More than a month after announcing the postponement of its football season this semester, the Mountain West board announced on Sept. 22 that the season will proceed. The scheduled start date for the new eight-game season is Oct. 24 including a Dec. 19 championship game.
After this announcement, football is the only sport that San Jose State is pursuing county approval for games and practices.
The Mountain West board’s decision was based on seeing fewer new coronavirus cases in the states where the conference teams are located.
On the day that the Mountain West board announced that the season will resume, California had 3,321 new COVID-19 cases, compared to the week’s average of 3,532 new cases a day, according to the New York Times California COVID Map and Case Count. This was part of a reduction in the number of new cases that began in mid-August.
In Santa Clara County, with fewer new COVID-19 cases, the county transitioned from purple tier to red tier on Sept. 8. The purple tier indicates widespread COVID-19 cases and is the most restrictive level a county can experience. Meanwhile, the red tier indicates a substantial spread and loosens up on capacity regulations as well as indoor business operations.
“Obviously when the presidents made their decision in August, it was always with the understanding that they would continue to monitor and to stay informed on what was happening within the states where the Mountain West footprint is,” Marie Tuite, SJSU athletic director, said over a Zoom call with the SJSU football program and Athletics on Friday. “And as I think most of you probably know, those states, some of those states and counties are getting healthier.”
However, even though the Mountain West board approved teams to practice in preparation for upcoming games, Santa Clara County has not approved the conference’s player-contact regulations. This means SJSU’s football team is conditioning instead of doing team practices.
“I think as most of you know, our county still has not been in a place where they have approved for there to be contact practicing taking place,” Tuite said. “Our team has been working out within the 12-hour rule that is available to us from the NCAA.”
The decision by various school officials to have football be the first SJSU team to resume their season was solely based on a consensus that the team is competing in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
“Once that decision was made in the national office, it became clear that we would not compete in any of those sports this fall because obviously if we had won a conference championship or been selected on a large basis, there would have been no championship, no NCAA championships participate in,” Tuite said. “So that's one of the reasons why, because we play FBS-level football.”
Head coach Brent Brennan said this time off has been a blessing because it gave the student-athletes and coaches time to focus on the social justice movements around the U.S. However, he also said he was very excited for the season to finally start.
“There was a lot of really intense stuff that happened over the last six months,” Brennan said over the Zoom meeting on Friday. “Obviously, everybody was dealing with the isolation and the social distancing, the mask-wearing and handwashing and there's just so much that was really challenging for people. We're in the process of working through a really challenging social justice time and I think I'm really proud of how our team has handled that. I'm proud of how our campus has handled that.”
Nonetheless, when the season was set for postponement in early August, Brennan said the team had a hard time processing the news.
“I think getting the chance to play is exciting,” Brennan said. “It was painful when we found out we weren't playing even though the runway for it wasn't what it normally is. It's still painful to hear that and I'm just thankful that we get a chance to get back to it.”
With the team conditioning for the past two and a half months, the players said they feel confident playing this season.
“I think guys are really excited because we're really bigger and stronger than we've ever been. And we're excited about this season,” defensive lineman Cade Hall said during the Zoom meeting on Friday. “You know, the past couple of years we've improved, but I think this is going to be a really big year for us. So I think guys are really excited to show that.”
Despite not being able to conduct team practices, Brennan said he is looking forward to this season and has confidence in the team’s ability to win games based on the conditioning they are going through.
“Am I confident that we'll get our season in? Yeah. Absolutely,” Brennan said. “If the last 10 weeks is any indication of whether or not our players and our coaches and our trainers and our strength coaches are up to the challenge, then I think we've demonstrated that we are.”
