When they held the athletic director position at Mississippi State, Larry Templeton, Scott Stricklin and Greg Byrne never hesitated to salt away money for a “rainy day” when the athletic department might sorely need it.
Now, as the storm clouds have begun to darken the horizon, John Cohen is thankful for the wisdom of his predecessors.
In the midst of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Cohen and the Bulldogs’ athletic department have had to face the fact that the fall college football season may suffer serious delays — or may not happen at all.
“Quite frankly, if we don’t have football, it will very much be a ‘rainy day’ situation that we will have to figure out,” Cohen said Monday afternoon in an address to the Starkville Rotary Club, delivered via the Zoom video conferencing app in the interest of social distancing.
Make no mistake: Cohen is “very hopeful” the football season will continue as planned. But he knows the consequences his school will face if Davis Wade Stadium sits empty this fall.
“Football is related to everything you do athletically, especially in the Southeastern Conference,” Cohen said.
That includes a planned renovation of Humphrey Coliseum — home to the Bulldogs’ men’s and women’s basketball teams — slated to begin next year. Cohen estimated the price tag for the improvements at $40-50 million.
“We’re so excited about that opportunity,” Cohen said. “Of course, we really need a football season next fall in order for us to engage in this project.”
The average price of an MSU football ticket in 2019 was $34, according to SeatGeek, and the Bulldogs’ home games drew an average of 56,190 fans last season. With seven home contests on the 2020 schedule, Mississippi State would be projected to rake in roughly $13.4 million in ticket sales alone — and that’s without factoring in an attendance increase with the hiring of Mike Leach as the Bulldogs’ new head coach.
On Monday, Cohen praised the innovative “Air Raid” offense developed by the former Washington State and Texas Tech head coach, who has made 16 bowl games in 18 years at the helm. With Stanford transfer KJ Costello expected to start at quarterback and a top-25 recruiting class coming into Starkville, Cohen has high hopes for the Bulldogs — once they get on the field, anyway.
“We’re looking forward to those guys actually having an opportunity, and hopefully it’ll come sooner than later,” Cohen said.
Cohen said the Bulldogs’ first chance to show themselves is likely to come two days earlier than originally scheduled, telling Rotary Club members to “stay tuned” for an announcement that Mississippi State’s season opener against New Mexico in Starkville will be moved up to Sept. 3 from Sept. 5.
The move, which Cohen said the school is “not 100 percent ready” to confirm, will guarantee MSU a night game starting at either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, a Thursday.
If things go according to plan, the Bulldogs’ contest with the Lobos will lead off a schedule highlighted by back-to-back road games with Alabama on Oct. 17 and defending national champion LSU on Oct. 24.
Despite the many unknowns of the pandemic, Cohen remains optimistic the 2020 season will take place as long as players can take the practice field by July 1 to adequately prepare themselves.
“I want to state to all of you that I’m a ‘glass half full’ guy,” Cohen said. “I think we are gonna have football next fall, and hopefully that’s gonna be the case.”
Transfers, other NCAA rule impacts
Roughly four hours after Cohen expressed in his speech similar hopes that the NCAA would grant student-athletes in spring sports an extra year of eligibility to compete in order to compensate for their shortened seasons, the organization’s Division I Council did just that. The organization announced Monday evening it had sanctioned just what Cohen said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey would be supporting at Monday afternoon’s meeting: a waiver for extra eligibility for all spring-sport athletes, not just seniors.
With the ruling, Mississippi State could have more student-athletes competing next spring than it ever has before, leading Cohen to broach the subject of NCAA’s transfer rules. Currently, athletes in all but five sports — football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and men’s ice hockey — can play immediately after transferring rather than having to sit out a season, but Cohen said his aim is to apply a rule uniformly among all sports.
“The idea is, do you give immediate-eligibility transfer status to kids who are affected in spring sports with higher numbers?” Cohen said Monday.
He said the issue has two possible solutions: allowing student-athletes in all sports to play immediately after transferring or ensuring that all student-athletes must sit out a season regardless of sport.
Cohen also raised one other prevalent issue in college athletics: legislation introduced in several states aiming to compensate student-athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness.
Laws like the Fair Pay to Play Act, which California enacted in September, will allow student-athletes to earn money for endorsements and sponsorships without compromising their collegiate eligibility.
To Cohen, similar legislation has started college athletics on a “dangerous path.” He cited concerns that student-athletes will flock to the schools that can offer them the ability to make the most money.
“I am a huge fan of our student-athletes being able to express themselves and being able to open businesses and being able to creatively earn a living,” Cohen said. “… My fear with name, image and likeness is that it becomes a recruiting tool for institutions around the country, and that’s a real concern to myself and to many other athletic directors around the country.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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