How Mississippi State inched closer to playing sports amid coronavirus pandemic
Tyler HorkaThere might be hope for college sports in Starkville this fall.
Mississippi State issued a release Wednesday stating the university is fully committed to reopening its campus to students this fall. MSU's classes have been online only since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Per the release, university president Mark Keenum said plans to resume in-person classroom and laboratory instruction during the fall 2020 semester are "on schedule and taking solid form."
Keenum's comment comes less than a week after a stark revelation from NCAA President Mark Emmert during a live conversation on the NCAA's Twitter account.
"If a school doesn't reopen, then they're not going to be playing sports," Emmert said. "It's really that simple."
Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen's late father was a college professor for nearly 40 years. Cohen told the Clarion Ledger he could hear his father saying the same thing as Emmert.
That in mind, MSU's plan to reopen later this year is significant.
"I'm very optimistic about our kids coming back to campus and conditioning for our fall sports after June 1," Cohen said. "We have a plan in place to do that as an athletic department."
As it stands, SEC team practices, meetings and other organized gatherings are suspended through at least May 31. Camps and coaches clinics held by SEC schools are suspended through July 31. Cohen said there is a "reasonable expectation" those deadlines get pushed back a bit.
"Is it June 1? Is it June 15? Is it July 1? That's the part we just don't know," Cohen said. "But I can assure you we have plans in place no matter what the date we're given."
Tuesday, the California State University system went public with a plan for classes at all 23 of its universities to remain online only during the fall semester. Fresno State, San Jose State and San Diego State's path to playing football got much harder to navigate as a result.
The California State system's outlook obviously conflicts with the SEC's current timetable, which further muddies the water for what the immediate future of college sports looks like.
"Should schools be able to have the opportunity to practice while other schools might not be able to practice or condition or prepare their kids?" Cohen queried. "There are no answers. There are just more questions."
Cohen said whatever the NCAA decides, there will be parties involved that are "not happy."
"Anything that stops us from being able to start football on time is not going to be a popular decision, but if we do everything we can to start football, in some ways that's going to be an unpopular decision as well," Cohen said. "We have to do what's right based on the information that we have, and the challenge is that the information is changing all the time."
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Cohen and Keenum are constantly dissecting that information. Mississippi State created a university specific COVID-19 task force that has been working on implementing the following guidelines to get students back to Starkville.
Mississippi State provost David Shaw has a leadership position on MSU's task force. The release stated Shaw will work closely with other veteran higher education administrators on the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning task force to gather the information necessary to implement a reopening of campuses.
The quicker universities open their doors, the more likely it is to see football played at Davis Wade Stadium and other venues across the country.
"I feel like with the steps that our state is taking and the leadership of the university under Dr. Keenum, I believe we are taking all the necessary steps to move toward normalcy," Cohen said, "and part of normalcy will be having athletic events in the fall."
Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!