Following discussions on Monday, the ACC “absolutely” plans on having a 2020 football season, according to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports.
Dodd’s report notes that the league held conference calls with athletics directors and university presidents.
After months of indecision, the last 72 hours have been somewhat unhinged for college football; a vacuum of leadership and limited transparency, at best, have thrown the sport into a hill of chaos.
Regardless, even with the Big Ten and Pac-12 on the precipice of cancelling the 2020 fall football season, the ACC appears ready to keep the door open and continue kicking the can down the street. As an ACC official told Dodd: “I don’t know if there is a drop dead time period [to decide]. We don’t start play until Sept. 12 as a league.”
Those delaying tactics have plenty of unintended consequences, including being swept up in fragmented bit of culture war; however, with crazy amounts of money on the table, and pressure from players (genuinely important and worth paying attention to) and coaches, the ACC appears ready to ride this thing out further.
Trump lies about COVID risks to athletes: "They're not gonna have a problem. You're not gonna see people— You know could there be? Could it happen? But I doubt it. You're not gonna see people dying. Many people get it and they have like, kids they get it, they have the sniffles."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 11, 2020
ACC presidents were set to meet Monday night, though no official word has come from that meeting as the league continues to weigh its options.
For now, it appears as though all 15 programs continue to move forward — in some shape or form.
Is this because of the uncertainty around the season?
"It's what the coaching staff felt was best for the team at this juncture," a Virginia Tech athletics spokesman said. #Hokies
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) August 11, 2020
Around the league, some programs have experienced healthy trends with regard to COVID-19 testing for players and staff. Boston College, Virginia, North Carolina and Notre Dame have seen zero positive cases in recent days as program’s form their own de facto bubbles.
Read More on ACC Football
Wake Forest leadership shows support for #WeWantToPlay movement