.”
In an interview with WOSU Thursday, University President Michael V. Drake said the excitement of the football program “doesn’t depend entirely on a stadium full of people,” but Smith said he struggles with that concept.
“If we don’t have fans in the stands, that means we’ve determined it’s not safe for them in a gathering environment,” Smith said. “So why would it be safe for the players?”
A shortened season or playing games without fans in attendance will have a major impact on the the economic outlook of the athletic department at Ohio State, but Smith said there have been no pay cuts for coaches or adjustments to the recently finalized 2020-21 budget as of yet, with the worst-case scenario relying on what Smith estimated as a $10.2-million athletic reserve to sustain operations.
The NCAA announced Friday that it has established a working group to identify solutions for the football season moving forward, but Drake said Thursday that the university is preparing for a wide variety of options.
“Whatever it is next year, it won’t be the same as it was last year,” Drake said.
