TCU coach Gary Patterson optimistic football season will be played. But when and how?
TCU coach Gary Patterson doesn’t know what football season is going to look like coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
Maybe it’s played in the fall with no disruptions. Maybe it’s pushed back to the spring. Maybe it’s shortened. Heck, maybe the Horned Frogs are playing neutral-site games in North Dakota if that’s deemed the safest route.
But Patterson is optimistic that a season will be held in some fashion.
“I think there will be,” Patterson said on a Zoom conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon. “Right now my optimism is very high. That’s why I’m doing all the things I’m doing. At some point in time, whether it’s fall or spring, whatever it is, or if it’s shortened, we’re talking about five, six, seven [or] eight different options.”
Asked about the season opener at Cal scheduled for Sept. 5, Patterson said somewhat jokingly: “Who knows? If we’re not going to have fans in the stands the first ballgame, we may be playing it in North Dakota. I don’t know.
“No. 1 is to make sure our student athletes are safe.”
Patterson believes more will be known within the next month with states such as Texas partially re-opening. How well that process goes will likely factor into what colleges and conferences do when it comes to fall sports.
But Patterson refused to put a target date on anything. Some college sports executives such as Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork have said July 1 is a date when teams must be on campus and going through strength and conditioning programs in order for the college football season to start on time.
Most believe programs need at least 45-60 days to prepare a team.
“The bottom line is we don’t know what that date is,” said Patterson, who is the president of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). “I’ve been in meetings for the last two weeks and the only thing I’m sure of is nothing is certain yet. At the end of the day, the safety and welfare of the student-athlete and the regular student is going to be important.”
That mindset was echoed by athletic director Jeremiah Donati. Similar to Patterson, Donati is hopeful football will be played this season.
“But before that happens we need to get our student-athletes back to campus and back to practice … and do that in a safe and efficient manner for everyone,” Donati said.
In the meantime, Patterson has been staying as busy as ever. He’s trying to ensure his staff and players are prepared for every possible outcome, whether that’s having six weeks to prepare for the season or four weeks.
“I’m probably five times busier than I would be this time of year doing anything else,” Patterson said. “Last Saturday and Sunday night, I worked past midnight because you have to set up practice plans. I’m working on things I can control.
“Recruiting is non stop. We can’t see [recruits] cause you can’t come on your campus. You’re busy doing that all the time. We’ve had the time to go back through our whole program and look at different aspects of our program. To be honest with you, the weeks have flown by for me.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 6:12 PM.
