Nick Saban doesn’t understand the rush to cancel college football season
By Mark Powell
With Power-5 conferences under pressure to decide whether or not they’ll have a fall college football season, Nick Saban is preaching patience
Like most college football coaches, Saban wants to play a 2020 season for the sake of his players. The Alabama Crimson Tide are among the favorites in the SEC West, but if there is no season to play, then none of that matters. Saban, never afraid to speak him mind, thinks the SEC should take their time in making a final call on the fall campaign.
The conference initially opted to wait until students returned to campus, especially after commissioner Greg Sankey delayed the start of the conference season. In a statement made on Twitter, Sankey appears to be sticking to his guns, hoping such a decision is made more clear once the fall semester starts.
What is the SEC waiting for?
“It’s going to be a challenge when the other students get on campus, and I get that,” Saban said, per ESPN. “But we really don’t know what that entails until it happens. It’s a big reason we pushed the season back (in the SEC), to assess that, which is the prudent way to do it.”
The Big Ten wasted no time, making a final decision to cancel their fall 2020 slate on Monday morning. Players and coaches have since questioned that ruling, with some schools even rumored to be considering joining either the Big 12 or SEC, should the option become available.
Saban’s voice is as powerful as any in the SEC, and his insistence that the conference remain steady rather than overreact is a good sign for student-athletes that would rather play than return to their respective homes or campus without a purpose.
“Our guys aren’t going to catch (the virus) on the football field. They’re going to catch it on campus,” Saban added. “The argument then should probably be, ‘We shouldn’t be having school.’ That’s the argument. Why is it, ‘We shouldn’t be playing football?’ Why has that become the argument?”
This, of course, is a larger debate altogether.
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