Scott Woodward Talks 2020 Season

[LSUDad]

LSU athletic director says speculation about football season is premature

By Scott Rabalais/The Advocate, Baton Rouge

Posted Mar 27, 2020 at 5:17 PM

 

 

 

 

LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said the Tigers will be ready to go full blast when the upcoming season starts. [Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP]▲

 

 

Growing speculation about college football summer mini-camps or the impact the coronavirus pandemic might have on the college football season are way too premature, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said Thursday.

Still, Woodward said his athletic department is beginning to work up budgets and plans based on a variety of scenarios.

"We're looking at everything," said Woodward, who like most of the country is working from home. "Those are moving targets. But we're not doing anything until we get through this semester and start planning for next year."

Some conference commissioners and athletic directors have been speculating about what this fall's college football season, the financial lifeblood for virtually all athletic departments, will look like.

Ross Bjork, Woodward's successor at Texas A&M after he returned to his hometown and alma mater last April, told the Austin American-Statesman that he expects the NCAA will allow some sort of preseason camp in May, June or July. Sun Belt Commissioner Kevin Gill said Thursday his conference is discussing a wide range of options that include the football season going on as scheduled, a shortened season, playing in empty stadiums or even canceling the season.

Woodward declined to speak specifically on such projections.

"It's way too early to be speculative, unless you have a direct line to Dr. (Anthony) Fauci," Woodward said, referring to the well-known immunologist at the forefront of the federal coronavirus response. "We all need to be alive. The first thing I'm worried about is safety, health and welfare.

"But let me say I'm positive and have a good outlook for what will happen. If we as citizens do what we're supposed to do, football will continue in some form or another. That's my hope and my positive outlook."

 

Woodward said the financial picture for athletics going forward is "worrisome. We have issues and things we are concerned about. It's something we're paying attention to and are vigilant about. But right now, we're focused on making sure everyone is healthy and planning for the 2020-21 academic year. We'll deal with (those issues) in a prudent and collaborative manner with the (academic side of) campus and the board of supervisors."

Asked if he believes he can keep the athletic department's staff fully employed amidst rising layoffs and business shutdowns, Woodward replied: "The short answer is I think so. There are some civil service rules that need to be followed. All full-time staff who aren't civil service are being retained and will continue to be."

While LSU's campus is virtually shut down, some work within the athletic department continues.

Woodward said the department is still feeding and housing an unspecified number of student-athletes who can't or have decided not to return home. He also said a "skeleton crew" of facilities management workers are maintaining athletic facilities and playing fields.

Work on tearing out the playing surface in Tiger Stadium began in December and was to have forced LSU to move its now-canceled April 18 spring game to Southern's A.W. Mumford Stadium. Work to upgrade the drainage beneath the field and replace the turf is on schedule, Woodward said.

"I had seen weeks ago when the drainage was in and the field may have even been re-sodded at the time," Woodward said. "I assume everything is fine and we're proceeding in a safe way.

"I have zero worries there."

Like administrators and coaches nationwide, Woodward is awaiting Monday's vote by the NCAA Division I Council Committee regarding granting an extra year for spring sports athletes whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak. NCAA spring sports sponsored by LSU include baseball, softball, track and field, beach volleyball, golf and tennis. He said he supports the initiative to give athletes in those sports an extra year.

"The devil is in details as to how we count participants and how we do it," Woodward said. "That's still being debated and worked out. When the decision comes out, we'll abide by it."

Woodward stressed that while he has no timeline for when athletic activity can resume, he said LSU will be ready when it does.

"I can assure you as soon as we're given the green light, Coach O (football coach Ed Orgeron) and all our sports will be ready to go full blast," Woodward said. "Our administration will have everything prepared and ready with little or few obstacles."