When hope and optimism aren’t enough.

Nothing says taking responsibility like asking for a get out of jail free card.

Higher-education leaders seeking to open their campuses for in-person operations this fall are asking Congress for protections that would insulate colleges from lawsuits brought by students, faculty, or staff who contract the new coronavirus.

The American Council on Education sent a letter on Thursday to Senate and House leaders seeking “temporary and targeted” liability-exposure protections for institutions that open their campuses this fall. The letter, co-signed by more than 70 other higher-education associations, also seeks protections for faculty and staff members and institutional systems, including affiliated nonprofit organizations and health-care providers.

Maybe Father Jenkins can explain the moral value of “come play for us, athletes, and make us some money, or pay your tuition to attend, students, but if you get sick or make others sick, that’s on your own dime”.

And some of you question why I’m cynical about school administrators’ decision making.

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P5 power play

Well, now… this is interesting.

In 3-page letter, obtained by @Stadium, Power 5 league commissioners ask Congress to “enact clear national policy on NIL & not wait for NCAA process to conclude” & “so there will be uniform national standard that will preempt state NIL laws. … time is of the essence.” pic.twitter.com/VbaRCHTGXL

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 29, 2020

After stalling all this time through the antitrust litigation and sitting back watching state legislatures react, now, suddenly, time is of the essence.  Right.  It’s not exactly a vote of confidence in the NCAA getting the job done.  (And wouldn’t you love to hear the conversation when the P5 commissioners speak with Emmert about this?)

Here’s their shopping list:

Some of this is fairly anodyne.  Some of this has the potential to be troubling — “prohibiting the use of NIL as an inducement to enroll or remain enrolled” sounds like a worthwhile goal, but prohibiting how, exactly?  If we’re talking about criminalizing the NCAA rule book, that’s a cure that could be worse than the disease.

But the real wants are two:  “Prohibit Pay-For-Play” is an attempt to make it illegal for schools to compensate college athletes directly, while “Provide Safe Harbor” is an antitrust exemption for doing so.  All that in return for allowing less than what the emerging state laws would permit.  Such a deal, in other words.

Based on their public comments, I can’t imagine there are too many members of Congress that are ready to jump on an offer like that.  On the other hand, the chance to bypass Mark Emmert might be tempting.  It’ll be interesting to see if this has any legs.

Monken’s contract

The deets were released today.  (My, how 90 days fly… but I digress.)

I don’t really care what his salary is, just the buyout terms.

He gets a discount for a lateral move?  Wow.  I guess that tells me who had the leverage on this deal.  Maybe it’s a tell as to how much autonomy he’ll have with the offense this season.

Oh, wait. You were serious about that?

This is some question.

Poll: Would you trade UT's quarterback room (JG, Maurer, Bailey) for Georgia's (Jamie Newman, JT Daniels)?

— Russell Smith (@Russell___Smith) May 28, 2020

Today, in freedom

This is not offered as a special edition Playpen, but instead as a preemptive warning:  do not be this guy at GTP.

For one thing, it’s wrong, legally speaking.  For another, it’s rude.  You come in my house and take a dump on the rug, you’ll be escorted out.  It’s no different here online.

You may think I’m overreacting, but you don’t see the comments I get from people I’ve banned.

Don’t be that guy.  Please.

One other JT Daniels thought

As a non-graduate transfer, Georgia’s newest quarterback isn’t eligible to play in the 2020 season without a waiver from the NCAA.  Seth Emerson ($$) wrote yesterday that Daniels does intend to apply for a waiver once he’s enrolled at UGA.

If that’s what he wants, more power to him, obviously, but speaking selfishly, it sure seems like it would be better for the program if Daniels didn’t get the waiver.  For one thing, there’s a question about his health.

Daniels is still less than a year removed from the knee injury that ended things right out of the gate. He wouldn’t have been a go in spring ball had it gone off, and part of the reason he’s transferring is because he likely wouldn’t have had the shot to beat out Kedon Slovis.

It’s not 100% certain that he’ll be 100% healthy by the time Georgia fall camp rolls around, either.

In a perfect world, Newman is fantastic, Daniels gets a full year to heal up and get ready to roll, and then the offense is his in 2021. But if there isn’t a season, then he gets the time off to get stronger and learn the system, Newman will be off to the NFL, and Georgia has its guy.

I assume, given the times, that Georgia hasn’t had the direct opportunity to evaluate the state of Daniels’ knee yet.  I would also assume that’s something of a concern until Courson can check it out and recommend if any further rehab is needed.

Beyond that, though, assuming that Newman is up to the job (that also being something the staff hasn’t really had the direct opportunity to evaluate), spacing out a line of succession from him in 2020 to Daniels in 2021 seems advantageous.  As far as what happens after 2021, Daniels would have two years of eligibility left once five-star Brock Vandagriff arrives on campus and you’d have to think there’s a legit chance Daniels doesn’t stay for both if he takes off as Georgia’s starter in 2021.

Where that leaves the three other scholarship quarterbacks on Georgia’s roster is a good question.  I’d have to think Smart has already taken the time to meet with them about their prospects.  I’d also have to think that with the roster being several players over the 85-man limit, one of them will be going into the transfer portal in the near future.  It’ll be a shame for the odd man out, but Kirby has shown he’s pretty relentless when it comes to roster management.  As I’ve already noted, he’s got a quarterback room in much better shape today than it was in January, and that’s what counts from his selfish standpoint.

Moar Newman context

This is good advice about how not to read too much into Jamie Newman’s 2019 season at Wake Forest.

While I remain tepid on Newman, there's no question a 47% contested target rate paired with a bogus run scheme and "bombs away" passing scheme versus his 5 hardest defensive opponents massively curbed his outputs. (FWIW the highest Contested Rate in SEC play last year was 33.3%) https://t.co/hKvmKGZxfw

— SEC StatCat (@SEC_StatCat) May 28, 2020

Again, Newman's five hardest defensive opponents per ESPN's SP+ was UNC, Va Tech, Duke, Clemson, and Mich State.

(the avr SP+ score from this sample is on par with an avr SEC conference schedule)

His 42.8% Depth Adjusted Accuracy would be 8th best among returners in SEC play https://t.co/q71hGnBium

— SEC StatCat (@SEC_StatCat) May 28, 2020

He played in an offensive scheme light years away from what he’ll be playing in this season.  The stats he generated will only take the analysis so far.  You have to trust that Smart and staff evaluated Newman carefully and saw enough physical ability to make for a successful transition.

“We put some new rags in. Y’all think I’m kidding, but I’m serious.”

Gotta admit, Kirby’s talk about educating the players about the coronavirus risk brought to mind a question:  if he were still the coach at UT, what would SOD have to say about that?

Your Daily Gator is living vicariously.

Your team’s on a three-game losing streak, but South Carolina?  Jeez, dude, you sound like a Tech fan.  Have a little dignity.

“You can’t just be lip service as far as, ‘We’re in it for the student-athlete…’”

As much shade as I’ve thrown the way of schools with pandemic plans that seem little more than hope that nothing blows up in their institutional faces, it’s only fair to give credit where credit’s due for those programs that have put some real thought into the matter.

One example, I’m proud to say, comes from our own University of Georgia.  I was impressed with what I saw from Kirby Smart yesterday; the answers in this Q&A from yesterday’s presser are exactly what you’d expect from someone who pays as much attention to detail as we know Smart does.

Q: How serious are the players taking this?

A: The last thing we need right now, if people want to have a football season or any kind of athletic season, is to have another flare-up. The biggest thing we can do as far as taking care of that is to make good decisions and be aware. So, we’re going to educate or players because, I promise you, there are some of our players who don’t feel vulnerable because of what they’ve heard because they think they have super powers. So we’re going to educate our guys to be safe and make good decisions.

Q: What will you say to a player who is uncomfortable with coming back?

A: The first thing is defer to the medical staff. We’ve got one of the best medical staffs in the country in Ron Courson and Dr. (Fred) Reifsteck. We’ve had multiple meetings with them, they’ve talked to our players and their parents in terms of trying to educate them. There is no pressure. To a man, every one of these guys is working out. If they’re working out at home, could you argue that wherever they’re working out, at home, at a local gym, the high school, backyard, that that environment is as safe as one that’s monitored and taken care of by our staff. As a parent I’d certainly feel a lot better about my daughter or son being able to work in that environment that’s been professionally taken care of outside of wherever they’re working out currently. We found that to be the case with most we’ve talked to.

Compare that to this:

SEC schools Arkansas, LSU and Missouri, however, will not require coronavirus testing when players begin returning to campus June 8. Only those showing symptoms or returning from hot spots in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Orleans will be tested upon their arrival on Arkansas’ campus. Interestingly, the Arkansas campus is located in the heart of the newest hot spot in the country for the novel coronavirus. The metro area in Northwest Arkansas has the nation’s highest average daily growth rate (12 percent), according to a New York Times report Tuesday.

“I can tell you with great assurance we didn’t get any questions or concerns from parents about returning their student-athletes to campus,” Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said.

Maybe it’s just a case of a lot of blanks not being filled in there, but if I were a parent of one of those kids, I’d sure have questions for a guy who also said, “In athletics or in life, no plan can guarantee that anyone affiliated with our program will not contract COVID-19.”

I get that there is no risk-free path for programs preparing to deal with reopening in the face of the coronavirus.  All I can ask is that a program take whatever steps are prudent and reasonable to mitigate the risk and plainly communicate that to the kids who will be exposed to it and their families.  Which is why I’m well pleased with Smart and Georgia this morning.

While I’m on my soapbox about this, one other AD deserves mention.

#Iowa AD Gary Barta says any athlete who chooses not to train or compete this year because of COVID-19 concerns faces no penalty with their status or scholarship. He acknowledges until there's a vaccine, everyone faces some level of risk.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) May 28, 2020

Every school in the country ought to make that same pledge to its student-athletes, and the NCAA should join in to provide that a decision to sit out the pandemic won’t affect eligibility.  That’s the real way you do it for the kids.  Kudos to you, Iowa.