While we all wait to find out the fate of college football this season, we brought our Warchant Roundtable panel together to discuss that topic and also what we have seen and heard so far about Florida State's preseason practice.
This conversation features Warchant founder and administrator Gene Williams, managing editor Ira Schoffel, senior writer Corey Clark and director of digital media Aslan Hajivandi.
FOOTBALL PROMO: 25% off, $25 eCard to Garnet & Gold and 3 free months
Q: We’re not going to put you on the spot to predict what’s going to happen with college football this fall, since things seem to be changing so quickly. But do you think the effort by players and coaches around the country to plead their case on social media is going to have any effect on the decisions by the conferences?
COREY: Yes, I do. For several months, we've been inundated with the reasons NOT to play. Reasons why the players deserve better, etc. And I'm certainly not implying I disagree with all of those sentiments. But when the players come out so vocally and publicly and start a movement wanting to play, with coaches backing them up, that makes the decision to just completely cancel a season a tad bit harder. Will it ultimately change the decision? I have no idea. But it at least gave the conferences and administrators pause, in my opinion.
Sunday night, I thought for sure the Big Ten and Pac-12 would have punted by Monday. That hasn't happened yet. It might soon. But I think the reason the dominoes in the big-boy conferences haven't started falling quite yet is because the players and coaches were so adamant on social media and Zoom interviews Monday that they do, in fact, want to play. And they want to follow any and all procedures and protocols put in place by their schools to do so. We'll see if it works.
GENE: The groundswell from student-athletes, their parents and coaches might just be what saves the 2020 season. At the end of the day, this is the group that would be most impacted by the potential risk of COVID-19. And isn’t this what the discussion should really be about? Putting politics aside, the decision whether to play or not should really come from the players and coaches. If they are willing to take on the risk, and sufficient medical protocols are in place, they should be allowed to proceed.
ASLAN: I’m in the, “It couldn’t hurt” camp. Ultimately, I’m sure these administrators have been bracing for severe backlash and vitriol from fans, alumni and others on their campuses. To have all the players and high-profile coaches put pressure on them might be something they weren't quite prepared for. However, I think the schools and conferences already had plenty of incentive play, knowing how crippling the lack of a college football season will be to these campuses financially.
IRA: I think it helps some, but it might have helped more if the coaches and players had been a little more proactive earlier. Much of the media attention in recent weeks had been on the handful of players in each conference who decided to "opt out" of playing in 2020, but few were pointing out that thousands of other players were "opting in" every day by staying in the program. I think the schools have been reluctant to seem too aggressive with their messages about playing, out of concern for the unknown or the worry that something bad might happen down the road. But I think that approach has allowed the arguments against playing to dominate the conversation.
In the end, I don't know if it will save college football. But I think it's good that their voices have been heard. Now people clearly know where they stand and how passionate they are about trying to make this work. Too often, college athletics is portrayed as an industry that simply exploits these athletes for the universities' gain, when the reality is that this sport means a great deal to these players and their families.
Q: Turning back to FSU football, from what we’ve heard from the first few days of preseason practice, have any of your impressions about this team already changed? In what way?
IRA: I have felt all offseason that the greatest strength of this team was going to be its defense. I know that group struggled a great deal last season and most of the starters are back, but I don't think the problems last year had anything to do with talent. I think there was a great deal of dysfunction on the defensive staff, due mostly to Willie Taggart's leadership, and that affected the confidence level and conviction of the players. With a more cohesive -- and better -- defensive staff in place for 2020, I am very confident that group is going to make a substantial jump this fall.
If anything has changed since practice started, it's that I'm starting to get a little more confident about the offense. I'm not predicting that it's going to be outstanding in Year One of the Mike Norvell Era, but I think it might be more efficient than I might have thought. I think all of the time the coaches and players spent on Zoom during the quarantine might have really paid off from a knowledge standpoint. The players seem very confident in what they have learned, and the coaches have echoed those sentiments. The key, of course, will be what improvement we see from the offensive line and the quarterbacks. But if there were any concerns about the players adjusting to another new offensive system, I think those have been somewhat alleviated.
