Georgia Moving Forward With Plan for Fall Football Season in Good Sign for SEC

A plethora of Power 5 programs have come forward to communicate their optimism about the 2020 college football season starting on time and with fans inside stadiums.

Georgia joined that growing list on Thursday when school president Jere Morehead addressed the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook for the upcoming campaign in a video conference with reporters following a meeting with the Bulldogs 'athletics board.

"Right now, our plan is to move forward and start the season on time and to have a full season," Morehead told reporters. "I can’t predict events that would change that plan, but that’s the approach that the SEC is operating under."

This is a really positive sign for the SEC, which voted re-open its athletic facilities on June 8. The motion clears football players to report to campus where they can begin voluntary workouts and other in-person affairs for the 2020 season.

However, Morehead's hopefulness about filling Sanford Stadium to its capacity might fall on deaf ears. College football returning on time is one thing, but it remains highly uncertain if public health officials will authorize any spectators inside arenas, let alone over 92,000. A number of conferences have already announced that sports this fall won't resume until students are permitted to return to campus.

"Personally, I’m hoping that we don’t have to put any restrictions on at Sanford Stadium," Morehead continued. "But I have no idea what the public health experts are going to be telling us at that point. If they say we have to have social distancing or you have to wear masks, then we’ll approach things as we’re advised to do so."

Like most university presidents, Morehead is concerned over the revenue loss that Georgia will sustain if the campaign is carried out with no fans. Putting those brash comments aside, the Bulldogs planning as if there will be college football this year should reassure fans of the SEC.