‘A whole bunch of craziness.’ USM football battles through departures, COVID-19 hurdles
Southern Miss became the latest football program this week to be hit by players deciding to opt out of the 2020 campaign with five deciding not to play, but the NCAA could soon provide relief to teams that are losing players.
One of the main reasons that players have decided not to play this season is concern that they’d lose a year of eligibility if they participated in what could be an unpredictable fall. USM is scheduled to play 12 games, but the COVID-19 pandemic may make it difficult to play the majority of the slate.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports that the NCAA Div. I Council decided that fall sport student-athletes can play in any amount of games this season and not lose a year of eligibility.
With a vote set for Friday, it’s up to the NCAA Board of Governors to approve the plan.
News of the potential extra year of eligibility was a boost for programs like USM that can’t afford to have many more players opt out.
“To allow these guys to play a year and not lose eligibility, that’s the smart thing,” Hopson said Wednesday. “It’s not fair because they go into a lot of unknowns. A lot of guys don’t know if there will be a full season. Is it going to get cut short in Week 4? That’s a big fear for guys.
“If you’re a player, you want a 12-game season. You don’t want an eight-game season. You don’t want a six-game season. You don’t want it to get into October and it get called.”
Hopson said he does not support the idea of moving football to the spring because it could force teams to play 20-22 games over the span of 12 of months.
“It’s football. We’re not playing croquet, man,” the fifth-year head coach said. “You can’t play that many games. It’s not fair to their body.”
USM players who won’t play
Five of the six USM players who opted out said they intend to transfer, including a pair of standouts on the defensive side — redshirt senior defensive end Jacques Turner and redshirt senior linebacker Racheem Boothe.
Also planning to sit out and transfer are redshirt junior running back Steven Anderson and redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Garrett Crawford.
The latest player to announce his plans to opt out and transfer is redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Junior Carswell, who made his decision public on Instagram.
While redshirt junior receiver/return man Jaylond Adams has yet to announce his future plans, all indications point to his time at USM being done. He is no longer listed on the team’s roster.
Hopson offered his backing for those players who have decided not to take part when the season starts on Sept. 3 with a home game against South Alabama.
“We support them,” he said. “These are crazy times. I think we’re all in the business of helping young men. We let our players know we support them in any decision. We wish all those guys the very best.”
Southern Miss battles through coronavirus in camp
While SEC teams didn’t start fall camp until this week, Southern Miss has been practicing since Aug. 5.
Hopson acknowledged the difficulty of getting his team ready for the 2020 season and the challenges that await other programs that just started.
“You’re constantly shifting gears. You’ve got guys out, they come back,” Hopson said. “You’ve constantly adapting. Kudos to our players and our staff. They’ve done a great job of adapting. Our training staff is doing an outstanding job. You have days where a young man is out. He might be out 14 days. He might be out 10. He might be out five.
“There is no playbook for this. Every coach is just going to have to go with what they think is the best decision for the program. Every program will go through a whole bunch of craziness and that’s just the way it is.”
NCAA’s plan could lift concerns for USM players
USM redshirt senior quarterback Jack Abraham gave a thumbs up to the plan that would give players an extra year of eligibility if they play this fall.
“That’s awesome, man,” said Abraham, who is entering his third year as the starting QB. “I’ll play the game as long as I can, stay here as long as I can. I think it’s a good thing with all the uncertainties of this year. I think it’s a good thing to have that kind of insurance.
Abraham admitted that the eligibility issue had been weighing on himself and a lot of players.
“That was really my biggest thing with this year,” he said. “Starting the season and getting to Week 5 or 6 and then cutting it off, we lose that year and that’s not really how I would have wanted to end my senior year. When they came out with that, it really felt good and gave me some security.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 1:01 PM.
