Commissioner Kevin Warren and the B1G made the decision on Thursday to move forward with a conference-only schedule for all fall sports in 2020, which includes football.

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Shortly after that decision, Warren joined Big Ten Network’s Mike Hall to discuss the conference’s decision and why the league opted to make the announcement this week. He also talked about scheduling, addressing player safety and the flexibility the decision allows the conference moving forward.

Below are some of Warren’s key comments from the interview with BTN:

B1G commissioner Kevin Warren:

  • “This allows us to take another step in this entire process. This is a complicated time, a complicated world we’re living in with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
  • “We made a vow early on that, first and foremost, we would put the health, the safety and the wellness of our student-athletes at the center of all of our decisions, so we thought this was an appropriate time to make that announcement.”
  • “One of the things that was most important to us was the flexibility of the scheduling.”
  • “At the end of the day, we thought this decision would No. 1 allow us to do the right thing by our student-athletes, keep them at the forefront of all of our decisions, and make sure we create an environment to give us the best chance to compete.”
  • “All of our summer activities, we’ve made it very clear now, will remain voluntary.”
  • “Any of our B1G student-athletes who have decided not to participate in athletics this year based upon COVID-19, we’re honoring their scholarship 100 percent.”
  • “This is really where the work begins to make sure that we get all of our testing, protocols finalized. Make sure we get our medical and operational procedures finalized.”
  • “Over the next week or so, we’ll work through all the scheduling issues and things we’ll have to deal with to make sure we’re doing the best we can to keep our student-athletes safe.”