Miami AD’s ‘gut’ is Canes’ football to start on time ‘probably without fans in stands’
University of Miami athletic director Blake James said publicly Wednesday morning that his “gut” tells him that Hurricanes football will proceed as scheduled to begin Sept. 5 against Temple, but “probably without fans in the stands.’’
James, a guest on WQAM radio with Joe Rose and Zach Krantz, was asked if he still expects a football season to begin on time. James’ reply went further.
“My gut today is we start on time probably without fans in the stands,’’ James told Rose. “And, again, that could all change, because look at it. We’re not even three months from March 12, when this all hit, and we’re still three months away from September 5th when our first game is to be played, so to say what it’s going to look like on Sept. 5th I think is difficult.
“With that said, to answer your question, I think we’ll be playing a 12-game in 13 weeks schedule starting on time and that’s our plan right now. We’re in daily conversations, it feels like, as a league.”
James said he is on a committee that has considered various options for how the season plays out.
“I have the opportunity to work with a few of our other athletic directors and a few of our coaches on a football-specific committee that is modeling all different sorts of scenarios and communication with the NCAA on how we propose things.. From seven-games schedules in seven weeks… to starting as late as November. So, there has been a lot of thought put into it.”
Rose asked about perhaps having limited capacity at Hard Rock Stadium if it can be proved it’s safe — perhaps “15,000 to 20,000 in the 60-something thousand stadium?”
“I think it would be great,’’ James said. “If Tom Garfinkel [vice chairman, president and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium] and his group can create a model that provides for a safe environment for our students and the fans that are attending I think it would be a great celebration.”
But James then reiterated what he told WQAM about an opener without fans.
“Like I said just a minute ago, my gut is we probably start without fans in the stands. That’s not what we’d like. We’d like to have a full stadium. I recognize that’s probably not realistic right now. So if we can have a modified version, I think it’s a big win.”
James said his “focus” has been “on opening campus back up, and I know that through the leadership of our university we’re going to be ready to go in as healthy and safe of an environment as there will be in the country for kids this fall.
“...With that said it will be different. We all recognize the world has changed and we have to take a different approach to things, so it won’t be the same student-athlete experience as our kids had last August and September. But it will be a great experience at the University of Miami starting this August and going forward. I know it’s one that will continue to evolve as changes are made with combating the virus to hopefully down the road a vaccine and everything that’s going along with it.”
▪ James also said workouts for UM football players, which are voluntary, will begin June 15, which coach Manny Diaz spoke about to the Miami Herald on Tuesday in a phone interview.
▪ James added, as Diaz addressed to the Herald on Tuesday, that UM athletic department employees are “doing our part” to “take steps to protect the long term viability and financial ability of the institution. We couldn’t have better leadership.. We have great support of our coaches who gave up voluntarily compensation…”
Diaz said Tuesday, when asked if any of the football coaches had to take a two-week furlough or pay cut: “What I’ll say, quite broadly, is sacrifices have been made.’’
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 9:47 AM.
