Ohio State football parents are speaking out against the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the college football season to the spring.
In the aftermath of the Big Ten announced that it would cancel all sports for this upcoming fall, including college football, there has been a lot of criticism directed towards the conference officials.
The Big Ten officially announced their decision on Aug. 11, but many coaches, players, and parents disagree with the cancellation.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has expressed disappointment in the decision, saying that his program made all the necessary commitments to practicing and preparing for the season safely. And Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has also expressed his disappointment and even went onto say that his squad will explore all other options that could allow them to play in the fall.
Players have expressed discontent as well, and Buckeyes star quarterback Justin Fields took to Twitter, as rumors were beginning to spread about the season being canceled, to convey his desire to play.
But now, a new entity within Big Ten programs are speaking out with various parents of Ohio State football players expressing outrage at the way the conference went about making their decision.
“The Big Ten had months to develop a strategic plan but instead chose to leave it up to each individual school creating confusion, inconsistency and no plan of action,” the letter stated, via ESPN. “There is time to fix the wrongdoings and come out as leaders. We strongly encourage the Big Ten to reconsider playing the fall college football season, develop a plan of meaningful action and letting these young adults be included in the decision-making process.”
. @OhioStateFB parents have joined @HawkeyeFootball parents today in asking @B1Gfootball to reconsider its decision to postpone fall sports. pic.twitter.com/l2NUte5DnF
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) August 15, 2020
Parents of Ohio State football and Iowa players wrote the Big Ten about the decision to postpone the football season with hopes they’ll change their minds.
Kristina Miller, the mother of Buckeyes sophomore offensive lineman Harry Miller, wrote her own letter to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren stating her discontent with how the conference has handled communicating their decisions.
Miller later went onto say she found out that the season had been canceled through the media and that the Big Ten didn’t even bother to notify parents of their decision.
Corey Teague, the father of Ohio State running back Master Teague III, is also unhappy with the decision and is upset players weren’t able to be involved in this decision.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Teague. “It’s something that needs more explanation because when you go in a certain direction and days later it changes, and no one has spoken to anyone else, and players weren’t able to be involved in this decision, and the protocols that were put in by Ohio State were very successful. It’s unfortunate and I don’t know if it’s shortsightedness there, lack of leadership, but it’s definitely something that needs to be rectified and more dialogue needs to happen. It’s just a very messy situation, and we want to clean it up.”
The Big Ten ultimately made the smart and cautious decision by canceling fall sports, especially since Ohio State, Michigan State, and Rutgers all had COVID-19 outbreaks within their team that forced them to stop practicing. But it does not excuse the lack of communication from the conference and leaving every program in the dark while they were making a decision.