All 14 SEC athletic directors met on Monday at conference headquarters in Birmingham, Ala, to discuss how the league and college athletics can proceed with fall sports as COVID-19 cases surge throughout the Southeast.
No decision was made on the fate of the 2020 football slate, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey indicated in a press release that the league will hold off until late July before coming to any conclusion about the upcoming season.
"It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis," Sankey said. "In the coming weeks we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us."
Florida's Strick Stricklin and the other ADs convened in the Kramer-Moore Conference Room — social distancing in the SEC Office's largest conference room — from the morning until late in the afternoon to hear reports from members of the SEC's Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force. They also discussed issues relevant to the current preseason calendar, COVID-19 testing procedures and scheduling options for fall competition.
It was the first in-person meeting with all athletic directors since the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament in March.
"The ability to personally interact over the course of an entire day contributed to the productivity of the meeting," Sankey said of his sit-down Monday with the ADs, who have still maintained weekly communication through videoconferences. "We had a productive meeting on Monday and engaged in discussions on a number of important issues that will contribute to critical decisions to be made in the weeks ahead."
The Big Ten and Pac-12 have announced they will only play conference games in 2020. While that possibility was discussed at Monday's meeting, Sankey appeared on the Paul Finebaum Show and said the SEC isn't there yet.
"We are not at that destination and a number of our colleague conferences are not at that destination," Sankey said. "The Big Ten made their decision and we have no common games with the Big Ten Conference this year. So the impact of their decision is indirect. We did have two games with the Pac-12 — the USC-Alabama game scheduled to be played in Dallas and Colorado and Texas A&M — so we’ve had minimal direct impact on our schedule.”
During an ESPN Radio interview Saturday on Marty & McGee, Sankey said his concern for the football season is "high to very high" and that the "direct reality is not good." He reiterated those concerns to Finebaum.
"We have to see a change in public health trends to build a comfort that we will have an opportunity to compete this fall," Sankey said. "The trends are not what we desired, not what we had experienced a bit earlier in the summer. We’ve gone in the wrong direction and that’s problematic. That doesn’t mean that’s the finish line and things will never change.
"We’ve seen the news around COVID-19 alter itself in different ways over a number of weeks. And so what we’ve identified is an opportunity in late July for an important check in to see our public health reality. We were told from the beginning to take as much time as possible to make a better decision.”
Stricklin will conduct a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday, his first press conference since March 13. Texas A&M athletics director Ross Bjork took to Twitter after Monday's meeting in Birmingham.
"Appreciate the leadership of every AD in the SEC and Commissioner Greg Sankey. Great discussion about what we know, what we don’t know, what we think and what we are planning for and what we are hopeful for. All as safe as possible. We will know a lot more in a few weeks."
