UCLA football coach Chip Kelly believes governors and mayors across America will have the ultimate authority on whether or not the season takes place.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to put all sports on hold, people have started to wonder who can even sign off on the season starting. Is it the federal government? State government? The NCAA? University presidents? (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Nobody seems to know for sure, but Kelly thinks that call will ultimately be made by governors and mayors.
“The governors of the states and mayors are going to be the ones who tell you whether we can do it because the NCAA can say, ‘Hey, you guys are all going back’ and if Governor Newsom says, ‘We’re not going back’ then we’re not going back,” Kelly said, according to Ben Bolch.
Chip Kelly on COVID-19 chain of command: “The governors of the states and mayors are going to be the ones who tell you whether we can do it because the NCAA can say, ‘Hey, you guys are all going back’ and if Governor Newsom says, ‘We’re not going back’ then we’re not going back.”
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) April 9, 2020
This scenario right here is likely going to be a big roadblock for the NCAA when it comes to getting the college football season underway.
It’s not too hard to envision a situation where the SEC or PAC-12 signs off on a season happening, the athletic directors agree, university presidents sign off and then government officials stop it.
It’s not hard at all to see a situation like that unfolding, and that’s pretty much exactly what Kelly is saying.
If situations like that unfold and some governors are giving the thumbs up and some aren’t, then things are going to get interesting really fast.
Does the season happen with some schools choosing to sit out? You want to see chaos unfold, just wait until some programs refuse to play and others take the field.
I’m all for it, but you will see programs lose their minds if they don’t play and get squeezed out of revenue while other schools get rich.
View this post on Instagram
It’s obviously a very fluid situation, and things are subject to change quickly. However, reading into Kelly’s comments, he doesn’t seem overly optimistic.