The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joel Klatt On The Ever Evolving Landscape Of College Football

Episode Date: August 10, 2020

Joel Klatt On The Ever Evolving Landscape Of College Football

This is the Matt Thomas show. One of my favorite people in broadcasting is with us here. And I'm just going to lay out. I'm going to ask nice, simple questions, because I know Joel Klotz's got a few things on his mind. He is a talented broadcaster. Fox's number one college football broadcasting team. And, Joe, first of all, long time, no talk.

I hope you get to call some games, but I'm very, very nervous about that. First of all, good afternoon to you. And secondly, what happened in the last week that's driven everybody nuts? We went from schedule announcements, Joel, to league cancellations. What did I miss during all this? Yeah, join the club. We're all trying to figure that out. I think what you're seeing right now is that you've got, you know, the real decision makers at the table now.

You know, ADs can talk all they want about what they want to do and their plans. coaches can talk all they want about what they want to do and their plans. But when push comes to shove, the university president is the one that's going to make those type of decisions. And so that is where this speculation started to fly around is that in the Big Ten, their presidents were inching closer towards a cancellation of the season and maybe more accurately a postponement until spring. And I think that what you see is that when that sector, the decision maker, that is mainly responsible for two things, right, the financial well-being of the university and the overall standing of the university, what you see is they become concerned with different things than what coaches and ADs and maybe any of us are concerned with.

So while we can be told by people that the number one consideration is the health and safety of the players, that is not accurate because what you have is the people that are trying to create the protocols and testing procedures in order to create that safety are not at the table. And the people at the table are concerned with things like liability. They're concerned with things like the organization of the potential players union, the Players United front that was going on in the last week. So what changed is the people that were actually at the table changed and what they were concerned about changed. You know, liability is a massive issue. And in particular, in our ever litigious society where we have a boatload of plaintiff's lawyers,

that are advertising commercials maybe on your air, and we see them on TV all the time, that are brossing at the mouth to bring cases in regards to COVID-19 malpractice, if you will. And they see the coffers of universities and conferences. And so the presidents are more aware of that than the athletic directors are. And I think that that's why you see this decision moving the way that it, that it is. And I would just continue, Matt, if you don't mind. Sure, please. If you were actually concerned with the health and well-being of the player, here's the things that you would realize.

They are safer and better cared for within the structure, the testing protocols and procedures of a season, than they are outside of that. Okay? I feel like that is self-explanatory, but folks, if we just allow these kids to go back home like they were in the summer, these are not safe environments because they don't know if they're going to have the disease. They would be in far greater susceptibility to community spread. And if they did contract the disease, likely they would be asymptomatic because this age group is heavily asymptomatic, upwards of 40% asymptomatic. And then we wouldn't even know if they were having the heart condition issues that have now been associated in a very small percentages of cases because they wouldn't be monitored by medical staff. In some cases, they'd be in multi-generational homes and they could be drivers of community spread to the more dangerous subset of the population. that's number one.

So it's clear that they're more protected and safer and cared for under the structure of a season. And then you just look at the human impact of even a postponement, if you want to call it that. I would really be concerned about the deterioration of the mental health of the players. Can you imagine working your entire life almost singularly focused on the achievement of one area, which has provided all of the avenues of success in your life, or virtually all the avenues of the success in your life, the reason you're at an institution for higher learning, and that was just ripped away from you under the guise of health and safety,

even though we know that it's not really about health and safety, I would be very concerned about the deterioration and the mental health of that subset of our players, right? I mean, I think depression would be a big deal. And we see that time and time again throughout, our country throughout these lockdowns, the suicide hotlines, depression hotlines, they have been inundated with calls. And I think that that's something that we need to take a look at because that's an unintended consequence of not having a football season. And I fail to mention even that this subset of our culture, this stage range of our culture, suffers with mental health disorders maybe more so than others.

And we know this because of the statistics of causality of death amongst this age group. Suicide is the number two cause of death amongst college age kids in America. We need to be concerned about their mental health. We need to be aware of what could affect that in an adverse way. We need to be aware that substance abuse would likely increase. We've seen opioid deaths in places like Cook County, Illinois, double this year, according to their ex. I worry that guys would fall behind academically and maybe never come back. And then you get to the point where they've never been able to monetize their skill in their lifetime.

And they would be losing the ability to create value in their athletic future. Just think of the last three number one picks in the draft. Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, and Joe Burrow. Every one of those guys was considered maybe, maybe at best, a middle round draft pick before the last year that they had. they had. And they went out there and played a season of college football and increased their monetary value close to $30 million. That's just the number one pick. Think about the guy that gets himself into a draftable form. I know I'm long-winded on this, but again, the unintended consequences of making these decisions need to be discussed. Matt, I'm not suggesting that the

virus is not dangerous. I do know, and we all should know, based on the data provided by the CDC, that it's not necessarily dangerous for the college age kid. That doesn't mean that the coaches and support staff are not in greater danger because they are based on their age and potential for compromised immune systems. And I'm not suggesting that we need to just whistle by the graveyard and say that this virus is not an issue because it is. But again, it's an issue whether you're in football or not. It's not selective to just being within the football structure. So if we just say, hey, you know, go about your life, I believe that that's far more dangerous, both to the human impact of the player themselves and for the health and safety when dealing with this virus on a

larger extent. I feel like I got 40 things to follow up with that. I don't know where to start. Let me go to, okay, so at the end of the day, these presidents who are now carrying all the power as well as well they should. Are you afraid that they're afraid that some kids are going to get it and then they're going to file lawsuits against schools and that's going to start a new run of class action against kids that were sent to play college football? Is that what do you think their fear is right now? In terms of liability. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's what their fear is. I think that their fear on liability is in conjunction with with the unknowns of the player united movement and how quickly that that you know gain traction so um because that

presents a lot of unknowns and decision makers hate unknowns right they want to make concrete decisions based on um variables that they believe are are constant or that they can predict and that's a variable that they cannot predict so how much more litigious would this subset of the culture get the football players knowing that they have a this players united kind of backing behind them i'm not sure uh but that's uh that's something that i think is a bigger driver than we're all discussing right now we're discussing just the virus and i think in that room um the the liability issue and and the potential unionization of the players is is a pretty big factor within these decisions so if the mac uh joel joel clatt fox sports with us here

if the mac decides to play football and doesn't go out last week and do this. Is the Big Ten out there on its own today, or do you feel like that the Big Ten took a lead off of a group of six school conference to make this? And then that you get the other Power Fives are kind of just waiting around and seeing what ultimately the Big Ten does later today. Yeah, I think, well, that's a good question. I think that the Big Ten like to think of itself as a leader and a thought leader. In this case, I feel like they're misguided. The Pac-12 is going to do whatever the Big Ten does. So that's going to be those dominoes. I believe that the ACC is going to do whatever the SEC does. And I think that the Big 12 is probably on the fence in some cases. But

I don't know what's driving this. I think that the, I will tell you right now, I believe that there are really powerful and prominent voices that are getting involved today. And it's just prior to the six o'clock. By the way, there was no vote, right? So this whole thing that you saw earlier about, oh, it was 12, 2, there was a vote by the president. There wasn't a vote. That was an inaccurate report. So they are meeting tonight at six, and some have speculated that a vote or an announcement might take place. So what you're seeing right now is a lot of coaches like Ryan Day, Scott Frost, Jim Harbaugh, schools and players and so on and so forth have started to buck their own presidents, and start to push for their presidents to vote to let them play

and to maintain the structure of a college football season. So I think it's going to be an incredibly interesting next probably 10 to 12 hours. And I think the fate of the college football season rests in the next 10 to 12 hours. Will we see a split, Joel? Can we see three of the power five say we'll stick around, two of them one, or is it all or nothing? No, we could absolutely see a split. And I would go a step further, Matt. I think that we may even see a split within conferences. Nebraska is coming out today and Scott Frost and their president, their governor, making it very clear that regardless of what the Big Ten decides that they want to play football and they will pursue those avenues to do so. So think about that, right? I mean, you could have Nebraska back in the Big 12.

Well, they never should have left to begin with. That's not here nor there. Listen, I don't disagree with you. I don't disagree with you. But I just think it's an interesting conundrum that we have. Because think about it, if you're a school and you can get a schedule and you can play seven or eight games and your governor is allowing it, I mean, what really stops you? Right? I mean, it's an interesting thought. I got two last things for you.

Hashtag we want to play. What does your take on all of that? I think that the football players have stepped in in the void of leadership. I believe everything rises and falls on leadership. I believe that one side of the story was told for a long time about the quote-unquote dangers of playing and how can they play and so on and so forth. That's why I tweeted what I did on Friday. And what I think people on the other side of the issue were thinking was like, hey, cooler heads are going to prevail. data will prevail, the science will prevail, so on and so forth.

And when that started to look like it wasn't happening, the players were like, hey, you can't tell us that we're allowed to voice our opinions when we want money or want to opt out. And then you tell us that we can't voice our opinions and have a voice when we say we want to play. And I think that's an interesting kind of push and pull that we're seeing right now. But I think that if we do see football, specifically in the Big Ten this fall, it will be because of Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. That's how much power, I believe, their movement over the weekend and specifically last night had.

And now what you're seeing is players and coaches getting on board with that. So kudos to those two individuals. You want to talk about alphas. You want to talk about leaders of men. And those two individuals have done a remarkable job. Last question. I was talking about this with my audience before you join me. I believe if there is no football in the fall, they've got to do everything in their power to play in spring of 2021.

If they do not do so, college athletics will not be the same ever again. I was talking about the third party rights of broadcasters like Learfield IMG. I'm talking about schools that rely on college football to pay for the athletic departments. if you, I just, Joel, in a grandiose sense, if they don't play, we'll never going to see college athletics the same again. Do you agree or disagree? Completely agree. Completely agree. And probably to a greater extent than you even realize, right? I think men's non-revenue sports and the intercollegiate athletic model will almost wholly cease to exist. And because of Title IX colleges will try to, maintain football by having, you know, and so they'll have the women's sports to weigh against that and kind of that balance of Title IX. But I think that we'll lose tens of thousands of scholarship opportunities to boys and girls. I think that we could see a major fracture and reorganization

of college football. You would see a major shift in college basketball. And I think that it would look not just different, but drastically different moving forward. We'll leave it at that, my friend. We hope to see you on Saturdays. I just don't know if it's going to happen. I know you will be doing Pig Ten game, apparently, but congratulations on all your success. Great job with the XFL this year, and hell, they may need you on NFL Sundays. You never know if this thing doesn't work out this way.

But thank you for the time, as always. You never know. Have a good one, man. I appreciate you having me out. Thanks very much. Joe Clyde, Fox Sports, with us here at 218. A very sobering conversation. Don't get mad.

I mean, the breaks late. I told Brian they weren't go late this time, but sometimes you can have good stuff on, and Joel certainly provided that. 218. The Matt Thomas show continues in a matter of moment. 713-212-5-7-90 with a message here for Shaw's jewelry at the corner West Graham Montrose. They have been in that exact same intersection, new building, but the same intersection since 1966. Taking care of those that need fine quality jewelry at reasonable prices. Zero percent financing on most purchases for 12 months. Got to take advantage of that. Got to take advantage of the fact that they can, let you bring something in and trade it up to get a better piece of jewelry. They have a great on-site jeweler that can create the masterpiece that you'd want,

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