The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW had no opportunity to find out who has really separated themselves from anybody else in the country?" A one-year expansion could be the an- swer, he noted, along with laying a ground- work for the future. "This would be a good opportunity to say, if we're not able to play out of conference, we have to include all five Power Five con- ferences," Jansen opined. "We probably have to include another Group of Five team that gets us to six. Why not give it a shot and see what happens? "In another three or four years, when the College Football Playoff contract is up and we can make modifications, this would be a great example to look at and say, how did it turn out? What did it look like? How did we include more fan bases and is that a good thing, or do we just want to keep it at four?" Of course, some might think talk of a College Football Playoff at all seems incred- ibly premature. That would likely include Dr. Anthony Fauci, star of the long-running presidential coronavirus press briefings. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tossed the latest bucket of cold water on a potential football season as recently as June 18. He registered his skepticism regarding the NFL moving forward. "Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall," Fauci said on CNN. "If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year." That sort of dire warning doesn't go un- noticed by Manuel and his colleagues. At the same time, the U-M AD noted Michigan football players aren't going to be locked away somewhere until game time. "I did see Dr. Fauci's comments," Manuel noted. "I understand he has a perspective on how to move forward. But I can tell you, we will not isolate our student-athletes and put them in a hotel and keep them there. They're not professionals, and we will not get into a situation where we are placing them into a hotel continuously to isolate them from their fellow students and whomever else. "It's just not in our plans. It's not some- thing we're looking to do. If that's the only way we have to proceed, we will have to make other decisions, obviously. Time will tell. We've waited this long. We are trying to slow our decision making while increasingly looking over every piece of information and talking through all of the details that go on. "I see many of Dr. Fauci's comments, par- ticularly as they relate to his thoughts about how sports should proceed. We do discuss his perspective as we move forward." Jansen appeared to take an even dimmer view of the remarks. "I did catch it," Jansen said of Fauci's head-turning assessment. "I don't pay much attention to it. I think the heads were turned because the wind was blowing a different direction." The former Wolverine just isn't convinced anyone knows what things will look like by September, and he's seen how much things have changed over the past three months. "There is so much time between now and then, I just don't know how you could make any type of blanket statement like that," Jan- sen said. "Obviously, he's got his job. He's a doctor. He's much more in tune to what's going on regarding the virus and how it af- fects people, how it's transmitted. "But I just don't know who to trust any- more. It seems like every week, the same people are saying different things." The National View Not so very long ago, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said he'd be "shocked" if college football were to be played this fall. Former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden didn't hesitate to point that up in noting how out- looks have changed over the past few weeks. Bowden joined the growing chorus of those who believe football is going forward this fall. He weighed in with TigerNet.com, which covers Clemson football. "I think a lot of it is going to be in the hands of the states," Bowden said. "Gosh, what, six weeks ago, Kirk Herbstreit said we're not playing. It doesn't look like it is what they were saying [the worst-case sce- nario could be]. So we've come a long way in a short period of time, and it is really im- pressive because now we're definitely going to play. It's just, who's going to be allowed to come? "All of a sudden, listening to Ed Org- eron at LSU, he said, we're going to have a packed house down here in Baton Rouge. But I know the state health officials are go- ing to have a lot of say, and university presi- dents and boards and all that will have a say. So I think we'll play. I think the quality of the game might be a little questionable. "I'll say things might be a little frag- mented early in the season because schools like South Florida with Jeff Scott, and Flor- Head coach Jim Harbaugh has gone on the record several times to say that if it's what is re- quired for football to happen, he is in favor of playing at stadiums without fans in the stands. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL