IOWA CITY, Iowa — There hasn’t been a live college sporting event in nearly four months and the fall sports season is far from a certainty, but that hasn’t slowed the news swirling around the Iowa football program this summer.
From the overall lack of clarity regarding the coronavirus pandemic to the racial disparity investigation associated with the football program, nearly every day has produced some kind of news value in a time frame that usually produces more crickets than clicks. I think we all would trade some of those stories to focus on Luka Garza’s forthcoming decision on whether to stay at Iowa or turn pro or the upcoming quarterback competition.
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With an overload of terrific questions, I have split this mailbag into two parts. The other will run Monday. So let’s get to your questions.
Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity.
With the schedule changes to conference games only and commissioner Warren’s comments Thursday about fall sports in general, what do you think the chances are that the football season actually takes place? Or perhaps gets split in half with some games taking place in the fall and the rest happening in late winter or early spring?
Eric B.
If a college football season was canceled, what would be the fallout for the entire athletic department?
Michael G.
Eric, that is the multi-billion-dollar question facing college football this year. Both the Big Ten and SEC conferences approached or exceeded $1 billion in direct football-only revenue in fiscal year 2019. Without football, there’s $2 billion evaporated from the nation’s two most powerful conferences. The shockwave affects local industries in every community plus national brands that frequently advertise during television broadcasts. College athletic departments can survive without every sport save for one — football.
In 2019, Iowa earned $51 million from conference sources and $22.5 million from football ticket sales (which was down a bit). It also took in more than $35 million in contributions with $33 million not considered sport-specific. It doesn’t take an MIT degree to figure out that those donations weren’t based on the tennis team’s success. Considering every women’s sport combined to spend $23 million last year, the football ticket sales alone covers those costs annually. With the unlikelihood of fans in the stands, it already will put quite a crunch financially on the department.
Every athletics department employee dealt with a wage cut, some of which were significant. The highest-profile coaches — Kirk Ferentz (football), Fran McCaffery (men’s basketball), Lisa Bluder (women’s basketball) and Tom Brands (wrestling) — all took 15 percent cuts. Athletics director Gary Barta reduced his compensation package by 30 percent while deputy athletics director Barbara Burke cut her salary by 25 percent. Every football and men’s basketball assistant coach received a 10 percent cut. Those reductions could escalate if a football season isn’t played in front of fans. That goes for the other sports that generate decent crowds, too.
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The Big Ten’s announcement on Thursday was just a declarative step. With so much uncertainty about testing methods and consistency, this was the only way the members could ensure common standards. An FCS or G5 opponent may be unable to test like a Big Ten team. It could pull out of a game midweek with no rescheduling date. The Big Ten taking over scheduling ensures that if, say, the Iowa quarterback room is under quarantine the week it is supposed to play Ohio State, the league could step in and reschedule the game. Seriously, could you imagine if a starting offensive line is out for two weeks before facing any team, let alone Wisconsin or Ohio State? With regard to player safety, that could be of greater concern than COVID-19.
I’m hopeful, but I don’t believe the fall season takes place. There are just too many variables between now and Labor Day. In talking with multiple administrators, they seem to think spring is the most likely scenario, but they don’t want to limit themselves to that option. Say the virus slows this fall and they were able to play games without fans but the season already was kicked to spring. Then if the virus ramps up over the winter and next spring and they lose football for an entire year, the entire college athletics industry is in shambles.
Almost as bad as not playing at all would be getting in three or four games, not playing for a few months then trying to sneak the remaining games in March. Football is not a sport one can play for a split season. The physical toll can be excruciating and the toughness is almost indescribable. One player suffered a torn labrum in training camp last year and played the entire season with it until surgery in January. You can’t ask people to go through that with a four- or five-month break.
I’m afraid when we get to late August, they’ll have to punt football to the spring. I really hope I’m wrong.
Obviously, this is all very new, so I understand if there isn’t an answer for this yet, but what will be the financial implications of not playing these three nonconference games? Coming to Kinnick was a big payday for UNI and Northern Illinois. Will Iowa still have to pay them a portion of that money?
Paul G.
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Iowa was scheduled to pay Northern Iowa $650,000 for their Sept. 5 game and Northern Illinois $1.15 million for their Sept. 26 game. They had cancelation fees of $300,000 (UNI) and $500,000 (Northern Illinois). Both contracts had force majeure clauses that could absolve Iowa from paying those fees, which is the case with Northern Iowa, athletics director David Harris said Thursday. Northern Illinois athletics director Sean Frazier said he believed something would be worked out financially with Iowa. The Hawkeyes and Huskies play regularly so perhaps they could arrange a future game with a higher guarantee.
I do think the NCAA needs to loosen some restrictions to help schools at all levels recover from this impending financial disaster. One area might be allowing for a 13th regular season game in 2022 and/or 2023 and open up week zero. For Power 5 programs, that could generate at least an extra $4 million per game. Perhaps that would lead to some incredible matchups at neutral sites, like Iowa-Notre Dame at Soldier Field or an Iowa State-Minnesota extravaganza at the Vikings’ stadium. Or it could help G5 and FCS programs pick up a desperately needed check.
Also, it’s time for the NCAA to allow for a preseason game. With two-a-day practices banned and an elongated camp schedule, perhaps an exhibition against another opponent could help define some position battles and add some revenue. The possibilities could run the gamut from multiple practices and a glorified scrimmage against an FCS team to a Big Ten-SEC challenge.
“In the NFL they do two weeks of that, a week and a half, and then they start playing preseason games,” Ferentz said at 2017 Big Ten Media Days. “They break up the monotony of one foot after the other.”
Considering most high schools have soap scrimmages and preseason jamborees, the NCAA could allow schools to schedule one mid-August exhibition.
Do you seriously think there will be college football this fall if students are not allowed on campus (i.e., Harvard)? If there is, how does the NCAA reconcile their position that athletes are just regular students? How long do you think it would take for colleges to start paying athletes after all this?
Matt P.
These are some great questions, Matt. At first blush, one might say there’s no way there should be any sports if students can’t attend classes in person. It’s difficult to formulate an argument against that on the surface. However, it might actually be safer to play football with virtual classes than full attendance. If the players are sequestered in their living quarters and the football facility, their outside exposure is minimal compared to daily classes in large lecture halls and lunches in dorm cafeterias.
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Regarding payments, the schools better get their noggins together. We all know how important football is to the athletics department, university and community. The estimated economic impact of Iowa football on the Iowa City-Coralville area is $110 million a year. The players are more empowered and more mature than at any time in history. They understand the risk and significance of what they’re about to do. Name, image and likeness should pass with little dissent in January but school payment might be the next step. How do officials decide that? That’s a question for another day.
How’s Iowa baseball navigating all that’s happened this year, from COVID to MLB draft change trickledown? Is the new volleyball facility/Coralville combo venue a go-ahead?
Kurt R.
I’ll handle your second question first. The new Xtream Arena in Coralville is ready to roll this fall. The 5,100-seat arena should give volleyball the intimate and intense playing environment it has lacked in spacious Carver-Hawkeye Arena. For fans, the arena is a $71 million keynote addition to Iowa River Landing, chock-full with restaurants, bars and shops. The arena also will host youth basketball and hockey tournaments and perhaps a minor-league hockey affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, per The Athletic hockey writer Michael Russo. I could see other Iowa events trickle to Coralville, too, such as an early-season wrestling dual or a nonconference women’s basketball game.
Baseball was just starting to hit its stride when COVID canceled the season. Minus a few departures, the team should return almost intact for a normal season next spring. Losing pitcher Grant Judkins to the Oakland A’s hurts, but Iowa should have a decent squad returning. Right now, coach Rick Heller has focused on shifting the season starting date from late February to mid-March or later. With the changes to minor-league baseball, there is some momentum to moving the season deeper into the summer.
Big Ten baseball teams are at a major disadvantage alongside their southern and western competitors. It’s not unusual for a northern team to play its first 20 games on the road, and for batters to see their first live pitching outdoors during those matchups. Iowa annually spends between $450,000 and $600,000 in baseball travel and totaled nearly $2.6 million in baseball expenses in 2019. Yet most of the home games are held from mid-March through late April in the most unpredictable weather of the year. With that type of financial investment, Big Ten teams deserve the right to reshape the season.
Heller is a major proponent of playing summer baseball, and with more than 40 minor-league clubs likely to fold next year, perhaps college baseball can fill that void through late July or early August. On nice spring weekends, Iowa usually hosts crowds of 3,000 fans and plans are in place for a new stadium to be built around the existing field with luxury suites. If the Hawkeyes can play at home well into June and perhaps through Independence Day, they will have no problem doubling those crowds, cut travel costs in half and perhaps more than double its revenue from about $450,000 to $1 million. The pandemic might actually push those opportunities forward.
Which position group or player/s are you most looking forward to seeing this fall?
Charlie S.
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Typically, I’d answer three or four of these questions in every mailbag this time of year and thankfully we’ve got some football to discuss now.
It’s almost too easy to say quarterback with Spencer Petras set to replace Nate Stanley, but that’s the truth this year. Petras has a rocket arm but doesn’t throw quite as hard as Stanley. I want to see how Petras connects with Iowa’s returning receivers, how comfortable he looks in the pocket, his decision-making and frankly just get a chance to talk with him. He’s got an eclectic and engaging personality, and I think that would come through in interview sessions which would provide a window into how he communicates with his teammates. But I also want to see him sling it.
Has to be one of the most fascinating and frustrating times to be a reporter. I feel for you Scott. That said, what have been the most satisfying and frustrating aspects of your job this year?
Josh H.
There is so much to be grateful for, and that’s the first feeling I have. I’m both blessed and lucky to have my health, my family, my friends and to work at a place like The Athletic. I think we all understand we’re documenting history here. In 50 years, someone at The Athletic or another platform will write the oral history of what happened to sports during a pandemic. To know what I have written could have lasting ramifications or remain viable for study well after I’m taking a dirt nap is humbling.
The uncertainty is tough because I’ve developed an internal clock. At the time the pandemic hit, I was focused on postseason wrestling and men’s basketball as well as spring football. Every year it’s the same. Once spring practice ends, you tie up some loose stories through mid-May or so, work on an in-depth enterprise package and let your mind relax from about Memorial Day through mid-July. With the so-called horse latitudes jumping ahead 10 weeks to late March, I’m struggling to find a mental balance. But my issues are minor compared with what other people have experienced so I won’t complain.
If anything, I feel horrible for the winter and spring athletes who didn’t get to finish their seasons. The Iowa men’s basketball team was capable of a decent NCAA run. Same with the women’s basketball squad. The wrestling team was going to win its first NCAA title in 10 years. It could have been a March to remember at Iowa. Instead, it’s one we’ll never forget.
How many points will Iowa need to score per game in the B1G to win our “normal” 7-8 games? I say at least 33-35 with all the new faces in the front seven on defense.
Mike M.
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That’s a pessimistic view of what Iowa can accomplish this year. I don’t think the defense will be as explosive off the edge as last year, especially without A.J. Epenesa. The lack of a pass rush may drive up the scoring some, but there are some good players there. I think defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon has All-Big Ten ability and defensive end Chauncey Golston will have a major impact in every game.
Iowa allowed only 14 points a game last year (second best of the Ferentz era) to rank fifth nationally. The defense hasn’t given up more than 20 points a game since 2015. Iowa is the only FBS team with four conference shutouts in the last two seasons. So I can’t imagine a defensive disaster at more than 23 points allowed per game.
Without the nonconference games, winning seven or eight contests will be a greater accomplishment this year than in most seasons. To reach that mark, Iowa needs to hit the 30-point threshold.
What is your opinion on the idea of installing a plastic shield covering the front of the football helmet? Is this under serious consideration? I know you’re not a scientist but your nickname is “the Doc.”
Matthew F.
As I always say, I’m a doctor in name only. Iowa’s equipment staff is looking into the face shield but there is a concern about heat, especially during fall camp and early-season games. One possibility they are considering is wrapping parts of the facemask with cloth. But the face shield also could become a mandate, which they would accept.
(Top photo: Matthew Holst / Getty Images)
