Would having Arizona Football play in the Spring be a bad idea?

With the Arizona Football team potentially even seeing their season postponed until Spring, would it be a good idea to have the season then?

As we get further and further into 2020, it’s getting more and more possible that not only an Arizona Football season might actually get pushed out until the Spring, but college football is in jeopardy of being postponed as well.

Now granted we have already seen the Pac-12 cancel all of their non-conference games, essentially pushing out the season a few weeks, however, it’s such a fluid situation, and with the Ivy League postponing all their fall sports and programs, perhaps the college football world could be following in those footsteps.

Arizona Wildcats

So football in the Spring? Maybe not a bad idea, it would just be unfortunate that we would have to wait even longer to get our fix of football.

Well, not so fast says former Pac-10 an USC quarterback, Matt Leinart.

A standout with the Trojans from 2003-05, Leinart addressed his position on why he thinks “Spring football is an absolute terrible idea” just a couple of weeks ago, and thanks to our partners at Reign of Troy, this seemed like a great opportunity to discuss this as well.

According to Leinart, it’s too much stress on the bodies of young athletes. Responding to USC beat writer Ryan Kartje on Twitter, Leinart said “The affects of playing two ‘football seasons’ in one calendar year on these kids bodies would be catastrophic. No recovery time, bodies still growing. There would be great risk involved. You’d also have many players sitting out. The list goes on….”

I mean he does pose a legitimate point as safety is his main concern. However, to me, we are talking about 18-23 year-old kids who are already at, or close to full, physical maturation. I mean these are college kids with access to first-rate professional trainers and fantastic medical professionals in many cases. It’s not like we are talking about high school or Pop Warner-level kids.

Now please forgive me here as I don’t mean to come off as inconsiderate here, but I think the point is being just slightly overblown. I mean, we are talking about having a condensed season potentially starting in February/ March, and completing in May at the latest (not including postseason).

That would still give student athletes virtually three months of an “off-season” assuming the 2021 Fall season were to return on time in September. Doesn’t seem like much different of a timeline for Spring Football where there is plenty of contact and scrimmages in practice already.

Sure, it would be a little jam packed, but it’s not like it’s a 4-5 week layoff, we’re still talking potentially three months. If anything, perhaps the “2021 season is delayed later in the fall to allow for extra time between the two seasons” as Reign of Troy editor Alicia de Artola writes.

Anyways, these are just my thoughts? Do you agree with Matt? Let us know and as always, Bear Down, Arizona!