If the Mountain West gives the green light for football to start up this fall, Fresno State will be ready.
Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro said Friday that the school has developed a plan to return students-athletes to campus.
The university is currently holding the vast majority of classes online for the 2020-2021 academic year and has not held any athletics practices or competitions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Fresno State, with guidance from medical experts, has developed a bold and creative plan to begin returning student-athletes to campus so they can prepare for Mountain West competition, if health conditions allow,” Castro said in a statement.
“Our goal is to secure approval of this plan by local public health officials and the California State University Chancellor’s Office by the end of September.”
Castro’s statement comes after reports that the Mountain West is pushing to move the football season back to the fall.
Stadium reporter Brett McMurphy reported Thursday that the Mountain West – which had previously postponed all fall sports to the spring – is “aggressively exploring” options to hold an eight-game season in the fall, finishing Dec. 19 with the conference championship game.
Earlier this week the Big 10 announced that it will play fall football after previously postponing the season.
That decision seems to have spurned the Mountain West, Pac-12 and MAC – the only conferences without a plan to play in the fall – into action.
If the Mountain West announces a fall season, Fresno State should not face any opposition from the state.
When asked earlier in the week if the state’s COVID-19 guidelines would prevent the Pac-12 from playing, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state has no rules preventing football.
“There’s nothing in our guidelines that prevent these games from occurring,” Newsom told reporters.
Photo: Fresno State Athletics
