With more news breaking on Tuesday regarding the possible status of collegiate sports and campuses re-opening on schedule amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, three more Pac-12 football coaches were part of a Zoom session with media members Wednesday to discuss the latest news and how they are staying in touch with their players.

Arizona State coach Herm Edwards, UCLA coach Chip Kelly and Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith were the coaches to meet with the media in an insightful session.

News broke on Tuesday that the California State University system had made the decision to close campuses in the fall and keep classes online.

This, to some sounded like a detrimental resolution for college football in the Western region as San José State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and a few other Cal State system schools field football programs and without students on campus, it is hard to imagine student-athletes on campus.

The Cal State system’s decision also came just a few days after NCAA president, Mark Emmert said in an interview on the NCAA twitter page that officials are in an agreement that no students on campus mean no sports. Emmert’s comment and the Cal State statement made the possibility for a college football season in 2020 seem grim on Tuesday afternoon.

However, news of Emmert shifting his tone broke later on in the evening on Tuesday. Emmert said in an ESPN interview that decisions on start dates will be left up to state officials and university presidents. This means the NCAA will not be in charge of a uniform collegiate athletics return.

This offered some hope for a college football season even if students are not allowed to take in-person classes in the fall 2020 semester.

In the Pac-12 landscape, the Cal State system’s shut down did not seem as significant because the California Pac-12 schools (UCLA, USC, Stanford, and Cal) are either private or in the University of California system.

“Well, first off, we're not part of Cal State,” Kelly said. “That was a big question. I had to talk to coaches on our staff. I'm like … we're in the UC system so we're not in the Cal State system. As this has gone on and we've met as a Pac-12 group for about the last four weeks and Woody Dixon and Larry (Scott) have been great … What I've come to the conclusion of is that we don't know what we don't know.

“I think the virus will tell us when we're going to be able to come back and when it's under control and when they have the proper testing and whatnot in place. And until that time we're just going to keep planning as Jonathan (Smith) mentioned earlier, like we have a season coming up. No one has told us that we're not playing. No one has told us that we are definitely playing.”

More potentially positive news came in regarding sports in general on Tuesday as Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said he will be welcoming professional sports for a return to play in Arizona without fans on May 16. While college sports naturally don’t fall under that category, just the thought of sports in general in a state fielding two Pac-12 football teams was promising for a return to the gridiron sooner than later.

However, being the realist he is, Edwards said there is more involved in resuming college sports because the players are still amateurs and their parents are still involved in making some of their decisions.

“Well, that's a whole different animal … when you think about student-athlete compared to the professional football player,” Edwards stated. “That's what he does for a living. But there are some choices to be made there, obviously. In our situation, as Jonathan just mentioned it and coach Kelly, I know he feels the same way knowing him. It's always about the safety of players. These are student-athletes. And with that being said parents are involved in these decisions too. It’s not just the student alone.

"So we can't lose sight of that. Parents are a big factor because it's their children. They are children even though they look like they’re grown men … some of them 17, 18, 19-years-old. A parent is going to be involved in a lot of this as well so that's a part of it. They want to make sure their son is safe. We as coaches want to make sure their son is safe, the environment we create is safe. We talk about that all the time. Safety is the number one priority for any coach.”

Edwards kept on the player safety train when he was asked how much time he believes he needs to get his players ready to go if there is a season.

“Well, I think the least amount of time is probably six weeks,” Edwards explained. “That's what we’ve kind of talked about. … Is it 10 weeks? Is it eight weeks? Is it seven weeks? Six weeks would probably be right there. You’d be stretching it a little bit because … these players have to be in condition to play football. And as much as we think they're working out on their own, they're not in football shape. And one thing you don't want to do is put players in a position where they're going to get hurt.”

The idea of playing without fans is a reality Pac-12 schools may have to face, especially in California or in Oregon, where Gov. Kate Brown has proclaimed that there will be no large gatherings through September.

Smith said the season could look odd.

“This game means a lot to me and Oregonians,” Smith said. “Oregon State fans. And there's no question … disappointing for this season to be affected. There's a chance it's going to look different.”

The pandemic has shut down in-person interactions the coaches can have with both current players and recruits. It has not stopped Edwards from staying in touch with his guys because he believes the pandemic will come to an end.

“I'm in direct communication with them a lot,” Edwards said. “And they check in with me also. I mean my quarterback (Jayden Daniels) about every other day. They always keep in contact with me. Talking or visiting, whatever we're doing on the Zoom calls. … I'm going to be involved in some of these meetings.

"I'll walk in when coaches are going and say something and I think that the unique thing about all of this is that players are … dialed in right now because they know that as coach Kelly said, this is going to come to an end. And we don't know what the date is. But you've got to be ready. Mentally, they're learning ball. This is the physical part now.”

Edwards went on to discuss how recruiting has changed during the coronavirus crisis. He said he believes the pandemic has led to recruits making decisions earlier.

“I think we've all had to adjust as coaches and I think every staff is able to do that and I think technology now would take kids through a virtual tour of your campus with coaches involved in it,” Edwards said. “It's been a lot of fun. Now, the other side of it is this. All these kids want to go on virtual tours. That’s what they want now. And the parents are involved in it. And you kind of take them through coaches who are on the screen.

"The thing that I'm learning probably more than anything else is a lot of these young men are worried about maybe in their area, there might not be high school football. So kids now are committing a little early. Because they might not have senior film if there's no football. Now, and I think this too … If they can't make any visits and I want something in my hand right now, say, I'm committing, and if it opens up, then all of a sudden I’m back into recruiting mode I want to go take some visits, right? That's what we're all at right now, to be quite honest.”

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