By Harry Minium
Old Dominion University Athletic Director Wood Selig says the coronavirus pandemic likely will force most if not all colleges and universities to cancel all fall sports this season and added that playing in the spring may not be as attractive an option as it appears unless there is a vaccine.
In a wide-ranging interview on which he touched on the various ways in which COVID-19 has affected college sports, his staff, athletes and him personally, Dr. Selig said little has changed since mid-March, when conference and the NCAA basketball tournaments were shut down and students were sent home because of the coronavirus.
"I'd have to say the only thing that's different now is that the coronavirus is bigger and badder than it was in March and that it is more widespread now than it was forecast to be," he said.
"If it was a good idea in March to cease competition, I can't help but think it would be a smart idea to maintain that philosophy this fall."
Selig told The Virginian-Pilot two months ago that the best thing for all college athletics might be to shut down for a year and focus on academics and while maintaining their safety and conditioning. He still thinks that might be the best option.
"In all honesty, until there is a vaccine, I think we're just kidding ourselves into thinking that it's going to be safe (to hold athletic events) and that we're going to be OK," he said.
Selig said that he and Deputy Athletic Director Ken Brown are anticipating a revenue shortfall of at least $7 to $8 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year for its $42 million budget. If fall sports are not played, and ODU loses additional gate revenue, the deficit will increase.
He said budget cuts to cover the shortfall won't be finalized until later this summer when there are more accurate revenue forecasts, including a determination of fall competition and University enrollment figures.
Although ODU anticipates declines in ticket receipts, corporate sponsorships and other numerous revenue sources, the University's fundraising efforts have been "surprisingly strong," he said, adding that many donors have stepped up during this difficult time.
The interview:
Q: The Virginia High School League announced there will be no football this fall. The Ivy League, A-10, America East, CAA, MEAC and many other leagues have canceled all fall sports. Do you believe that NCAA Division I fall sports will be played?
A: "When asked that question, I ask myself, and ask others, 'what is different now in mid-July than in mid-March, when we all felt like it was a great idea to shut down the basketball tournaments and send all of the students and athletes home and cancel our spring sports?'
"If I recall correctly, the medical experts were saying then that in the summer months the heat would help kill the virus and shrink the number of cases. The heat may very well be doing that on metal surfaces, but I think what was underestimated was the spread of the virus through particles in the air, human to human, without masks, as well as the reckless behavior of so many during the summer.
"I think that has been a huge eye opener. We are not better off than we were in March. We're actually in a worse position in many ways."
Q: Do you have a sense on when that decision might come?
A: "Everyone has been saying that by the end of July or early August, we're going to have to make a definitive decision. We're going to have to be a little more patient and see how the national numbers and tracks are going, including hot spots. And the decision could be very well made for us, by federal and state officials.
"I was talking with David Benedict, the athletic director at UConn, and he told me that that if residents of Connecticut travel to only one of 16 states, they have to quarantine for two weeks upon returning. If he sends an athletic team to any one of those states, they have a two-week interruption of play when they return.
"How can they have a season like that? If teams play at UConn, they most quarantine two weeks beforehand. How realistic is that?
"If more of this happens between states, at some point, you have to ask yourself, are teams going to be able to travel out of the state to compete? That helps make our decision for us. Maybe we can only compete in Virginia. That may be the best you get. Well, if that's the best you can do, might we be better off waiting until the spring or until a vaccine is introduced.
"I can't th ink of a worse situation for all involved with college athletics than the death of a student-athlete that was COVID and athletic related. I cannot even fathom having to go through that as parents and family of a student athlete, as an administrator, a coach or teammate.
Q: What are your thoughts on playing fall sports in the spring?
A. "I think we need to look at the spring but I'm not sure it's the answer.
"If there's no vaccine in January, and we're still facing what we are today, is the spring really the answer or do we just keep kicking the can down the road like we have been?
"In all honesty, as high contact as so many of our sports our, until there's a vaccine, I think we're just kidding ourselves that it's going to be safe (to play sports) and that we're going to be OK. If the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and others is the guiding principle for what we're doing, not revenue, not dollars and cents, then I think the decision is easy. I think it's obvious.
"Our field hockey team competes in the Big East and the Big East has announced it will play only a conference schedule. That leaves Coach Andrew Griffiths and his players with just six games. And one of those games is against UConn. What kind of competitive experience is that for a team of student-athletes to play six games?
"Our men's soccer schedule has gone from 18 matches down to nine (because of game cancelations). That could be further reduced to six by the time September rolls around.
"(Men's Soccer Coach) Alan Dawson's top six players are international student-athletes. They can't get out of their countries. Nor are we pushing them to get out of their countries. Some international parents are thinking, 'why do I want to send my son or my daughter to the United States to get in the middle of this pandemic' And I don't have a good answer for that. I can't say I blame them."
Q: Your staff took the best advice from medical professionals and state and University officials to prepare a plan to begin bringing athletes back to campus that includes testing, social distancing and quarantining anyone who tests positive for COVID-19. How has that worked out so far?
A: "It's worked very well. We just sent a communication to parents assuring them that as their children return to campus we have a very high-level plan in place to test all returning student-athletes, coaches and staff and make sure we minimize the potential for our student-athletes coming in contact with the coronavirus during their training.
"Additionally, we've informed them, if they are uncomfortable in any way for their son or daughter to be here on campus to train, practice or compete, they can sit out and not be penalized in any way. They won't lose their scholarship. Their place or position on the team is safe. They will continue to have academic support so that they can pursue their academics and progress toward a degree. There will be no negative ramifications by any coaches or administrators at ODU toward a student athlete if his or her family deem it be in their best interest not to participate at this time."
Q: Have you had athletes or staff members test positive for COVID-19?
A: "As of July 15, we have tested 317 student-athletes, coaches, trainers, weight and strength coaches and administrators. All the results have been received and I've been very, very pleased with the very low number of positives tests. We've had six student-athletes and one staff member test positive. That's from 317 athletic department-related tests.
Those who have tested positive have been isolated. They are following our detailed guidelines for anyone who tests positive. The national average of positive tests is five percent and we are obviously tracking well below that."
Q: Many universities have said they will take huge hits to their athletic budgets. How will the coronavirus impact your budget?
"Our budget is $42 million. Should we have fall sports we feel we'll be about 18 to 20 percent off revenue from last year, so that's about a $7 million to $8 million loss. In the event we don't participate in the fall, the number will grow beyond that.
"How much I don't know, because there will be some savings on travel and game management. We're running those numbers now. We're also trying to figure out how you manage with a 20 percent loss in revenue."
Q: Have you finalized budget cuts?
"They are being formulated. We really need to wait several more weeks before we start making final decisions. What is the conference perhaps going to do athletically with our fall sports? What might we do as an institution? How might sports such as basketball be impacted? Is it just Olympic sports that don't play this fall? I can't imagine you play football and not Olympic sports. There are just too may unanswered questions right now.
Q: I'm sure donations have been down as well as other revenues. What has your message been to your donors and fans?
A: "Donations have been surprisingly good. We've received some significant gifts this spring and summer. Both current and new donors have realized the plight we are in and in spite of the tough economic times many have stepped forward and either given a little more or new donors have materialized. We have certainly been the beneficiary of a very passionate and loyal following who understanding the challenging economic times we are facing.
"When you include all of our 3,000 donors, we may have lost some donors because so many are those who give $100 or $250. They are the backbone of our whole operation. But they are also the ones most impacted by the loss of jobs and furloughs. Many have taken financial hits.
"Overall, we've been pleasantly surprised with how generous the support for ODU athletics has been. That's going to help make up for revenue shortfalls we expect."
Q. Within the last year you opened a new football stadium, had a football coach resign, hired a new coach and a new women's basketball coach, made the difficult choice to drop wrestling and have been dealing with the coronavirus for 18 weeks. How are you holding up?
A: "It's been challenging to say the least. I'm working from home, which is an adjustment as there is my junior in college and my sophomore in high school and my wife all at home with me at the same time. So, it's been a unique combination of work and family, environment all mingled together that millions of other Americans are also experiencing. We've all managed it very well. But it's been a little bit more stressful in that these days, you never really leave work.
"When you work exclusively from home, there's never really any stop or start. It has been one long, continuous 18 weeks of work for the most part. Emails at night. Phone calls at night. Weekends that blur into the next week. I've been as busy the last 18 weeks as I've ever been in intercollegiate athletics. There have been a few breaks here and there but not many.
"I was talking to John Currie, the athletic director at Wake Forest, and he asked me where this ranked as stressful periods in my career. I told him it was No. 1 because it's the pandemic that keeps on giving. There's no end in sight. And when anyone predicts there will be some relief, some downturn, it seems to go to the opposite direction on us. It's been non-stop and it's involved a lot of personal losses, a lot of professional losses, and it was impacted a lot of individuals' livelihoods and it will continue to do that not only in intercollegiate athletics, but with our season ticket holders, our donors, our friends of ODU and ODU athletics.
"It's been painful to watch all of the damage that has been done."
Q: How has your staff reacted to this unprecedented event?
A: "Our senior staff has been terrific. They have managed their teams extremely well. Just look at academics. (Senior Associate Athletic Director) Randale Richmond and his team led us through a very chaotic spring academic term to what is arguably the finest academic performance for a semester of any ODU athletic year. We had a 3.47 compositive GPA in the spring among our athletes.
"Ken Brown and his team have worked tirelessly on our budget at a time when the numbers change frequently. They've had a different forecast weekly on how we might be able to navigate things.
"Jena Virga and her team at ODAF continue to do a great job raising money and growing our base of support. She and her staff have worked so hard.
"From the marketing and PR standpoint, Mike Hermann, Jason Chandler and Coop (Carolynn Crutchfield) and Tina Price have done a great job informing and keeping everyone up to date on what's going on with ODU athletics. We were off limits to the media while we were trying to figure out what is going on, and odusports.com has been the source, the place for people to find out what's going on. Eric Bohannon and our entire media relations team have been great.
Mike O'Brien has done a fantastic job retaining and adding corporate sponsors is a difficult time with so much uncertainty.
(Senior Associate Athletic Director) Bruce Stewart has so many programs under his watch, including football. For football, with a new head coach, a new staff, so many coaches who have had so much to learn about ODU. He's been a great communicator to them.
"Our senior staff has done a terrific job with morale and communication and with productivity.
"Our head coaches have also been phenomenal with their respective teams. I can't speak highly enough about all of them.
Q: Football coach Ricky Rahne has been here seven months and hasn't seen his team practice and may not see them play for another year. How is he and his young staff handling all of this?
A: "I had a lot of respect and appreciation for Ricky when we hired him. It has increased exponentially in working with him and seeing how he and his staff operated, how he's handled 100 young men who are looking for answers when we really don't have a whole lot of answers.
"He's been able to maintain morale, work ethic, esprit de corps, during such a time of uncertainty. He's been exceptional.
"Ricky understands, just like I feel like our fans understand, that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It's tough. People are suffering. But working together, we're going to get through this."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU's Dr. Wood Selig Says the Fall Sports Season is at a Critical Juncture
