Newsom Says California Will Allow Pac-12 Football

LOS ANGELES, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday afternoon that California will not restrict NCAA college football games. Although the Pac-12 conference commissioner previously said that teams would be prevented by the state from holding full-contact workouts amid COVID-19 concerns, Newsom gave a green light Wednesday.

“There's nothing in our guidelines that prevent these games from occurring,” Newsom said during an afternoon news conference. He added that schools “can resume football. There’s nothing in the guidelines saying the Pac-12 cannot move forward.”

Questions about Pac-12 football arose Wednesday following a decision by the Big 10 Conference to begin games in late October, walking back an earlier decision to postpone all fall competition and considering playing football next spring.

The Pac-12 has also scrubbed plans for fall athletic competion, although it recently announced an extensive coronavirus-testing plan for student-athletes. That testing agreement was seen as possibly signaling an earlier return to competition.

Responding to the Big 10 announcement, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott issued a statement Wednesday saying the conference isn't yet authorized to begin its football season.

"At this time, our universities in California and Oregon do not have approval from state or local public health officials to start contact practice," Scott said. "We are hopeful that our new daily testing capability can help satisfy public health official approvals in California and Oregon to begin contact practice and competition. We are equally closely monitoring the devastating fires and air quality in our region at this time. We are eager for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, as soon as it can be done safely and in accordance with public health authority approvals."

However, Newsom said there is no such restriction from the state.

"We put out very, I thought, thoughtful guidelines and again, in partnership with the NCAA, about cohorting during workouts and practices," Newsom said Wednesday. "So, I want to make this crystal clear, nothing in the state guidelines deny the ability for the Pac-12 to resume," he said. "Quite the contrary. That has been a misrepresentation of the facts."

Later Wednesday afternoon, Scott released a statement on twitter, thanking the governors of California and Oregon for their clarification on resuming Pac-12 games.

"Our California and Oregon universities will now each individually and immediately reach out to their relevant county public health officials to seek clarification on what is required to achieve the same clearance and resume contact practice and competition," Scott said.

Statement from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott on positive developments from governors of California and Oregon: pic.twitter.com/bZVuGT6vuW
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 16, 2020

College football has become a point of contention in the nation's struggle to devise coronavirus restrictions. Newsom was mostly a passive player in the debate. He never actively called for the games to resume, nor did he make any statements about indefinitely canceling games.

Alternatively, President Donald Trump has urged for collegiate athletes to return to the field. After the conference announced Wednesday it would start the season in late October, Trump tweeted: “It is my great honor to have helped!!!”

Newsom said he is committed to working with the Pac-12 and the NCAA to keep team members, coaches, staff and families safe.

"Remember, these are student-athletes and they're not isolating in a bubble as some of our NBA superstars are," Newsom said. "They need to be integrated in one way, shape or form with an academic paradigm by definition. That's what student-athletes are supposedly all about."

In Los Angeles, members of the USC football team sent a letter to Newsom Tuesday asking him to "find a path forward for us to resume competition later this fall so that we can have the same opportunity as other teams round the country to play for a national championship."

The City News Service and Patch Staffer Kat Schuster contributed to this report.