‘Gut punch’: Davidson’s Pioneer Football League cancels season; door open for spring

The Pioneer Football League, an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference that counts Davidson as one of its members, announced Friday it is canceling its fall football season due to coronavirus concerns.

“It’s a gut punch, it truly is,” Davidson coach Scott Abell said. “It’s like getting the wind knocked out of you. This caught us by surprise.”

That means there will likely be no fall sports at Davidson at all. Most of the remainder of Davidson’s sports teams compete in the Atlantic 10, which announced in July it has suspended all fall sports until the spring. The A-10, which doesn’t sponsor football, said it will use a “look-in window” in mid-September to possibly restart fall sports if the risk of the coronavirus has been substantially reduced.

The PFL, which had already announced in July that its teams would not play nonconference games, cited its geographically diverse nature as a key reason why it won’t play.

“The PFL membership is spread from coast-to-coast and throughout the Midwest, which poses challenges related to team travel, as well as difficulties meeting applicable state, local and institutional health requirements and COVID-19 mitigation strategies,” the statement said.

The PFL, whose members don’t offer football scholarships, has member schools scattered around the country — Davidson, Valparaiso and Butler (Indiana), Drake (Iowa), San Diego, Marist (New York), Dayton (Ohio), Stetson (Florida) and Morehead State (Kentucky).

The league apparently left the door open for playing in the spring.

“Recognizing competition is an integral part of the student-athlete’s educational experience, the PFL is committed to exploring meaningful opportunities and experiences for football student-athletes this academic year, if this can be done reasonably and safely,” the statement said.

That is welcome news to Abell, whose team was 8-4 in 2019.

“Then things can become a little more normal for us,” Abell said. “We could get back to practicing in January when it’s a little chilly, start playing in February and finish in March. The challenge would be getting the roster turned around for next fall. So we shouldn’t look too far ahead.”

Abell said Wildcats players have been returning to campus to prepare for training camp for a fall season that is now gone. The plan now, Abell said, is for them to get through safety protocols and take part in conditioning workouts through the middle of September, when the team will begin practicing on the field.

“It will be basically like spring practice in September,” Abell said.

Abell said if there is no spring season, he anticipates the NCAA allowing players an extra year of eligibility, as it did for athletes who lost their seasons last spring when sports were canceled due to the coronavirus.

“That’s who I hurt for, our seniors,” Abell said of players who might not elect to return in 2021, even if they had an extra year of eligibility granted. “Our seniors felt very confident about this season. These are such tumultuous times and for so many athletes, this was their one outlet. Now it’s all been put on hold for them.”

Among those seniors is quarterback Tyler Phelps.

“We were definitely disappointed, initially,” Phelps said. “I think we have a really good team and have a legitimate shot at winning the championship and not having that opportunity hurts.”

Phelps is scheduled to graduate in May 2021 with a degree in economics. He might have a job already locked up. But if there is no spring football and the next chance to play becomes next fall, he said will have a decision to make.

“There would be a lot to consider, a lot of options, including my course work (to delay graduating),” Phelps said. “I know one thing: I’m not done playing football.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 12:48 PM.