5/4/2020 football Edit

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek discusses plan for 2020 college football season

Andrew Hutchinson • HawgBeat

Managing Editor

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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek revealed a best-case scenario in which the 2020 football season would start on time during Monday’s UA Board of Trustees videoconference meeting.

With sports across the country still on hold and the status of college football up in the air because of the coronavirus pandemic, Yurachek’s plan includes opening weight and training rooms on June 1 for voluntary workouts and a July 15 start date for football practice.

That would give the Razorbacks a six-week window to prepare for their season opener against Nevada, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 5 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. They were unable to have any spring practices before the pandemic led to the UA moving classes online and the SEC suspending all sports.

Since then, players have been limited to working out on their own and holding virtual meetings during which they can install the playbook.

“That would have a couple of weeks of an acclimation period where our student-athletes would have some strength and conditioning training, as well as some walk-throughs and team meetings, that would head into our regularly scheduled fall camp that is scheduled to begin on Aug. 5,” Yurachek told the trustees. “I think if we can get to a schedule where, at the latest, July 15 we have our fall sports student-athletes on campus, I think we have a really good chance of starting our football season on time.”

The June 1 target date for the reopening of on-campus facilities would be the day after the SEC’s current suspension of all athletic-related activities is set to expire. Yurachek’s announcement also comes on the same day Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowed gyms and fitness centers across the state to reopen.

As a conference, Yurachek said the SEC is working on plans to start all fall sports on time, including a full 12-game football season. A major hurdle for that will be all 14 schools allowing students on campus for in-person classes.

The UA Board of Trustees did its part in that department, as it voted unanimously to have in-classroom instruction on all of its campuses this fall later in the meeting. Classes at the University of Arkansas have been strictly been online since mid-March.

It is worth noting, though, that Yurachek acknowledged there are other options on the table for the SEC, but they are currently focused on starting the season as scheduled on Sept. 5.

Another goal in Yurachek’s plan when sports resume is making sure student-athletes, their parents, staff members and fans all feel safe to return to campus, which could mean disinfecting facilities, limiting the number of athletes in facilities at a given time, coaches wearing masks and creating a safe environment for fans in their venues.