Despite postponement decisions, Louisville football should still play in 2020

Some dominoes have fallen but it should not deter Louisville football.

It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the announcement of the new look Louisville football schedule and debating wins and losses instead of when- and if- there would be a college football season.

The joke is on us, the fans and college football media, for thinking that things wouldn’t change. Now, only six days after the rollout of the 2020 schedule, one power five conference became the first to pull the plug on playing football this fall.

All eyes were on the Big Ten heading into Tuesday while the conference wavered over canceling the 2020 season.

That’s exactly what they did, voting to postpone the 2020 season until the spring of next year. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement:

"“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward. As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”"

Big Ten coaches spent Monday and Tuesday speaking with varying media outlets in attempt to sway conference leaders to reverse course and allow for more time to pass before making a decision.

Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said that his team would look to schedule games outside of the conference should the season be cancelled while James Franklin said on ESPN’s Get Up that he believed delaying the decision and considering a bubble format would be doable.

In the end, their pleas fell on deaf ears and the conference decided to punt on the season being played during this calendar year.

Shortly thereafter an official announcement came down from the Pac 12, who stated they would not be playing in the fall and instead looking at the spring.

Both leagues were at the center of player unity group and #WeWantToPlay social media movements, and it’s in my opinion that the ultimate decision didn’t come down to current player safety but moreso the concern of future liabilities.

Now that leaves the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 with decisions to make about whether or not they’ll follow the same path and look at spring options or do their best to create a safe environment to play football this year.

The ACC has not wavered from their stance on playing and according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde, the conference is “moving forward in an attempt to play.”

Louisville football head coach Scott Satterfield essentially confirmed that to be true when speaking with local media on Monday, saying:

"“The latest I’ve heard this morning is that the ACC is moving forward, no matter what any other conference does, Big 10, Pac 12, we’re moving forward. It’s because of the advice that we’re getting from our medical advisory board. They’re saying that we’re okay to keep pushing forward, our presidents are okay to keep pushing forward, and that’s what we’re gonna do until we hear otherwise.”"

Satterfield made waves nationally on Monday when he called out the conferences lack of unity and leadership regarding a decision and reiterated that he believed players would be safer on campus than away from it. Most players and coaches shared the same sentiment as Satterfield and the pure number of them to speak have to be at least a small part of why the conference is going to push forward.

Related: Louisville coach rips NCAA, conference leadership

Louisville was back on the practice field on Tuesday attempting to operate in the “business as usual” mindset, but as we’ve seen play out on multiple occasions over the last six months – things can change fast.

Ross Dellenger reported that the ACC is keeping close tabs on the Big 12 and that if they decide to follow in the footsteps of the Pac-12 and Big Ten, that “the ACC would feel compelled to do the same.”

Scott Frost didn’t mince words when he spoke to media on Monday about Nebraska’s season and what the Big Ten was going to do and he flat out said that his program would do whatever they had to do to play football. Frost said:

"“We’re a proud member of the Big Ten. We want to play a Big Ten schedule. I think the only reason we would look at any other options is if for some reason the Big Ten wasn’t playing and only a handful of teams from the Big Ten wanted to continue playing. I think if that’s the case, I think we’re prepared to look at any and all options.”"

After the Big Ten’s announcement to postpone, Nebraska as a program backed Frost’s comments in a released statement:

Nebraska’s comments are interesting:

There is still a sliver of hope that maybe just maybe the Big 12 and SEC will stick with the ACC and plan to at least attempt a 2020 season. Satterfield appeared on the TODAY show on Tuesday morning and shared the same message he had to local media about probable repercussions of not having a season.

Satterfield’s comments nearly mirrored the statement from Nebraska, and it’s at least a reason for the conferences and university presidents consider pushing forward with football.

Satterfield revelead that during the last few months that his players have been on campus that only four players have tested positive. To even further hammer home his point that his players were safer on campus he told the show that 100 players were tested earlier in the morning and there were zero total positives.

Andrea Adelson tweeted that UNC, Pittsburgh, and Virginia have all had zero positive for a while now – which to me indicates that maintaining a safe environment is possible.
This backs up the comments from the ACC’s top medical advisor Dr. Cameron Wolfe, who said that he believes a season can be played safely, despite other conferences cancelling because of risks.

He said:

"“We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe. Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”"

I am obviously not in a position to have to make incredibly tough medical decisions that could impact the future of student athletes or financial well-being of a university, but what I do know is that if conferences truly wanted to play a season, they’d be able to figure it out.

Whether it’s in a bubble scenario, shortening the season to eight or six games, limiting travel, or any other number of options, Louisville football and the ACC should get a chance to play football in the fall.

Moving to the spring is a completely separate animal. Running up against the NFL Draft and NFL calendar year is a dangerous game and one that most draft eligible players wouldn’t be willing to play for.

Never mind the fact that it would be completely asinine for anyone- let alone unpaid student athletes- to play two football seasons in one calendar year.

There are options out there, and I feel it is in everyone’s best interests to do everything in our power to make a season happen when it’s supposed to happen.