Everything we learned from Rick George on Wednesday

BOULDER — The Pac-12 decided Tuesday that it won’t play any fall sports in 2020, and on Wednesday Colorado athletic director Rick George spoke with the media.

George, as well as the head coaches of all of the Buffs’ programs affected by the decision, explained why the decision was made, what their reaction was and what to expect in the coming months.

Here are the key takeaways:

The plan is to play in the spring

The Pac-12 is hoping all of its fall sports will be played in the spring.

“We wouldn’t say that we’re ‘postponing’ if we didn’t think we could play in the spring,” George said.

For football, that would mean bumping up against the NFL’s draft process. The Senior Bowl is held in January, the NFL Combine is held in February and teams hold pro days in March before the draft in April. That only affects a small portion of college football players, but those are often the players that fans tune in to see.

And that’s only one of the hurdles.

There are some positives though. One of them is that the Buffs’ 2020-21 budget was created with expectations of a 10-game football schedule with few fans in attendance at home games. They’ve already made the necessary budget cuts to compensate for that loss in revenue. If a 10-game season is played this spring—especially one with fans in the stadium—Colorado may not be in as much trouble financially as was anticipated.

Other programs have found silver linings of their own. The volleyball and soccer programs were unlikely to have national tournaments following a fall season, but their coaches expressed hope for full seasons with full postseasons with the teams playing in the spring.

Colorado won’t join a super-conference

Speculation has been building in recent days that some Power 5 football programs could band together to play football in the fall. One possibility that has been thrown around by fans and media is the potential for Colorado to join the Big 12.

George shut that idea down quickly.

“No,” George said of the possibility of still playing football this fall. “The answer is that we are not looking at doing that.”

So, that’s that, I guess.

George says players have a voice

Over the past few weeks, student-athletes across the country have spoken up in support of better COVID-19 protocols, access to university-provided health insurance and, in some cases, pay.

The #WeAreUnited group, created by Pac-12 student-athletes, has been one of the most vocal and most progressive of these groups.

“The one thing I will say is that we’ve always told our student-athletes, ‘You have a voice,'” George said.

George mentioned programs created by CU and the Pac-12 that provide student-athletes opportunities to speak with school and conference representatives about the issues student-athletes are facing, and the direction of college sports.

He also said that the school already offers a lot to student-athletes. He brought up CU’s nutrition program which began in the last few years and costs the athletics department $1.5 million. The school also pays for five clinical psychologists that student-athletes have access to. In recent years, the NCAA has also allowed athletic departments to offer scholarships that include the entire cost of attendance, not just tuition and room and board.

When asked if there’s a need for a student-athlete players association or union, George said he didn’t think that was necessary.

More financial stuff

While a 10-game spring football season would certainly help to alleviate the Buffs’ financial strain, it probably won’t be enough to totally neutralize the effects of COVID-19.

George was steadfast in saying—as he often has during the pandemic—that he will not be cutting any sports. Colorado currently has room to cut one sport and still stay within the NCAA’s requirements to be a Division I program. The sport would have to be a men’s sport.

“We are not cutting sports,” George said.

George added that he “won’t touch” any programs set up to improve the student-athlete experience, either. Things like mental health programs, nutritional programs and tutoring programs will remain as they are, according to George.

But cuts will likely have to be made somewhere.

“We will have to look at layoffs and furloughs,” George said.