Urban Meyer says “no chance” of college football in the spring
By: Griffin Strom - BuckeyeGrove.com
With the Ivy League’s decision to postpone its fall sports until at least January on Wednesday, further discussion around the logistics of a spring college football season has come to light.
If you ask former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, though, it’s no option at all.
“You talk about student-athlete welfare – no chance. You’re not doing that,” Meyer said on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff: The Offseason show Wednesday.
Meyer’s concerns are centered around the quick turnaround that players would have to endure to transition from a season in the spring before trying to put the college football schedule back on track with a fall season just a few months later.
“When you play 2,000 competitive reps, your body is not ready for contact in three months or two months. It’s not,” Meyer said. “I would not put those players in harm’s way.”
Meyer said many of the sport’s star players would likely choose not to participate in a spring season in order to prepare for a future in the NFL.
“If I’m Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields or [Chris] Olave, some of these high, high draft picks, I’m not playing,” Meyer said. “I’m getting to go make some money and go earn a living and support my family.”
But Meyer isn't out on a limb with his thoughts on the subject.
On the same panel, FOX analysts and former collegiate football players Joel Klatt, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart each raised concerns of their own.
“I think going to the spring is an absolutely terrible idea. I think it’s atrocious, and I think the leagues that do it are setting themselves up for real failure and player safety issues in the fall of 2021,” Klatt said.
Bush and Leinart, who each won a Heisman Trophy during their time together at USC in the 2000s, both said that players would need more time to recover than a spring season would allot.
Leinart said that because coaches and teams will do anything to play, that a spring season may end up being a last resort, but said that doesn’t mean it will avoid many legitimate trepidations.
No immediate follow up from the Power Five football conferences has been leveled since the Ivy League announced its decision Wednesday, but the starting dates for mandatory preseason workouts ahead of fall camp are quickly approaching.
On Monday, NJ.com reported that new Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway expects the Big Ten to make a decision on the coming football season within two weeks.
Ohio State halted all voluntary workouts taking place on campus Wednesday after receiving its latest COVID-19 testing results for student-athletes, although figures regarding positive tests were not made public.
By: Griffin Strom - BuckeyeGrove.com
With the Ivy League’s decision to postpone its fall sports until at least January on Wednesday, further discussion around the logistics of a spring college football season has come to light.
If you ask former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, though, it’s no option at all.
“You talk about student-athlete welfare – no chance. You’re not doing that,” Meyer said on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff: The Offseason show Wednesday.
Meyer’s concerns are centered around the quick turnaround that players would have to endure to transition from a season in the spring before trying to put the college football schedule back on track with a fall season just a few months later.
“When you play 2,000 competitive reps, your body is not ready for contact in three months or two months. It’s not,” Meyer said. “I would not put those players in harm’s way.”
Meyer said many of the sport’s star players would likely choose not to participate in a spring season in order to prepare for a future in the NFL.
“If I’m Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields or [Chris] Olave, some of these high, high draft picks, I’m not playing,” Meyer said. “I’m getting to go make some money and go earn a living and support my family.”
But Meyer isn't out on a limb with his thoughts on the subject.
On the same panel, FOX analysts and former collegiate football players Joel Klatt, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart each raised concerns of their own.
“I think going to the spring is an absolutely terrible idea. I think it’s atrocious, and I think the leagues that do it are setting themselves up for real failure and player safety issues in the fall of 2021,” Klatt said.
Bush and Leinart, who each won a Heisman Trophy during their time together at USC in the 2000s, both said that players would need more time to recover than a spring season would allot.
Leinart said that because coaches and teams will do anything to play, that a spring season may end up being a last resort, but said that doesn’t mean it will avoid many legitimate trepidations.
No immediate follow up from the Power Five football conferences has been leveled since the Ivy League announced its decision Wednesday, but the starting dates for mandatory preseason workouts ahead of fall camp are quickly approaching.
On Monday, NJ.com reported that new Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway expects the Big Ten to make a decision on the coming football season within two weeks.
Ohio State halted all voluntary workouts taking place on campus Wednesday after receiving its latest COVID-19 testing results for student-athletes, although figures regarding positive tests were not made public.
