RTI contributor Noah Taylor is the author of this article
There has not been a college football offseason quite like this one.
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has disrupted every aspect of life, including sports, and has put the 2020 college football season in limbo, more than three months before it kicks off on Aug. 29.
The NCAA took a step forward in making the season happen last week by allowing teams to return to voluntary in-person workouts beginning June 1st. The SEC announced on Friday that players and coaches could return to campus on June 8th.
But how much will the lack of spring practice affect teams?
It’s arguable that college football is a year-round event once you figure in workouts, practices, meetings, and recruiting. Teams being deprived of valuable preparation time could go a long way in how they perform in the first few weeks of the season, and that is why there was so much concern about if the 2020 season will start on time or not. It’s also why the ruling that the NCAA passed down last week is so important. Getting three months of offseason conditioning makes a world of difference when compared to getting just two weeks of offseason conditioning.
If and when there is a 2020 college football season, the question of how much the virus affected the offseason will persist for a lot of teams, and that’s especially true for coaches who are in dire need of a statement season.
The SEC is full of coaches that need to take that next step in 2020, even those whose jobs don’t exactly depend on it. Here’s a look at the SEC coaches and teams who will most likely be affected by this year’s unusual offseason.
