Tarleton State president’s new mantra: ‘Spring football is better than no football’
Tarleton State president James Hurley is staying optimistic.
He’s not letting the coronavirus pandemic, which forced his university to postpone its first football season as a Division I member to the spring, to deter from the momentum and positive vibes around campus these days.
“My mantra now is spring football is better than no football,” Hurley told the Star-Telegram in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “This was a difficult decision to make. Nobody enjoys going and watching our football team and our band and our cheerleaders and our fans and our corps of cadets firing off the cannon when we score a touchdown more than me. It’s just a special place to be on a Saturday.
“But moving to the spring is a decision that we had to make.”
There were three deciding factors for Tarleton State to postpone the season.
First, the NCAA announced last week that fall championships would not be held unless at least 50% of the institutions played a season. The FCS schools dropped below 50% when the Big Sky Conference postponed its seasons on Friday.
“We’ve got a strong football program and a good team,” Hurley said. “We want to give our young men an opportunity to play at the highest level and play for a championship.”
Second, as a program playing as an independent, Tarleton’s schedule quickly evaporated when other conferences bailed on the season. The only scheduled game remaining when Tarleton opted for the spring was Sam Houston State of the Southland Conference.
Finally, and most importantly Hurley said, was the health and safety of the players. The school polled the players and the overwhelming majority were in favor of postponing to the spring, according to Hurley.
“It was 90-plus percent,” he said. “They felt safer. They felt they could really focus on returning to school and helping the campus community. None of us have a COVID-19 manual, so we’re working through this together.”
Hurley went on to say that the decision allows the university to hopefully have a more traditional game-day experience in the spring. If the school played in the fall, capacity would be limited and tailgating likely would not be allowed.
“Our guys are Texans, right? They’re tough and they’re football guys,” Hurley said. “They want to play football, but they also play for the right reasons. They play for the love and passion of the fans.”
At the end of the day, Tarleton State made the prudent decision amid the pandemic. It wasn’t easy — every player and fan is hopeful to play this fall — but it’s what the majority of schools at that level made.
“Are people disappointed we can’t play football? Absolutely,” Hurley said. “But, let me tell you, they’re disappointed all across this country. You’ve seen the outcry by some of the other larger institutions making the decision. It’s the reality and everyone has accepted the reality.
“But it hasn’t changed our optimism. We’re super excited about what’s taking place here at Tarleton. We’re super excited about being part of the WAC and NCAA Division I. We’re not going to let fall vs. spring football diminish our momentum.”
