When or if Big Ten votes again on playing football, it should be done publicly
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Jim Harbaugh says he can have the Michigan football team ready to play a game in two weeks.
He didn’t specify whether that meant a game against Ohio State, but his point was obvious.
Harbaugh believes that football should and could be played this fall despite health concerns with the COVID-19 global pandemic.
And he isn’t alone.
There is a groundswell of support throughout the Big Ten community, but it’s hard to know if it’s accomplishing anything because the Big Ten Conference continues to operate mostly behind the scenes in private.
It only revealed the vote by the league’s presidents and chancellors to cancel the fall season because it faced legal action with eight Nebraska players having filed lawsuits.
The vote was 11-3 in favor of cancelling the fall season, with Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State the three exceptions who voted to play.
Rumors, reports and speculation have persisted ever since to where it’s hard to know where the Big Ten currently stands with playing football.
It seems that every month from October to early March has been mentioned as a possible starting time for the 2020 season.
Word surfaced last week that the Big Ten was considering a re-vote on cancelling the 2020 fall season, but that story has since faded, and seems to have been based more on hope and hype than fact and substance.
What seems real, though, is the disconnect between the conference’s presidents and chancellors and the athletic directors, although, Iowa seems to be an exception with President Bruce Harreld and Athletic Director Gary Barta both aligned with wanting to play this fall.
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren has been widely criticized for how the conference has handled the pandemic, but in fairness to Warren, he didn’t make the decision to cancel the season.
He didn’t even have a vote.
The presidents and chancellors made the decision to cancel the season based on the advice from both medical and legal experts.
The problem is they made all of these important decisions in private, and then Warren has had to deal with the public outcry and backlash.
If and when there comes a time for the presidents and chancellors to vote again on when to play football, they should make the results available immediately.
Or better yet, a Zoom conference could be televised on the Big Ten Network with each of the presidents and chancellors casting their vote with an explanation for why they voted a certain way.
The same fans who opposed the decision to cancel the fall season would obviously be upset again if the vote didn’t go their way.
But at least they couldn’t accuse the Big Ten of lacking transparency.
The Big Ten continues to say that it’s trying to get the football season started as quickly and as safely as possible, but with little to no details beyond that.
But what would qualify as quickly at this stage?
Iowa just resumed mandatory and voluntary workouts on Tuesday after a nearly two-week pause due to a rise in positive Covid tests within the athletic department.
So it might be unrealistic to think that the Iowa football team could even be ready for a game before late October.
Barta said last week that it would take a miracle to play in October.
President Trump is encouraging the Big Ten to play this fall, while Republican political leaders from six different Big Ten states sent a letter to Kevin Warren and the league’s presidents and chancellors, urging the conference to reconsider its postponement of the 2020 football season.
Lee Chatfield, speaker of Michigan’s House of Representatives, wrote the letter, which is signed by nine other senate and house leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. All 10 lawmakers who signed the letter are Republicans, and the six states they represent include seven Big Ten schools.
The political pressure will continue to grow if the three Power 5 conferences that still plan to play football this fall actually succeed in doing so.
Iowa State will face Louisiana in its season opener on Saturday in Ames, but without fans in attendance.
Big Ten fans will be even more upset, frustrated and resentful if the Big 12, the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference make it through the season without any serious health issues.
As for Harbaugh having his Michigan team ready to play in two weeks, it’s hard to know if he’s being truthful or exaggerating in order to push a narrative.
But one thing seems certain, he couldn’t possibly be referring to a game against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium given his track record.