As colleges across the nation return to some sense of normalcy COVID-19 rolls on. In recent week we have seen multiple campuses have huge COVID-19 spikes as kids who are coming from all over return to the campus. Now the students safety should always be the first priority with that being said COVID-19 is impacting everything in colleges. From social gatherings, to the classroom to the sports of said college. For Notre Dame who looked to be a trend setter with little to no COVID-19 cases before students had officially returned has seen a spike in recent weeks. Other than being recognized as a top academic institution Notre Dame is also one of the most well known Football Schools in America. As students move to virtual learning for the next two weeks. Fall Sports are being put “on hold”.
So what does this mean for Notre Dame football? It could be an end to the season as we know it. So where to from here if the season is canceled or postponed? In my honest opinion the season will be over and we will see Notre Dame Football return next year in the fall. Playing in the Spring will not work here’s why:
If your state is like mine (Illinois) they have postponed high school fall sports and won’t play until the spring, but lets take a step back and think what that actually entails.
Scheduling Wise:
Let’s say that the first Notre Dame game is March 6th because thats the first Saturday in March. Assuming you play 12 weeks of football with a bye week you would end in June and June 5th to be exact. With this timeline you would have skipped the Blue and Gold Game which is in April. Players will miss the combine for the NFL and even the draft. When would Notre Dame’s Pro Day be? The NFL would have to be ok with college football moving to the spring due to the impact it would have.
Are we forgetting about basketball? Why in the world would the NCAA want the two biggest revenue getters in collegiate sports competing against each other in basketball football? The nation would be extremely divided sports wise. Regions that are basketball hot beds would not be tuning into football games like they would be if football was being played in the fall. This is yet another reason why it wouldn’t work.
You now have less than three months before the start of the next season since your in June and a fall season starts in September maybe even August depending on the year. So the biggest question remains how is that safe for the players both physically and mentally?
We haven’t even mentioned recruiting a lot of recruits that are on the fence about specific schools would have made their mind up about the said program they are wanting to go into. Plus South Bend is a cold place in the start of “spring” it’s not a place like LA, or Miami that is nice year round. It seems superficial but recruits want to see the campus in all it’s glory.
Football should either happen this fall or not all. Plain and simple, it stinks but these athletes have their future to worry about. It’s very easy for us to say oh well this needs happen when were not on the front lines like they are. There are too many factors working against Notre Dame football if there isn’t a fall a season.