NCAA approves model to start college football on time as TCU, others add safety measures
College football has a model to start the season on time this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The NCAA approved a football preseason model for teams that will allow everyone to start their seasons on time. Every Big 12 program is scheduled to start the weekend of Sept. 5.
Assuming a Sept. 5 opener, teams would begin summer access activities on July 13 with meetings and walk-throughs starting July 24. The pads can come on Aug. 7 as the start of preseason practices. For teams playing on Week Zero (Aug. 29) or prior to the Sept. 5 date, their start dates would be pushed up accordingly. Preseason practices start 29 days before the first game.
“This is the culmination of a significant amount of collaboration in our effort to find the best solution for Division I football institutions,” said Shane Lyons, West Virginia’s athletic director who is the chair of the NCAA’s Division I Football Oversight Committee. “Our student-athletes, conference commissioners, coaches and health and safety professionals helped mold the model we are proposing.”
Several programs have brought in players to begin voluntary workouts this month. Several schools have announced players testing positive for coronavirus, but every school has laid out plans to handle those situations.
TCU, for instance, is trying to create a “bubble” for the football players. There is one player per dorm room and each player has been given sanitization packets.
TCU is also educating players on the best social distancing and safety measures to take during the pandemic.
As TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati told the Star-Telegram this week, “We’ve told [our players], ‘Look, the healthiest teams are going to have the chance to win the most games this year.’ It’s critical we do as much as we can to stay as healthy as possible.”
TCU opens its season at Cal on Sept. 5. That game remains on schedule as planned.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
