The Pac-12 takes their latest step towards re-opening

The Pac-12, like the rest of the United States, is working diligently towards re-opening after the coronavirus pandemic shut down life as we knew it. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott recently made a statement that football camps could start as early as July.

That start date of July likely is on par with when everyone has agreed is the latest time to start the season and continue on with everything as it scheduled currently.

“We’ve got three states in our conference where gyms are already open and student-athletes are wanting to get back,” Scott said. “And, in most cases, we feel that student-athletes will be in a safer position and healthier position if they can have access to the world-class medical care, supervision and support they can get on their campuses if there are issues with the virus. But, these are baby steps bringing student-athletes back to campus, and if things continue to progress in a positive direction then training camp for football could start as early as late July.

And we could be on a nice glide path to the start of the college football season at the end of August.”

This is, of course, without anything regarding whether or not the stadiums will be allowed to have fans. While the NFL seems to have it on their agenda to have full stadiums, or at least that’s how it seems, colleges have not yet made any such headway with a consensus.

Scott continued to say that the states that each school resides will begin to pave their own way towards fans in the stands.

“I even see it in my own conference where states will allow fans probably initially on some socially-distanced basis and then in a phased approach starting to allow more and more. Some states will be a little more conservative and we’ll be playing in front of empty stadiums, which will be a bit surreal and challenging ... We realize this is going to be a phased restart, reopening of society. The early steps are to safely get students back to campus, to start the competition and I think it’s gonna be some time before we see full stadiums and arenas again.”

For your UCLA Bruins, the steps towards re-opening and scheduling camps for July now give us time to ask the proper questions.

I’m not so much as entertained by the political correctness of Scott’s remarks, although promising towards the start of the season, but more so interested in what we can learn from these camps in July.

We, as fans, will be interested likely as much as the coaching staff will be for their teams. How long will it take for the coaches to get the student-athletes back into top shape? How will no spring ball influence summer/fall camps?

There are a bevy of questions that go well outside the normal allotment of questions that we have for a camp. Not only will we be searching for number changes, who’s lining up at specific positions, etc. but we’ll also be watching camps for those aforementioned reasons, unlike any other camp we’ve all ever witnessed in our time.

This is set to be an unprecedented football season but also an unprecedented offseason for camps and workouts.

What are your top questions for this new plan, this new idea that camps will start in July?