It took some time but Kevin Sumlin has come to terms with the postponement of the Pac-12 football season this fall. The league recently made the choice to push its plans for football to the spring allowing the conference to have some more time to figure out just how to safely approach a return to play with the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting different parts of the country including Arizona.
The Wildcats have not rushed a return to campus this summer and even paused their reentry plan because of a rise in coronavirus cases around Tucson.
Sumlin has stood by the decisions of the school and athletic department and continues to do so, but knowing that he won't be on the sidelines this fall is something that didn't initially sit well with the the third-year UA coach.
"First you gotta tell me, right?" Sumlin said Tuesday during a virtual media session with reporters when asked about delivering the news of a postponed season to his team. "So, let's start there. We're all human. It affected me. I knew a little bit before the announcement happened. Obviously some people saw me and knew something was up because I wasn't myself that day either but that's our job."
Right now Sumlin is in a difficult position as a head coach in Pac-12 because he doesn't have all the answers to questions that his players have. There is no clear path to playing football in the spring as it stands now. There isn't an official plan and there are plenty of questions Sumlin has himself about how it will all come together once the calendar changes to 2021.
"As I told our guys, I don't know what's gonna happen," he said. "I think the communication piece with our players and with their families ... we have been as transparent as humanly possible with everything that's gone on. I think our players and parents have understood that."
The NCAA is expected to pass a ruling that will allow teams that are looking to play football in the spring opportunities to practice this fall in a limited capacity in the interim. Sumlin said his team is going through NFL "OTA" type of workouts as it stands now and his focus is on more development ahead of a possible spring season.
However, he has plenty of concerns when it comes to certain aspects of a shifted calendar and the viability of a spring football season.
"Once that decision is made, now what?" Sumlin said. "And I think what we've worked on and what we're working on constantly is the plan for now what. What's that gonna look like? Is there going to be a spring season? When and if so, when is that gonna happen?"
Sumlin also has concerns about eligibility for players. Upon announcing its decision to postpone the spring football season the Pac-12 leaders expressed their plan to push the NCAA for extended eligibility for players impacted by the decision. The NCAA could end up voting on a decision pertaining to that matter this week, but clarity is what Sumlin wants to have his plan in place moving ahead.
It is unclear how programs like Arizona are going to be expected to handle incoming players in a spring season when it will still have seniors waiting to play their final season when midyear transfers begin arriving to campus in January. UA has certainly supported its recruits that have wanted to enroll early but that could make things tricky from a scholarship standpoint if many of the current members of the 2021 class decide they want to begin their college careers early and play in the spring season.
How that will all be handled is something Sumlin has at the forefront of his mind right now.
"The challenge is what it looks like in Tucson right now, particularly on our campus which is pretty good, may look different in Los Angeles County or in Oregon," Sumlin said about how the Pac-12 has many things to consider as it moves ahead. "So, the challenge is what may be OK in the Bay Area for our particular situation might be a lot different challenge in Southern California or Oregon, which I think people have already discussed that.
"... If we go we go, if we don't then I think there's gotta be a conversation about what scenario that means for our players' eligibilities whether they're seniors, whether they're first-year guys and what that looks like. So, there are a lot of conversations that are coming down the road. Not just what spring football looks like to play."
The Pac-12 is currently allowing teams to work for 20 hours per week allowing coaches to have some face time with their players. The league also said each school will honor the scholarship of any player who opts to sit out the upcoming season because of concerns over the pandemic.
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