Fall football is anything but a foregone conclusion for teams in the Great American Conference, but that's not stopping them from preparing as if it's a given.
Three-time reigning GAC champion Ouachita Baptist University will hold its first team meeting of the preseason today after players officially reported Thursday. The majority of the team was already in Arkadelphia prior to reporting day, but Coach Todd Knight was happy to see those who weren't in town this summer back on campus.
"Seventy-five percent of the team has been here for five or six weeks," he said, referring to those who took part in voluntary workouts. "It's been going great. For us, it's been a really good summer."
Knight hopes the goodness extends into the fall for the entire conference.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing many NCAA Division II teams to modify their plans for fall competition, with the Gulf South Conference becoming the latest on Thursday to postpone sports until 2021. On Monday, GAC Commissioner Will Prewitt said the league intends to hold contests in the fall, but he noted the up-and-down trajectory of the virus makes it difficult to guarantee it.
In the meantime, teams such as OBU and crosstown rival Henderson State University are preparing as if there will be a season
"We're hoping for the best," said Scott Maxfield, who's entering his 16th season as the head coach at Henderson State.
"We don't really have a reporting day since we can't start practices until Aug. 31.
"On Thursday, though, we'll start lifting weights and do conditioning, things like that. But we won't hold an actual practice until the end of the month."
Other teams around the conference have either reconvened on their campuses or intend to do so soon. University of Arkansas at Monticello Coach Hud Jackson confirmed last week that the Boll Weevils would report today.
Knight said his team's mentality has been positive since the NCAA permitted athletes to return to their universities for training sessions in early June. He doesn't expect that to change now, particularly since the season is still set to begin the week of Sept. 28.
Besides, there are more pressing issues for OBU to worry about.
"I think the mindset is looking at the guidelines that were out [by the NCAA]," said Knight, who's been at the helm for the Tigers since 1999. "That's the biggest concern, and I think everybody is dealing with that right now. But of course, my job is to get the team ready.
"It's other people and administrators jobs to figure out the guidelines part of it and how we go by that. We'll get together and go through that process. But my focus right now is to just get these guys ready to go."