Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Strong CU Leadership Provides Positive Signs For Buffs
May 02, 2020 | General, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Maybe the only thing certain about the future of college sports — immediate and long term — is that uncertainty is still the rule of the day as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.
Nobody can predict with anything close to guaranteed accuracy when the next college football season will begin. The potential scenarios are still myriad, and administrators from schools and the NCAA are in almost daily communication as they try to prepare for whatever scenario might finally unfold.
"I think it's too early to predict," Colorado Athletic Director Rick George told the media earlier this week. "There's been too much out there about different scenarios, and as we see what happens around our country and our states and in our communities, I think there will be maybe a little more clarity brought to that. But I don't think I'm in a position to discuss what that could look like because there's multiple scenarios out there."
George is correct in declining to make a prediction just for the sake of making a little news. Even though he is one of the most well-connected and well-informed athletic directors in the nation, offering even his best educated guess is still a road he would rather not travel. There is no need at this point to either unnecessarily elevate or dash the hopes of student-athletes, fans, boosters and donors. Colorado's AD is a man of data and analysis, and walking out on the ledge of prognostication without plenty of both in his pocket isn't his style.
But there are still some quietly promising signs in the college sports world in general and on the CU campus in particular.
Friday, in a letter to CU Boulder faculty, staff and students, CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano wrote, "I'd like to share some substantive progress in our plans to deliver an innovative, COVID-19-ready campus experience for fall 2020 and beyond."
The key words there are "campus experience." It means CU officials are diligently planning for the opportunity to welcome students back to campus for classes in the fall — something most officials across the nation quietly see as a prerequisite for having a football season (or any other sports).
Earlier this week, the CU campus issued a notice that the "Maymester" and summer sessions scheduled to start in June and July in Boulder will be conducted in an online, remote or hybrid remote/online format.
But they haven't yet reached a final decision on the August session, and Friday's letter offered some optimistic news when it comes to the regular fall semester on the Boulder campus.
DiStefano's offering is clearly a preliminary look at what the CU planning team is developing. As the chancellor noted, the initial progress was aided by literally hundreds of suggestions from campus and community members, as well as input and feedback from deans, senior leadership, department chairs and directors. The campus experience model for the fall is still in its infant stages — but it nevertheless offers a reason for optimism.
Understand, the model isn't being developed for the sake of college athletics. But there's also no question that a resumption of college sports is connected to having a campus experience for students. If students are welcomed back to campus, that includes student-athletes, the first step in seeing football on Saturdays in Folsom Field.
In his letter, DiStefano said some key themes for providing a campus experience have emerged. They include:
-
An academic instruction model that is clear and responsive so we can implement it effectively and adapt quickly to the potential for changing circumstances surrounding COVID-19.
-
A campus experience that ensures the utmost COVID-19 risk mitigation we can achieve, as well as a strong commitment by every one of us to keep everyone on campus and in our surrounding communities as safe as possible. This challenge will require scaling of our existing testing, tracing and personal protective measures based on lessons we will learn during a phased return to research operations this summer.
-
The flexibility for students, faculty and staff to participate equitably—and particularly those with specific risk factors related to the pandemic—either in-person or remotely based on their roles, individual needs and circumstances.
-
The resource alignment necessary to support the model and enable academic and campus units to efficiently deliver the necessary technology, policies, training, infrastructure, communication, service and support to sustain our community this fall.
This is, of course, the first step in a complicated process that could very well change as more data becomes available. As DiStefano noted, the planning team will continue to engage all stakeholders and collect as much information as possible as it develops its recommendations.
CU is one of many major institutions across the nation beginning to make careful plans to welcome students back in the fall and making those intentions public. Other schools include Pac-12 brethren Oregon, Washington State, Arizona and Arizona State. That's a promising sign for athletic departments whose budgets depend heavily on football income.
Meanwhile, George and his team within CU Athletics will continue to study all the possible scenarios and make plans accordingly.
Obviously, those plans must cover immense territory, ranging from budget considerations for the upcoming fiscal year to how many weeks a football team might need to safely prepare for the rigors of a season. Other questions yet to be answered are such things as the possibility of some states — and thus some institutions — having different rules apply when it comes to dealing with the pandemic.
Those are just some of the issues George and his team must be prepared to address.
But what Colorado will not do is rush student-athletes back into competition without proper preparation.
"Health and safety is going to be a priority and having those discussions with the proper medical officials is important," George said. "We'll continue to be in the conversations about what that looks like. And at the appropriate time, maybe there is a little more clarity, we'll make those decisions.?"
As for the possibility of states "opening" under different circumstances and timelines, George said it's simply another obstacle that must be studied and addressed.
"Certainly with different states opening at different times, it's hard to have uniformity when that happens," he noted. "Those are part of the discussion that our different groups are having within our conferences and at the NCAA level about what does that mean? What does that look like? There are different start dates and to be able to have uniformity may be difficult, may be challenging. How do we deal with that? I think those are discussions that are being had that will develop and we will learn more as we move forward."
Meanwhile, George continues to stress that his department's first priority will be the health and well-being of the student-athletes. He is making it clear that he is adamantly opposed to eliminating a sport as a money-saving measure, and he and his head coaches have already agreed to take pay cuts for the next fiscal year. It is textbook leadership from the top.
No doubt, the future is still unclear. Even as administrators across the nation can begin to rule out some of the most unlikely scenarios, there are still too many unknowns to make any kind of educated prediction about the 2020 college football season.
But there are some positive signs, and University of Colorado officials — from President Mark Kennedy to DiStefano to George — are preparing to make sound decisions based on the best available information.
It is a clear signal that in a time when uncertainty reigns, we at least know this much: CU's leadership is strong. While CU officials aren't in the business of playing the public guessing game, they are quietly preparing for the day when the real games are played again — and the Buffs will be ready when that day comes.
That's great news for every Colorado fan.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
