SEC football schedule decision was a major domino. So what’s next for Gamecocks?
The South Carolina football team will attempt to play 10 games this fall, but there are still several logistical hurdles to clear before the Gamecocks can take the field.
Athletics director Ray Tanner outlined the program’s next steps during a Zoom video call with reporters on Friday, one day after the Southeastern Conference announced it would move to a 10-game, conference-only schedule that kicks off Sept. 26.
While Tanner lamented the loss of USC’s rivalry game against Clemson — a game that has been played for 111 consecutive years — he said he thought the SEC’s plan gave the conference its best chance to play a season and crown a champion.
“You know, this was talked about numerous times on our calls, that while we were trying to play 10 conference games, we might not be able to do that based on the situation with COVID,” Tanner said. “So we’re trying to get it in position to determine a conference champion. That was first and foremost what we’re going to do in our conference.”
Starting Sept. 26, the Gamecocks will play 10 conference games in 12 weeks, with two open dates reserved for makeup games. Tanner said it was his understanding that USC will maintain the eight SEC matchups it already has on its schedule, but the Gamecocks do not yet know who their additional two conference opponents will be. That decision will come down from the SEC, Tanner said.
USC’s original schedule had home games vs. Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Georgia; and road games at Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt and LSU.
Of course, in order to play, COVID-19 will need to cooperate. Tanner said that safety was the top priority and that if issues arise, “we’ll pivot as we did back in the spring.”
“It is a concern,” Tanner said. “I mean, I think every day that I wake up, I get a report on our student-athletes that are the ones that are on campus right now training for the fall. And those percentages are very positive for us in our little bubble that we’re working out.
“It’s certainly not like the NBA or the WNBA. Major League Baseball has had its ups and downs. I think there was another negative [MLB] report today, and that’s a concern. I mean, you would expect that when the students come back, there’s going to be some sort of spike. Hopefully, it won’t be too, too bad for the university. But it’s only natural that you bring in a lot of people back that that would be the case.”
With its bubble on the Disney World sports campus, the NBA has seemingly been successful in its return to action, at least in the early going. The league announced Wednesday that of 344 players in the bubble, zero tested positive. Major League Baseball has seen less success, with several positive cases postponing games around the country. The Marlins alone have 20 reported positive cases, leading some national pundits to suggest that the season itself could be in jeopardy.
Could the Gamecocks and other SEC schools attempt to mirror the NBA’s bubble with their safety procedures for student-athletes?
“I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to be in place any more than our regular student body,” Tanner said. “I mean, the social distancing and the masking are the most important things you can do, if you read all the reports. ... That is what we got to work with right now. Habits have to change right now. We’re not in a situation of normalcy. And you know, whether it’s a young person going to class or after class or back in the dorm, we have to emphasize the masking and the social distancing.”
Tanner said that discussions about safety guidelines and testing protocols for athletes are still ongoing and will be finalized before competition takes place. USC’s football players have been on campus since early June and were allowed to begin walk-throughs with coaches on July 24. Training camp is currently set for Aug. 6, and that date likely won’t change, Tanner said. However, with the season now scheduled to start Sept. 26, the Gamecocks might put more emphasis on conditioning earlier in the month before ramping up in late August.
As for fan attendance at Williams-Brice Stadium, Tanner said the Gamecocks plan to submit a waiver to the S.C. Department of Commerce to allow more than 250 fans into the facility. Gov. Henry McMaster released new guidelines easing restrictions on sports stadiums earlier this week, and the USC athletic department is working on a presentation detailing stadium safety guidelines.
Tanner said the hope was for around 20,000 fans to be able to attend South Carolina games — roughly 25% of Williams-Brice Stadium’s capacity.
“You got to go deep into the weeds with the ingress and egress, the social distancing, common areas concessions,” Tanner said of the presentation. “It won’t be the same ... but we’ll still try to provide an experience if we have the opportunity to play college football.”
That “if” is key, and Tanner acknowledged the fluidity of the current situation. Many high-profile athletes have opted out of the NBA, MLB and NFL seasons, and it’s possible that college athletes could follow that route. Tanner said he hasn’t heard any chatter of Gamecocks opting out.
“Nobody has expressed that to me,” Tanner said. “I think there’s been some dialogue exchange here and there. I think you’ve seen a little bit of it around the country. But you know, I think the conversation more is about, ‘Are we going to play?’
“And to this point, our football team specifically didn’t have a schedule, and now they have a schedule. So I think that’ll probably change the mentality a little bit there with some optimism that, ‘OK, now we know exactly what we’re going to do.’ But I think you’ve seen a couple of situations around the country where players have opted out, and our young men, young women certainly will have that option if they don’t feel comfortable being here and participating, and their scholarships will be honored.”
Other quotes and notes from Friday’s press conference:
“The opportunity that is lost is our non-conference games. ... Everybody wants to talk about Clemson and the loss of the rivalry. Certainly that’s important. We lost three other games, as well. We tried. We tried diligently. I know (Clemson athletics director) Dan Radakovich and I have been talking for weeks about doing our very best to somehow keep that game on the schedule. In the end, we were unsuccessful in doing that. We all wanted to play that game. There’s no question about that,” Tanner said about the SEC’s conference-only schedule.
Tanner said he hopes to be able to reschedule the football games against East Carolina, Wofford and Coastal Carolina that were originally scheduled for this fall. “We want to reschedule the games as soon as we possibly can and maintain the relationships that we’ve had,” Tanner said.
The football team has discussed implementing new face shields and other kinds of protective equipment into USC’s 2020 uniforms, Tanner said. Fellow SEC school Louisiana State revealed its own face shield design Friday.
The NCAA announced Thursday that it would allow student-athletes in all sports to wear uniform patches to support social justice issues. Tanner expressed support for that decision. “Well, I’m gonna support our student-athletes,” he said. “I think you know me well enough that I believe in the First Amendment and will support our student-athletes and their feelings and the things that we can do. I know that it’s gonna vary probably from team to team as to what their passion may be, but they certainly will be supported by me in the action they would like to take.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 6:15 AM with the headline "SEC football schedule decision was a major domino. So what’s next for Gamecocks?."
