Gardner-Webb, Big South coaches talk football, ponder the many questions during COVID

Five college football coaches and their conference commissioner talked Tuesday about the fast-approaching season — and how hard they’re working to save it.

The Big South Conference’s annual Media Day event was a glimmer of normalcy in a preseason otherwise shrouded by questions and concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference named a preseason favorite and preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, along with an all-conference team.

But there were the questions.

When will the season start? Can schools find enough opponents to fill their schedules? Will athletic departments be able to test student-athletes adequately? How will coaching staffs keep their players — and themselves — safe?

And will there even be a season?

“I’ve yet to see a guy catch or throw a ball, and I’ve been on the job for eight months,” said first-year head coach Tre Lamb of Gardner-Webb. “It’s been a challenge.”

The Big South already has lost two football-playing members this year. Hampton announced earlier this month that it won’t play in 2020, and Monmouth made the announcement Monday afternoon, about 18 hours before Media Day was to begin. The five survivors are defending champion Kennesaw State, Campbell, Charleston Southern, North Alabama and Gardner-Webb.

Several FCS conferences have announced they won’t play football this fall, and a few others say they’ll only play conference schedules.

“It’s a challenging time,” Commissioner Kyle Kallander said. “We have a lot of questions remaining.”

A few things are set:

▪ Teams will begin regular practices next week. And many football players have been on campuses for several weeks, operating in a COVID “bubble” with no other students around. That will change next month as schools reopen.

▪ The conference is working on testing protocols for all schools, and each coaching staff has set up procedures aimed at making sure players practice social distancing with other students.

Another thing is certain, coaches say.

“Everyone will have (COVID) cases,” said Lamb, who at age 30 is the youngest head football coach in NCAA Division I. “There will be issues to tackle. We’ll have to be able to adjust to whatever happens.”

Or, as Kennesaw State head coach Brian Bohannon said: “I’ve told my assistant coaches that they need to be ready to coach any position. Someone might have to replace me, if I’m out for 14 days.”

The biggest question is whether there even will be a season. The head coaches said Tuesday they are preparing for football this fall.

“We’ve had our kids back on campus since June 15, and we’ve had only two cases,” said Campbell head coach and former Carolina Panthers linebacker Mike Minter, adding that the two positive cases were among players who tested positive when they arrived on campus. “I think we can do this.”

Kallander acknowledges anything is possible, including an autumn without college football.

“Ultimately, we will follow guidance,” he said.

Some other ideas the Big South is kicking around:

Fill-in members for 2020: Kallander said Robert Morris, scheduled to leave the Northeast Conference for the Big South in 2021, might make the jump this season. He said the conference also approached N.C. A&T, set to leave the Mid-Eastern Athletic for the Big South next year. But Kallander said the MEAC is considering a spring football season, so the Aggies must stay put for now.

Creative scheduling: Kallander says that with a number of other schools and conferences deciding not to play this fall, creating holes in Big South teams’ schedules, the conference is even looking at the idea of home-and-away series for conference members.

Big paydays: Several Big South teams have big-money games scheduled against FBS opponents. But the ACC and SEC have not made a decision on their 2020 schedules. “It’s like a lot of other things,” Kallander said. “We have to wait and see — and be flexible.”

Preseason honors: Sophomore quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams (Campbell) and senior linebacker Bryson Armstrong (Kennesaw State) were named offensive and defensive players of the year. Kennesaw State was picked to repeat as conference champion.

The all-conference team includes Gardner-Webb linebacker Darien Reynolds (Vance High) and wide receiver Izaiah Gathings (Statesville).

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle