Big Ten Football

A number of Black former Iowa Hawkeyes football players have spoken out against the Kirk Ferentz's program in recent months, and on Monday former All-Big Ten cornerback Amari Spievey said that program wanted its Black athletes to be like "white Iowa kids." 

"We couldn't wear earrings, we couldn't wear hats, we had to dress a certain way," he told Adam Rittenberg and Michele Steele of ESPN. "They wanted us to be white Iowa kids. [They] wanted us to fit that mold. We couldn't be us. We had to be like them." 

"There's been a systematic issue there. Whether they've known about it, or whether or not how deep these accusations are, there are truths to all of them," former wide receiver Marvin McNutt added. "The Black players feel [coaches and staff] didn't always have our backs, and they didn't really understand our culture, or like it. I'm glad to see some of these things could actually have a voice at a time it needed one."

In June, as marches and demonstrations happened around the United States and the world in protest of systemic racism and police brutality, a number of former players came forward on social media and shared examples of unfair treatment against Black members of the Hawkeyes:

"I've talked with guys and they talked about how they were made to conform to what Coach Ferentz wanted or what they expected white players to be like," former offensive lineman Dace Richardson told Rittenberg and Steele. "We had a lot of guys on our team that had personalities and they weren't allowed to be their natural selves. I never had issues with that because I kind of just conformed to what the team wanted."

The issues reportedly extend beyond the football culture. According to the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California, the school's 40 percent graduation rate for Black athletes ranked 60th out of the 65 Power 5 schools and last in the Big Ten between 2014 and 2018.

And while 30 percent of the football program is comprised of Black athletes, just 3.3 percent of the school's population is Black. Additionally, Ferentz has only had two Black assistants in 11 of his seasons and has never had a Black offensive or defensive coordinator in his 21-year tenure, per ESPN. 

And between 2009-19, only 10 Black players represented the school at Big Ten Media day, fewer than any other school in the conference.

"It was almost like they were trying to portray the perfect white guy that represented Iowa football," former cornerback Jordan Lomax said on the Washed Up Walkons podcast (h/t Rittenberg and Steele). "Guys were like, 'If I want to go to Big Ten media days ... I've got to at least dress different or act different or be different, because I'm trying to get to that level.' We see that. We're like, 'Why can't one of us go? Why can't more of us go?'

"It's just a constant theme. And that kills guys psychologically."

Michigan State placed all of its football players into quarantine or self-isolation for 14 days after a member of the team and a second staff member tested positive for the coronavirus.

The school said in a statement: 

"As part of the athletic department's return to campus policy, student-athletes quarantine when coming into close contact with an individual who tests positive for COVID-19. The university has designated areas available to house individuals in quarantine as needed based upon the living arrangements of student-athletes."

The NCAA Division I Council allowed schools to hold limited practices for their football and basketball teams as early as June 1 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To prepare for the 2020 football season, the group laid out a six-week schedule to steadily ramp up workouts.

With students slowly returning to campus, a number of schools announced they had student-athletes test positive for the coronavirus.

The council's plan gave the option of coaches requiring student-athletes to work out and attend team meetings for up to 20 hours per week beginning on Friday.

Michigan State, however, announced on Wednesday it was temporarily suspending all football training after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.

The Big Ten announced it was adopting conference-only schedules for its fall sports this season. Friday's news, however, raises further doubts about the viability of staging a college football season any earlier than the spring.

The Spartans were originally supposed to kick off the season Sept. 5 against Northwestern. The school lists its schedule as "TBA" following the Big Ten's announcement.

Former Ohio State and Florida head coach Urban Meyer said Thursday he'd likely tell top NFL prospects to skip the 2020 college football season if it's eventually moved to the spring of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meyer told Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm there wouldn't be enough time between the college campaign and the start of a player's NFL career.

"If you have a chance after you fulfilled your commitment to a university to go and earn a living playing football, I don't know if I'd advise a guy to play a spring season before going to the NFL draft," Meyer said.

He added: "It'd be hard for me not to advise them and tell them to play. To play in spring and then go play in OTAs in the National Football League, that's not fair."

Sources believe the number of players who declare for the draft if the 2020 season is moved from the fall will exceed 100, per Edholm.

"There'll be a significant amount of guys," an unnamed coach from a top-20 program told Yahoo Sports. "I think for a lot of those guys, they're going to go into it and see the mock drafts already. If they are in the top 3-4 rounds, they're probably just going to say, 'I don't want to get hurt.'"

The 2021 NFL draft is scheduled to take place in Cleveland beginning April 29. It's unclear whether the league would be willing to shift the dates if the college football season remains ongoing at that point.

Meanwhile, college athletic departments around the country have already faced a financial burden because of the pandemic, and losing revenue from the college football season could be catastrophic.

"There isn't a model I can run to fix the problem of not having any football," UCF athletic director Danny White told ESPN in April. "I don't think there's anybody in my position with a big football fanbase that could make decisions to fix that. I don't know what happens—there's not a model, there's not a solution, there's not an action I can take that's going to solve that problem."

It creates a situation where schools feel pressure to play the upcoming season in some fashion, whether it be a shortened campaign in the fall or a makeshift one in the spring, and it could force fringe draft prospects into some difficult decisions.

Meyer explained to Edholm his staff created a pitch-count system at Ohio State to limit a player's number of competitive snaps within a calendar year, and those who approached 2,000 were held out of the following season's spring practice for recovery.

"I physically think it's impossible to have 2,000 reps in a calendar year," Meyer said. "I don't think your body can do it."

Certain players could smash through that mark if college football is moved to spring. For example, a prospect who's a key player at a mid-tier program who's trying to prove himself worthy of being drafted could play every snap, get drafted and then be right back on the field trying to earn a roster spot.

Finding a solution that's perfect for all parties involved will likely prove impossible because of the pandemic, though.

The Wisconsin athletic department is projected to lose $100 million in revenue if the 2020 college football season is not played amid the COVID-19 pandemic, per athletic director Barry Alvarez in a letter published on uwbadgers.com (h/t ESPN's Mark Schlabach).

That $100 million figure is in addition to the $12 million that the department has already lost, per Alvarez, who laid out what the department has done to cut costs.

"To this point, we have taken many steps over the past few months to minimize the impact of a cancelled winter postseason and spring season. We have instituted pay decreases for our top 25 earners and workshare furloughs for all employees, put a freeze on almost all hiring, restricted travel, limited to essential-only spending and announced the delay of the South End Zone renovation project. These steps have allowed us to avoid the tough decisions other schools have already had to make, like eliminating sports or laying off employees."

Wisconsin's athletic department is operating on a $140 million operating budget for 2020-21, per Alvarez.

Schlabach provided more context on the financial figures: "A Wisconsin spokesperson told ESPN that the financial model assumes limited capacity at home football games, but he didn't specify what percentage."

The Big Ten football season has already been pared down to a conference-only slate because of the pandemic, which has already led to the MEAC, SWAC, Ivy League, Patriot League and other conferences canceling or postponing sports previously planned for the fall of 2020.

Per Schlabach, Wisconsin would still lose between $60 million and $70 million if a Big Ten-only slate occurs. The Pac-12 has also announced that its upcoming fall sports campaign will be conference-only.

Todd M. Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal outlined what Wisconsin's plans are should it stare down tens of millions of more in revenue loss, referencing the school's reserve fund.

"UW said it didn't have to tap into an operating reserve fund held at the UW Foundation to cover a projected deficit of around $2.5 million for the 2019-20 fiscal year that ended June 30. That probably will change this year.

"The reserve fund totaled more than $190 million at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to an audit. Most was held in endowments or targeted for specific capital projects, UW said, so the reserve isn't enough to cover the loss of an entire year of operating revenue."

As Schlabach noted, the football program brought in roughly 58 percent of the department's $157.7 million in revenue, per a school financial report to the NCAA. Those figures include $45.6 million from media rights and $24 million in ticket sales.

Wisconsin is currently scheduled to host Indiana on September 4 to start its season.

Nine women, including former University of Nebraska volleyball player Capri Davis, filed a lawsuit against the school in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska on Monday saying it mishandled complaints of sexual assault and harassment.

Paula Lavigne of ESPN reported the news, noting the lawsuit alleged violations of the Title IX gender equity law and racial discrimination.

What's more, the lawsuit said Nebraska "handled sexual misconduct complaints against student-athletes in a different manner than how other complaints were handled."

Davis, who was also part of a larger lawsuit filed against the NCAA in April, took a medical leave of absence and eventually transferred to play for the Texas Longhorns.

"According to both complaints, the school's handling of a false rumor that she was pregnant with the child of a football player, as well as a report that she was groped at a party, led her to transfer," Lavigne wrote.

Davis and another woman who is a plaintiff in both lawsuits said two Nebraska football players groped them during a party and filed a complaint to Nebraska's Title IX office in April 2019. However, the office found the players not responsible.

Lavigne noted the most recent lawsuit does not specifically name Katerian LeGrone and Andre Hunt as the ones they reported, although "a description of the men in the lawsuit indicates" it was them.

Both players have since been expelled after they were criminally charged with first-degree sexual assault after another student reported as much to the Lincoln Police Department in August 2019.

Nebraska's Title IX office found them responsible for sexual misconduct in that instance and acted accordingly. However, it did not rule LeGrone and another teammate responsible when Davis' friend reported she was raped in August 2018 in a separate incident.

"The health and safety of all of our students is of the upmost importance to us," a Nebraska spokesperson said, per Lavigne. "We have a strong Title IX process and are confident in it. Every case is difficult and investigated based on the information made available. We cannot comment on the specifics of any Title IX investigation or on pending litigation."

A University of Iowa Diversity Task Force released a report in 2019 that outlined instances of racial biases and inequalities within the football program, according to Rob Howe of HawkeyeNation.com.

That report was presented to Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz and athletic director Gary Barta. 

According to the findings, Black football players felt they were:

• "Expected to conform to White culture"
• "Subjected to verbal harassment"
• "Targeted for extra drug testing"
• "Misled about resources available to them during the recruiting process"
• "Subjected to inequitable discipline policies and double standards"
• "Misunderstood by both coaches and White player"
• "Unsupported in their academic pursuits"

In June, former Iowa player and current Chicago Bears offensive lineman James Daniels detailed several instances of racial inequalities within the program:

A number of other players shared their stories as well:

“I think you could argue that (the Iowa Football culture) has been healthy based on results,” Ferentz said June 7. "My responsibility and my charge is to make sure (racism) isn’t prevalent in our program...I would not quantify that as a major issue right now."

"I had convinced myself that we were doing enough," Barta added during a press conference June 15. "Frankly, the past few weeks have been a wakeup call for me, I know [for] Kirk. But everybody in Iowa Football and Iowa athletics [was woken up]."

The existence of the 2019 report would seem to contradict both of those statements, however. 

The tangible result of Iowa's culture is that Black players transfer away from the school at a disproportionately high rate.

Additionally, Howe wrote, "A study done by USC's Race and Equity Center shows that among 65 Power 5 football programs, Iowa ranked 60th in graduating Black student-athletes. In the Big Ten, its 37 percent differential between graduating Black and white student-athletes ranked as the highest in the conference. The study looked at the years 2014-18."

Cornerback prospect Jordan Hancock announced his commitment to Ohio State Sunday after recently de-committing from Clemson:

The Georgia native first picked Clemson in March but reopened the process last week, per Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports. Just four days later, he said he made his decision and then announced he would play for the Buckeyes.

Hancock is considered a 4-star recruit and the No. 6 cornerback in the 2021 class, according to 247Sports composite rankings. He is rated as the No. 77 overall player in the nation as he enters his senior year of high school.

The 6'1", 170-pound player has plenty of upside, with Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs comparing him to other prominent players. 

"Coach Coombs was one of the biggest factors because he's a great person, great man and definitely a great coach," Hancock told Tom VanHaaren of ESPN. "We talked about how he recruits first rounders, first round cornerbacks and that I have that talent. He compares me to (Jeff) Okudah and Denzel Ward, that's what I remind him of."

Former Ohio State stars Okudah and Ward are the only cornerbacks who have been taken in the top five of the NFL draft in the past four years.

Beyond the development of past players, Ohio State earned praise for the long-term scouting of Hancock.

"(Ohio State) was very consistent, they never let off the gas," he said. "They were the first big school to offer me, I wasn't even ranked when they offered, so they were the first school to take a chance on me."

The Buckeyes have the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2021 class, per 247Sports, and flipping a player from Clemson could be valuable with both teams always competing for national titles.

The University of Michigan athletic department announced Wednesday season tickets won't be honored if the 2020 college football season is held with fans in attendance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have been working closely with a wide variety of leaders to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our student-athletes, coaches, fans and support staff associated with a game at Michigan Stadium," athletic director Warde Manuel said. "We will follow the direction that all of these agencies and experts continue to provide during this challenging time."

If the Wolverines are cleared to have spectators in the stands, season-ticket holders and students will be the only people eligible to purchase tickets, which will be available on a single-game basis.

Fans who've already purchased season tickets will retain their seats for the 2021 season. They can use the money paid toward the 2020 campaign as a gift to the UM athletic department, a prepayment for next year or they can request a refund.

Further details about tickets for the upcoming season will be made available after a final decision is made about the season and, if games are going to happen, the capacity The Big House is cleared to hold under the COVID-19 guidelines at the time.

Michigan was scheduled to open the season Sept. 5, but the Big Ten announced last week it would utilize a conference-only schedule if fall sports are given the green light.

The Wolverines' first Big Ten game is slated for Sept. 26 against Wisconsin.

Although the Pac-12 has joined the Big Ten in shifting focus to a conference-only schedule, the other Power Final conferences haven't made a decision. Another option is moving football to the spring, though that could have different logistical issues since the NFL draft is set to begin April 29.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said he's hopeful the season can be held.

"COVID is part of our society," he told reporters last week. "Wasn't caused by football or caused by sports. And there's no expert view right now that I'm aware of that sports is going to make that worse. It's part of our society; we're going to have to deal with it."

Yet experts have noted the risks are numerous, and coronavirus cases have undergone a recent surge around the United States, just as college and pro teams were nearing the start of training camps.

That said, the NBA, NHL and MLB have continued to move forward with their restart plans.

Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.

Michigan Wolverines defensive end David Ojabo is a citizen of the United Kingdom and has been unable to travel from Scotland to join his teammates because of international travel restrictions.  

He tweeted about the situation Tuesday:

A program spokesperson confirmed as much to Orion Sang of the Detroit Free Press, who noted Ojabo was born in Nigeria and eventually moved to Scotland in 2007. However, he attended high school in the United States and signed with Michigan as part of its 2019 recruiting class.

He was a 4-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Sang explained the United States implemented an international travel ban near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why Ojabo has been unable to return to Ann Arbor, Michigan, since he left to go back to Scotland in March when in-person classes were canceled.

Julius Welschof (Germany) and Luiji Vilain (Canada) are two more international scholarship players on Michigan's roster, but they remained on campus during the pandemic and have been participating in voluntary workouts with the team.

The program spokesperson said Michigan is taking a "wait-and-see" approach when it comes to a timeline for Ojabo's return.

The Wolverines' season was scheduled to start Sept. 5 in a high-profile showdown at Washington, but the Big Ten announced it will play a conference-only football schedule in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While changes could still be made, Michigan's first Big Ten game on its original schedule was Sept. 26 against Wisconsin.

The Big Ten announced Thursday that it will cut nonconference games from the schedules of its 14 member schools for the 2020 football season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

College football is just one of the sports impacted, as the Big Ten noted all fall sports will move to a conference-only slate "if the conference is able to participate."

The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach first reported the decision.

ESPN Stats & Info noted some of the marquee clashes that will fall by the wayside:

The ACC announced earlier in the day it was delaying the start of its Olympic sports—men's and women's cross-country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer and volleyball—until Sept. 1, a step that didn't impact the football season.

The 2020 campaign is scheduled to open Aug. 29, and most schools get underway Sept. 5.

The hope was that the curve of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States would flatten before businesses could reopen and stay-at-home guidelines would be relaxed. Football would then kick off as usual in the fall, but perhaps behind closed doors like European soccer has done to resume its 2019-20 season.

Instead, the pandemic is surging again across the country. The World Health Organization has confirmed more than 2.9 million cases and 130,983 deaths, both of which are the most of any country in the world.

After the Division I Council allowed schools to resume limited on-campus workouts for football and basketball, numerous universities have confirmed positive tests among their student-athletes. That has raised doubts about the fate of the NCAA and NFL seasons.

The Ivy League already canceled its fall season for all sports, leaving some to wonder whether the conference was the proverbial canary in the coal mine. The Ivy League canceled its men's and women's basketball tournaments March 10 when the coronavirus was beginning to take hold in the U.S. Two days later, the NCAA scrapped the remainder of the winter sports calendar and the entire spring sports slate.

At the very least, the Big Ten's move to a conference-only schedule could lead other FBS conferences to follow suit, thus trimming the length of the upcoming season.