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With the scheduled start of the season less than five months away and the country still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, speculation is rampant about what college football will look like in 2020.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler recently said the idea of a winter/spring season in 2021 is “gaining momentum,” while others have suggested a shortened season with only conference games or playing without fans.
Regardless of what athletics directors and conference commissioners eventually come up with, most agree that football will - rather, it needs to - happen because of the money involved. It is by far the most popular sport in college athletics and a majority of programs depend on it to fund their budget.
In an interview with Paul Finebaum on Wednesday, Arkansas first-year coach Sam Pittman echoed the sentiment that there will be a season. However, his opinion had a non-financial viewpoint.
“I think the kids work awful hard not to have a season,” Pittman said. “With that said, you and I and everybody in the world is more concerned about the safety of our athletes and our communities than we are about playing football.
“I do believe our football season makes your academics a little better, your discipline a little bit better. I think it makes the world a little happier.”
The thought of playing games in empty stadiums has been particularly controversial.
Earlier this week, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin told a Knoxville radio station that even having that conversation was “a waste of time” because it’s “just not going to happen.” His reasoning was that if it’s not safe for fans to congregate, it wouldn’t be a good idea for players to do so on a crowded sideline.
However, Pittman - while acknowledging it was less than ideal - seemed open to it if it was the only way to play this season.
“I would rather play the games without the fans in the stadium than not play them at all,” Pittman said. “But certainly the band, the cheerleaders, the pregame, the excitement that happens in the SEC on every single Saturday at everybody’s home game is something I think would be truly missed if we’re not able to play.”
For now, one of the biggest things Pittman and his staff is focusing on is keeping the team’s attitude positive that a season will be played.
Although the UA Board of Trustees has already voted against holding in-person summer classes, Pittman said he’s been told dorms will open up June 29. That would seemingly allow the Razorbacks to reconvene as a team by July 1, which he’s previously given as a deadline to start in order to be ready for the Sept. 5 opener against Nevada.
In a conference call Wednesday, though, conference commissioners told U.S. Vice President Mike Pence that there won’t be a football season if students aren’t on campus. That means the season starting on time will depend on states across the country opening up rather than just Arkansas opening up in the fall.
