There are going to be challenges for Clemson football and the ACC as they attempt to play a fall season
As Clemson football and the Atlantic Coast Conference look to play the 2020 season this fall, one word has to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind: Flexibility.
The season is just a little more than two weeks away from kickoff and we’re already seeing the challenges that are going to come with trying to get teams on the field week-in and week-out.
Last week, both Notre Dame and North Carolina paused football workouts after outbreaks on their campus, though there was not a significant number of positive results within the two teams. NC State has paused its workouts due to an outbreak of more than 20 student-athletes and the results have seen the Wolfpack push back their season-opening game against Virginia Tech to Sept. 26, when the two teams have a bye week.
While some will look at that situation as ‘the first domino’ to fall in the cancellation of the season, the ACC and Clemson football need to look at it for what it is: A learning experience.
For this Clemson football season to happen, everyone has to remain flexible
There is bound to be an outbreak at a school, or two, or three, or more at some point in this season within the ACC. How the conference handles those situations when they arise, though, will make all the difference.
Programs within the conference need to be flexible. Perhaps that means changing opponents a little less than a week out to adjust the schedule. Perhaps that means playing on a bye week to make up a game that was postponed earlier in the season.
It’s not just scheduling, though.
We need to see programs like Clemson football make a concerted effort to follow protocols and programs that can’t do that, unfortunately, will lose out on some opportunities.
Flexibility and a willingness to work together is what will make this season work. If that can’t happen, we’ll see failure before it ever gets off the ground.