Will there be football in California this fall? The last few days have provided a more optimistic answer to that question, and several top high school coaches are optimistic at playing a full season.
It was only a few weeks ago when the idea of California schools playing football this fall looked up in the air. The coronavirus pandemic had things looking cloudy enough to generate significant buzz on the different social media platforms that families could potentially relocate to Arizona, Nevada or even Florida and Texas to play their high school seasons.
“I’m not going to lie, we’re definitely thinking about it,” said one parent of a top 100 player who wanted to remain anonymous. “My kid wants to play, he has offers so it’s not about that, he just loves the game and wants to play and continue to develop.
“Our first case scenario is to stay and finish out with his high school but if they come back and tell us no football in California, we would definitely look in to that strongly. I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to name names but we’re already being contacted by schools all over the country.”
Another parent of a top player echoed those statements.
“We would definitely leave if it comes to not playing at all,” the father of one of the top sophomores in the region said. “My kid has two years left so it’s not as bad for him as it is for the seniors to be who could miss their final season. Saying that, we don’t want him to miss out on playing and getting seen by the colleges. Junior year is big for that and we’ve already missed the spring eval period, can’t miss junior season too.”
On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement that professional sports teams could resume as early as June 1. The hope from that statement was things would then trickle down to the college and high school level and assuming all criteria were met, game would resume without too much delay.
We talked to several high school coaches to get their thoughts on a best case and worst case scenario for playing this fall as well as their opinion if they could foresee any of their players leaving to play elsewhere.
San Clemente head coach Jaime Ortiz
“We’ve had two very good parent meetings so far. One meeting was for incoming parents and another was for returning parents but our message has been we’re going to have football. Now what that will look like remains to be seen. It could be a full schedule, a seven game schedule or even a five game schedule and we just need to wait on CIF to make that call.
“I’m encouraged though and hopeful that we’ll have a summer camp and be able to do 7v7. It sounds cliche but I’ve been telling parents and the kids, control what you can control and once we get the guidelines, we’ll adjust to whatever we need to do. Back when the Spanish Flu was going on, football started in January and ended in March and if that’s what we have to do, we’ll do that, like I said, any scenario, we’ll be ready.
“As for players leaving, I honestly haven’t had any approach me about that. I know they see states like Texas and Arizona opening up and are wondering what’s going on with us but I would tell them to be patient. Don’t rush to judgement and leave just to leave. You run the risk of getting lost in the cracks if colleges don’t know where you’re at so I really don’t know if it’s worth relocating. It definitely hurt us not having spring ball because we have a lot of kids that would have benefited by being seen but like I said, I’m encouraged that we’ll have football and this will be a moot point.”
Mission Viejo head coach Chad Johnson
“I’m very encouraged that we’ll play this fall. Our admin just had a lengthy conversation with the CIF and went over number of scenarios None of those scenarios involved not having a season. It was all about the different start times, whether it be on time, a month later or even starting in January. That tells me we’re going to play, it’s just a matter of when.
“For us, we have several non-league games against out of state opponents so that will be interesting, to see how that is navigated. We had a game with a team from Hawaii that we already had to cancel because their federation said no games against mainland teams this year. We’re playing Liberty in Nevada as well so hopefully that can happen but right now, we’re all in wait and see mode.
“We’ll play whenever, even if it’s as late as March. That could hurt our guys that double sport and we have a lot of them. We have kids who play basketball, wrestle or play soccer and they might have to make a tough choice of what sport to play but hopefully it doesn’t come to that and we can start on time. Our district office has said we can open up the weight room on July 1 with some restrictions of course and we’ll abide by all of those.
“If we didn’t have football I could definitely see some of our kids leaving to play elsewhere, they for sure would look in to it. I’m not sure the rising juniors would go or guys like Easton Mascarenas who has already committed would feel the need to leave but the guys who are Div 1 guys but don’t have the offers yet, they would definitely look in to it. I even had a parent joke with me that if they left, they were taking me with them to go run the offense wherever they went but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Rancho Verde head coach Pete Duffy
“I was encouraged by what happened yesterday. Newsom saying pro teams could open up June 1, I see that as a good sign and hopefully things will trickle all the way down to us at the HS level. My emotions have run the full gamut with this. I’ve been optimistic and pessimistic and everything in between but right now, I’m just staying patient and waiting on CIF. We’re all in a holding pattern right now waiting on our local districts who are waiting on the health officials to give everyone the green light.
“My players and parents have been asking me whats going on but I really don’t have any secret inside info. As soon as we’re told we can open back up and it’s safe for students to be back on campus, we’ll be ready to go. I do think we’re going to play. I don’t know if that will be a full season or not, we might have to modify some things but I think we’ll play for sure.
“I’m in favor of whatever gets us a full season with a 14 game schedule. If that means starting later and doing away with state playoffs, I’m ok with that. I actually like the model Ohio threw out where you start in January for conditioning, February 1st is pads and you’re playing games starting in March and finishing in May. You do your sports like track and baseball that are social distancing by nature in the fall so we’re basically just flip flopping with them.
“Like I said though, I’m open for whatever the CIF decides. I haven’t even thought about not playing at all and what that would mean. I think if that was the case, I would definitely have a lot of players that would leave the state to play. It’s not just about exposure, most kids play football because they love the game. My seniors want to play, not just for exposure but because they love it. Even my son (AJ Duffy), he has all the offers so doesn’t need exposure but he loves playing football and if he wanted to leave if we didn’t have a season, I would encourage that.”
Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties are all moving forward towards re-opening but Los Angeles county is one area that is moving a little slower on that front. There was talk that stay-at-home restrictions would last until September but those have since been walked back a bit.
We talked to Jason Negro of St. John Bosco, Charlie Collins from Oaks Christian and Zaire Calvin from Muir, all in the L.A County, about whether they feel like their schools could be at a disadvantage moving forward.
St. John Bosco head coach Jason Negro
“We’re all trying to stay as positive as possible. Yes we’re in L.A county but were all members of the CIF Southern Section. I really don’t see a scenario where other schools in our section are able to go ahead and play games and we’re stuck watching from the sidelines. I think that’s highly unlikely and I think CIF would be consistent with all the member schools.
“I think it will be equal for everyone, same mandates and I think we’re all starting to see things slowly ease up and things start to open up again. It’s March 19, there’s still a long way to go and we’re making a lot of progress and I’m encouraged by that. A lot has changed just in the last month and with the announcement by the governor yesterday that pro sports could open in June, that’s huge and a definite 180 from where things were trending early on.
“I’m very confident we’ll have a season. When we start depends on when we get our kids back on campus and I’m for whatever is in the best interest of our student-athletes. From all my conversations though, it sounds like we’ll be able to proceed as normal with certain restrictions.
“Our first game was supposed to be August 21st and maybe we don’t play that or move it back but I do think we’ll have a season starting in the fall. I know there are other schools out there hitting up our kids but I would be surprised if anyone left. I just don’t see that, not right now when things are still being decided. Now if it’s June and we’re told no football, sure, I could see that but I’m committed to my kids and I’m not going anywhere and hopefully they feel the same way.”
Muir head coach Zaire Calvin
“I think we’ll know by mid-June what’s going on but I’m encouraged we’ll be playing. Right now, it is tough to sit on your hands and play the waiting game when everyone wants to practice but that’s what we have to do. I’m open to anything though and I hope we wouldn’t be at a disadvantage against other teams who are outside the L.A County.
“Our admin has always been very supportive so I’m optimistic if everyone else gets the go-ahead, we’ll find a way to play and practice. If that means maybe we have to go off-campus and practice outside the county, that’s something I’m open to to make it a level playing field.
“From what I’m hearing, I think we’ll have a season, even if it means pushing it back. In the old days, before everyone started playing week 0 games, no one started in August. September 11 this year or whenever that second week of September i, was always when football started up and that’s what I would like to see us go back to. That gives everyone enough time to be ready and make sure that things are fair for everyone.”
Oaks Christian head coach Charlie Collins
“I do think we will play and I don’t see any scenario that we would start later then other teams because we’re in L.A County. The last call I was on, things were looking very positive and talks about loosening restrictions and being able to start up in mid-July were discussed. I think we’re all just waiting for the stay-at-home to be lifted and every day, we’re seeing changes for the better.
“The earlier statement about no one leaving home until September has basically been retracted and right now, I can’t even envision not having a season. I can’t wait to see our kids and if there’s a blessing in disguise with all this, I think all of our players are going to be so excited and ready to go and their body’s will be refreshed and feeling great.
“You can get burned out playing football year around so this break has allowed them to clear the heads and when they come back, they’re going to be so excited and playing with a lot of joy. If we didn’t have a season, that would be heartbreaking for a lot of these kids and I could definitely see a few of them that had the means to do so, leaving and playing elsewhere.
“You can’t blame them, these are kids who love football and some of them need to play to be seen and get a scholarship. I don’t think it comes to that though. I think we’ll play, even if things are pushed back, we’ll play and I’m excited for that opportunity.”
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Will there be football played in California this fall? - 247Sports
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