James Franklin calls for delay to 2020 college football season over cancellation
If the B1G is still undecided on how it can move forward with a college football season, then Penn State head coach James Franklin would like to see a delay rather than a cancellation, at least right now. The Nittany Lions leader took to Twitter to voice his opinion on Monday.
Franklin was one of a handful of B1G coaches who showed support for his players wishing to move forward with the college football season. A major movement broke out on Monday morning, when multiple reports surfaced that the B1G had decided to cancel fall sports for 2020.
Those reports turned out to be untrue, however, as no vote or decision on the B1G season has been made.
After catching wind of the possibility of the season being cancelled, Franklin took to Twitter to share his ideas on what should happen. He believes that, if it’s necessary, the conference should delay the start of the season, rather than moving towards a cancellation.
From Franklin:
We need a clear path forward!
The last month, in particular, has been taxing on our student-athletes’ mental well-being. We have many unanswered questions: we need transparency & direction in this process. Our student-athletes, parents, staff, fans & university deserve it, as does our game.
While we all agree there is much uncertainty; the best decision right now isn’t to cancel the season. I implore the Big Ten to consider all possibilities to preserve college football this fall. Our conference intentionally built a flexible schedule allowing us to easily postpone the start of the season. Let’s delay, seek clarity, build the safest environment for our guys & make the best decision!
Finally, I support our student-athletes’ desire to play this fall & will exhaust all options for them.
Franklin isn’t the only B1G coach to reach this conclusion. Also on Monday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said he would also prefer a delay to the season as opposed to cancelling fall competition.
Day said that the league needs to “exhaust all options” to play this season.
#WeAre pic.twitter.com/dsZEGczZ84
— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) August 11, 2020