The Southern Conference on Thursday became the latest FCS conference to postpone fall sports until the spring amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Samford’s 2020 football season hanging in the balance.
The postponement affects only conference play, however, allowing for non-conference games “if desired.” The Bulldogs have a lucrative non-conference game scheduled at Florida State on Sept. 12, in addition to a home game against Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference on Sept. 5.
In a Zoom meeting with reporters Thursday, Samford athletics director Martin Newton said “no decision has been made” regarding the Bulldogs’ non-conference games this fall, in any sport.
“We still have a lot of decisions to be made,” Newton said. “We’ve been in constant contact with all of our non-conference opponents, and trying to figure that out right now. I’d love to tell you that I’ve got an answer right now today, but I still think there’s a lot of moving parts. And most importantly, the health and safety of our student athletes and coaches, and wanting to be sure if we were to play some of those non-conference games — not just in football, but also with soccer, volleyball, cross country as well.
“We’ve got some decisions to be made there, but no decision has been made today. I promise you this will be a late night and an early morning again trying to figure that out.”
All three of state’s Group of 5 schools — UAB, Troy and South Alabama — have a non-conference slot available on their schedule after other conferences canceled games. Though he did not reveal which ones, Newton said “our phone has been ringing” with potential opponents inquiring about setting up a game with the Bulldogs.
“We have had conversations with a lot of different schools,” Newton said, “the Group of 5 especially — Conference USA, Sun Belt, some of those schools. ... Our phone has been ringing. I told them I’m the most popular guy in the room right now. We’ve had a lot of conversations, but again, until we get feedback from our student-athletes, get a gauge on what they want to do, we’re going to hit the pause button and really think through all of the different scenarios.”
Samford quarterback Chris Oladokun was left wondering about the logic of such a move:
Earlier Thursday, the SoCon released the following statement from commissioner Jim Schaus:
“This decision was made with extensive evaluation and conversation. Ultimately, we felt it necessary to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff. This decision was also supported by the conference’s medical advisory committee. “I am greatly saddened to not be able to conduct our fall conference competition. We know what this means to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and loyal fans, but safety must come first. We are still hopeful that we can have these sports successfully compete in the spring. We will continue to daily monitor the COVID-19 situation in order to make prudent and necessary decisions regarding athletic practice and competition in the future.”