Big South football season not dependent on SEC and ACC COVID-19 plan, league says
With the COVID-19 pandemic as its backdrop, the Big South Conference seemed to do everything it could Tuesday to conduct a “business as usual” football media day.
The conference sent out its preseason team rankings. It named its preseason offensive and defensive players of the year. And its commissioner told reporters via Zoom video call that the Big South plans to have a safe, successful football season — even if the conference’s schools can’t cash out on its games against FBS opponents.
“You can’t deny that it’s important,” league Commissioner Kyle Kallander said of Big South schools playing FBS and Power 5 schools. “You can’t deny that it’s important from a revenue standpoint, from a competitive standpoint, from an opportunity standpoint. Our student-athletes love to play those games.
“But we’ve talked about this. If the ACC and the SEC decide they’re going to play conference-only schedules, so (our games) are either postponed or canceled, we want to move forward with our schedule. So that will not be a deciding factor for us of whether or not we’ll play football this year.”
Several Big South schools are playing FBS opponents this season — some against Power 5 conferences. Charleston Southern is scheduled to play Arkansas Oct. 3. Gardner-Webb travels to Georgia Tech Sept. 12. And North Alabama will play Virginia Tech Sept. 26 and then BYU in its last game of the regular season.
These games bring in substantial revenue for Big South schools. In 2018, Gardner-Webb got paid $280,000 for playing Appalachian State. In 2019, Charleston Southern was paid $400,000 for playing South Carolina.
The games are also great opportunities for program exposure, and players look forward to them. When asked about his chance to line up against the Razorbacks this season, Charleston Southern wide receiver Garris Schwarting shed a smile.
“Personally, I’m really excited,” Schwarting said. “Last year, I didn’t get to play against Carolina, our big game, because I was injured. So I’m looking forward to playing against a big team like that in a big stadium.”
His teammate, Justin McIntire, echoed Schwarting: “We love the big stage. We love putting CSU on a national stage where everyone can watch us and watch our football ministry play. So the more games we get like that, the better.”
But what if these games don’t pan out because of coronavirus?
Earlier this month, the Big Ten announced that it would not play in any non-conference games this fall. Big Ten officials said the decision gave them “flexibility,” making it easier to cancel conference games and adjust when certain areas have spikes in positive COVID-19 cases. The Pac-12 followed the Big Ten’s lead a few days later.
Kallander said the conference is “certainly financially viable” if the so-called “money games” aren’t on the schedule.
“Is it easy? No,” Kallander said. “Is it significant revenue? Yes. But we’re certainly able to move forward, and it’s just a matter of being responsible with how you’re operating the program.”
Big South talks safety, COVID-19 testing
The commissioner, as well as Big South Conference football coaches and players, was asked Tuesday about his concerns with having a football season during the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, over a dozen Miami Marlins players reportedly tested positive for COVD-19. On June 26, The State reported that 37 Clemson football players tested positive for coronavirus since testing began in early June. On July 10, Clemson revealed that the school had recorded six additional positive cases. The school most recently reported no active cases.
Kallander said the conference is developing “guidelines” for how a fall sports season would look in the age of COVID-19. He mentioned that there isn’t a simple way to standardize testing across the conference — particularly because extensive testing isn’t cheap.
“We were talking about the testing challenges, and having the resources to be able to cover those expenses is a real concern,” Kallander said. He then indulged the hypothetical of his member schools losing their revenue-generating games. “Clearly, if you’re losing the guarantee games but you’re increasing your expenses, that presents another challenge, and those are all factors we have to consider in our decision-making process.”
Campbell head coach Mike Minter was transparent about his team’s coronavirus protocols. He said the football team began bringing groups of players back for voluntary workouts June 15. When players and coaches first got on campus, they were tested for coronavirus. Each day they work out, they’re required to fill out forms and have their symptoms checked.
“We did have two positive tests with kids coming back,” Minter said. “All of those kids are fine. They were able to be quarantined for 14 days, get re-tested. You gotta be negative twice after that positive test in order to rejoin the team.”
Campbell’s quarterback and the Big South’s preseason offensive player of the year Hajj-Malik Williams said he understands the concern some might have for playing football this year.
“As much as we want to play football, we definitely understand there’s a lot going on in our country,” he said. “The trust we have within the team that everybody will do their jobs to wear their masks when they go out or stay in or really be around each other less — that’s where the confidence comes from, being comfortable going out there and competing.”
Remaining questions ahead for Big South football
Even though the commissioner and the Big South’s coaches and players were candid in their answers on Tuesday, uncertainty remains ahead of the Big South’s football season.
The league announced last month that its fall sports season would start Sept. 3. But will that change if in-person instruction is pushed back, or if students aren’t allowed to be in campus dorms? (Winthrop, a member of the Big South that doesn’t host a football team, announced Monday that it would push back its in-person instruction start date two weeks after classes begin. Winthrop Athletics, through a spokesperson, said that the department is currently preparing to have a safe fall sports season, but that discussions about fall sports continue to be ongoing.)
Also, the NCAA Board of Governors is meeting on Aug. 4, and they the potential to make a decision on all fall championships then. What happens if the NCAA rules out the FCS playoffs? Does it make sense for the Big South to play football?
“We haven’t answered that question yet,” Kallander said. “We’ve talked about spring ball a little bit. We’ve always taken the approach like that’s a last resort for us, so I think some of that will depend on what’s happening around us. You know, obviously we don’t want to be the only conference that’s out there left standing.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
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