Pac-12 football season on the brink – The Register-Guard

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and the conferences player unity group exchanged letters on Friday in the aftermath of their video conference the night before.

The two sides arent exactly pen pals.

And the prospect of a Pac-12 football season being played in the fall appears extremely precarious with fall camps looming Aug. 17.

"I think I speak for a lot of players when I say that we as college athletes would love to play football this upcoming season," former Sheldon High standout and current Arizona State offensive lineman Cody Shear told The Register-Guard on Saturday. "We're approaching this rapidly, and it kind of seems like we're walking into a season full of a lot of unknowns. And I think that it would be extremely beneficial to the majority of the Pac-12 student-athletes to kind of know what they're walking into as far as this upcoming season goes for a variety of reasons."

Shear was among the 18 leaders of the #WeAreUnited movement including Oregon defensive back Jevon Holland and Oregon State defensive back Jaydon Grant who signed a letter to Scott expressing dissatisfaction with the conferences response to their call for more COVID-19 testing and other demands the group made public last Sunday.

"In no uncertain terms, this is a matter of life or death for student-athletes during these difficult times," the player letter read. "This needs to be handled with a sense of urgency, compassion, and fidelity to scientific best practices as fall camp begins in 10 days."

The Pac-12s revised 10-game conference-only slate is scheduled to start Sept. 26, with Oregon hosting Colorado at Autzen Stadium and Oregon State hosting California at Reser Stadium.

But Scott, who misspelled Hollands first name in his letter, was only able to promise the players that their demands for enhanced testing and safety protocols would be addressed by the Pac-12s medical advisory committee.

"I wanted to thank all of you for the passion and honesty with which you spoke (Thursday) evening," Scott wrote. "We will work on gathering the information listed above and providing it to you as soon as possible."

The Pac-12 is quickly running out of time to get everyone on the same page as the college football dominoes continue to topple.

On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference became the first FBS conference to cancel its season with the hope of playing a spring schedule. FBS independent UConn pulled the plug on its season Wednesday.

The FCS playoffs were canceled Friday when the Big Sky Conference, home of Portland State, became the seventh FCS conference to cancel its fall season.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, whose conference was the first to cancel nonconference games including Ohio States anticipated Sept. 12 game at Oregon would prefer pushing the season to the spring, according to a report by the Detroit Free Press.

The Big Ten, which shares a geographic footprint with the MAC, announced Saturday it is delaying the start of full-contact practices.

"It's hard to go conference by conference," Shear, who started his collegiate career at Oregon before transferring to Arizona State, said of his reaction to the cancellation of fall seasons across the country. "Obviously, college football is a business and it is run and generated on money. Not all conferences make the same revenue.

"The main topic that we're kind of looking at right now is we understand how much money these programs are bringing in, and I think it's only fair that the players get to come together and have a voice about what's going on for collegiate athletics, especially around the world as far as the pandemic, as well as the racial injustice issues."

In addition to NFL-style daily testing for fall camps, the Pac-12 player unity group wants the conference to put in writing that all liability waivers from individual schools are not forcible.

"Our deepest fear is the Pac-12s negligent return to play may result in a member of our Pac-12 family dying due to COVID-19," Holland told Scott, Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson and Utah athletic director Mark Harlan during the video conference, according to the player letter.

Pac-12 athletes who choose not to play sports this fall over concerns related to the coronavirus will still have their scholarships honored. It is still to be determined by the NCAA Board of Governors whether or not players will retain or lose a year of eligibility if the season is canceled.

During Thursdays meeting, players also raised concerns over Washington States Dallas Hobbs and Kassidy Woods, who are opting out of the season, experiencing "unlawful retaliation" for exercising their First Amendment right to support the #WeAreUnited movement.

"It was not very productive," former Oregon and current California offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso told the New York Times of the interaction with Scott. "We did not come away with many answers. He made it very clear that he does not want to meet again."

The cancellation of football, on the heels of the lucrative NCAA mens basketball tournament being canceled for the first time ever in March, would be devastating financially for the Pac-12.

Football revenue accounts for over 70% of Oregons athletic department budget. The defending Pac-12 champion Ducks are favored to repeat and enter the 2020 season ranked No. 9 in the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll.

According a report by the San Jose Mercury News, the Pac-12 has secured a loan program for its member institutions of up to $83 million per school to cover lost revenue.

University of Oregon president Michael Schill, the Pac-12 CEO Group chairman, is expected to meet with his peers Tuesday.

It appears the writing is on the wall: A football season this fall is unlikely.

"The Pac-12 has a proud history," the player letter read, "but this is not a proud moment."

Contact reporter Ryan Thorburn at rthorburn@registerguard.com or 541-338-2330, and follow him on Twitter @By_RyanThorburn and Instagram @rg_ducksports. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

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Pac-12 football season on the brink - The Register-Guard