Oregon State AD Scott Barnes: 'Everything Is On The Table'

Oregon State Athletic Director Scott Barnes hosted the local media via zoom to discuss the Pac-12's decision to keep all fall sports in-conference and what the next steps are in the decision-making process.

Quick Hits

- There was complete agreement between the Pac-12 Athletic Directors that moving to conference-only contests was the best course of action.

- With the Beavers have already had voluntary workouts on campus underway since mid-June, the next step in the process would be mandatory workouts. However, the Beavers have halted that and will continue to move forward voluntarily. The Athletic Department has decided that they'll reevaluate in the coming weeks when mandatory workouts might be able to start.

- Per the NCAA bylaws, the Beavers technically would have been able to start mandatory workouts today (7-11), but they decided that they wanted to see where things stood in a few more weeks.

- Barnes noted that he sees a lot of potential roadblocks when it comes to moving the football season to spring and that he and the athletic directors feel this decision gives them their best chance to have football this year.

- Barnes has reached out to the AD's of Oklahoma State, Portland State, and Colorado State to let them know of the conference's decision prior to the announcement. Barnes hopes to reschedule all of these games in the future to limit the potential contract ramifications.

- Exactly what an intra-conference schedule might look like hasn't yet been discussed. With the Beavers theoretically set to open the season against Washington State, it's not yet clear if the schedule will shift to allow for more byes and/or opponents.

- 9 & 10 game conference-only schedules have been the most widely discussed and are the most likely to happen. Barnes said he would hope to keep the current schedule in place as best he can, but that it's too early to tell.

- Barnes lauded the ability of the medical experts and trainers on the Oregon State campus. The Beavers have only had one positive test since the testing process started and Barnes has been very pleased with how everything has been handled. He expects more cases but has been proud of how safe the athletic department has kept the facilities.

- The Beavers currently have just over 200 student-athletes on-campus participating in voluntary workouts. Barnes said the number is lower than he originally modeled, but noted an additional 20 are coming in this next week.

- At this point, the Beavers haven't' had any student-athletes that have requested to sit out the upcoming season.

Q: Can you talk about what happens to student-athletes who may decide to opt-out of the upcoming season for health concerns?

Scott Barnes: "It's really important and it's certainly something that been at the top of our minds as a school and as a conference. I've been talking with F. King Alexander (Oregon State President) and we've been adamant that if a student-athlete doesn't want to be in the environment we want to allow for flexibility. They'll keep their scholarship and understand it's okay for them to make those decisions."

Q: Is there a concern you won't have sports at all coming anytime soon?

Scott Barnes: "Yes it is. This decision doesn't suggest we're playing in the fall. This decision suggests that collectively we're unified in moving forward with Pac-12 competition if our local and state health authorities say it's okay. We have a better chance to control the environment in-conference, but at the end of the day, it won't be our decision. It won't be the Pac-12's decision. It'll be our local and health authorities' decisions."

Q: Do the current discussions around football feel similar to March when this was the lead up to cancelation?

Scott Barnes: "It certainly feels like Groundhog Day, but yet it's more real because it's upon us. Discussions have been similar, but the reality of the situation is truly setting in and it's much stronger. We're running out of time and that's the biggest difference."