Nearly four hours after it began, University of Alabama System chancellor Finis St. John on Tuesday afternoon got to address the White House summit on reopening schools.
A few moments after that, President Donald Trump had a question for St. John at the East Room gathering. It’s the question of the month in Alabama, and apparently, the nation’s capital.
“And will Alabama be playing some great football?” Trump asked St. John. “What’s going on with Alabama?”
With that, the chancellor leaned back into his microphone.
“Mr. President, that’s not the first time we’ve heard that question,” he said. “I can promise you.”
The roundtable crowd laughed before St. John could complete his answer.
“We are planning to play the season at the University of Alabama,” he continued. “Understand that creates great difficulties and complexities. It’s important to a lot of people. But we’re doing our best on that one.”
The Crimson Tide has been back on campus since early June doing voluntary workouts ahead of the Sept. 5 scheduled opener with USC. Football-specific workouts can begin next Monday in Tuscaloosa under revised rules forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Say hello to the coach,” Trump said to St. John after his answer, referring to Nick Saban. “Great coach.”
Trump has a history with Alabama football. He’s twice attended games -- first the 2018 national title game in Atlanta before coming to Tuscaloosa for the highly anticipated game with LSU last November.
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And back in April, Trump mentioned Alabama football in one of his coronavirus press briefings.
“Our normal is if you have 100,00 people in an Alabama football game or 110,000 to be specific,” Trump said. “Normal” is not going to be a game where you have 50,000. We want 110,000 people there. We want every seat occupied. Normal is not going to be a game where we have 50,000.”
Bryant-Denny Stadium’s capacity is listed at 101,821.
Before being asked about football, St. John spoke for nearly three minutes about the academic side of the operation. As one of a few dozen speakers, the chancellor touted the university system’s plan to reenter the classroom this fall.
The plan is to have all students tested for the coronavirus before they return to campus in August “so that those who need isolation can do that at home and we can begin the school year,” he said.
“Our students are yearning to come back to campus,” St. John said. “They want to be there. It has reaffirmed the value of on-campus instruction in our institutions of higher learning.”
Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.