University of Louisiana at Monroe athletic director Scott McDonald has had the rug pulled out from under him and most every collegiate administrator for that matter, each day this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
McDonald and all Group of 5 athletic directors are scrambling and learning day-to-day in a world where the large conferences such as the SEC, ACC and Big 10 plan to play conference-only games.
The SEC just this week voted for that conference-only measure, and that will likely mean a $3.1 million shortfall in revenue for the athletic department at ULM due to games that likely will not happen at Georgia (Sept. 26) and Arkansas (Nov. 21).
All hope is not lost, however, as McDonald says he has not received any official documentation from either of those SEC institutions about the official game status. ULM still plans to discuss the contractual obligations with both of the schools and also the Sun Belt Conference athletic directors intend to play a 12-game schedule as of now.
“Everybody (within the Sun Belt) is all in and wants to continue with a 12-game season,” McDonald said during a recent call with WarhawReport.com. “We have gone to great lengths with an extreme amount of detail to provide safety for our players, coaches and administration. It is important to our community and everybody feels that way. We want to do everything we can to play those games.”
McDonald continues to wait to see what the next scheduling move will be in a situation that appears to be changing week by week.
“I haven’t heard from (Arkansas or Georgia) officially and how we will resolve this contractually,” McDonald said. “I know we are contracted to play that game.”
McDonald also was clear that he or anyone with ULM cannot do anything with changes or additions to the schedule until these games are officially cancelled through proper contracts and channels.
A social media wildfire locally began recently with talk of playing I-20 mates Louisiana Tech now that the teams have a common open date in the wake of the Bulldogs’ game at Vanderbilt also being caught up in the SEC decision this week.
“We haven’t had any discussions about (playing Louisiana Tech),” McDonald said. “The thing people may not realize is we have to be careful. I have to receive that official notification of cancelling the games and if we went out and signed another contract for a game on those dates, that would be in violation of our contractual obligations so we are (moving forward) in a very systematic and thoughtful way.”
